Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • How Do I Move to an iPhone?

    If you’ve recently purchased an iPhone, you’re probably asking yourself, “How do I get all my stuff to it?” People have a lot…

  • What is Flashback?

    Last October we reported Flashback, (Fake Adobe Updater), which poses as an update to Adobe Flash, but really installs a “backdoor” to allow…

  • As service technicians, we are always getting into your system. Over the past seven years the iMac has changed quite a bit from the small white 17-inch screen with a white acrylic case to the 27-inch aluminum beast we have now.

    The parts inside have changed a lot as well–while some have stayed relatively the same (such as the optical drive and the hard drive), other components such as RAM, AirPort card and logic board have all been reduced in size. While the overall access to the internals of the iMac has become a bit more difficult, we’ve found that the design is one that still amazes through the attention to detail.

    We always love to look into the new version of a computer and see what has changed, what has been improved, and what our new challenges are. And of course, we always like it when there are no extra screws left when we are done!

    Jason
    “*jasonl@smalldog.com*”:mailto:jason@smalldog.com

  • Small Dog Offers Extended Warranty Service

    Small Dog recently joined forces with Mack to provide 3 year warranty protection for your new electronic device that will protect against accidental…

  • Early Review of Photoshop CS6

    A few weeks ago, Adobe announced a beta release of their up-and-coming version of Photoshop CS6. This comes as little surprise to most…

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2854.gif!:http://www.smalldog.com/wag21296/at_dr/

    *Save an extra $200 on the 8-Core 2.4GHz Mac Pro–over $600 off brand new!*

    These Small Dog Refurbished units were used in a testing lab only and are in extremely good condition. Hurry–only 3 available at this price!

    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.

  • Grace has been packing for this Hammerhead trip for a couple of weeks now, but I always wait until the last minute and will try to organize myself over the weekend. The weather looks sunny with warm temperatures, so it just may be that motorcycling allows me to procrastinate more.

    Dawn and Kali will keep you up-to-date while I am out of the country, but I will try to send in reports and perhaps some pictures from the shows and factories. I’ll be traveling with my iPad and Bluetooth keyboard to stay in touch.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes! Happy Passover and Happy Easter!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
    _Don, Kali & Dawn_

  • 2.5-in SATA drives are ON SALE

    Need to replace an internal 2.5-inch drive or want to build your own external drive? 750 GB and 1 TB drives are marked down for this week.

  • Smalldog.com Has a New Search!

    We’re really excited to announce that we’ve just rolled out a new search engine on “*Smalldog.com!*”:http://www.smalldog.com The result? Your searches will be faster, more accurate and more productive.

    Here are some of the new features:

    * Spelling tolerance (go ahead, search for __pleather__!)
    * Search prediction as you type:

    !(image)http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2849.png!

    * Improved pagination of search results
    * Improved category/manufacturer/condition refinement of search results
    * Results are fully sortable
    * The search arrow can be clicked to run the search
    * You can now use the search to jump right to a specific product by entering a Filemaker ID, part number, UPC number, or wag ID
    * Much faster, and more accurate results thanks to improved search algorithms and caching

    …and more!

    Give it a try and let us know what you think below!

  • Early Review of Adobe Photoshop CS6

    A few weeks ago, Adobe announced a beta release of their up-and-coming version of Photoshop CS6. This comes as little surprise to most since Adobe is constantly coming out with something new; however, I have been looking into some of the new features in depth with this latest release, and I am impressed.

    To start, there has been a revival of the technique known as “*Tilt-Shift*”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilt-shift_photography in the photography world. For those who don’t know what this is, it is the process of making a real life image appear like it is a modeled miniature by using a special lens to blur the top and bottom of an image. Lately, artists have been using technology in lieu of a lens to create these images. Adobe has catered to this rebirth by adding a few new types of blur techniques, one of which will give you the look and feel of a tilt-shifted photograph. Now, instead of saving your pennies on that fancy lens for your camera, you can achieve the same effect with a few clicks.

    The next feature that completely blew my mind was the Content Aware move tool. I am pretty sure that Adobe has started employing more magicians than engineers because this tool works like magic. It gives you the ability to select an area on your flattened image and then move that selection. In previous versions of Photoshop, you would be left with an area of background color where the selection used to be. Well, not anymore! Now, the spot where your selection used to be will be filled with content that very accurately resembles the selection’s surroundings.

    Of course, these are just two of the numerous features Adobe is rolling out with their new version of Photoshop. I think many more will be testing out this beta version for the next few months until the final release hits the shelves. To those who might want to hold off on purchasing Photoshop knowing that a newer version is on the horizon, I say go ahead and buy CS5.5–Adobe has said that they will be offering a free upgrade to CS6 for any customers who purchase CS5.5 between March 26th and May 6th, 2012.

    Lastly, if you would like to participate in this beta you can download a trial “*here.*”:http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/photoshopcs6.html You can read more about the additional features Adobe Photoshop CS6 “*here.*”:http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/photoshopcs6/

  • MAC TREAT #178: Use Your Own Remote With Apple TV

    Did you know that you can control your Apple TV with just about any remote? With this tip, you can make it happen.

    To set it up, navigate to *Settings > General > Remotes* on your Apple TV , and select “Learn Remote.” Assuming you have the remote you’d like to use in-hand, just follow the instructions from there. It’s really just a matter of pressing the button you wish to control a certain function, so it will be customized to you (and your trusty remote).

    Don’t have an Apple TV? “*Grab one here.*”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/80135/