Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Don't Know What It Is? Don't Delete It!

    These are magic words to live by when it comes to cleaning up your computer’s hard drive. As things tend to come in waves, the past week has brought me a slew of clients who began getting the dreaded “Your startup disk is almost full” error and so they started chucking files and folders that they thought they didn’t need anymore. The problem arose when the files they deleted were files that the system relied on for basic functions. Two of them were left with machines that didn’t fully boot anymore and others had varying degrees of software corruption.

    Apple suggests leaving 10-20% of the hard drive free for maximum disk operation. When a disk starts to get too full it will begin to overwrite files which causes software corruption. The key to a healthy drive is simple; keep it clean and organized. With the introduction of OS X, we were gifted with User folders. Each user on the computer has his or her own folder within the Users folder of the main hard drive.

    Within the User folder one will find a series of folders: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public and Sites. Ideally, one would only put personal files within one of the folders in his/her user account. This makes clean-up a breeze!

    If you’re running out of space, check out your Desktop, Documents, Movies, Music and Pictures folders and see if there are old files that you could either delete or move to an external hard drive or disk. If you happen to regularly have an external hard drive plugged into your computer, you might even consider hosting your “iTunes library on the external drive”:http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1449 to free up some space.

    Here’s what you __don’t__ want to do. Never delete files from System or Library folders unless you’re 100% sure what they are. It’s also important to be careful when deleting applications. For example, I’ve had quite a few clients over the years who have deleted their entire Utilities folder from within Applications because they “never use it.”

    Then, when they ran into issues, they didn’t have the tools to identify their problems or even identify the specs of their computer (thanks to deleting System Profiler) so others could help them with their problems. This brings me back to the title of the article: if you don’t know what it is, don’t delete it!

    Are you still itching to delete a few things that you don’t know what they are, but you kind-of-sort-of remember that a friend-of-a-friend installed it years ago? Stop and ask for help. While this may sound like a plea from a suicide-hotline, I’m quite serious. “Apple Discussions”:http://discussions.apple.com/index.jspa is your friend!

  • Mac mini Updated

    Apple slyly released a major update to its smallest desktop system this morning. The Mac mini has received both a redesign as well as exceptional performance upgrades. Featuring Apple’s new unibody manufacturing process, the mini now sports a 1.4-inch-thin seamless aluminum enclosure and styling similar to the iMac and MacBook Pro lines.

    Catering to the wishes of many, Apple has finally included an *HDMI* port in addition to a Mini DisplayPort on the new mini. This move solidifies the Mac mini’s niche as a media computer/server in addition to an affordable desktop solution. The only other new port inclusion is that of an SD card slot to make transferring photos a breeze.

    The *NVIDIA GeForce 320M* graphics card, featured on Apple’s latest notebook releases, has also found its way onto the mini. Offering a 2x speed boost over the previous card, the 320M enables the new mini to take on a multitude of tasks with relative ease. Ranging from creative work to gaming, the mini is now an even more versatile machine than before.

    Apple has also addressed the mini’s upgradability. A weak design point of the original mini required professional service for RAM upgrades. In the new mini, however, Apple has included a removable bottom panel which offers direct access to the mini’s RAM slots. This DIY upgrade system will enable even basic users to confidently upgrade their machine. The mini can now be configured with up to 8GB of RAM, which combined with the boosted graphics and processor speeds offers a lot of performance potential.

    Similar to the previous generation, the mini also is available in a server edition. This more expensive version omits the optical drive in favor of 1TB of storage making it an ideal match for anyone seeking an affordable, compact, and efficient server. Speaking of efficiency, the mini is also the world’s most energy-efficient desktop computer! Due in part to its largely recyclable design, the mini now requires less packaging, and includes a built-in power supply, saving on space and making it up to 90% energy efficient.

    All of these changes position the mini as a unique contender in Apple’s desktop lineup. Ideal for basic to intermediate users as well as media enthusiasts, the new mini is slated to be a perfect primary or secondary machine. To learn more about the new Mac mini click “*here*”:http://www.apple.com/macmini/

  • Happy Tuesday,

    I spent the weekend in Northwest Connecticut at my ten year high school reunion. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long. Thinking back to 2000, events I then considered seminal in my life now seem inconsequential–so much can happen in the span of ten years. Where were you around this time of year in 2000?

    Apple released a completely revamped Mac mini that’s thinner, more powerful, more attractive, and just as energy-efficient as the still-great last generation. I love how the unibody design language is now in place for almost all of Apple’s Mac products. The gains in manufacturing efficiency must be huge, and the impact on recyclability is clear. Finally–HDMI from a Mac!

    If you haven’t already, check out our (some say famous) “Garage Sale.”:http://smalldog.com/garagesale We’ve reduced prices, added new product and there are still plenty of great finds; it won’t be up for much longer!

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

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

  • !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/1735.jpg!:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/iPhone_Accessories|Cases

    *FREE SHIPPING on all iPhone 3G/3GS cases!* Use coupon code DEAL3G. *Cases start at $11.99, and are going fast!*

    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. Coupon code good for one week only.

  • iPod nano: My Must-Have Summer Item!

    As I have said a million times, my 5th generation (most current) iPod nano ($149.99-$179.99) is my favorite product ever. It’s the perfect…

  • Guide to External Storage

    I’m in love with my hard drives. They really are miraculous devices, storing billions of bytes and copying that data to and from drive to drive at amazing speeds. I realize that the world of external storage is pretty vast, with lots of names and terms and numbers, and thought it would be good to do a quickly summarize the differences between external drives.

    The first distinction I make between external drives is their physical size. The case around the actual drive may vary in size but there are only two sizes of hard drives–2.5-inch laptop drives and 3.5-inch desktop drives. Desktop drives require more power than can be supplied via USB or FireWire, and so they are considered “desktop” hard drives because you need to plug them into power separately.

    Laptop drives often can run off USB power supplied by a USB port, so they are considered more portable. Just like comparing laptops and desktops, you will generally get more performance and space out of a desktop drive than you would from a laptop drive.

    If you ever work with large amounts of video or want to play media off of an external drive, then a faster RPM (revolutions per minute) is worth buying. If you are just trying to keep your files backed up, then a lower RPM drive will work fine. The two specifications of drive speeds on the consumer market right now are 5400 and 7200 RPM.

    The third thing to check is the connection type of the external drive. Most drives use only USB, but some drives offer FireWire 400, 800, and/or eSATA. For general backup, USB is perfect because it’s fast, reliable, and can be plugged into almost any computer made in the last 5-10 years.

    FireWire is a connection also known as IEEE 1394. As anyone who works with video knows, FireWire is often required to download video from a camcorder or videocamera. Drives that have FireWire are generally more professionally geared because FireWire is a lower latency connection that makes transferring lots of small files faster than USB.

    eSATA is a very fast data connection but does not supply power. eSata is the fastest type of connection commonly seen in external drives, but Apple does not build this port into its computers at this time.

  • I am riding over to Lake George today for the “Annual Americade Motorcycle Touring Expo.”:http://www.tourexpo.com/ This is my favorite annual event because it is oriented to my type of riding–long distance touring.

    Grace and I were talking about how there are so many different types of motorcyclists. I have always been in the long distance touring category; however, now with my Norton, I’ll be in the classic British bike group. Tony is a Harley guy through and through, there are the BMW riders, the sport bike guys, the 10 percenters, hard core bikers, the trike guys and then the ones that annoy me the most, the trailer-toting motorcyclists. I’m sorry–trailers don’t belong on motorcycles, instead of waving as they go by, I usually mumble, “get a minivan!”

    I usually poke fun at hockey since most of my team are rabid hockey fans, but I was actually watching the Stanley Cup Finals this year. The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961–which was about the last time I followed hockey, in the days of Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Glenn Hall. Yeah, BlackHawks!

    Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
    _Don, Kali, Ed and Ben_

  • Featured Father's Day Special!

    Father’s Day is next Sunday! Based on sales in our retail stores and at “Smalldog.com”:http://www.smalldog.com, we’ve created a list of some of the most popular Father’s Day Gifts of 2010.

    A standout item includes the incredibly rugged Otterbox Defender cases for iPhone and iPod touch. This is perfect for active Dads who work in wet or dusty environments. It’s also great for Dad’s with butterfingers, who tend to drop expensive and fragile devices. “Click here to see a video review of the Defender on Vimeo.”:http://vimeo.com/2004432 “Click here to see a video tutorial of the Defender on YouTube”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtoobfN2ZSg&feature=player_embedded,

    Buy the Otterbox Defender for 15% off from “Smalldog.com”:http://www.smalldog.com/search/?find=defender!

  • Apple Releases Safari 5

    With Apple’s announcement of the revolutionary “*iPhone 4*”:http://www.apple.com/iphone/ yesterday, it would be easy to overlook the release of Safari 5 that coincided with it. While certainly not as glamorous as Apple’s latest device, the newest version of Safari does bring some changes that will give it a serious leg up in the browser wars.

    Performance is easily the biggest deciding factor when choosing a browser, and Apple has upgraded Safari with a faster “Nitro” engine to keep themselves ahead of the game. Apple claims Safari 5 will run JavaScript 30 percent faster than Safari 4, 3 percent faster than Chrome 5.0 and more than twice as fast as Firefox 3.6.

    In addition to significant speed boosts, Safari 5 also includes the Safari Reader. This utility automatically detects if you are browsing a page with an article on it, and allows you to view it in a continuous and clutter-free manner. To enable Safari Reader, simply navigate to an applicable page and click the Reader icon in the Smart Address Field. Upon doing so, onscreen controls, similar to those seen when viewing a PDF, will appear and let you email, print, and zoom. Safari Reader even saves text settings so font size is the same if you revisit the page.

    Though not apparent by simply glancing at the UI, Safari 5 also includes a robust set of HTML5 tweaks under the hood. The new browser brings over a dozen new features including full-screen mode and closed captioning for HTML5 video as well as HTML5 geolocation. To view some examples of the HTML5 web standard in action, check out Apple’s showcase of demos “*here.*”:http://www.apple.com/html5/

    Other more subtle refinements include DNS prefetching and improved catching. DNS prefetching means that if you are viewing a web page with links, Safari detects them and looks them up behind the scenes. When you click a link, the page loads faster as a result. A web cache is essentially an index of pages previously viewed. Since Safari 5’s cache has been expanded, more pages fit into it and load faster upon being revisited.

    Appending the aforementioned features are other upgrades such as a smarter address field, integrated Bing search, hardware acceleration for Windows and an improved web inspector. Safari 5 is available today, and is a free download for Mac + PC. Download it “*here.*”:http://www.apple.com/safari/download/

    *Please Note:* The requirements for Safari 5 are either Mac OS 10.5 + or Windows XP SP3 +

  • AT&T Bumps Up iPhone Upgrade Eligibility Dates

    AT&T has bumped up the upgrade eligibility dates for many iPhone owners. This means that some current iPhone users will not have to wait until the end of their two-year contract before upgrading their phone at a subsidized rate.

    The fact that this change has taken place in the days leading up to the WWDC is likely not a coincidence. There has been a large amount of speculation that the next generation of iPhone will be announced at today’s keynote.

    This change comes as great news for many iPhone users looking to upgrade, especially 3G owners looking to fully reap the benefits of iPhone OS 4.0. To check your eligibility, call *NEW# (*639#) and AT&T will send you a free text with your new upgrade date.