Kibbles & Bytes Blog

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  • _Dear Friends,_

    With all the rain and dreary weather you would think we were somewhere on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington but nope, here in the Green Mountains the forecast is rain and cloudy weather with cool temperatures. I don’t think the baby tomato plants want to go swimming. Nevertheless, I did get out on the motorcycle last weekend and quickly remembered why motorcycling in Vermont is the best with curvy roads, little traffic and lots and lots of eye candy in the mountains.

    Apple’s WWDC WorldWide Developers Conference is coming up next week and we will all get a peak at the latest from Apple. While this show is traditionally a showcase for software we could also see some hardware, too. I will review past WWDCs and give you a little wish list for this year’s event here in Kibbles.

    One of my dearest friends once handed me a book entitled ??Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless??. While I found the book to be poorly written, the concept is especially relevant in these days where it is a real battle to hang onto customers as everyone turns to buying online. We have always focused on making customers for life and I have been preaching to our employees that the small profit we make from a single sale pales in comparison to the life-cycle value of a loyal customer.

    You can be very satisfied with your purchase but unless we give you a lot of reasons to come back to Small Dog Electronics you will still, rightfully, search for the best deal for that new Mac or iPad. That is one reason I am so proud to have earned the Apple Premier Partner designation. We can offer you the entire Apple solution including all of the great products but also Apple Certified repairs, consultation and classes.

    We are also gadget freaks. We love the stuff we sell and we use it, too. Whenever a new vendor approaches us to handle their products, I talk about how valuable it is to get the products into the hands of my crew. Some vendors are great about that, Sonos is a great example where they give employees a good discount, others provide samples and some even come to Vermont to train us, too. We try to stay abreast of the latest trends in this fast-moving industry. Right now HomeKit and HealthKit are two areas where we are bringing in high quality products that integrate seamlessly with Apple products.

    I am surprised at how many customers tell me that they bought their first Mac from us 15 or 20 years ago, some even remembering driving up to Prickly Mountain when Small Dog’s offices were by my home. Thank you to all of our loyal customers, we truly appreciate not only your business but your friendship and loyalty.

    This week’s “**Kibbles & Bytes Special is a Chill Pill 3-pack!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002701/chill-pill-3-pack? I have done 6-packs before but maybe that is too many so this week you can get “3 Chill Pill Speakers”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002701/chill-pill-3-pack? one each of Black, Red and White for only “**$14.99!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002701/chill-pill-3-pack?

  • Some Philips Hue Lighting Tips

    I got back to Vermont and on my list was putting in some HomeKit gear for this house. I chose Philips Hue for…

  • It looks like rain is going to get in the way of our normal annual trek to Maine for lobsters but we will certainly get out on the bikes this holiday weekend. I’ll have to make a trek down to Worthy Burger for beer and burgers for sure. When it rains, it might be time for some David Lynch, checking out the new Twin Peaks episodes. None of my young staff seems to have watched Twin Peaks but then again it was 25 years ago. I know my kids remember it because we were regulars for that bizarre show.

    It sure is green here in the Green Mountains! Where the fall is so many shades of red, brown and orange, green is the color of spring and there are a million shades of green on the mountainsides now.

    Have a fabulous Memorial Day weekend and don’t forget why this is a holiday.

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes team,

    _Don, Emily & Hadley_

  • Learning

    A lot of people have been curious about where I’ve learned so much about electricity and electronics. I’ve had very little formal schooling on the subject, so I thought it might be interesting to go over some of the resources I’ve used and things that have helped me learn. I think these subjects are a lot more accessible than people realize.

    When I was 10 or 11, my aunt got me an electronics project kit. I suspect these kits are still available, but I had mine for at least 8 years. They were basically a board made of plastic or cardboard with springs sticking out. The springs were connected to various components (resistors, LEDs, capacitors, etc, etc). This made it easy to bend the spring sideways and slide in a jumper wire. The kits came with booklets complete with all kinds of circuits. In my earlier years, my dad had to help me build them and show me how to follow the instructions. One of my favorite circuits was the electromagnetic radiation detector. This circuit used the tuner coil on the board and the tiny little earpiece. The tuner coil was placed in a circuit so that it would be sensitive to ambient electromagnetic radiation. This was fascinating to me because I learned that our CRT TV at the time output a lot of stray electromagnetic noise. It was quiet compared to the microwave though.

    Once I became more comfortable with how circuits worked and what various components did, I started to get myself in trouble at home by disassembling various electronics. Eventually I started finding scrap electronics instead of things that worked. I learned how to repair a few things. I remember repairing a flashlight I had that didn’t work anymore. I also remember disassembling a motor in a toy submarine I had and fixing it so that the brushes worked again. I think all of my tinkering had a lot to do with what I ended up learning, especially about the limits of various electronics.

    As I got older I was able to follow along in books and videos online. A few very basic courses in high school and college helped me to get a handle on some of the fundamentals, but school was never a big part of what I’ve learned about electricity. Some of the things that really helped me a lot were books designed for trade schools. I always found these books easiest to follow and most practical. Another great resource is old US Army instructional videos on youtube. Most of them are from the 1940s or 1950s and were designed to help teach people in the army how to do things. For having no special effects, simple graphics and all in black and white, these videos are incredibly instructive. Some companies, like General Electric, also made similar videos at the time. It was one of these videos that finally got through to me on how induction motors worked. The great thing is that what they talk about is fundamental and hasn’t really changed in the 60-70 years since the videos were made. Motors still generally work exactly the same way. I also found a youtube channel that was particularly helpful in demystifying some of the more complex digital and signals processing parts of electrical engineering. “**Jerri Ellsworth**”:https://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth helped me understand a lot. Plus she had videos on fabricating a race car (another interest of mine).

    Beyond instructional things, I’ve found the best way to learn about this stuff is to just do it. I learned a ton from building my own solar power station. Everything from different battery chemistries to how to size wiring based on load. I think it helps a lot to break things down into individual pieces. An entire system might be complicated, but maybe you can just focus on what is required to calculate the correct fuse size or how DC breakers work. Eventually all of the little things add up. It’s important to me to show others that despite how daunting and complicated this subject might seem, most people will be able to figure it out. Plus, lifelong learning is awesome! Hopefully my articles are contributing to that for readers.