Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Apple news, tech tips, and more…

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  • It's Back Baby! iPad with Retina Display

    Earlier this week, Apple sent out an email announcing the reintroduction of the iPad with Retina display (4th Gen). (“*See the press release here.*”:http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/03/18Apple-Updates-Most-Affordable-9-7-inch-iPad-with-Retina-display-Improved-Cameras-Enhanced-Performance-Now-Available-Starting-at-399.html) As you may remember, when the iPad Air was announced, the iPad 4 was taken off the market.

    Well, it’s back baby! The iPad featuring the Retina display will replace the iPad 2 and will provide a great upgrade in power, performance, and value. The iPad with Retina display (4th Gen) features the Lightning connector, meaning that this replacement spells the end of 30-pin Dock Connector usage on any iPad or iPhone model. (Note that the iPod classic still features the 30-pin connection.)

    The iPad with Retina display is *$100 less* than the iPad Air, coming in at *$399* — a great value. We’re even offering free shipping for the next week, just for you! See our special below.

    P.S. If your current accessories support the USB-to-dock connector, there may be no need to replace them completely. Apple makes a Lightning-to-30-pin Adaptor, “*found here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/81561/apple-lightning-to-30-pin-adapter/at_kb

  • Does your Mac Need Anti-Virus Software?

    Customers ask us regularly to recommend anti-virus software for their Mac. Many of these are converts from the PC world and are accustomed to needing it. There are several reasons why it’s largely unnecessary.

    Since OS X 10.6.8 Apple has included anti-malware that is built into the OS. There was a lighter version in 10.4 and 10.5 called File Quarantine that confirmed with the user that files and applications downloaded from the Internet were intentional and approved. In 10.6.8 File Quarantine was enhanced to include actually checking downloaded files against a list of known malware and malware types/signatures. Again, this is built in.

    Apple has also established that many anti-virus programs interfere with Apple updates which is part of their argument for advising against them.

    The last two large reasons are the main difference between PCs and Macs and are probably the most important. The Mac OS uses compartmentalization, or ‘sand-boxing.’ This means that applications are limited and isolated to the resources they need to access. This is very different from Windows operating systems where this isolation doesn’t exist and malware can attack system and other resources, although as of Windows 7 this is improving.

    Lastly, the argument most commonly given is that Macs have a smaller footprint in the market and are less appealing to hackers who must invest great resources in the development robust malware and viruses. This is diminishing somewhat as Macs become more popular, but it’s still true.

    Apple still tows the line that anti-virus software for modern Macs is unnecessary. I was a PC tech for fifteen years and dealt with at least one virus for a customer a week. In the year I’ve been working on Macs, I haven’t seen a single one.

    So, rest assured that your Mac is safe and installing anti-virus software has the risk of doing more harm than good.

  • Sun-Powered Computer

    Recently, after more than a year of research and tiny prototypes, I put together a “mini” 50-watt photovoltaic power system. My intent is to run my computer system off of it. At the heart of the system is a 34 amp-hour AGM lead acid battery. That’s a bit small to power a computer system, but with a slight reduction in use time, and some efficiency modifications, I think it can be done.

    I’ve only just put the system together and have been running it for almost 2 full weeks. I haven’t powered my computer using it yet, but I have been running floor lamps and charging my cell phone using it (total overkill).

    In researching how to build something like this, I found lots of people online who had built things in a similar size range, but none of their designs could answer one question I had: How do you monitor the battery accurately? Watching the voltage is ok, but it’s not very accurate if the battery is loaded or charging. Deep cycle batteries are tough, but you still need to treat them right. They aren’t cheap either, so protecting the investment is a good idea.

    Originally I was going to use something like this “*Turnigy inline watt meter*”:http://www.powerwerx.com/digital-meters/dc-inline-watt-meter-power-analyzer-powerpoles.html, but I hesitated at the thought of running so many amps through a little plastic device. In the end, I took inspiration from how our server battery backup here at Small Dog is monitored.

    *The best way to monitor a battery is by counting the amp hours in and out in addition to watching the voltage.* This is like the odometer on your car (if you could somehow put miles back into the engine). To do this without using an inline meter, you use a device called a “*shunt*”:http://ow.ly/uMTqb. A shunt is basically a very low-value resistor which causes a tiny voltage drop. This drop can be measured, and using “*Ohm’s Law*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohm%27s_law current can be calculated. With some digital logic, you can count how long the current has been flowing, and there you have your amp hours.

    In my system I’m using the “*TriMetric 2025*”:http://bogartengineering.com/products/TriMetric. Yes this is a bit overboard for such a small system, but so far I’ve found it to be invaluable, especially since I’m doing a lot of testing. Installation is a bit complicated, but the instructions are very helpful in figuring out what goes where. You also need to program the device for your specific setup. I really found this handy, since I could set the battery charge voltages, charge efficiency, days to recharge reminders, and much more. The TriMetrics also have a J2 serial data out port, so I’m working on a way to pull data from there and upload it to the web in real time. Once online, I could check on the status of the charging from anywhere.

    Interested in simpler, shorter term battery backups? Check out “*uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)*”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Power_Supply/UPS_Backups. These are like surge protector strips except they have batteries in them that will continue to run your equipment if the power at the wall outlet fails. Most are only designed to run a short time (like an hour or less), but that should give you enough time to save and shut down your equipment properly without any data loss or damage.

  • Weekly Apple News Recap | 03.21.14

    *iPad with Retina display Reintroduced*
    As mentioned more in-depth below, Apple brought back their earlier attempt at an iPad w/Retina screen. It replaces iPad 2.

    “*Read more…*”:http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/03/18/apple-replaces-ipad-2-with-4th-gen-ipad-leaves-original-ipad-mini-as-only-non-retina-ios-device

    *8GB iPhone 5c Rolled Out in European Markets*
    A cheaper version of the iPhone 5c has been introduced in the U.K., France, Germany, Australia and China. The US may follow…

    “*Read more…*”:http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/03/21/apple-introduces-cheaper-iphone-5c-targeting-lte-growth-in-international-markets/

    __And, ICYMI (In Case You Missed It):__
    *Apple Announces CarPlay: iOS-Auto Integration*
    To the delight of iOS and Apple enthusiasts everywhere (and perhaps luxury car fans), Apple has entered the auto arena.

    “*Read more…*”:http://techcrunch.com/2014/03/03/apples-new-carplay-system-will-turn-tens-of-millions-of-cars-into-iphone-accessories/
    “*And, on Apple’s website…*”:http://www.apple.com/ios/carplay/

  • _Dear Friends,_

    The brackets are set and March Madness is underway. To the chagrin of all the Miami Heat fans down here, the Celtics beat the Heat for the 2nd time this year on Tuesday. I filled out my brackets and have my favorite underdog, Gonzaga, going all the way! Who knows, maybe I’ll win that billion bucks that Warren Buffet and Yahoo have put up for their bracket contest.

    Of course, on the other end of the scale is our own sorta bracket contest. It is worth signing up online or in the stores because you might win something! (Well, at least the odds are a whole lot greater.) Fill out your final four teams and the subsequent winners of those games in any of our stores, and you could win a $400 Small Dog gift card! Get all of the details at “*Smalldog.com/marchmayhem.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/marchmayhem

    We have brought the “*Sonos*”:http://www.sonos.com line of audio equipment to our stores and I will be setting up the house down here in Key West as a demo of the gear. This is a great complement to some of the other home automation products we are testing out. Sonos makes some fantastic speaker systems that integrate with your Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. to give you great sound in any room.

    One of the great features of Sonos is that it allows each speaker to play its own music from any of the Sonos music sources. For example, if you want Spotify on in the bedroom, but someone else wants to listen to a podcast in the office, it’s no problem. Or, create a house filled with sound by controlling them all at once with the same source. This is great for families and parties, and Sonos has a great setup for TVs and home theatre.

    I have been trying to identify the trees, plants, and shrubs in my yard down here, but haven’t found a great app for that yet. We have a customer who runs a nursery here, so we are going to take clippings up to see if he can help. Has anyone seen a good app that identifies plants? Taylor suggested that I use Google and showed me how you can take a picture in Google search and it will try to identify objects. That is pretty cool, but it does not work well with plants, apparently. However, it’s a great idea for an app that could be used to identify plants, pests or other objects.

    It is still cold in Vermont and I keep hearing of more ice and snow, so this week’s special is the Chill special! I am putting together two great portable music products by Chill Pill Audio. First up: Chill Pill mobile speakers in black for the ultimate in compact, big sound. We will also send you a Chill Box in your choice of color for Bluetooth wireless sound and conference call capability. To complete the deal, we will send you two Chill Pill 12-watt dual USB chargers so all your devices can be fully charged up for that next camping trip or journey to the beach.

    This is a *$170 value* and for Kibbles & Bytes readers it is yours for *only $99!* “*Get the Chill deal here!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001323

  • Save $50 on 22” Monitor Bundle Haven’t you always wanted to extend your laptop’s screen? Do you feel hunched over your laptop when…

  • Michael Duplessis

    Family: My wife Stephanie and sons Mordecai and Theoden. Primary Hobby: Making music. Favorite Books: LOTR, Kurt Vonnegut, science fiction, science fact. Favorite…

  • Kelly Bixby

    Pets: Simon Hobbies/Interests: Live music, photography, snowshoeing, playing Minecraft with my nephew and niece. Favorite Books: The Crying of Lot 49, 21 Years…

  • Robert Chris Peaden

    Hobbies/Interests: Photography, Google SketchUp, Graphic Design, learning to play the guitar, sometimes I think about exercising but I get tired and do something…

  • iPhone's Mysterious "Other" Data

    If you’ve ever filled your iPhone to capacity, you may have suddenly noticed a gray section of stored data titled “Other” in iTunes. What could this mysterious data be?

    Well, there could be a couple things that could be contributing to it, but the most likely culprits are your apps. More specifically: iMessage. You’re probably not aware of this, but every time you send or receive a file within an iMessage — whether it’s photos or various documents — your iPhone stores that data. If you are like millions of other users who enjoy sending silly photos to your friends and family (or inappropriate ones if you’re into that sort of thing), that data can accumulate very quickly over time.

    On rare occasions, restoring the iOS on your iPhone can resolve this issue, but the less invasive solution is to locate problematic apps on your phone that could be taking up space.

    To free up that space, follow these instructions:

    # Make sure your phone and apps are synced in iTunes.
    # If possible, make sure you have backed up or copied off any documents or data you might need, as you will lose it. A lot of apps allow you to email documents and data.
    # On the phone, go to *Settings/General/Usage.* You should find a list of all the apps.
    # On the right hand side is a list of the total storage space each app is using, including the app itself. The list is also handily listed in descending order of size. If you tap on on one of the apps on the list, it shows you how much space is being used by documents and data. You also have the option to delete the app.
    # To delete the app, simply tap on *Delete App.* The app is deleted, and so is the data which is stored in the ‘other’ area. Repeat for other apps if necessary.
    # To re-install the app(s), plug it in to your iTunes and re-sync your phone. The app(s) are re-installed with no data taken up in the ‘Other’ area.

    If you want a visual representation of your data, the third party app “*iExplorer*”:http://www.macroplant.com/iexplorer/ is very easy to use and available as a temporary demo. You can also purchase it if you choose.

  • Software Conflicts

    In South Burlington, we troubleshoot many software and hardware problems. Software in particular is usually a sure thing to resolve, even given that it’s likely that someone has had the exact issue in the past — all it would take is some online research to determine the best course of action, right?

    However, because software is all programming by human hands, it is never perfect. Couple this with the fact that software acts on each other in peculiar ways, and sometimes it can be quite a mess to resolve.

    This past week, I had a worst case scenario for software conflicts. The machine was suffering occasional memory error tones (which virtually never occurs during actual operation, but only on startup). We had tested this machine’s hardware thoroughly beforehand, finding no issues. As it turns out, computers running 10.6.8 (FYI: Now unsupported by Apple) have a conflict with Google’s cloud syncing service Google Drive, and this is a common problem.

    There were two solutions for the customer: Stop using Google Drive, or update to 10.9. The customer opted for the latter of the two, and I updated the computer to 10.9.

    Immediately after updating, the computer was powering off and rebooting immediately after startup. I figured the update didn’t resolve the issue, and it had grown worse, or could have been a memory issue still. I replaced the RAM with brand new modules, and this did not resolve the problem.

    When I checked the Console.app for shutdown causes, it appeared related to McAfee Internet Security. As I did more research, I found that this is a common problem — something that occurs after upgrading to OS 10.8 or 10.9. It did, however, take more effort to determine __how__ to remove it without any information on what exact version it was, as it had been previously uninstalled.

    After removing the problematic folder from the System Library, the random shutdown issue was resolved. Now I was able to run it long enough to confirm the error tone problem was also gone.

    Having multiple software conflicts at a time can be difficult or confusing to work with. The best thing one can do is remain objective and think carefully, determining what changes have been made since the problem started occurring, and research solutions online using as specific words as one can.

  • Does your Mac Need Anti-Virus Software?

    Customers ask us regularly to recommend anti-virus software for their Mac. Many of these are converts from the PC world and are accustomed to needing it. There are several reasons why it’s largely unnecessary.

    Since OS X 10.6.8 Apple has included anti-malware that is built into the OS. There was a lighter version in 10.4 and 10.5 called File Quarantine that confirmed with the user that files and applications downloaded from the Internet were intentional and approved. In 10.6.8 File Quarantine was enhanced to include actually checking downloaded files against a list of known malware and malware types/signatures. Again, this is built in.

    Apple has also established that many anti-virus programs interfere with Apple updates which is part of their argument for advising against them.

    The last two large reasons are the main difference between PCs and Macs and are probably the most important. The Mac OS uses compartmentalization, or ‘sand-boxing’. This means that applications are limited and isolated to the resources they need to access. This is very different from Windows operating systems where this isolation doesn’t exist and malware can attack system and other resources, although as of Windows 7 this is improving.

    Lastly, the argument most commonly given is that Macs have a smaller footprint in the market and are less appealing to hackers who must invest great resources in the development robust malware and viruses. This is diminishing somewhat as Macs become more popular, but it’s still true.

    Apple still tows the line that anti-virus software for modern Macs is unnecessary. I was a PC tech for fifteen years and dealt with at least one virus for a customer a week. In the year I’ve been working on Macs I haven’t seen a single one.

    So rest assured that your Mac is safe and installing anti-virus software has the risk of doing more harm than good.