Kibbles & Bytes Blog

This week we have the 2008 Time Capsule on sale for only $199.99! Time Capsule includes an AirPort Extreme wi/fi base station along with a 500GB hard drive. This allows you to wirelessly back up your Mac or PC, as well as use Time Capsule as a wireless community shared hard drive!

Also serves as a network router. Perfect for home or office, and only “$199.99!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19186/

Want to lower your carbon footprint? Ride your bike! May 11-15 was National Bike to Work Week and today was ‘Bike to Work’ Day. To take part, many Small Dog employees either rode their bicycles to work or carpooled if the distance was too great.

“Visit the League of American Bicyclists”:http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/ for more information.

Weren’t able to do that today? May is National Bike Month, so do the planet a favor and make plans to ride your bicycle any time this month! Even if that’s not an option, here are some other things you can do to ‘green up’:

* *Use a water bottle and refill it* It’s great to avoid bottled water all together; just this week, Small Dog replaced the multi-gallon jugs of water with a water purifier that filters the water coming in. It will save us hundreds of dollars in the long-run, in addition to using less plastic and gas to transport the jugs.

* *Compost!* Don’t throw food away! Let it biodegrade instead. There are some “great options”:http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006475.html to store the material in (think eggs, lettuce, coffee grinds, etc.) that have a carbon filter built-in to keep it from getting smelly.

* *Buy locally.* Keep that transport in check and support your local economy instead. For more information, see “Eat Local Challenge”:http://www.eatlocalchallenge.com/ and “TreeHugger”:http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/earthtalk_why_e.php

* *Switch to compact fluorescent light bulbs.* “ENERGY STAR”:http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls notes that a “qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) will save about $30 over its lifetime and pay for itself in about 6 months. It uses 75 percent less energy and lasts about 10 times longer than an incandescent bulb.”

* *Turn off computers and surge protectors when not in use.*

For more information, click below.

Thanks to “Divine Caroline”:http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/22355/28177-50-green-tips-earth-day and “Planet Green”:http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/back-basics/top-basics-tips.html for the tips!

As promised last week, here is my list of favorite paid applications for Mac. While these are my own personal favorite apps, many of them are also great for new Mac users and recent switchers. Again, these are applications you have to pay for–I will cover favorite open source and freeware apps next week!

*1.* “Scrivener”:http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html. Scrivener is a word processor and project management tool created for writers of long texts such as novels, screenplays, and research papers. It bundles a bunch of writing tools into one application, and also offers full-screen editing, which is helpful for blocking out computer distractions. I love it. I do most of my long-form creative writing with Scrivener.

“Scrivener is $39.99. Click here to learn more and download a trial version!.”:http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html

*2.* “iWork ’09.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19120/ iWork is a suite of office applications that includes Pages (word processor and page layout), Numbers (spreadsheet and simple database), and Keynote (presentation). iWork has a very robust feature set, is great for school or personal use, but is also powerful enough to for any size business. I use Pages and/or Numbers every single day at work.

iWork’s hidden strength is that it creates truly beautiful documents. Actually, I tend to think of Pages as a slimmed-down page layout program in the vein of Adobe InDesign or PageMaker. Also, iWork opens, edits, and saves Microsoft Office files.

“iWork ’09 is normally $79.99; we have it on sale for $69.99. It’s only $39.99 when purchased with any Mac (after rebate). Click here to learn more about iWork 09.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19120/

*3.* “iLife ’09.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19118/ I love iLife, but was reluctant to include it here since most people get it free when they buy their Mac. However, many people end up buying iLife when new versions are released. iLife ’09 includes new versions of iMovie, iPhoto, and GarageBand, along with updated versions of iTunes, iWeb and iDVD. I’m also cheating including here because it’s actually a bundle of apps.

I use iTunes and iPhoto daily, and iMovie weekly. GarageBand and iDVD are used monthly (though I will be using GarageBand for podcasts this summer). In my experience, it truly is the best suite of consumer digital media creation and management tools.

“iLife ’09 is normally $79.99, but we have it on sale for $69.99. Click here to see this!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19118

*4.* “Final Cut Studio.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18821/ This is the reason I switched to Mac. Actually, the reason I switched was Final Cut Pro, which is now bundled into Final Cut Studio – along with Motion, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack, LiveType2, Compressor and Color. Those are all incredible applications. Together they offer truly unprecedented power to anyone creating stories with moving images, for only $1299.99. My life actually changed direction when I started using Final Cut Pro, so I’ve got to rate it high on my list of favorite apps.

“Final Cut Studio has a limited-time $150 rebate; final price is only $1099.99. Click here to learn more about the application.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag18821/

*5.* “Adobe Photoshop Elements.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/71149 Ok, I use the entire Adobe Creative Suite daily – that is, the full version of Photoshop, Fireworks, Illustrator, etc. However, I also frequently simply use Photoshop Elements. For a “$79.99”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/71149 program, it’s amazingly powerful – and easy to use. It’s also the perfect compliment to iPhoto. The two programs are designed to work together, and Elements has a massive amount of editing abilities. Elements has plenty of “one click” editing options that make it fast and easy to perform common edits. in my experience, many people who think they need Photoshop are better served (and will save a ton of money) by simply using Elements. However, if you buy Elements, you can always use it to later upgrade to the full version of Photoshop later for a slightly discounted price.

“Click here to see Photoshop Elements at $79.99.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/71149

*6.* “Coda.”:http://www.panic.com/coda/ Coda is an amazing web design and development tool that costs $99 directly from “Coda”:http://www.panic.com/coda/ It offers a one-window text, CSS and HTML editor, a file transfer app (including FTP) , terminal access, web design books and how-to, live collaboration, and a library of web clips. This is a single app that replaces a whole bunch of stand-alone apps. I mostly use Coda for editing Wordpress templates. If you do web design or development, I highly recommend it. See “Coda by clicking here.”:http://www.panic.com/coda/

*7.* “Apple Logic Express 8.”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19133/ This has to be one of the biggest bang-for-buck programs ever produced. Logic Express has over 100 instrument plug-ins and effects that come right from Logic Studio. This is a powerful audio editor, mixer and instrument in its own right. If you’ve grown beyond GarageBand, then Logic Express is the–well, logical–program to consider. It has a professional interface that makes working with audio more efficient and easier than in GarageBand.

“Logic Express 8 is normally $199.99, but we have it on sale for $174.99. Click here to see this!”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag19133/

*8.* “Rapidweaver.”:http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/overview/ This is a program for easily creating high-quality, template-based websites. iWeb is also easy to use, but Rapidweaver is a little more flexible–and has a larger community of template, plugins, and themes. Rapidweaver is not as nearly powerful as other website / blog creation tools, but it’s fast, fun, and provides great results. It’s great for making a personal website, or a website for a small business, family or friend.

“Rapidweaver is $79.99; click here to read more and download a trial version of the program.”:http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/

*9.* “Things.”:http://culturedcode.com/things/ Things is a task management application for Mac (with an iPhone app as well.) Like most of the other apps on this list, it’s both powerful and easy to use. It’s also rather expensive – $49.99. However, it has a beautiful user interface, and is the fastest program I’ve used for entering ideas the moment they pop into my mind. If you subscribe to the Getting Things Done philosophy, which empahsiszes getting ideas out your head and into an organized, action-oriented to-do list, definitely check out Things.

“Click here to read more and download a demo.”:http://culturedcode.com/things/

*10.* “Quicken for Mac.”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/41477 Alright, this last application isn’t really fun. In fact, with the recent economic downturn it could be a little depressing. However, as the national financial mood changes from “spend” to “save”, applications such as Quicken have become increasingly useful. Quicken is a great personal financial management program for Mac. It allows you to connect to your credit card and banking institutions, so you have a clear idea of where your money is currently going, and should be going in the future. It truly simplifies and clarifies financial management. “Money”:http://www.jumsoft.com/money is a popular Mac alternative to Quicken, but I’ve never used it.

See “Quicken”: here for $69.99″:http://www.smalldog.com/product/41477

Honorary mentions for programs I admire, and recommend, but simply no longer use: Microsoft Office, Parallels, Final Draft 7.

The journey to New Orleans was pretty uneventful, but coming home Geoff and I had an aborted landing in Detroit and flew through a lightning storm on the way into Burlington. I’ve talked before about the “FastMac TruePower IV”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73133 and the *Amazon Kindle* reader for the iPhone, but this trip really demonstrated the value of this combination. I am a really fast reader since I was part of an experimental speed-reading program way back in the 50s, so it is easy for me to read a novel on an airplane flight.

This usually means I am packing a couple of books for business travel and if I go on vacation, books are most of the weight. With the Amazon Kindle reader, I have found that I can read just as fast with good crisp text and fluid page movement. I read a 650 page novel, __Without Warning__ by John Birmingham during the two flights. It is an apocalyptic novel–a genre that for some weird reason I find to be fascinating, how these fictional people deal with extraordinary circumstances. Amazon has seen the success of the iPhone Kindle application and have recently updated their Kindle store for the iPhone that makes it easy to search and buy books for your phone.

The only drawback to the iPhone with Kindle reader is that I have to turn it off for take-offs and landings, cutting into valuable reading time! I’ve queued up __Red and Me__ by Bill Russell for my next trip. This is a story of perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time, Bill Russell, and his unique relationship with perhaps the best basketball coach of all time, Red Auerbach (can you tell I love the world champion Boston Celtics?). The iPhone battery will go a long way and the Kindle application doesn’t seem to take much power; however, if you are also using other features, making calls, etc. you may find that you need some juice.

The “FastMac TruePower IV”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73133 is just that: an IV for your iPhone! It packs enough power to charge the phone in a short time or operate it for a long time. It is a very high quality and very useful product–highly recommended!

In iWork ’09, I use Pages most often, then Keynote, and finally Numbers. All of these applications, in this blogger’s opinion, are far superior to the Microsoft Office competitors. But I won’t talk about that in this Mac Treat…

I was recently reminded of the benefits of password protection when Ed and I presented our departmental review in Keynote to other department managers today at Small Dog, and I wanted to keep the presentation Top Secret.

> To create a password-protected document in iWork ’09, *click on the Inspector* (the blue “I” universally featured across iWork and other Apple applications) and go to the *Documents section* (usually the first category in the Inspector) and *check Require Password to Open.* It will then prompt you to set up a password, verify and set a hint (optional).

Next week, I’ll elaborate on the features of Keynote in How to Use Keynote Like Steve Jobs (Or “Phil Schiller,”:http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/13/apple-confirms-wwdc-keynote-time-phil-schiller-leading-the-way/ as the case may be at the upcoming WWDC event)!

_Dear Friends,_

After moderating a panel at the Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility spring conference with our congressional delegation, I hopped on a plane to head to New Orleans for the Apple Specialist Marketing Coop’s annual conference. It was a chilly 45 when I left Vermont and a humid 85 degrees in New Orleans. At the VBSR conference there was an interesting moment during the keynote address by David Cay Johnston. David talks about how the wealthy enrich themselves at the expense of the taxpayers. His talk was a bit of gloom and doom but he ended the talk with a positive message about how we can change this situation.

I know he has given this speech a few times and towards the end as he was talking about political action, he asked, somewhat sarcastically, “how many of you can call up your congressman or senators and get a few minutes of their time?” He was fully expecting few (if any) hands to go up, but he was in Vermont where you may run into your senator in the local supermarket and say “hey, Bernie”–so, the room was a forest of hands because here we have the most accessible government and leaders anywhere (can you tell I love my state?)!

Every day we talk to customers who have lost their vital data due to a hard drive failure. Hard drives are mechanical devices rotating at high speed. They fail. It took me a few drive failures to realize I was not invulnerable and to become a back-up fanatic. My friend David Lerner, from Tekserve in Manhattan, has his email signature say “May You Have 1,000 Backups and Never Need One.” Apple has made backing up your data exceptionally easy with Leopard’s Time Machine automated backup and now with the Time Capsule, it is even easier and wireless.

The *Time Capsule* is a combination of a hard drive and an Apple AirPort base station for creating a wireless network. The combination of this device and Time Machine make the chore of backing up your data automatic. We were fortunate to acquire a great buy on some of the 500GB Time Capsules, so if you are looking for a wireless back up solution, please check out the details here in Kibbles. The alternative is data loss or a referral to DriveSavers where you __may__ be able to get your data back for a couple thousand bucks!