Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • iOS 6 Released

    On Wednesday, Apple released iOS 6 to the public, as expected. It includes over 200 updates and new features, and has been generally received favorably, with a few exceptions.

    Reports of the new native Maps app have gone from the sublime to the well, ranting and raving. In my limited use thus far, it behaves exactly as it should (and even gave me a safety warning beforehand of the dangers of driving while mapping). Of course, it’s barely been two days, and my travel has largely revolved around the Interstate, which can be easily found on the map.

    My guess is that it will keep improving (it must!), but I can understand that users are lamenting the loss of the perfectly-functional Maps app of the past.

    Passbook has also been met with scrutiny, but its accessibility and usability will also very largely on where in the world you are. I’ll touch more on this next week as I use it more myself and more users weigh in. Perhaps Apple will respond in some way as well.

    If you haven’t already upgraded to iOS 6 and you’d like to, *please make a backup of your data beforehand.* A few users have reported errors in installation (though some could have been due to the sheer number of updates happening on Wednesday) that required a full restore of the phone.

    There’s a lot to love about this update, though. Already, my mail is much more useful. Do Not Disturb settings are ready and waiting for me to use them when I need to be undisturbed. Subtle color differences are a fresh change. Overall, my iPhone 4 seems faster and more responsive. (My iPhone 5 is on order — I’m waiting until our preorders are filled and we have ample stock!)

    The native YouTube app is gone, though you can download the official YouTube app (free) in the iTunes Store, and it’s great. “*Get it here.*”:http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/stat?id=19XpSnZWhPI&offerid=146261&type=3&subid=0&tmpid=1826&RD_PARM1=http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/youtube/id544007664?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 (My son will be relieved that Old MacDonald’s Farm full of animals is still accessible to sing along to easily enough.)

    iOS 6 is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch models (“*see details and full compatibility list here*”:http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/). New iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5G) ship with iOS 6 installed.

    Here’s how you get the free update:

    * Connect your device to iTunes
    * Select “Check for Update”

    Or, wirelessly connect:

    * Go to *Settings > General > Software*
    * Check for over-the-air updates

  • _Happy iPhone 5 Launch!_

    Greetings, Kibbles readers — it’s Kali, writing for Don this week. He is — you guessed it — away this week, and when he returns next week, we hope to get full feedback on how his meetings in Cupertino went.

    Every year, Don touches base with the higher-ups at Apple, and gives them an update detailing what’s been happening at Small Dog Electronics. In past years, he’s done so by presenting a keynote (in Keynote), but this year, we decided to go big. Along with our friends at “*Egan Media Productions,*”:http://www.eganmedia.com we created a video that illustrates what drives us at Small Dog, where we are, and where we plan to go (literally and figuratively).

    “*Watch it here.*”:http://youtu.be/U4uHXKdsfW8

    Today is also iPhone 5 release day, and the excitement is in the air! We have our demos ready to show off in each store, and limited stock (with more on their way). We’re filling our preorders first, and we hope to see many more here shortly. We’ll keep you posted.

    I got my hands on one, and boy, is it light. It’s astonishing how light. I guarantee that it will be the first thing you notice when you pick one up. I loved holding it to my ear, as if I were taking a call (much to Hapy’s amusement) — the change in length is noticeable as well, and not in a bad way. The microphone is closer to your mouth, and feels much more natural. It reminds me of my old touchtone standard phone when I was a kid, except without the spiral cord and at a fraction of the weight.

    “*Find a store*”:http://www.smalldog.com/retail and come see for yourself!

  • We're here to help you run your business on a Mac!

    Do you own your own business or do you help run it? We want you — to come to our Small Business Mixer!

    Now’s your chance to ask your most pressing questions about running a business on a Mac and connect with others who are in a similar position — all in a super relaxed, social atmosphere. And did we mention that it’s free?

    *Join us Tuesday, September 25 in Manchester, NH or Wednesday, September 26 in Burlington, VT!*

    We will have Apple certified experts on hand to present solutions and answer all of your questions, whether you are looking for advice on Apple servers and desktops, or managing and deploying iPads and iPhones.

    And perhaps what’s better? Knowing you’re not alone with your questions — get to know others in your community and chat about what works and what doesn’t in your current environment. We’re ready to help you meet those challenges and get your business whipped into efficient, zen-like shape!

    The event is totally free, and tasty food and beverages will all be provided.

    *Manchester, NH at our store in the Mall of New Hampshire:*
    Tuesday September 25th from 5pm to 7pm
    1500 S. Willow Street, Manchester, NH 03103 (“*Click for directions.*”:https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&cid=12368375269685331729&q=Small+Dog+Electronics&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en)
    RSVP: Email “*dana@smalldog.com*”:mailto:dana@smalldog.com or call 603-854-1772.

    *S. Burlington, VT at our store under the tower:*
    Wednesday September 26th from 5pm to 7pm
    100 Dorset Street, S. Burlington, VT 05403 (“*Click for directions.*”:https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&cid=4541780102187329884&q=Small+Dog+Electronics&iwloc=A&gl=US&hl=en)
    RSVP: “*rob@smalldog.com*”:mailto:rob@smalldog.com or call 888-746-9812.

    Visit “*Smalldog.com/b2b for more details.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/b2b RSVP with the details above.

    See you there!

  • New Neoprene Cases for Laptops Available Now!

    Hello,

    The leaves are starting to change colors and there is a chill in the air at Hammerhead headquarters. I have switched to wool socks and the wood stove is ready to go. As I get my outerwear out of the closet, we are excited to announce new outerwear for the Apple portables.

    The Hammerhead Neoprene Cases for MacBook Air and Pro are available now! These cases are made from heavyweight 4-6mm neoprene to ensure protection for your laptop. Heavy duty zippers insure that the computer stays in the case but is easily accessible. The case can be used as a sleeve or you can reveal the handle to carry it like a briefcase. The 11″ model has an interior pocket and the 13″ and 15″ models have an exterior zippered pocket so that you have a place to store your charger and other accessories.

    If you would like NFR samples, please feel free to send me an email and we will get them right out to you: “*tony@hammerheadcase.com*”:mailto:tony@hammerheadcase.com

    Please see the sell sheet for colors and pricing: “Neoprene Case Sell Sheet”:http://vendor.hammerheadcase.com/pricelists/SS_neoprenecase_laptop.pdf

    As always, you can view our complete product line “here.”:http://vendor.hammerheadcase.com/pricelists/

    Thanks for ordering!

    Tony

  • iOS 6 Released Today

    Today, Apple released iOS 6 to the public, as was previously announced. iOS 6 is available for iPad, iPhone and iPod touches (see…

  • Why Didn't Apple…?

    While as a whole I was left satisfied (and ecstatic!) by Apple’s big announcements last week, I couldn’t help but feel as if…

  • Why Buy a 17-inch MacBook Pro?

    Small Dog Electronics has been providing alternatives to purchasing the latest-and-greatest, most expensive Macs since we started back in the late 1990s. We did this by working with Apple to move their refurbished and end-of-life computers. Don, Hapy and Art would travel the US and buy huge lots of computers which we would then ship back to Vermont and post on our text-based website.

    Once the computers arrived, Don and I write to our customer base and expound on the strengths of these “off the bleeding edge” computers. Purchasing a computer that is __not__ the “latest and greatest” does two things right off the bat:

    # Decreases the amount of money that you have to outlay to get a good computer.
    # Reduces the amount that you lose when this good computer becomes really old.

    So the first question is: Why buy a factory refurb? This answer is easy. The only reason you might not want to purchase a factory refurb is that you may need to upgrade the OS. The warranty is the same and the computers are eligible for AppleCare. So by all means, consider a factory refurbished computer.

    So why a 17-inch MacBook Pro? Don’t forget, only a few months ago, this was the ultra performance MBP. Until the MacBook Pro with Retina Display, this was also the highest resolution display that you could get on a laptop — meaning, that if you had the desire and need to have a large display on a computer you could put into a bag, this would be your choice.

    The 17-inch MacBook Pro is ideal for the person who needs a fairly large screen for design or large spreadsheets and who still needs to travel. It is the perfect choice for someone who can’t be desk-bound. Think of it as an easy way to carry a 21-inch iMac!

    The biggest reason to purchase one of these computers is the money that you save right out of the gate — comparing the lowest end of 17-inch vs. 15-inch Retina, you’ll save $850. That will leave you enough to purchase an iPhone 5, the new iPad and a new iPod nano.

    I’ve put the 17-inch MBP on special below with FREE shipping!

  • Easy iTunes Store Browsing

    I came across a neat tip on “*Lifehacker*”:http://lifehacker.com that makes browsing the iTunes Store much easier. I often find myself jumping back and forth between multiple app descriptions as I try to decide between several apps that do similar things.

    Apple has yet to implement any sort of tabbed browsing, so when you find an app that you want to check out and compare, just drag the icon into Safari (or other browser if you’re a Firefox or Chrome user). You should be able to drag multiple app icons into your browser, and each will open in its own tab — making it much easier to toggle between them!

    You can read the original “*Lifehacker article here.*”:http://lifehacker.com/5943944/easily-browse-the-itunes-store-by-dragging-icons-to-your-web-browser

  • Googlify Your Business

    While having in-house servers used to be standard for all flavors of businesses, more and more companies are turning to “Cloud Computing” or Software as a Service (SaaS) for their server needs. SaaS models used to be thought of as less secure and riskier than in-house servers. Now, with fully encrypted cloud options held at secure locations with redundant backups and robust networks it’s almost a no-brainer to make the switch to SaaS.

    We’ve recently become “*Google Apps for Business*”:http://www.google.com/intl/en/enterprise/apps/business/ resellers and we couldn’t be more excited about it! We’ve helped several businesses move from their existing mail, calendar, contacts and file sharing servers over to Google Apps and we’re in the process of making the switch ourselves.

    With the low price of $5/user/month we estimate that we’ll save thousands a year between hardware and maintenance costs. Not to mention, Google’s interface heavily promotes collaboration within an organization by providing easy-to-use tools that are intuitive and interface beautifully with Apple’s Mac and iOS. On the administrative end, I’m extremely impressed with the amount of tools I have at my disposal to ensure our company’s information remains secure and well-managed.

    If you’re thinking of making the switch to a SaaS system for your company’s needs, I highly encourage you to go with a trusted source, like Google. I’d also caution you to keep in mind that even with Google’s robust datacenter, it’s important to have a secondary backup of your information. Google guarantees uptime of 99.9%; that’s still not 100%. This is why we’ve also partnered with companies like “*Backupify.*”:https://www.backupify.com “*Backupify*”:https://www.backupify.com can create a secondary copy of your data and they host it on Amazon’s secure servers __plus__ you have the option of making a local backup on your own servers.

    Interested in hearing more about moving your business to “*Google Apps for Business?*”:http://www.google.com/intl/en/enterprise/apps/business/ Drop us a line at “*consulting@smalldog.com*”:mailto:consulting@smalldog.com or call us at 888.746.9816.

  • Super User to the Rescue

    In last week’s article, I mentioned a special command that requires a password to perform certain tasks. This week I’d like to talk about that command a little. It is called *sudo.* It is both an acronym for the expression “Super User DO” and also the “su” and “do” commands put together.

    The first part, “su”, is the power part. It enables you to enter commands as what is known as the “superuser” or “root” user. The superuser can do anything, which is both powerful and dangerous. When you enable as a superuser you will be warned up front that you are now capable of destroying your system with ease. While you are always required to enter your password when enabling as a superuser, you only get the warning once. After that, they assume you are on board with being responsible for your system. The warning is pretty dry in current incarnations of the OS, but in the past the text looked like this:

    bq. __We trust you have received the usual lecture from the local System Administrator. It usually boils down to these two things:__

    # Respect the privacy of others.
    # Think before you type.

    Kind of friendly and humorous. (And, kind of sad that level of humor has made way for more straightforward notices.)

    On to the second part: “do” is what it seems like. It is an action command. So together, you get “sudo” or SuperUserDO. One might ask why bother to use “sudo” when you could just use “su” and then type in your commands? From a caution point of view, “sudo” provides some benefits — it times out after 15 minutes, after which it requires you to enter your password again. So it’s OK to walk away and forget you were logged in as the root user, because after 15 minutes you revert to your normal status.

    The “sudo” command is a great tool to accomplish tasks normally not allowed in terminal, such as changing permissions and ownership of certain files and moving things you normally couldn’t. For more information, “*click here*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudo to see the wikipedia page. Next week we’ll look at some tasks that require the use of this powerful command.

  • Hello all,

    The light is starting to have that pale look it gets this time of year and the days will soon be noticeably shorter. I love the fall for a lot of things…apples, Halloween, crunchy leaves, and the excuse to eat stew and thick soups all the time, to name a few. I actually enjoy walking through cold rain and wind while the leaves fall, because at the end, there will be warm cider or cocoa. That’s to come, though.

    Did anyone hear the Apple released a new phone last week? I am joking of course–if you had not heard about it you would have had to be taped up in a cardboard box in a closet somewhere near the arctic circle. No matter what side of the love it/hate it iPhone debate you come down on, it seems likely that the iPhone is going to help drive competition and innovation in the phone market for a long time.

    Anyway…there’s another Terminal article this week, plus more from our group of intrepid techs. Thanks for reading.

    Liam
    “*liam@smalldog.com*”:mailto:liam@smalldog.com