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Each class is taught by an Apple Product Professional and features take-home materials.
*Absolute Mac Basics:*
10/11/09 5:15pm to 6:45pm
10/18/09 5:15pm to 6:45pm
*Mac Basics Level 2:*
10/04/09 5:15pm to 6:45pm
10/25/09 5:15pm to 6:45pm
For a detailed description of our classes, “find out more here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/classes
*Chill Pill Audio CAR Tune*
FM Transmitter/Charger
Save $5 with the coupon below!
*Only $29.99!*
The CAR Tune is back and better than ever! This FM transmitter and car charger works with all iPods with a dock connector (sorry shuffle), as well as the iPhone, iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS.
With the CAR Tune you have the option to transmit over twelve different FM frequencies, which is really nice because you are always guaranteed a crisp, clear transmission. Because the CAR Tune is also a charger, you never have to worry about your iPod or iPhone running out of battery power.
The CAR Tune is currently available for $34.99; clip or mention the coupon in this issue and take $5 off for the month of October!
Would you like to learn more about your Mac, but don’t want to drive to Burlington to take a class? I am very excited to announce that we will soon be hosting classes at the Waitsfield location. They will be held on Saturdays from 5:15 to 6:45 PM and we will post the dates on our “Classes page”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/Classes as soon as they are available for signup–we hope to hold our first Absolute Mac basics class by the middle/end of October. (We do ask that you pre-register for the class.) Damian Paone will join me in teaching the classes.
The Absolute Mac Basics class is great for people who are new to Apple computers or switching from the PC platform. In this class you will learn the basic functions of your Mac desktop or laptop. There will also be a Mac Basics Level II class, where we will explore Apple Mail, iCal and more applications that come pre-installed on all Macs. We will also teach you how to use Time Machine, your Mac’s built-in data backup system, as well as some other great features that are offered within the Mac operating system.
To see a more detailed overview of the classes, “click here.”:http://www.smalldog.com/classes. Please feel free to email me (click on the link at the beginning of the article of my name) if you have any questions about the Waitsfield Mac Basics class offerings.
Apple’s MobileMe has adapted very nicely to the addition of the iPhone and iPod touch. The MobileMe mail program is very flexible. You can access your email from the iPhone, iPod touch, on your home Mac, or even through the web by logging into me.com from any computer that has an internet connection.
Because MobileMe Mail is an IMAP account, it keeps all of your devices synced so your inbox will look the same on which ever computer or hand held device you are using. **MobileMe also automatically syncs any new contacts or iCal events** that are added to the programs on all MobileMe linked machines.
The **MobileMe Gallery** is a great way to share photographs by loading them onto the web and then sharing the gallery’s web address with your friends and family you have an up to date web-based photograph album. You can even upload photos to your MobileMe Gallery directly from your iPhone.
MobileMe comes with a feature called **iDisk,** that allows you to back up up to 20GB of important files to a virtual hard drive on the internet. It allows you to access those files from any browser and from the iPhone when you download the iDisk application.
I have saved the best feature for last though: there is now an additional feature on MobileMe called **Find My Phone.** It works just as it sounds; if you have the Find My Phone feature enabled on your iPhone you can then log in to your MobileMe account from any computer and the program will actually show you on a map where your iPhone is at that particular moment in time.
You can remotely set your iPhone to display a message on the screen with a way to contact you in the event that someone finds your iPhone. They will know how to return it even if the phone is locked. If your iPhone is lost a little closer to home (say the cushions of your couch), you can use the MobileMe Find My Phone feature to help locate it by logging on and having your iPhone make a series of beeps until you are able to find the device. That feature even works when you have the phone set to silent.
MobileMe is currently selling for **$99.99** for the individual one year subscription and $149.99 for the Family Pack, which includes an additional four family member accounts, each with its own email address and 5GB of online storage space.
**October special:** Get an “instant $30 rebate on MobileMe!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19405/ Final cost: $69.99.
Stop by the Waitsfield or South Burlington showroom to see all the features that MobileMe has to offer!
*Greetings!*
I am happy to report that it is officially fall in Vermont, the maple leaves are approaching peak color, pumpkins are appearing at farm stands, and the local ski areas received their first snowfall last night. A bunch of us who work for Small Dog are winter sports enthusiasts and are counting the days until the ski areas and snowmobile trails open for the season.
Apple has made updates to the iPod lineup since the last issue of Best in Showroom and the staff favorite turns out to be the new 5th generation iPod nano. The new updated nano includes a built-in video camera, a larger screen and an FM receiver. It is truly amazing that Apple has been able to include a video camera in a device as small as the new nano. Ed, one of our marketing and design managers, recently compared the new nano video to a Flip video camera; “check the comparison out here.”:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB76K8hHMqA
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year so we have decided to hold our annual Halloween contest a day early on Friday 10/30. Each year, our customers are invited to vote on the best costumes and each year our staff and their dogs try to outdo each other. It has become customary for our graphics team to dress up those staff members who forget to participate in extra special Photoshopped costumes. We invite you come back to our website on Friday October 30th to vote for your favorite costumes–there will be a prize or two involved!
Today marked the first day of our new fiscal year, and that means out with the old, and in with the new. We’re gearing up for a busy fall–the Valley is already buzzing with annual “leaf peepers” who are in town to witness the official change of season. Come in for a visit!
Tony
“tony@smalldog.com”:mailto:tony@smalldog.com
Ever since Greenpeace rated Apple’s environmental record very poorly some years ago, Apple’s commitment to the environment has evolved quite a bit. I…
Apple sent out a note to iWork.com beta users today about some new features and improvements they’ve made to the iWork.com service. From…
Ever since Greenpeace rated Apple’s environmental record very poorly some years ago, Apple’s commitment to the environment has evolved quite a bit. I see thousands of Apple boxes pass through our warehouse every month, and it seems with each product introduction the packaging gets smaller and smaller.
The unibody laptops are packaged in a redesigned box with much less foam and are double boxed in recycled corrugated cardboard with recycled packing material. Just two years ago, Apple’s laptop boxes were nearly twice the size of the computers themselves and had lots of unused space. Printed manuals with each device approached 100 pages, but documentation is almost exclusively provided online or through Mac OS X. New high-capacity, long-lasting batteries have proven to be extremely reliable, and will significantly reduce the need for battery disposal.
Apple recently completed a “complete life cycle analysis of greenhouse gas emissions.” It’s rare for a company to have such full disclosure of environmental impact–Apple claims to be the only technology company to do so. The study shows how a product’s environmental footprint is distributed across and beyond its useful life. The study concludes that 95% of Apple’s carbon emissions are from the products they make.
Each Apple product now has an environmental report available here: “http://www.apple.com/environment/reports/”:http://www.apple.com/environment/reports/
Apple also maintains a blog on the environment here: “http://www.apple.com/environment/news/”:http://www.apple.com/environment/news/
I’m thrilled that Apple is innovating in this area as well as in the product mix!
Apple sent out a note to iWork.com beta users today about some new features and improvements they’ve made to the iWork.com service.
__From Apple:__
*Automatic email notification.*
Now the iWork.com beta lets you stay up to date whenever viewers add new comments or notes to your posted documents. You can choose to be notified immediately, hourly, or daily.
*Enhanced security.*
Automatic 128-bit SSL encryption now safeguards communication between you and your viewers via iWork.com. You can also password-protect documents you share on iWork.com–so even if someone has a link to your document, they won’t be able to view it without the password you supply.
*Refined user interface.*
The redesigned Shared Documents page includes thumbnail previews so you can more easily identify your shared iWork files. You can also organize your shared documents by date, name, size, or comments received. And you can now access all your shared documents by signing in at “www.iwork.com.”:http://www.iwork.com
To get started: Under the Apple menu, click Software Update and install any updates for iWork ’09. Select “Share via iWork.com” from the Share menu to share a document from Pages, Numbers or Keynote.
“iWork.com”:http://www.iwork.com
There have been quite a few calls to our technical support team regarding Snow Leopard upgrades since the new operating system was released. It seems a common issue is Safari function, and there are a few network-type issues that can be resolved by resetting DNS addresses in Network Preferences. There was one odd call that stuck out for me relating to use of an external mouse with a MacBook Pro.
Under earlier versions of Mac OS X, all keyboard and mouse settings were grouped into the Keyboard and Mouse preference pane within System Preferences. After the upgrade, our customer called to say that his preference settings before the upgrade included the “ignore trackpad input when a mouse is connected” option. He found that after the upgrade, the trackpad was accepting input while he typed, even though he’d selected that the input be ignored before the upgrade. Frantically, he went into System Preferences and tried to verify the setting, but was unable to find it.
He called us us and explained the situation, and I quickly asked him to check the Keyboard and Mouse preference pane, not knowing that the option had moved. Ultimately, I did realize that the option had moved to the Universal Access pane after typing the word “trackpad” into the System Preferences search box.