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  • The weather looks good enough to ride this weekend. There is an Indian Motorcycle event down in Springfield, MA the home of Indian so maybe we will take a ride down route 100 for some fun.

    The blueberries are getting ripe. Grace and our friend from Denmark, Beth decided to bake a bunch of blueberry pies to free up space in our freezer from last year’s bumper crop. So, not only did I get to eat some blueberry pie but we have space to freeze some more.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily & Hadley_

  • Video Editing on iOS?

    I’ve been continuing to figure out how to get the most out of my new iPad. Ever since I realized how much faster it is than my MacBook Air, I decided to look into what kinds of tasks I could use it for. One of the most intensive things I do on my computer is video editing. I actually have a really long history with this going all the way back to Media 100 on a Power Mac G4. That was around 2003-2004. Eventually the TV PEG station where I was working at the time got new hardware including a Power Mac G5 and one of the last G5 iMacs. With the more powerful computers, and newer versions of OS X, we started using Final Cut Pro.

    Personally, I’ve never had any Mac powerful enough to run something like Final Cut Pro, nor do I really need it for the projects I work on. However, having used Final Cut for so many years, and knowing how to do non-linear editing, I tend to have high expectations of video editing software. On the Mac, I was aways impressed with iMovie. Sure, it’s fairly simple, but it is capable of quite a bit for a free, included piece of software. I remember the first time I used it on iOS. I was impressed that they could get something that even resembled the desktop version running on my iPad.

    However, the iOS version of iMovie leaves a lot to be desired, at least by me. I wish it had any kind of key framing, better title support and more tracks. I started looking online for solutions, but I didn’t really expect to find any. For as much as Tim Cook likes to spout that iOS devices can be desktop replacements, the software just never seems to be there to back up the capable hardware. It might be getting closer though. I found a piece of software called “**LumaFusion**”:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lumafusion-pro-video-editing-and-effects/id1062022008?mt=8.

    At first glance, the app doesn’t look as slick as some really nice looking apps like Procreate or even iMovie, but it’s incredibly capable. It has a robust key framing system and enough video filters and options to make your head spin. You can make text titles look exactly like you want and editing all different kinds of tracks including audio tracks is pretty easy once you know how to do it. My first task was creating a video intro for some other videos I plan on making. Check it out “**here**”:https://youtu.be/FotLonKRGGE. I made the same intro with iMovie on iOS and it came out like “**this**”:https://youtu.be/D8pUbIrvA-k. It’s short and it may not look like much, but it has a lot of pieces I don’t know how I’d do with iMovie on iOS. Most of the effects are keyframed and I was even able to control the frame rate of the exported product. (Hint: if you want to make your videos appear more cinematic, try a 24FPS frame rate.) There are even little things that go such a long way like being able to precisely control the drop shadow angle on title text. I personally prefer to interact with the interface using the Pencil, but they’ve designed it so that it can be used with touch alone easily.

    However, all of this power comes at a price. It’s the most expensive app I’ve ever purchased for iOS. At $20USD you get this app as well as the LumaFX app which has additional video filter tools. I definitely prefer to purchase apps when I can because I feel you get a better product when you pay for it. Plus, as a developer myself, I know we need to eat too! That said, 20 dollars was a lot for a single app, but I do feel like it’s completely justified. I record a good number of videos and this app is going to help me make them look better.

    A replacement for a desktop computer? It’s getting much closer, that’s for sure.

  • BenQ Display with USB-C Hub Shines

    BenQ has been around for some time. Way back when, we used to buy CD drives from them and I have visited their booth at CES each year waiting for something that might be attractive to the Macophiles that we serve. This year I found it when I saw the BenQ PD2710QC Designer Monitor. It had an integrated USB-C hub as a base and seemed like an ideal companion to Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pros.

    There have not been a lot of USB-C compatible displays out there other than the pretty nice but pretty expensive LG displays that Apple was offering. Things have changed and I have had the opportunity to check out the BenQ display myself over the past few weeks.

    My evaluation did not start out great as I encountered difficulty with the ethernet compatibility on the USB-C base. But, then again, you do not have a true picture of a company’s commitment to quality and excellent customer service until something goes wrong. Well, I dropped an email with some questions and I had about three or four BenQ folks immediately helping me troubleshoot. First, they overnighted a replacement base but that did not solve the issue so they overnighted a new display and that worked. This could have gone sideways a number of times but BenQ not only resolved the problem but they were proactive and exceeded my expectations in doing so.

    Speaking of sideways, did I mention that this display will rotate from the landscape to portrait mode? I haven’t used that kind of display since way back in the Radius display days. It is a handy feature but I digress.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5168.jpg!

    The BenQ PD2710QC is a versatile 27-inch, 16:9, QHD (quad high definition) 2560 X 1440 IPS 4-sided edge to edge panel.

    Here is some other specs:

    * 8-bit, 100% sRGB & Rec.709
    * USB-C Dock with power, USB 3.1, Ethernet and 2kQHD video display (more about that soon)
    * Darkroom mode, CAD/CAM mode, Animation mode
    * HDMI, DisplayPort, MiniDisplayPort and DisplayPort out for MST(MST not supported on most Macs)
    * HDCP 1.4

    The display comes in a lightweight box and includes all the cables you need. I don’t know why they did it this way but the power handling is a bit odd. There is a brick with a long cable to power the USB-C hub/base and there is a power cord for the display itself. I would think that they could have figured out a way to power both off one cable but there are two which is not a big deal.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5169.jpg!

    Speaking of power the USB-C base supplies power to your MacBook Pro through the included USB-C cable. For my 13-inch MacBook Pro the 61 watts delivered is enough to power and charge my laptop. It will charge both the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 12-inch MacBooks, however, if you are running it with the 15-inch MacBook Pro the 61 watts will power your MacBook Pro but will only charge it very slowly.

    Setting up the PD2710QC is very easy. There are three parts in the box, the display panel, the USB-C hub/base and the support arm. The support arm slips easily into the base and can be held in place by the thumbscrew. The panel snaps onto the support arm easily and there is a large release button if you ever want to take it off. The support arm allows the display to be positioned anywhere from 5-inches from your desk to 1-foot if you are really tall or like looking up. The support arm has the swivel that will allow you to rotate the display to portrait mode.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5167.jpg!

    Once you have the display put together (it literally took me about 3 minutes) you can begin to connect stuff. I ran the power and MiniDisplayPort cables through the included cable-management hole in the support arm. The MiniDisplayPort cable connects to the DisplayPort on the USB-C hub. I connected the USB-C cable (included) from the base/hub to my MacBook Pro and I was almost ready to go. I have a USB 3.0 back-up drive and a USB Scanner that connected easily to the base and I connected my ethernet cable to the base, too. Turn on the hub, turn on the display and you are all set. The hub has some other ports that I am not using. It has two more USB 3.1 ports for wired mouse and keyboard located conveniently on the side of the hub/base and a speaker jack, too.

    Speaking of speakers, it has some but that is about all I can say, I am not looking for sound quality from my display. The hub/base is perfect to hold your laptop if you are running it in closed mode. I prefer to have that additional display so I position my laptop next to the display. Everything connects with one cable which is a huge advantage. I get display, ethernet, power and USB hub all from one cable with this BenQ display.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5170.jpg!

    The three modes that BenQ programs into the display are handy for those that have a need for precision. The CAD/CAM mode offers better contrast on lines and shapes of technical drawings. The Animation mode which lightens image areas to better visualize the details hiding in dark shadows. The Darkroom mode adjusts the brightness and contrast of image to give clarity and sharpness to details for work in darker post-processing environments.

    Things I love about this display:

    * Modern nearly borderless display
    * USB Hub/Base
    * Flexible tilt, height and orientation of display
    * Display and color quality
    * Customer service!
    * One cable connection
    * Three-year Warranty
    * Value

    Things I would like to see improved:

    * One power cable, not two
    * Another USB-C port on the hub/base
    * 85 Watt power delivery
    * Thunderbolt 3 support

    In comparing to the LG 4 and 5K displays BenQ scores some points. First of course is the value at less than half the cost of the LG 5K display. It has an integrated USB Hub with more ports including ethernet connectivity and audio out. It is more versatile in terms of how the display is articulated and has built-in cable management (that is a hole in the support arm ). The LG wins on 5K resolution and 85 Watt power delivery but unless you really need 5K resolution, I think this BenQ display is a perfect match for Apple’s new laptops.

    I am very excited to offer this display to our customers. It sells for $599 and we do have them in stock and should be on display in our stores soon. The PD2710QC carries a three-year manufacturer’s warranty.

  • _Dear Friends,_

    Which passwords are the most important to remember? I cannot tell you how many times we are faced with a customer needing help on their Mac or iOS device and when we ask for their password a confused look crosses their faces and immediately we know we are into a password recovery situation. Sometimes, the customer will pull out a dog-eared notebook with passwords written down and crossed out and more written in. Other times they mutter under their breath about passwords and use some unique language.

    There are really only a few passwords that are essential for you to remember. Number one is the main password to your Mac or iOS device to unlock them. You use that password all the time, presumably, so it should not be too hard to remember but I do recommend stashing that someplace safe so you can get it when you forget. Second most important is probably your Apple ID. Your Apple ID is used for everything Apple from iTunes, to the App Store, to setting up iCloud and new devices. You can reset this password but that is time consuming and frustrating as you try to remember the answers to your security questions, i.e. my first dog was Skippy.

    Email passwords and banking passwords are next but if you use Apple’s keychain or other Password programs like 1Password you should not have too much trouble retrieving those. In most cases, however, when we are called for technical support it is either the main administrator’s password for a Mac or Apple ID that stops the help in its tracks and starts the clock on our paid password recovery services.

    I think Apple made great strides with Touch ID and they have brought that to the Touch Bar Macs but they need to make it even more useful to identify yourself. Why go through a complicated password recovery situation when you have biometric security. I don’t believe that I still have to enter my Apple ID and password every time I buy a book from iBooks, for example.

    Okay enough of my password rant for today. Here’s an “**exclusive for Kibbles & Bytes readers**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002756/kibbles-bytes-exclusive-bundle? that goes along with my review of the BenQ PD2710QC display. I am bundling the BenQ USB C display with an Apple Factory Reconditioned MacBook Pro 13-inch with Touch Bar. This MacBook Pro has the 2.9GHZ i5 Dual Core processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD drive and is Space Gray. It has been refurbished by Apple and has a 1-year Apple Warranty. We are also bundling Applecare+ which now has become almost essential as it also covers accidental damage (like spilling that glass of wine on your Mac) with a deductible. It covers this MacBook Pro for 3-years and provides 3-years of free Apple technical support, too. So, you get the “**MacBook Pro, AppleCare+ and the BenQ PD2710QC display for only $2099.99.**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002756/kibbles-bytes-exclusive-bundle? That is $200 off for Kibbles & Bytes readers while supplies last!

  • Heading Into The Library Stacks

    I remember way back when, that Grace and I would go to the Chicago Public library to “do our homework”. When we actually…

  • We have three basic job requirements here at Small Dog Electronics that go beyond doing extraordinary work. We ask each employee to write a weekly report outlining work accomplished, challenges encountered and any commentary they would like to make about their job. My techs tend to do daily reports which really give me a good handle on the work flow. The second job requirement is to reach the highest level of Apple sales training for even those not on the sales floor. My favorite is my third requirement, which is to take a paid day off and do community service.

    The only requirement for that last one is to send me an email and tell me what they have done. It can be as simple as helping an elderly neighbor stack their firewood to designing a web site for a non-profit. I was sort of boasting about this idea one day at a meeting of some other business leaders and the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s listened patiently and then casually said “we do the same thing but we give our employees a week off”. Crawling quickly under the table, I decided that was something to aspire to.

    Thank you so much for reading his issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily & Hadley_

  • A Laptop Replacement?

    I’m going to split from my usual articles this week so I can talk about another one of my passions. I recently decided it was time to retire my original iPad Air. It was actually the first Apple product I purchased myself. Someone gave me a Mac mini in 2009, but that doesn’t count. When I got it in June 2014, iOS 7 had just come out and I remember being totally sold on the new direction iOS was taking. I also liked the shift in form factor that came with the Air. It served me well over the years, went on many trips, watched hours of movies and TV shows. It’ll serve a good purpose as my new HomeKit base station. I have it set up in my living room next to my TV. I also use it to Airplay content to my TV.

    So what did I replace it with? Well, much like in 2014, iOS 11 really sold me on the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro. I was also genuinely impressed with performance specs that actually rival some laptop computers. I actually confirmed this by running Geekbench on both my 10.5-inch iPad Pro and my MacBook Air (circa 2014). Generally, the iPad had higher scores across the board. Some scores were comparable, but where the iPad really shined was in multicore performance. My MacBook Air is a dual-core i5, while the iPad Pros use a 6-core A10X. More cores is obviously going to push that score up a lot for the iPad.

    The 120Hz screen refresh rate is something you really have to see in person, and it affects every single thing you do on the device. That combined with what is otherwise a very nice display makes for a really nice user experience. For me, one of the other reasons I wanted this iPad was so that I could get the Apple Pencil and start doing some fashion design. I’m actually a terrible artist, but I wanted to give this a try. So far it’s gone very well. I can’t speak to how the Pencil worked on previous iPads without the 120Hz refresh, but I’ve found it to be actually very useable. Other pen inputs I’ve used in the past, even good ones, have had far too much lag. I’ve found that using the Pencil doesn’t get annoying over time, which I like.

    There are actually a handful of apps out there specifically designed for fashion design. One that I really liked initially was Prêt à Template. It gives you all sorts of body form templates that you can draw your designs on top of. I liked this because I had no idea how to draw a body form that looked like an actual human. The problem with Prêt à Template is that instead of just being able to purchase the app, it has a weird subscription model that I did not want to do.

    I can however recommend two other apps that have worked very well for me with my designs so far. The first I tried is free. Adobe Sketch is a powerful drawing app with great brush assortment and good layering. Obviously just sketching out fashion designs isn’t intensive digital art, but I love the ability to have such a wide variety of colors and textures available to me anywhere I am with my iPad. The ability to undo is also pretty handy.

    The second app isn’t free, but it’s the one I’ve started using exclusively now. It’s called Procreate. It costs $6 in the App Store, but for such a powerful app, I think it’s totally worth it. I prefer Procreate because it has a bit better brush assortment, seems to be better tuned for the Apple Pencil than Adobe Sketch and the undo feature is a bit better. I felt there was a bit more of a learning curve on Procreate, but once I got the basics down for what I wanted to do, I definitely get the results I want.

    It’s been a few weeks with the iPad Pro so far and I’m starting to think that once iOS 11 comes out, this device might genuinely be able to replace my MacBook Air in many ways. I’m also excited to see how well it can do with video editing and music creation, two other creative hobbies I enjoy.

  • Are You Ready For iOS 11?

    Some of you might have already jumped on the “public beta”:https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/ program for “iOS 11”:https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-11-preview/. If you did, you might have discovered that some apps have stopped working for you. If you haven’t installed it yet this is a good time to get ready.

    I’ve been an iPhone user since the iPhone 3GS and I’ve been an iPad user since the original iPad came out. iOS 11 brings on some similar hiccups that have plagued macOS, most apps and applications ( if it’s on the Mac ) will carry over and run, but eventually some apps and applications will stop working and you need to either replace or update them. Here’s the run down on why and what to look for with your iOS apps.

    Through the iPhone 5, fourth-generation iPad, original iPad mini, and fifth-generation iPod touch, Apple used 32-bit processors. However, in 2013, Apple instead began putting 64-bit chips in all new iOS devices. Apple encouraged developers to make their apps run on 64-bit mode but kept iOS7 compatible with older 32-bit apps. Starting in 2015, Apple required apps to run in 64-bit mode to receive App Store approval. iOS 10 initially warned that 32-bit apps might slow down your device and later said 32-bit apps would need to be updated.

    First off, don’t worry about what 32 and 64-bit mean, all you need to know is that 32-bit apps are old and won’t run on iOS 11, and that 64-bit apps will continue to work as they always have. But how do you know which of your apps are 32-bit? For apps that you use regularly you’ve probably seen one of these warnings. But other apps you may open only occasionally. How can you figure out which of those are destined for the chopping block?

    In iOS 10.3, Apple added a feature to call out these apps. Navigate to Settings > General > About > Applications to see a list of 32-bit apps that don’t have direct updates available. Note: you do need to be running specifically iOS 10.3 for this to work. If you are on iOS 10.3 and Applications won’t let you tap it, it means you do not have any 32-bit apps. When I looked up any potential issues I found 4 of my 122 apps are 32-bit. Now what? Well there are some options for handling this.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5160.png!

    **Delete the app.** If it’s an app you don’t use much or perhaps at all anymore just get rid of it! Simply press and hold the icon until you get the familiar shaking apps and tap the X.

    **Look for an update that’s a new app** It’s very possible that the developer simply released a completely new version of the app that you need to downloaded. This unfortunately might mean that you have to buy a paid app again, but if you like that app well enough it will be worth it.

    **Look for an alternative app.** Few iOS apps are truly unique, so you may be able to find an alternative that does basically the same thing.

    If you are in an unfortunate situation where it’s an app you must keep using but there is no update to 64-bit then you’ve got some options, but they may not be ideal. Just like when OS X came out and countless users were faced with costly software upgrades from OS9 to OS X, you might consider running an older iOS device exclusively for that app. You could also consider not upgrading to iOS 11 and keep your device back. Both of these options come with drawbacks and eventually you’ll need to upgrade and migrate to newer versions of the app, so this is only a bandaid. The best advice is to work to replace that older app as soon as possible.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5161.png!

    You’ve still got several weeks to work out a plan and prepare for the official release of iOS 11. For myself, I’m going with the easiest option and just deleting the apps and looking for alternatives.

  • Expanding Your View

    As I mentioned, I am using two displays now so I thought I would write up a short article on just how you can set up a multiple display situation. There are three different ways that you can use multiple displays:

    *Expand Your Desktop*
    This is what I am doing and I have one continuous desktop that stretches across two 27-inch monitors and my MacBook Pro display. Move your pointer past the edge of one display and it appears on the other display. At first, your primary display has all of your desktop icons and open app windows. You can drag them to the other display as needed.

    *Set Up Mirroring*
    Video mirroring shows the same desktop and windows on multiple displays at the same time. You can use it to view content such as photos or videos on a larger display or HDTV.

    *Closed Laptop Mode*
    You can use an external display or projector with a Mac notebook while its built-in display is closed. This is known as closed-clamshell or closed-display mode.

    I will go over each of these but will concentrate upon the extended desktop. I often have two browsers, an email client, Messages, Skype, Numbers, Pages, our K9 database and other windows open when I am working. It does get crowded, especially if I am working on the 13-inch display on my MacBook Pro. Setting up an extended desktop allows me to spread out the work in a much more organized fashion.

    Here’s how to set up an extended desktop:
    Connect and turn on your additional display or displays. I have mine connected to two of the USB-C ports on my MacBook Pro.

    * Open System Preferences.
    * Choose Displays.
    * Click the Arrangement tab.
    * Make sure that the Mirror Displays checkbox isn’t selected.

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5164.jpg!

    * Each display has a menu bar.

    * Each display can have full-screen apps. To take an app full screen, click the green button in the upper-left corner of the app window. Or press Control-Command-F.

    * You can use Mission Control to organize windows and full-screen apps across your displays.

    * If the Dock is positioned at the bottom of your screen, you can view it on any one of your screens by moving your pointer to the bottom edge of that screen. This one had me baffled for a long time as my dock would end up on the wrong display and I could not figure out how to get it back. But moving the cursor to the bottom of the display where you want the dock works every time.

    *Arrange your displays*
    I don’t think I have the ultimate set up yet but I am playing with positioning my displays. Using the Display pane of Systems Preferences you can tell your Mac where your displays are in relation to each other. Use this feature so that your connected displays match their real-world location when you move between windows.

    You can select which display has the Finder’s menu bar and arrange them just right so that mouse movements are smooth from one to the other. In the picture of my setup here you will see that I set the MacBook Pro display much lower than my others. This makes it so when I am a moving between displays it is totally fluid.

    The blue boxes in the Arrangement pane represent all displays that you’ve connected to your Mac. The size of each box represents the current resolution of each display.

    The white bar at the top of the blue box identifies your primary display. The primary display is where your desktop icons and open app windows first appear. To make a different display your primary display, drag the white bar to the box that represents that display.

    *Setting up Mirroring*

    Video mirroring shows the same desktop and windows on multiple displays at the same time. You can use it to view content such as photos or videos on a larger display or HDTV.

    Here’s how to set up video mirroring:
    * Connect and turn on your additional display.
    * Choose System Preferences.
    * Choose Displays.
    * Click the Arrangement tab.
    * In the lower-left corner of the Arrangement pane, select “Mirror Displays.”

    p{text-align: center;}. !http://blog.smalldog.com/images/5165.png!

    In OS X Mavericks or later, you can add a status menu bar item to make it easier to mirror your displays. Use this menu to select an Apple TV or television to use as a display. It appears when you connect to an HDTV, or when an Apple TV is available on your network. To add the menu to the top of your screen, select “Show mirroring options in the menu bar when available.”

    *Closed Laptop Mode*

    To use closed laptop mode you need:

    * An AC power adapter
    * An external keyboard and mouse or trackpad, either USB or wireless
    * A USB-C to USB adapter if you’re using a USB mouse or keyboard with MacBook (2015 and later) or MacBook Pro (2016 and later)
    * An external display or projector

    Use these steps to enable closed-display mode.

    If the external display isn’t recognized when it’s connected and your Mac is powered on, try connecting the display while your computer is asleep or off. Then wake or turn on the computer after you connect the display.

    If you’re using a USB keyboard and mouse:
    * Make sure that your Mac is plugged into AC power
    * Connect a USB keyboard and mouse to your Mac.
    * With your Mac turned on and the display open, connect the Mac to the appropriate port on the external display or projector and turn the display or projector on. Use an appropriate Apple video adapter if necessary.
    * After your Mac laptop’s Desktop appears on the external display, close the computer’s lid.

    When you close the lid:
    In OS X Lion 10.7 and later, the external display changes to a blue screen, then shows your Desktop.

    You can now use your Mac laptop as you normally would with a USB keyboard and mouse.

    If you’re using a wireless keyboard and mouse:
    * Make sure that your Mac laptop is plugged in using the AC power adapter.
    * Verify that Bluetooth is turned on
    * Pair your Bluetooth keyboard or mouse with your Mac.
    * In the Bluetooth pane of System Preferences, click Advanced and make sure the checkbox next to Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer is selected.
    * With your Mac turned on and the display open, connect the Mac to the appropriate port on the external display or projector and turn the display or projector on.
    * After your Mac notebook’s Desktop appears on the external display, close the computer’s lid.

    You can now use your Mac notebook as you normally would with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
    It’s best to put your Mac to sleep by choosing Apple menu > Sleep before disconnecting your display

    This new BenQ display has a little shelf for the MacBook Pro to sit on when using closed mode but I find it convenient to have that third display as even more desktop.

    With all these displays I must look like my friend Larz Barber at Merrill Lynch.