Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • REVIEW | Clumsy Ninja

    Otherwise known as “Clumsy Ninja: A Virtual Friend With So Much Charm That Resistance is Futile.” I don’t think I really expected to enjoy “*Clumsy Ninja*”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clumsy-ninja/id561416817?mt=8&at=11lb7k&ct=Kibbs as much as I have. I’m not really into virtual being simulators; I’ve tried games like Nintendogs on the Nintendo DS, and I didn’t really understand the appeal.

    Clumsy Ninja really changed the way I thought about these types of games, and most importantly, I’m having a really fun experience with it. There can be moments where the game can be a little slow and repetitive, but nevertheless, if you take your time with the game and play it in short bursts, the experience stays fresh and fun. The game also does a very nice job pulling you back in, even if you don’t play it every day. You can allow notifications to remind you to check up on your ninja if you haven’t checked in for awhile. In my experience, the ninja has the tendency to start flying away when I’m not looking.

    In Clumsy Ninja, you’re creating a ninja from scratch. He doesn’t really have any talent or coordination when you’re first introduced; it’s up to you to help train him so that he can rescue his friend that had been kidnapped. You teach the ninja to fight, jump from rooftop to rooftop, and use ninja weapons among other exercises. When you teach the ninja new skills or complete a training exercise, you’ll gain experience and currency, which can be used to purchase training items or to repair them after you’ve used them for awhile.

    While the core gameplay mechanic of creating a character and training them from scratch has been used a lot over the years, one of the things that really amazes me about this game is the responsiveness and the fluidity of movement of your character. This adds a certain charm to the game that I don’t think would be as impressive if the character had stiff, unresponsive movements. When you finish a training exercise and the Ninja wants you to give him a high-five, you’ll see what I mean.

    While the game is very simple, there was some difficulty trying to see what could possibly hold the game back. Sure, this is a “freemium” game, so of course there are plenty of in-app purchases that can be made, but gaining currency and gems happens regularly just by playing the game, so that doesn’t affect the experience as a whole. Integration with Facebook and Twitter has been built in, so that you can share your experiences with friends and invite them to play too.

    It’s difficult to describe this type of gameplay experience, though — I feel it’s meant to be a little more social. It’s an experience you would talk to people about and have interesting stories to share. I think this is a game that people will be talking about for a very long time.

  • Analog, Digital, Analog

    I don’t quite remember when I first saw an iPod. It was probably when I was a freshman in high school around 2002. Music was in kind of a weird spot at that time. CDs were still mostly on top, tapes were mostly out, vinyl was on life support in its DJ niche and there was this thing called the internet and MP3s that was just barreling onto the scene. Obviously we all know how that turned out. Digital music has become absolutely ubiquitous and with increased storage and processing power, early compression quality problems are now relics of a more barbaric age.

    It makes sense then when you hear that since around 2005, physical media sales have been falling faster than an actual lead zeppelin. Even CDs, once the darling child of pure, crystal clear quality have toppled from their place as dominant media type in the mid-2000s. Surprisingly though, from the ashes of digital music’s takeover green shoots of an unlikely variety have started to rise. Vinyl, basically in free fall since the late 1970s, has actually seen a pronounced uptick in recent years, especially among younger people.

    Back in the summer of 2005, I decided to undertake the big project of digitizing the bulk of my parents’ record collection. I don’t remember if USB turntables existed at the time, but I bought a regular turntable and connected it to a 1977 Pioneer SA-8500 integrated amplifier. From there, I ran the output to my computer’s sound card and using a program called “Audacity”:http://audacity.sourceforge.net/, proceeded to digitize album after album. It took a long time. I basically had to sit there listening to every album to monitor the input levels (listening to tons of great albums? Must’ve been torture!).

    I’ve never used one of the USB turntables to digitize, so I can’t speak to how they work, but digitizing by just running into the sound card is pretty easy. Just make sure you have some way to see and adjust the input levels so the waveforms don’t get clipped. If you don’t have, or don’t want an amplifier though, a USB turntable is your best bet for digitization.

    It’s been almost a decade since my Great Digitization, but the funny thing is, I hardly ever listen to music (other than streaming radio) on my computer nowadays. I’ve basically moved fully to vinyl. Surprisingly, you can get just about any new album on vinyl, and most releases come with a free digital download. This is great because you can get the album, including all the liner notes and artwork, but still have a digital copy as well.

    So dust off those turntables, flip through milk crates of records, and bask in the warm sounds of analog music bliss.

  • Apple Releases Crucial Security Updates

    __Otherwise known as “‘Bout time! Patch those OS’s, people!”__ Last Friday, Apple released an update for iOS 7, and then followed with an update for OS 10.9 Mavericks this week. Both address critical vulnerabilities that the operating systems had, not the least of which included the potential for hackers to access encrypted data (meaning they could potentially grab usernames, passwords, location data and more).

    *iOS 7.0.6 Update*
    It was largely kept under wraps, but many have speculated that the security flaw in iOS 7 was one of the largest in Apple history. iPod touch, iPad and iPhone users were vulnerable to hacking via the installed mobile browser(s) — Safari et al. However, as these issues became known, Apple acted quickly, and the release fixes the outlying problem.

    *If you’re running iOS 7 and you haven’t updated yet, please do so now.*

    Either plug in your device and update via iTunes, or navigate to your Settings app (you may have noticed that red number badge — don’t ignore that bad boy!) and tap Software Update. Click “Download to Install”, agree to the Terms, and start downloading. Note: I recommend plugging in as a preferred method so that you can back up your data before updating!

    *OS 10.9.2 Mavericks Update*
    Mavericks was found to have the same security flaws, as well as bugs within Mail and Calendar that Apple wanted to address. The update primarily “prevents the validation of encryption certificates from supposedly secure servers” so you’ll want to make sure you update immediately. Additionally, the security fixes affect Mail, Calendar, iCloud and other apps on your Mac.

    *If you’re running Mavericks, do this update immediately after you run a backup!*

    Among other things, this update:

    * Adds the ability to make FaceTime audio calls
    * Fixes and issue that may cause VPN to disconnect
    * Improves Autofill compatibility
    * Resolves a Mail issue that prevented new messages from certain providers
    * Improves accuracy of unread counts in Mail

    For the whole list, “*click here.*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT6114
    For detailed info about the security content, “*click here.*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

    It’s important to note that this update is fairly substantial in size and what it covers, so definitely back up your important data first. Mail will re-index once the update is installed, but that should finish quickly enough (I have a loooot of mail — tens of thousands across seven accounts — and it indexed in about 3 minutes, so it’s not too bad).

    On both my Macs, I had to manually run Software Update — it didn’t appear in the list right away. Under the Apple menu, select Software Update, and it should then pop up in the list of available updates. There is also an iTunes update available that you’ll want to run that fixes app crashing problems.

    Additional Sources: “*NY Times*”:http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/apple-issues-fix-for-security-problem-on-macs/, “*Engadget*”:http://www.engadget.com/2014/02/25/os-x-update-10-9-2/

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Thank you for all of the feedback that you have sent regarding Kibbles. It is really helpful to know what you are thinking about the newsletter. While we are always looking at each part of our operations, I have no intention of stopping Kibbles & Bytes. I want to make sure it is meeting the needs of the readers and also serves to add to the company in both tangible and intangible ways. I think that the most compelling comment I heard is that while you may not buy frequently __yourself,__ many of you tell your friends and neighbors about Small Dog Electronics, and that is our most valuable form of advertising, so thank you so much!

    We’re back into the deep freeze this week, but I’ll be heading down to our Key West store just in time to miss it. Next week is Town Meeting Day in Vermont, and this tradition in democracy is when towns, big and small, have a public meeting and vote for town officials and budgets and address other business and resolutions. In my town of Warren, Vermont, there is also a pot-luck lunch in the middle of the meeting. I have not been able to attend the meetings because of work lately, but have always been amazed and proud of this grassroots democracy. While some towns have “Australian” ballots where people can come in and vote, many towns prefer the in-person voting by a raise of hands, voice or sometimes, little slips of paper passed forward. We do give our employees the time off to attend town meeting.

    Have you checked out “*our blog, Barkings?*”:http://blog.smalldog.com I have been posting all month in honor of Black History Month, but we always have some articles, tidbits, news and fun stuff that you might find interesting, so check it out!

    Need to upgrade your network? We have a great bargain on the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Stations. These are Apple factory refurbished units with a 1-year Apple warranty and support 802.11n and Gigabit Ethernet. I am going to bundle this Base Station this week with a Seagate 1 TB Backup Plus Slim drive. This will give you the option of connecting the drive right to the AirPort Extreme Base Station and having wireless automatic backups via Time Machine. Kibbles & Bytes readers can buy this “*special bundle for only $169.99!*”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900001288

    As one of my colleagues in this business says as his signature, “May you have 1000 back-ups and never need one.”

  • Black History Month – BB Stringfield

    Bessie B. Stringfield, a.k.a. “BB,” was the first black woman to make eight long-distance solo tours across the U.S. on a motorcycle. In…

  • Back up your stuff — anytime, anywhere! The Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Drive is the simple, one-click way to protect and share…

  • I have a buddy coming over from the other side of the pond (that’s Lake Champlain…) who I haven’t seen for awhile. He is an amateur photographer and wants to go exploring for abandoned buildings and interesting sites, so we’ll be cruising in Vermont for that perfect picture and laughing a lot.

    I am serious about needing your feedback on Kibbles & Bytes so that we can make it better suited for these current times. Feel free to drop me a note by replying to this issue. Thank you so much for being a loyal customer and for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
    _Don, Kali & Stephanie_

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  • Backup Deja Vu

    Nobody likes a broken record (well, maybe some people do), but if there’s one thing we can’t repeat enough in the tech world, is that you need to keep backups. Good backups. The best way to appreciate the value of backups is to spend some time working at a help desk. When I worked at the help desk in college, the only thing more guaranteed than full computer labs during finals was people asking to help recover files. Sometimes I could get the files back, but sometimes they were gone for good. The best way to prevent that scenario is with a good backup system.

    There are ??lots?? of options for backing up, and depending on your needs, some options are better than others. During my final year in college, I became so paranoid about losing critical files I backed up to manual .tar.gz archives on a file server every single night. Fortunately, I never had to dig into those archives, but it gave me peace of mind to know everything was safe. Actually, Apple’s Time Machine backup system came out while I was in college, but I was solidly in penguin-land (Linux) by then, so that wasn’t an option.

    Nowadays, I use Time Machine on my MacBook Pro at work. It backs up to a 1TB external drive over firewire. While I’ve only had to use it a few times, and not for anything mission critical, it’s certainly been really great and helpful. At home though, I hadn’t been following my own advice, and was living dangerously without a backup system for a while. Fortunately, nothing ever happened, but I’ve since mended my ways and now use two primary backup systems/methods.

    At home, my primary desktop is linux, so I can’t use Time Machine, but I do have a Mac mini I use as a file/web server. This is where my backups usually go. For a while, I used a linux-based backup tool. It was very simple, and I think it was probably based on rsync. It had its share of problems, and I don’t think it ever liked that I forced it to backup over my network to the Mac mini. So when I got tired of its problems recently, I started looking at other solutions and was immediately drawn to “*Code42’s CrashPlan*”:https://www.code42.com/crashplan/. This is an amazing backup solution that gives you more options than you can shake a stick at!

    First, for free, you can download their client for linux, Windows or OS X. Once you’ve installed it on all the computers you want to back up, it just works. You can tell it to backup one computer to another, or to a folder (like on an external hard drive), or even to a trusted friend’s computer over the internet. I was amazed at how easily this worked, and how easy it was to install.

    Once it was installed on my linux desktop, and my mini, they just started talking to each other. No configuration, no nothing. The first backup takes a while, but after that, incremental backups will be much smaller. And if you need more backup space (petabytes?), you can pay as little as $4 a month and backup to CrashPlan’s encrypted cloud. No gimmicks. They seriously let you back up as much as you want for the same price. Obviously the data has to go over the internet, so backing up petabytes there might not be such a good idea, but you can seed your cloud backup by mailing them a drive with all of your data for about $125.

    My second backup scheme at home is something I don’t think people consider too often, and that’s archiving. There’s a lot of old data I have that I don’t need on a daily, or even monthly basis, but I want to keep it. There’s a huge debate online about the best archival methods. Many people even advocate for good ol’ magnetic tape, but I choose to backup to extremely high quality “*Taiyo Yuden*”:http://www.t-yuden.com/ DVD+Rs. As far as I know, you can’t buy these DVD+Rs in stores (at least not commonly in the U.S.). They’re pretty expensive, and for best results, you should make sure you’re buying them directly from Japan to ensure you get the real thing.

    I’ve had too many cheap DVD+Rs fail on me after a month or two, so for archive-and-forget-it schemes, I highly recommend spending the extra money. Once I archive my data to redundant archive disks, I make sure to keep them in a safe place and about 1-2 times a year, I pull them out and run an integrity check. I have had to dip into my archive disks once or twice, and I was extremely happy to have them.

    Hopefully I didn’t sound like too much of a backup broken record here. The point is backups are critical, and if you do a little research, there are solutions out there for pretty much everyone and every situation. If I can backup my linux desktop to my Mac mini, anyone should be able to find a solution that fits their needs.

  • How Old is Old?

    How old __is__ old? That is a great question in the context of technology and its life span. It can seem like as soon as you make that new purchase, it becomes yesterday’s news. This is definitely the case when it comes to module electronics. Cell phones are constantly being redesigned every day to incorporate the next big trend or technology that manufacturers think the public will go crazy over. There have been iPhone updates nearly every year and several Android and Windows phones out every quarter — each with a different range of technologies, new features and target markets.

    Computers are getting more and more complicated, and smaller and smaller as the technology develops and more powerful processing units can be packed into littler packages. For instance, look at the previous Mac Pro model and the current one; the new version is a __fraction__ of the size and has way more processing power and capabilities.

    So how can you anticipate when something will become outdated?

    Technology technically becomes outdated when the hardware and software manufacturers no longer support your model of electronics. Whether it’s been discontinued or dropped as a product line, generally that means that you can no longer get help to repair or service your product. Then, it’s no longer a useful piece of technology if you’re out of luck if something goes wrong.

    In the Service department, we often see computers that would be classified as “old” at 5+ years, meaning we can no longer get parts from Apple or service the software that originally came with the unit. Apple has a five year cut-off point; when a model hits five years old, it becomes “vintage.” Parts are no longer manufactured for vintage models and replacement parts are on an “as available” basis. When a model hits six to seven years old, it is classified as “obsolete” and no parts are available — any that are left over are recycled.

    Now, what to do with your old machine if you have outdated technology that’s not working for you anymore?

    I have an old G4 that is still kicking, but its processor is too slow upgrade to a supported Mac OS. Its usefulness has definitely passed, as I can barely surf the internet with it anymore — it’s often the case that internet browsers and coding technology change quickly, so if I can’t upgrade my OS, there’s not much I can do. The oldest supported Mac OS is 10.6 (Snow Leopard), so if you are running anything older than that, you’ll find you can’t update some of your software like iTunes.

    Have a shiny new iPhone? Until you upgrade to something that can handle at least 10.6 or a Windows platform for the latest version of iTunes, you won’t be able to sync it with your computer. Apple and most Apple Authorized Service Providers won’t be able to service anything vintage or obsolete because they can only get authentic parts from Apple, which in turn, may not manufacture or distribute them depending on your status.

    The bottom line is, if your machine or device is at least five years old, you should start thinking about upgrading to something that is able to be repaired if it breaks.

    __Editor’s Note: For more computer ownership best practices, and signs you may need to upgrade,__ “*this is a fun read.*”:http://www.squawkfox.com/2013/02/21/upgrade-computer/ -KH