Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Sharing is…Easy!

    One of my favorite new features to Mountain Lion (and one that I use all the time) is the handy little Share button that is available in apps like Safari, Finder, Preview, Notes, Photo Booth, iPhoto and more.

    For someone like me who creates and sends files all day long, this tool was extremely helpful. Have you discovered this yet? If not, here’s a quick look into the magical Share button.

    I’d say in one single day I might export my work to a PDF about 10-20 times, and in most cases, to email it to someone. Before Mountain Lion, the process looked something like this: *Export to PDF. Open up Mail > Create new message > Click the little paperclip > Locate file > Attach > Send email.*

    Now with the Share button, my process looks something like this: *Export to PDF. File automatically opens in Preview > Click Share button > Choose Mail.* Boom! A new mail message pops open with the attachment ready to go in the email. Type a quick little blurb and send ‘er off!

    With the Share button, you are also able to send via Message, AirDrop, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. For social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter, one quick click will open a little window that looks like a piece of paper, which allows you to write a blurb about what you’re sharing and then post it.

    The Share options in Safari include Add to Reading List, Add Bookmark, Email this Page, Message, Facebook and Twitter.

    If you aren’t already familiar with the Share button, I recommend you check it out. It really is the simplest and quickest way to share things with others!

  • MAC TREAT #202: Hard Reset Your iOS Device

    This week’s Mac Treat is short and sweet. Back when I used to work the retail floor for Small Dog, we were taught to power cycle any electronics as a first line of troubleshooting. It is funny how something as simple as turning an electronic device off and back on again can fix some problems. However, your device might be locked up in a way that makes turning it off seem impossible.

    Most electronics have some way of forcing a shut down and your iOS devices are no different. This procedure is guaranteed to work for iPod touches, iPhones and iPads (mini or biggie). I know for a fact that it works with iOS 4 and up but for anything older, I cannot say for sure.

    *To hard reset your iOS device:*

    * Hold down the *On/Off button* (aka Sleep/Awake) and the *Home button.*
    * Wait at least 10 seconds — until the screen goes dark and the Apple logo appears.

    Voila! You have just hard reset your iOS device. I would advise ??against?? using this method as your normal shutoff mode since it bypasses all the operating system’s normal shut down procedures (which are necessary for smooth operating). It is basically like unplugging your computer from the wall without shutting it down, so use this sparingly and only when the normal power down function is not working.

  • _Happy Spring!_

    It’s Kali, writing for Don again this week. He’s in sunny Florida at the moment, though I should stress that he says he’s there for work…we’ll see how tan he is/if he lets anything about baseball slip when Monday rolls around.

    Speaking of baseball, we have about a week and a half left of Spring Training before Opening Day, and I can’t wait (T-minus 11 days for my team, but who’s counting?). For you baseball fans out there, it’s definitely been a busy offseason, so here’s hoping for a surprising and exciting season!

    April is by far my favorite month of the year since it’s all about new beginnings. Even though Wednesday was technically the first day of Spring, we all know that at least here in New England, we have a few weeks to go before it starts looking or feeling like it — so, soon enough, flowers will be blooming, baseball will be in full swing, I’ll be turning another year older, and last, but not least, our Rutland location will be opening!

    Don has talked before about why we chose Rutland for our next store, and the reasons are many. In keeping with my theme, Rutland is also about new beginnings: revitalization, job creation, and sustainable business, to name a few. We’re excited to be coming there, and frankly, it feels natural to open another store in Vermont, where it all began. Over the next month, we’ll keep you informed about the details, but we hope to see you there!

  • Don't Hack Me, Bro

    Almost everything we do online these days involves passwords and security. It’s important to take some steps with your passwords to make them…

  • Gaming On A Mac

    Throughout history, Apple hasn’t been known to appeal to the video gamer market. However, in recent years, Apple has slowly been gaining steam…

  • RFID

    RFID or Radio Frequency Identification is a technology that allows wireless communication for devices at close range. When they are activated, these chips…

  • SPECIAL | MacBooks: Storage Up!

    Here at Small Dog, we really love the MacBook. We know that it is a __little__ outdated in the storage department, so we have included a 4GB RAM upgrade and an external 500GB LaCie hard drive in this bundle!

    These enhancements will keep your MacBook up-to-date with current trends in hardware.

  • SPECIAL | Apple + 50, Sitting In A Tree

    All Apple iPods come with a nice set of Apple Earbuds, but sometimes you just need more sound.

    That is where 50 cent comes to the rescue. Offering supreme fidelity, the Wired Over Ear headphones will make a perfect companion to your iPod classic and all that music you have on it!

  • SPECIAL | USB Flash Drive

    If you want to try and make your very own Bootable OS X Flash Drive, then this is the special for you!

    LaCie is known for their quality products and compatibility with Macs. We wanted to give you the chance to see it firsthand, so grab your LaCie CooKey with the following link and it will ship FREE.

  • OS Installations Pt. II

    Last week, I explained how to reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion by using the recovery partition to resolve software issues or to wipe and install a clean version of the OS. Those solutions rely on a fast internet connection that allows a download of the OS.

    A worthy thing to have in your tool box is a bootable USB installer just in case you cannot connect to the internet. It comes handy if you want to upgrade or install Mac OS on multiple personal machines or if you have done a hard drive replacement or upgrade. You would need a bootable installer because the recovery partition would not be available on the new drive.

    To make a Bootable USB stick you need:

    * One USB drive with at least 6GB of free space

    To create the Bootable USB stick follow these steps:
    *Acquiring the OS*

    * Purchase & download Mountain Lion
    * Quit the installer with *Command+Q* when the download is finished

    *Finding the Installer*

    * Navigate to the *Applications* folder
    * Locate the *Mac OS Installer* in the *Applications* folder
    * *Control+click* the file
    * Select *Show Package Contents* from the contextual menu
    * Navigate to *Contents > Shared Support*
    * Locate a file named *installESD.dmg*

    *Creating the Bootable USB Stick*
    *Warning*: All data on the flash drive will be erased in this process.

    * Launch *Disk Utility* (located in *Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility*
    * Drag the *installESD.dmg* file to the white space in the lefthand sidebar
    * Insert your USB stick into an available USB port on your Mac
    * Select the USB stick from the lefthand sidebar
    * Partition the USB stick with the following settings: *Format*: Mac OS Extended (journaled) & *Options*: GUID Partition Table
    * Select the Restore tab
    * From the lefthand menu drag the *installESD.dmg* to the *Source* field
    * From the lefthand menu drag the USB stick to the *Destination* field
    * Click *Restore*

    This process can take 15-30 minutes. Once completed, you have a bootable USB installer.

    To boot from USB, hold down the *Option* key when the machine is booting up before the first chime and select the USB installer.

  • iPhoto Library Management

    The contents of your iPhoto library have been stored as a package file since iPhoto ’08. Previously, the iPhoto library was simply a folder you could browse like any other. Apple’s decision to make it a package was a good one in my opinion as it led to less user-initiated library corruption and lets the operating system treat the iPhoto library as a single file rather than a folder. That’s especially helpful when you consider that it could potentially hold over a hundred thousand items in it!

    However, iPhoto still seems to corrupt its own library by itself occasionally. If you find question marks where you photos used to be, thumbnails that don’t correspond with the right image or don’t correspond with any images at all, you might be the victim of iPhoto library corruption. If this happens, you’re going to want to take the steps listed “*here*”:http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2638 to begin repairing and rebuilding the library. Note: This can be a time-intensive process — especially if the library is large.

    After you’ve gone through each step, check the library to see if your corruption issues are resolved. If they remain, I recommend taking a look at iPhoto Library Manager, available for free “*here.*”:http://www.fatcatsoftware.com/iplm/ This can be used to continue your corruption-resolving project, but also has features that you can pay for as well. Two of the most popular are duplicate removal and the ability to merge libraries. And, as Jason Hyerstay would tell you, iPhoto Library Manager has one of the cutest icons he’s ever seen. __(Ed. Note: LOL. -KH)__

  • Cotton Candy

    “*Last week,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/techtails/tt861/ I wrote an article about the awesome Raspberry Pi microcomputer. I had actually been working on this article when someone turned me on to the Raspberry Pi, so I took a detour to talk about it first.

    With the Raspberry Pi out of the way, I’d like to tell you about the Cotton Candy. It is both similar to and different than the Raspberry Pi. You have less control over what you are capable of doing with this product versus the Raspberry Pi, but you don’t need to be a hacker/programmer/engineer to be able to use it either.

    It is basically a ready-to-use workstation box. If you have been looking for a computer that fits in your pocket (so long as there is at least a screen, keyboard and mouse wherever you will be working), look no further than the Cotton Candy.

    The Cotton Candy is a codenamed project created by a Norwegian Company that basically puts an Android Smart phone into a USB memory stick with onboard Bluetooth. Plug this little bugger into a television or monitor, hook it up to USB power and with Bluetooth as your ally, you can surf the web or run Android applications from a little device the size of a pack of gum.

    Additionally, you can plug this device into the USB port of any computer, boot from it, and ultimately, use the hardware of the machine it’s plugged into (which affords you extra performance when you need it).

    It has the same hardware as the Samsung Galaxy S III and can output to 1080P high definition video. Plug it into your living room television and check email, surf the web, and play games all from the comfort of your couch. You also have the ability to connect to it from your Bluetooth-enabled smartphone rather than use a bulky keyboard and mouse.

    Technology is getting smaller and smaller these days, and as it progresses more and more, I begin to wonder what the next breakthrough will be. With the pocket computer being the center of attention what is the next version? What will be the next big thing?