Kibbles & Bytes Blog

Today is April Fools’ Day, and pranksters everywhere are most likely messing with their friends, family, and co-workers. While classics such as the toothpaste Oreo, rubber-banded dishes sprayer, and decaf switch out–seriously evil–consistently get the job done, this year we thought it would be fun to compile a short list of (mostly) harmless Mac-themed pranks.

*Misbehaving Mice*

Quickly becoming a classic itself, this prank has officially replaced unplugging the peripherals from your victim’s desktop Mac. As more mice become wireless, it’s the only way to ensure chaos. Simply place a small piece of tape, the more opaque the better, over the optical “eye” on the underside of your victim’s mouse. While most users will figure this prank out within a few moments, less tech-savvy users will take considerably longer.

*Curse the Cursor*

Though intended to make OS X accessible to everyone, the Universal Access preference pane in System Preferences can be a prankster’s paradise. A harmless prank that will bewilder many unsuspecting users is the super-sized cursor. Navigate to System Preferences > Universal Access > Mouse and drag the slider next to “Cursor Size” all the way to the right. Your target will have no idea what to do with his or her jumbo cursor.

*A Negative View*

Here’s a quick but powerful prank that requires only momentary access to your victim’s keyboard. To invert the colors of any Mac’s screen, simply press the following combination of keys: Control + Option + Command + 8. Suddenly things will get very negative–especially your target’s attitude–unless you eventually fill them in on the secret key combo, which can also be used to revert the screen’s appearance.

*A New Home*

Although it’s among the more basic pranks on the list, never underestimate the comedic value of changing an unsuspecting co-worker’s homepage to something silly. While the process of reassigning a homepage varies slightly among browsers, it can be accomplished by visiting “General” in the preference menus of Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. As “*Rickrolling*”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0 has been a bit played out, may we suggest surprising your victim with a hearty dose of “*Billy Ocean?*”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvarxGzIU3M&t=1m15s Remember to crank the speakers!

_Dear Friends,_

Out like a lamb? Not in Vermont. We are expecting up to a foot of heavy wet snow today, just as the roads were drying out and I could see the first shoots of flowers by the side of my house. I guess that will delay my first motorcycle ride of the year by at least a few days. I know spring is really coming because I can see the steam and smoke from the sugar houses and the migratory birds are slowly making their way back to the Green Mountains.

I am very proud and very humbled to have been chosen as this year’s winner of the Terry Ehrich Award by Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility. You can see more about this award at the VBSR website, but it is the most prestigious award for socially responsible businesses, and I join a very elite club of people from whom I have learned from and stolen a whole bunch of ideas. I had the honor of serving for a short time on the VBSR board with Terry Ehrich, who was the founder of Hemmings Motor News and the First Day Foundation. I have literally learned from each of the previous winners, including Will Raap from Gardner’s Supply, Jeffrey Hollender from Seventh Generation, my friend Pat Heffernan from Marketing Partners, Matt Rubin from East Haven Wind, my neighbor and “green” architect Bill Maclay, Melinda Moulton, Ted Castle, and Ben & Jerry of ice cream fame. You can learn more about the award “*here.*”:http://vbsr.org/index.php/pages/static/cat/terry_ehrich_award/

These past winners have been the source of inspiration and great ideas, but I also have to recognize Hapy as being so instrumental in helping me to make Small Dog Electronics a company that truly measures our success by the triple bottom line of People, Planet and Profit! If you are in the area, you can join us at the “*Terry Ehrich Award dinner*”:http://vbsr.org/index.php/pages/event_detail/event_vbsr_2011_terry_ehrich_award_dinner/ aboard the Northern Lights Cruise boat on Lake Champlain.

When the iPod was first released, we talked a lot about the “halo” effect. This occurred when customers who bought iPods soon came back to see what other Apple products were available. Now, with the iPhone and the iPad, we see even more products that are driving customers to our stores. The number of “first-to-Mac” customers that we see and help make the switch to the Mac is growing every day. That is because the ultimate Apple experience is the Mac and Mac OS X. I say ultimate because in terms of sheer performance, ease of use, durability, and security there is no other platform that even comes close! We love selling you iPods, iPhones, and iPads, but if you really want to see my team glow with pride, ask them about a Mac!