Kibbles & Bytes Blog

  • Repair of the Week

    Last Friday I was presented a unibody MacBook Pro with limited function of the new glass trackpad. Some gestures would work, but others wouldn’t. The first step in most any repair is to reset the SMC/PMU and PRAM, and then run Software Update, but these had no effect – even the trackpad firmware update didn’t help.

    Knowing that the user on the machine was created by Migration Assistant, and that many problems like this are actually software based, I decided to create a new admin user on the machine. Turns out the trackpad worked fine under the clean user! Had the trackpad refused to work in the new user, I’d suspect hardware to be responsible; since the trackpad worked fine in the new user, I had to figure out what piece of the operating system was causing the failure.

    First stop was the Preferences folder in the customer’s home folder. Looking through each and every one of the files, none jumped out at me as being possibly responsible for the behavior. After a bit of head scratching, I remembered that there are many invisible files on a Mac’s hard drive. These are files that begin with a period, like .GlobalPreferences.plist. But how to see these files if they’re invisible?

    Well, the easiest way is through Terminal. To see a complete list of all files in a folder, type ls -a. The output for ~/Library/Preferences would show you several files near the top whose names begin with a period. In fact, .GlobalPreferences.plist was to blame here. I deleted it through the terminal using the rm command, restarted the computer, and all was well.

  • Happy Tuesday,

    In the middle of the second major snowstorm in as many days, Don, Grace, Tony and I went snowmobiling on Sunday. At least eighteen inches of snow were groomed and packed down on the trails the night before, and there were already six inches of fresh powder on top by the time we actually made it into the woods. Off the packed trail, the snow was waist-high.

    Don, Grace, and I are new to this snowmobiling thing, but after eight miles or so of Tony coaching, we began getting the hang of it. It was still very much early in the season, with a loosely packed, relatively thin base. We found ourselves getting stuck on water bars going up steep hills, and enjoying the fast straightaways. I learned that I’ll need a balaclava so my chin doesn’t freeze solid, and also that I’ll need to put together an emergency kit should I ever break down again. I knew something was wrong as I slowed, coasting up a gentle hill with the engine screaming. I came to a stop assuming I’d lost the drive belt or the clutch, and lamented the fact that I didn’t bring tools. We tried towing it out, but with the soft base and daytime waning, we left my sled off the side of the trail.

    Of course, even if I brought a giant tool chest, I wouldn’t know where to start. I see the whole incident as motivation to learn how the thing works. After learning the ins and outs of computer repair, learning to fix something big will be a nice change of pace!

    Happy holidays from all of us at Small Dog Electronics.

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

  • iPhone in Vermont in January: It's Official!

    Finally! Regarding bringing the iPhone to Vermont, Kate MacKinnon, a spokeswoman for AT&T said “It’s official” in today’s Burlington Free Press. This is…

  • Fixing a MacBook Pro Latch, Part 1

    Below is a detailed demonstration of how to repair a MacBook Pro or PowerBook latch. This is a fairly common problem with these…

  • Coffee With Kali

    On this show we talk about coffee, New York, dawters, dawgs, you know no big whoop just Coffee Talk. Well holiday season is…

  • I’m heading up to my mom’s place on Sunday to celebrate the start of Chanukah and will be playing Santa for my grandkids on Christmas. One of the presents I got them was a basketball hoop. Autumn was a star b’ball player in high school and I went to every one of her games. She was the starting center and her point guard, Kim Blodgett, was living with us at the time so we spent a lot of time on basketball.
    Khadija took me aside the other day and told me she was going to play basketball once she got to middle school, so I guess it’s time for a hoop! As soon as the snow melts a bit, I’ll go up and install it on their garage. Autumn and I have plans to paint a key and three-point line, too.

    All of us at Small Dog Electronics send the very best wishes for the holidays from our family to yours. We know that it is you who pays our wages and we appreciate the loyalty and support that we have been fortunate to enjoy.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,
    _Don, Kali & Ed_

  • FEATURE OF THE WEEK | 12/19/2008 – 12/26/08

    Back in October, when Apple introduced the new aluminum MacBooks, they also introduced a $999 MacBook with the classic white polycarbonate case, Superdrive, and 2.1 GHz processor. It’s the only current MacBook that still has a FireWire 400 port, which is essential for people with older MiniDV or HDV camcorders or FireWire400-equipped hard drives.

    That’s a great machine, but right now we have something better at the same $999 price – namely, a previous-generation white MacBook with a 2.4GHz processor and 2GB or RAM (compared to the 2.1GHz processor and 1GB of RAM in the current white MacBook). Our 2.4GHz MacBook also has a 160GB hard drive (compared to the 120GB drive in the current model) and a DVD-burning Superdrive.

    Again, this 2.4GHz MacBook is on sale for $999.99 and includes a FREE Isis case and free three-day express shipping until 12/31.

  • Our Charitable Giving Program | No Shipping Required!

    There’s no time like the present to give the gift of a charitable donation to reach those in need. Small Dog Electronics believes that giving back to the community (both local and global) is an integral part of our business, and we will match your donation dollar-for-dollar up to $200.

    Be inspired! Give to others less fortunate–you’ll be glad you did. ‘Tis the season, after all!

    Some of our featured charities:

    * Amnesty International
    * Doctors Without Borders
    * EarthTrust
    * Planned Parenthood
    * Vermont Foodbank
    * VPIRG

    Read more about Small Dog’s Charitable Giving Program:
    “Smalldog.com/charity”:http://www.smalldog.com/charity

    Make a donation:
    “Charitable Giving Program Donation Page”:http://www.smalldog.com/category/x/x/x/Gifts_and_Swag|Charitable_Donations

  • Play Trivia, Feed Hungry Dogs and Cats!

    At Small Dog Electronics, it’s obvious we love animals. So when we discovered that there was a little girl who was committed to feeding hungry dogs and cats, we thought we could provide some support!

    Mimi Ausland, a 12 year old girl from Bend, Oregon, was inspired by the website “freerice.com”:http://www.freekibble.com, which uses word games to help feed those in need. She figured the same could apply to animals, so she came up with an easy (and fun) way to provide food through playing trivia games on the website.

    “Check it out!”:http://www.freekibble.com

  • Holiday Sights and Sounds at Small Dog…

    This is Kibbles & Bytes’ 600th issue, so it got me thinking about Kibbles past. I came across an article that Holly wrote back in ’05 about the silliness that goes on here during the holidays, and it struck me as amusing since much of it still rings true… an excerpt:

    * “Don has a soft spot for the story of Frosty the Snowman. He cries every time he thinks of Frosty melting, and this is probably why he doesn’t like to hear Christmas songs playing in the office–it’s too upsetting!” __Don’s a softie.__

    * “Rob has been walking around trying to see who has Christmas cookies.” __So that’s who’s been leaving all those cookie crumbs everywhere…__

    * “We all know Hapy likes to wear his Scottish kilts, but who knew he enjoyed singing Christmas carols at the same time? We’ve found him several times in the Showroom belting out “Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas” with his kilt swaying to and fro!” __He *is* quite the warbler. Now if only his cold will get better, it’d be a little less nasally–think Fran Drescher in a kilt. Just kidding, Hapy!__

    * “Tony has been trying to regift the same fruitcake for the past three years.” __Word of warning, all you new Small Doggers…__

    * “It turns out that when Mark doesn’t like the piece of chocolate he gets, he’ll put the half-eaten piece back in the box!” __Yep, this seems to still be true.__

    * “Artie got stuck in the chimney while playing Santa Claus for Dawn.” __I think he may have learned from that one.__

    Well, we’ve been busy running around for the past several weeks and these last few days, especially, to make sure we have everything to you in time during this extremely busy time of year. It makes me smile to know that some things manage to stay the same, year after year!

    Hope everyone out there has a wonderful holiday season, no matter what you celebrate, and we look forward to peace, joy and another 600!