Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Time Machine for New Users

    A lot of people are will be getting new Macs this year, and I’m hoping all of them will also be buying external hard drives for backups. The most common failure we see in our service centers are failed or failing hard drives. I’d say that perhaps half of all people who come in with these bad drives don’t have backups or haven’t backed up in months.

    If you’re new to the Mac or new to Leopard (10.5), Snow Leopard (10.6) or the current Mac OS, Lion (10.7), there is backup software called Time Machine built right in. It’s easy to format an external drive to work with your Mac and Time Machine.

    To do so, you’ll need to use Disk Utility to properly partition your drive. To find Disk Utility, either navigate to *Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility* go to Spotlight (the magnifying glass icon) in the top righthand corner of your screen. Type “Disk Utility” in the search box dropdown, and then select it from the list.

    Once in Disk Utility, you’ll see your external hard drive listed on the lefthand side of the window. (Unless you haven’t unboxed it and/or plugged it in yet–if you haven’t, I’ll wait. Ready? OK.)

    Click on your hard drive’s icon and you’ll see a tab for Partition on the righthand side of that window. Click it. Choose one partition from Partition Layout. Name it what you want under Partition Information. Make sure the Format is “Mac OS Extended (Journaled).” Then click Apply. Give it a bit to process and you’re done.

    To view and set up the drive in Time Machine, go to the Apple in the top left corner of the screen and choose *System Preferences > Time Machine.* On the righthand side of the window, there is a button that says “Select Disk.” Click that and choose your hard drive from the list. Make sure Time Machine is on and your computer will handle it form there. As long as that drive is plugged in and mounted, you’ll get hourly backups.

    If you’re running on a laptop and don’t want the drive always connected, Time Machine will pick up where it left off the next time you plug it in, though it may not start immediately. You can force backups by going to the Time Machine icon on the top right of your screen and clicking “Back Up Now.”

    *Some tips for first time users: 1) Don’t interrupt your first backup, and 2) Expect it to take awhile if you have a large amount of data. (My first 500+GB backup took about 8 hours!)*

    This is something we mention a lot in Tech Tails, but I’m going to do it again: If you’re not backing up, please make it your new year’s resolution to do so. If you lose your data to a failing drive, it is extremely expensive to recover that data. A backup drive may cost you under $200; data recovery can cost you over $1,000.

  • Happy Tuesday,

    The solar installation at Small Dog’s Waitsfield, VT headquarters is complete and functioning after a very quick and efficient installation. I wandered to the electric meter the other day, with the panels covered in snow, and was amazed to watch the meter spin backwards–quickly! It’s very cool to look out the window one moment, and then again an hour later, to see the panels have moved to focus their productive surfaces towards the sun as the day goes on.

    After more than four months, the last stretch of highway destroyed by Irene is finally open again. Route 107 was particularly hard-hit, and much work remains to be done, but local residents and commercial traffic is undoubtedly thrilled to get closer to the way things were. I hadn’t driven south of Warren on Route 100 since the storm, so the drive home for Christmas on that road was an eye opener. There are still houses lifted from their foundations here and there in the floodplains, a terrible reminder of just how bad things were, and still are, for so many affected by the storm.

    Happy new year from all of us at Small Dog Electronics. Here’s to a great year!

    As always, thanks for reading, and keep in touch.

    Matt
    “matt@smalldog.com”:mailto:matt@smalldog.com

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  • Coupon

    Starting off the New Year with a new iPhone or iPad?
    *Get $10 off a 30-min in-store lesson!*
    !(image)http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2745.gif!

  • Shortcuts and User Guides

    Wish you knew a keyboard shortcut? Want to use your iPad for work but aren’t sure if it’s the right fit for you?

    Check out our link for “useful tips, tricks and how-to guides”:http://www.smalldog.com/pdfs for many popular products in our stores.

  • New Products!

    Altec Lansing inMotion classic IMT320

    *$79.99*

    SwitchEasy Melt Hardcase for iPhone 4/4s

    *$34.99*

    iHome DK-H22 dual alarm clock speaker system for iPod
    (not compatible with iPhone)

    *$48.99*

  • Classes | 01.12

    *Absolute Mac Basics is back in our S. Burlington, VT location!*

    Sunday, Jan 8, 2012 – 5:15pm to 6:45pm
    Sunday, Jan 22, 2012 – 5:15pm to 6:45pm

    Sign up in any of our stores or by “clicking here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/Classes/

  • iTunes Match and PhotoStream

    **iTunes Match**

    iTunes match is the newest service from Apple. It allows you to upload all of your music to the cloud and then download it onto your devices from anywhere (that has a connection to the internet).

    The biggest limitation I have noticed with it is when if you have over 25,000 songs that where not purchased through the iTunes store. For music enthusiasts with ginormous libraries, you will not be able to host your music with this service.

    One of the more incredible features of the service is that for $25/year you can download music from anywhere in the world. No more going home to get your favorite songs onto your iPhone because you originally downloaded it to your iPad.

    **PhotoStream**

    PhotoStream is Apple’s new photo cloud service. PhotoStream automatically streams every photo you take with your iOS devices, so that you can download them onto any of your other devices from the internet. This can be handy for sharing all of your pictures no matter which device you have with you at the time. You can also save the pictures to the device for offline viewing.

    The one downfall of PhotoStream is that while it gives you the ability to access your last 1,000 photos from anywhere, it does not allow you to delete them from the cloud. Say you take five pictures of one thing trying to get that perfect photo on your iPhone or iPad–all of these will appear in your PhotoStream and you’re not able to immediately delete the ones you don’t want.

  • When Technology Isn't Second Nature

    I started working at Small Dog a month ago. My friends are a little surprised at this transition in my life: a long-time teacher-turned-salesperson at an Apple Specialist. It may seem out of character, but for me, this is a fitting change.

    I love challenges and I love Apple products. I am intrigued with the technology and how systems mesh within that world. I work primarily with people who are thirty years my junior; their version of multi-tasking is processing a customer’s order while keyboarding at the speed of light and answering another’s technical questions.

    I am clearly on the other side of the learning curve. Most of them were brought up with computers. I had my first computer when I was in my mid-thirties. It was a very intimidating Commodore, running on DOS, which was even more intimidating. I used PCs until about six years ago, when I shifted to Macs, a transition that proved to be one of the best decisions I have made in a long time!

    I love Apple products for their functionality, intuitiveness, and aesthetics. Every day, I learn a little more about the technology I am surrounded by, thanks to the energetic, young people I work with. They seem to have computer lingo, eye-hand skills and knowledge deep in their veins and teach me a bit more on a daily basis. I enjoy the challenge of learning, so no matter your skill level or your age, it’s always the perfect time to pick up an Apple product!

  • Happy New Year!

    It’s a new year with new beginnings, and for many of us, this triggers a new surge in energy.

    I don’t know the actual statistics (I heard somewhere that “73.6% of statistics are made up on the spot”:http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-02-17/strategy/30008803_1_market-forecasts-analysis-data-projections), but as many of us know, the resolutions we make for the New Year are long forgotten before the groundhog even thinks about looking for his shadow.

    This year, in an effort to not become another New Year’s statistic, I am keeping my resolutions realistic: 1) spend more time with my family (even when the kids are driving me nuts!) and 2) get my husband to complete one project around the house before he starts three more projects…

    Small Dog Electronics is starting off the New Year with some exciting news as well–our solar panel installation is complete! We have installed solar panels at our headquarters in Waitsfield that will create enough electricity to power our South Burlington store and a significant portion of the Waitsfield location…amazing.

    Check out our “Facebook gallery”:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150413437887007.356979.18904017006&type=1 to see the finished project.

    Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2012!

    Emily and the Waitsfield retail staff
    “emily@smalldog.com”:mailto:emily@smalldog.com

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/2748.gif!:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18275/at_dr/

    Very small for its vast storage capacity, the LaCie Neil Poulton 1TB USB 2.0 Hard Drive is lightweight, compact and has a mirror-polished black finish. Well-reviewed by professionals and customers alike, the Neil Poulton drive is user-friendly, high quality and quiet. *Normally $139.99; now $30 off at $109.99 with fast $4.99 shipping.*

    Limit 2 per customer. 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.