Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Battery Monitors

    As Apple and consumers move more and more to portables as their primary machines, the health of the rechargeable battery in the unit becomes more and more an issue. There are many tools available to monitor your battery and its health–how do you monitor it?

    Apple has included a simple battery monitor display in the menu bar since OS 8. The relative charge percentage or approximate run time left in the battery are two variables that frequently change depending on exactly what you are doing with the computer. The hardware information of the battery, build and firmware information, capacity, cycle count, health and amperage output along with other statistics can be viewed in the Hardware section of System Profiler, under “Power.”

    The information that System Profiler provides can also be viewed in Terminal by using the ioreg command. One of the many commands in Terminal to look at your battery performance is:

    ioreg -l | grep Capacity

    Much like System Profiler, the Terminal application and command is a snapshot of the performance at the time you hit enter on the command.

    What choices do you have if you want dynamic tracking of the battery and its performance? One of the more common applications I have seen on customer machines in the past (and that we’ve mentioned) is “*Coconut Battery.*”:http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/

    The free app is a modest 1.5MB in size and provides real-time information on your battery. Like System Profiler and Terminal, Coconut Battery is an App window unto its own. It adds clutter to your display in its small window. It provides information regarding current charge, original capacity and current maximum charge. It also provides some system information about your computer, model of your machine, age of your computer and battery load cycles. It is not a static look of the battery and provides regular updates regarding the batteries key statistics.

    Of the applications I have found for battery monitoring though, “*Mac Data Recoveries Battery Guru*”:http://www.macosxfilerecovery.com/free-stuff/ is the one I like the most. This lightweight app functions as a Menu bar add-on. It does not run as an application in its own window, but rather a clean drop down. It provides the same data as provided by all the other apps mentioned and includes another key piece of information: Current Usage.

    The Current Usage is a real-time monitor of the output of the battery. You can monitor the Current Usage and monitor when your battery is under higher levels of stress. When you no longer need the information (such as when it’s plugged in), you can select Quit from the drop down and it disappears from the menu bar. Battery Guru absorbs a mere 369KB of disk space on your machine. Watching its processes in Activity Monitor, I have never seen Battery Guru use a significant percentage of processing power. Its footprint in memory was also smaller than CoconutBattery when activated.

    What do you use to monitor your battery?

  • We are back to work after a glorious 3-day weekend. The weather in Vermont could not have been nicer. It really is what makes putting up with our cold winters worth the effort.

    *Random Hacks of Kindness* (or RHoK) is this weekend. This is a global event of which Small Dog Electronics is taking a small part in by partnering to host a RHoK event in Burlington, VT. If you are local and want to join in with this charitable event, visit our “*Facebook page.*”:https://www.facebook.com/events/293857200701379/
    (“*Click here*”:http://www.rhok.org/event/burlington-vt-usa for more details or if you’re not on Facebook.)

    Even if you are not local but want to participate, it’s likely that there is an “*event near you.*”:http://www.rhok.org/events I find it very exciting to think that we may be playing a small part in making the life of someone just a little bit better.

    Did you know that Small Dog Electronics is one of Apple’s Premium Service Providers? This means that we have reached a level of customer service determined by Apple to be above their highest standards. We are authorized to provide service to all Apple products including the iPhone. Please keep us in mind if you accidentally drop your phone or run over it with your car.

    Speaking of running over with your car, have you seen the video of an iPad being run over by a truck? It’s here on “*YouTube*”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wOjuvq3sbEI and it’s a video done by Wired.com’s Geek Dad, Jim Kelly. Jim had read a story about one of our Hammerhead Capo Case user’s iPad being driven over when forgotten on the roof of his car and wanted to recreate it to see if it would work.

    We thought the iPad would be toast, but look out world–Jim actually runs over the iPad with his truck! We have a “*picture of Art*”:http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalldog/7295068840/in/photostream with the iPad and iPad case after it was returned to us for inspection. The case and iPad were completely undamaged (well, there are a few small divots in the case) but considering that I thought there would be smushed iPad guts on the guy’s driveway, it’s undamaged!

    Dawn
    “*dawn@smalldog.com*”:mailto:dawn@smalldog.com

  • Happy Memorial Day!

    It’s a beautiful Memorial Day weekend here in the Northeast. I’m heading over to Maine for my annual ride to lobster. The creemee…

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2942.gif!:http://www.smalldog.com/wag21363/at_dr

    *Save $25 on the HP TopShot LaserJet Pro M275NW Multifunction–it’s a printer, copier and scanner all-in-one. $349.99 with free shipping!*

    Use it wirelessly with your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch via AirPrint–it’s the perfect companion printer for the iOS home or office. Plus, it has the capability to scan 3D items…how cool is that?

    Because we want to give you the best deals AND stay in business, Deal Retriever deals are valid for one week only. Quantities are limited; offers good while supplies last.

  • Weekly Apple News Recap | 05.25.12

    Camera RAW Compatibility Update Apple released Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 3.13, adding further RAW image compatibility support for six new cameras to…

  • Okay, fair warning to red colored crustaceans, I am coming for you. Have a great Memorial Day weekend.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibble & Bytes Team,
    _Don, Kali, Mike & Dawn_

  • SPECIAL: Special Dad or Grad?

    Tell ’em you appreciate them! Father’s Day is June 17th, and students are graduating everywhere over the next few weeks. Of course, washing the car, bringing dad breakfast in bed or just spending some QT together might make the day awesome, but if dad or your favorite grad would appreciate a gadget (or more!) for their achievements, you’re in luck.

    We have three tiers of specials perfect for the person in your life who, as Mike D. likes to say, has “replicated or matriculated.” Note that any of the following specials are available with __any__ Mac, so if the one they’re pining for isn’t shown, we can make it happen. And if you want to take advantage of these deals yourself? We won’t judge. Next time you’re out, just give a nod to the dad dragging the kids around the store.

  • RHoK | Burlington, VT | June 2-3

    Join us for Small Dog Electronics’s very first Burlington, VT Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) event. This event is part of RHoK Global, which hosts simultaneous hackathons all around the world on June 2nd-3rd. Meet like-minded programmers, create new and exciting apps, and win prizes and hack for humanity!

    RHoK’s mission is to make the world a better place through a global community of innovation developing practical open technology. In this two-day event you’ll have the opportunity to help find solutions to submitted “*problems*”:http://www.rhok.org/problems from all over the world. Work with local subject matter experts on problem submissions from within our community, or choose from hundreds of global problems. This is a phenomenal opportunity to find technological solutions to solve local and global issues.

    *Quick FAQs:*
    *When:* June 2nd-3rd
    *Where:* UVM – courtesy of UVM Summer University
    *Cost:* FREE! We’ll even feed you!

    Who’s invited? Whether you program a little or a lot you’re welcome to attend. This can be a great chance to stretch your skills and learn new ones. Community members who feel they can contribute, even if they don’t code, are also welcome.

    How does it work? On Saturday morning, after an introduction to some of the local problems, you’ll break up into groups, choose a problem and work together to find a solution. Solutions need to be kept open source and you have the option to continue working on them after the hackathon. Sunday afternoon you’ll have a chance to present your solution to the group and a few lucky groups will go home with some pretty sweet prizes.

    Sign me up!
    For more information and to register “*check out our RHoK event page.*”:http://www.rhok.org/event/burlington-vt-usa

    On Facebook? Sign up here:
    “*https://www.facebook.com/events/293857200701379/*”:https://www.facebook.com/events/293857200701379/

    Any Questions? Contact Rebecca Kraemer, Director of IT for Small Dog Electronics, at 802.496.7171 x643 or “*rhok@smalldog.com.*”:mailto:rhok@smalldog.com

  • Third-Party Software News

    This may be a random feature from time to time…we stumbled across a couple of software releases this week, plus an app that just may change how you use your Mac forever (and by “forever,” we mean “as long as it takes to use computers as we know it until something comes out that we haven’t even heard of yet”).

    *Coda Comes to iPad*
    If you code for the web, Coda is often hailed as a light, easy-to-use alternative to DreamWeaver. I’ve used it off and on for several years now, and I concur. Panic, the developer, has now released “*Coda 2*”: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/coda-2/id499340368?mt=12%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 for Mac ($49.99) and “*Diet Coda*”: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/diet-coda/id500906297?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30 for iPad ($9.99).

    Early reviews for Diet Coda seem to indicate that there are some features people would like to see, such as offline editing without a server, but Panic is a very responsive developer who no doubt is listening to what customers want. I’d give it a try if you’d like to take your code with you on your iPad!

    *CheatSheet Makes a Shortcut for Shortcuts*
    This app was brought to our attention by Ed, who you may remember as a longtime staple of Kibbles & Bytes. Once installed, “*CheatSheet*”:http://www.cheatsheetapp.com/CheatSheet/ displays the keyboard shortcuts on your Mac via a prolonged click of the Command key.

    I found shortcuts that I didn’t even know existed–for example, I now can toggle my bookmarks through my keyboard!

  • APP REVIEW: Angry Birds Space

    bq. __”Space…the Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Angry Birds. Their continuing mission: to slingshot around strange new worlds, to destroy new pig civilizations, to boldly go where no app has gone before.”__

    The latest installment in the Angry Birds franchise takes the familiar gameplay from the first few games and adds a great new twist. The birds are now in space and have to deal with a variety of gravity wells. Completing levels now sometimes requires a method of navigating space known as a “gravity assist maneuver” or “gravitational slingshot.” This technique is used in real space exploration, first by “*Mariner 10*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_10 and most notably by the two “*Voyager probes,*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program in order to achieve velocities and trajectories that would otherwise require incredible amounts of fuel.

    Because of this connection, NASA has embraced Angry Birds Space as an opportunity to educate people about space and gravity. According to NASA: “Not only does gravity play a vital role in the game but, in general, gravity is a force that governs motion throughout the universe.” In addition to “*sending iPads to the space station,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/article/ipad-in-space/ presumably to play Angry Birds Space in space, NASA has also made a video of astronaut Don Pettit demonstrating the physics of projectiles in a microgravity environment using an Angry Bird toy and a makeshift slingshot. The video can be viewed “*here.*”:http://youtu.be/lxI1L1RiSJQ

    If learning isn’t your thing, that’s okay, because this game is also really fun to play. Your starting position and the number and type of gravity wells varies from level to level forcing you to constantly rethink your angle of attack and come up with some creative solutions to get pigs that seem impossible to hit at first glance. My favorite level (so far) is hidden and needed to be unlocked by getting what appeared to be a golden rock. When you hit the golden rock, you are warped to a game field that is an obvious homage to the classic arcade game Space Invaders.

    Download Angry Birds Space for iOS “*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/angry-birds-space/id499511971?mt=8%26uo%3D6%26partnerId%3D30

  • MAC TREAT #180: About This Mac Gets a Facelift

    The “About This Mac” feature on your Mac has always been a shortcut to the details and specs on your computer. It provides a quick reference if you need to know how much RAM is installed, your serial number, or processor speed at-a-glance.

    Before I get to the snazzy new look in Lion, though, I want to point out a tip that’s inherent in all versions of OS X: When you first select About This Mac from the Apple menu, a window pops up with some basic specs, including the version of the OS. Just by clicking those words, the data will rotate through, giving you access to your serial number right there.

    In that main window, there’s a button labeled More Info… that you can click to view your System Information. Here’s where Lion has made this much more user friendly! Visually, it’s a complete overhaul, with the old text lists making way for photos to help you understand what you’re looking at.

    It’s not just prettier, though. Browse through the website-like menu navigation (click for screenshots of “*Overview,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2940.png “*Displays,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2938.png “*Storage,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2937.png “*Memory,*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2939.png “*Support*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2936.png and “*Service.*”:http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2935.png) and you’ll find links to user manuals, upgrade instructions, warranty check information, the Help Center and more.