Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Tip of the Week: Get in Character

    Ever wonder where those pesky specials characters that aren’t written on your keyboard (e.g. ¢, ©, ®, ™) are when you’re writing? They’re all listed in Character Palette–part of OS X.

    Easy access can be found either as a part of your other Apple Apps (such as Mail, TextEdit, Stickies, etc.) or in the International panel of System Preferences. (System Preferences > International > Input Menu)

    If you find that you use these symbols a fair amount and would like to see them quickly, check the Character Palette checkbox and “Show input menu in menu bar.” The latter will display a little flag icon in the top righthand corner of your menu bar (how patriotic!).

    Another tip for finding some symbols that you use more than others is to remember the keyboard shortcuts. Here’s a cheatsheet for my most popular ones:

    * *Accent Acute* (´): Option-E
    * *Bullet* (•): Option-8
    * *Cent* (¢): Option-4
    * *Copyright* (©): Option-G
    * *Degree* (˚): Option-K or Option-0 (anyone know which is actually “officially” correct?)
    * *Registered* (®): Option-R
    * *Trade Mark* (™): Option-2

    And, for Mac users, one we’ve mentioned before and use a lot of:

    * *Apple symbol* (): Shift-Option-K

    Note that fonts may handle characters differently!

  • Repair of the Week: MacBook Sleep LED

    A first-generation MacBook came in the other day because the sleep indicator light wasn’t working. This is actually a tricky one to diagnose because so many components are involved in making that little light work. The light itself is powered by the SATA cable, which also powers both the hard drive and shuttles data to and from the hard drive. The SATA cable ends with a socket that the hard drive plugs into, and that socket has a tiny connector for the flex cable that powers the sleep light.

    Of course, the sleep light isn’t available as an individual part. That’d be too easy. Instead, it is part of the bottom case, and swapping the bottom case requires complete disassembly of the MacBook.

    On a hunch, I swapped out the SATA cable, and plugged in the sleep light. No go. I then swapped in a known good logic board, which also didn’t help. Thinking the LED itself was most likely not the cause, I grudgingly ordered and installed a bottom case. That didn’t work, either.

    By then, it was 6:30 at night and I was ready to go home and make some dinner. As is often the case, I think about work at home and realized that I skipped the all-important test: I never booted the machine off a known-good MacOS X installation, such as the computer’s restore disk. No, that didn’t work, either.

    I took the machine apart again and double-checked my work. I re-seated the connection from LED to SATA socket, put the machine to sleep, and let out a sigh of relief that the light was working again. Since I’d replaced so many parts in diagnosis, it’s hard to know which component was actually to blame. I’m willing to bet it was the connection all along.

  • Keeping Up with Mac News

    As a consultant, it is essential that I stay up-to-date with Mac news and information. There are a variety of sites that I can recommend for this purpose. For general news, I read the articles version of MacNN. This gives me paragraph teasers, and optionally full articles, of Mac-related news items, major software releases, and other industry news:

    “http://www.macnn.com/news/”:http://www.macnn.com/news

    Personally, I love to find cool new programs, and I always stay up-to-date with all the software I own. I read software update sites the way some people go thrifting or scour record stores for the rarest cuts. I’m always impressed and amazed at how much great software there is for the Mac, and how many new releases and updates there are every single day.

    Many of my favorite programs are free or cheap little programs that are too small to ever show up on a store shelf or a product catalog. When you check out these sites, just take a moment to see how many items per day are listed. My favorite software sites:

    “http://www.macupdate.com/”:http://www.macupdate.com
    “http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/”:http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/

    There is even one server site from Apple, built for use on the iPhone or iPod touch:

    “http://help.apple.com/server/guide/desktop.html”: http://help.apple.com/server/guide/desktop.html

    Next time, I’ll provide a rundown of some of my favorite freeware and shareware apps!

  • Happy Tuesday,

    Jon is on vacation this week, and I’ve been spending more time than usual in the tech room. It’s nice to spend time diagnosing and turning screws, and also speaking to so many of you on the phone.

    I had a chance to work on one of the latest Mac Minis this afternoon, and it’s nice to the Mini with so much new life breathed into it. With its dedicated graphics processor, faster RAM, larger hard drives, more USB ports, and better serviceability, it’s a tremendous bargain at $599. I’m happy it wasn’t dropped from the product range.

    I also switched my workstation from a 15″ MacBook Pro to a 17″ MacBook Pro with the high-resolution screen. So far I am really enjoying the extra screen real estate; while at work it’s connected to a 23″ Cinema Display and it’s almost an entirely new experience with so much room to work with. I am finding that the 17″ laptop is a bit too large for my lap, and for my laptop bags, but that’s a compromise I’m willing to make. I’ll write a more in-depth review next week.

    Thanks for reading, and keep in touch

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

  • MAC TREAT #77: Get in Character

    Ever wonder where those pesky specials characters that aren’t written on your keyboard (e.g. ¢, ©, ®, ™) are when you’re writing? They’re…

  • As the weather warms and the snow recedes, there is a bit of a mess revealed in my yard from the dogs, the snow plow and a winter’s blanket of snow. We’ll start picking away at that, but it is still a bit squishy out there.

    Welcome to our new subscribers to Kibbles & Bytes. It has been over 12 years of Kibbles and I am glad to see some new readers. I had one long-time friend subscribe and he wondered how long I have been writing this newsletter; he then went on to correct me about my horse. It turns out it was not a Belgian, but a Percheron. It was a very large horse and in addition to sugaring with her, she cleared my entire lot, pulling huge loads of logs that I cut down. She was a bit cantankerous and when I would ride her, she would immediately head for the nearest low hanging branch.

    Thanks for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
    _Don, Kali (& Ed)_

  • SPECIALS | 03/20/09 – 03/27/09

    View specials while on-hand supplies last. Please note that some specials may not be available in our retail stores; check for availability.

    See all specials on our “Specials Page.”:http://www.smalldog.com/specials

  • FEATURED SPECIAL | 03/20/09 – 03/27/09

    *Currently on the road at SXSW!*

    For a limited time, get free shipping on the TruePower iV Battery and Portable Charger for iPhone 2G/3G and iPod touch.

    * Extended Battery adds up to 24 hours of talk time
    * Allows Charging using the Dock Connector
    * Adds a flash to your iPhone’s camera
    * Will feel just like your old cell phone from the ’90s or your cordless phone!

  • Phoning Home from SXSW

    For the past few days, I’ve been attending both the Interactive and Film Festivals at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. It’s been an inspiring, educational, and amazingly fun experience. This is the first extended trip I’ve taken with an iPhone 3G. It’s proven to be far more useful than I ever expected, in almost every way.

    From getting around town, to keeping up to date with SXSW’s complicated and ever-evolving schedule, to getting locations and reviews of restaurants, to staying on top of business at home, to taking notes, to updating and reading Twitter feeds, the iPhone has hardly left my hand. That became especially true when my digital camera inexplicably stopped working, leaving me with only the iPhone’s built-in (and admittedly mediocre) camera.

    In a hyper-connected setting like SXSW, the iPhone (or iPod touch or other brand of powerful smartphone) is practically essential. For example, Twitter has usurped the role of business cards here. Don’t get me wrong, cards are still exchanged at lightning speed and face-to-face time is as important as ever. Yet the ability to use your iPhone-Twitter-application-of-choice to instantly connect and follow other people and businesses has proved (to me) to be extremely useful.

    After this intense period of dedicated, on-the-spot use, I only have two complaints about the iPhone (and neither has to do with the lack of cut and paste). One is that the battery could be a lot better. At home it’s easy to keep it charged up, and there have been plenty of open outlets and opportunities for charging here. However, there were two times when the battery was finally exhausted at the end of my day.

    We’ll post a top ten tips for maximizing your iPhone’s battery next week.

    In the meantime, before my next long trip I am definitely buying the “TruePower iV Extended Battery and Portable Charger for iPhone 2G/3G and iPod touch”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73133 It claims to offer up to 24 hours of talk time, is compact, and is very nicely built (in the USA no less).

    Second, I wish the iPhone had a better camera. The iPhone’s camera is mostly “good enough,” but it would be a revelation to have a three (or why not, five or seven) megapixel camera built in. A flash and the ability to capture video would be even better. Imagine being able to truly leave your digital camera at home! I did end up taking many iPhone photos since that was my only option. I enjoyed the option to instantly upload these to my Flickr page. I have to admit, there were a couple late-night instant uploads I deleted first thing the morning after.

    Another nice feature of the “TruePower iV Extended Battery for iPhone”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73133 is that it actually has a built in flash. I’m definitely getting one before my next trip!