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Author "don"
wrote in 1066: Lets Face it, iMac Pro .

Speaking of sci-fi, Grace and I are heading to Fort Myers tomorrow to catch the new Star Wars movie on IMAX. It is a nice drive up the Keys and over to the west coast of Florida. Now that Disney is buying 21st Century Fox they may have a pretty big science fiction franchise going for them with all the Marvel movies, too. Hapy used to warn us that Disney was going to take over the world…

We are entering the home stretch for the holidays and we are working hard to keep the products you want in stock. We have some great holiday deals so check out our website, too!

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

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

Don & Emily

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wrote in 1066: Lets Face it, iMac Pro .

I have had my new iPhone X for a couple weeks now and it is magical in so many ways. Being an old codger, it is truly future shock to be holding such a powerful device in my hand and one that instantly recognizes my face, too! There have been a lot of stories out about Face ID and my first-hand experience is that it just works. It is transparent and I lift up my iPhone and it is unlocked. Contrary, to JoJo’s report a few weeks ago, it is not just black people that it has trouble recognizing in the dark, I have to enter my passcode on occasion when I lean over in bed to see what stupid notification I got at 2AM.

What You Need to Know About Face ID

Apple’s new iPhone X does away with the Home button, which has been a fixture since the original iPhone and has long served as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor. To replace Touch ID, Apple developed a new facial recognition technology called Face ID. With Face ID, the iPhone X scans your face to authenticate you instead of using your fingerprint. It is truly amazing technology! Apple even invested in the company making the scanning lasers that make Face ID work this week.

How does Face ID work?

Freaking Magic. Well, almost. As science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Face ID is cutting-edge technology that uses Apple’s TrueDepth camera system to project over 30,000 invisible dots onto your face. Then it illuminates your face with infrared light and takes an infrared image. Finally, it translates that image into facial recognition data that are encrypted and stored within the iPhone’s Secure Enclave (the data never leaves your iPhone). Face ID updates its mathematical representation of your face overtime to keep up with how your appearance changes.

How secure is Face ID?

Extremely. Apple claims that Touch ID’s false positive rate—the number of people who would have to try logging in to your iPhone before someone would succeed randomly—is 1 in 50,000. In contrast, Apple says that Face ID’s false positive rate is 1 in 1,000,000. It can’t be fooled by a picture or a simple mask, although a high-enough quality 3D reproduction of your face might get past it, just as a sufficiently good cast of your fingerprint could fool Touch ID.

However, Face ID has trouble distinguishing between identical twins and siblings who have nearly identical features. So if you have an evil twin or even a nice twin with a sick sense of humor, stick to a Touch ID-based iPhone or your passcode! The probability of an incorrect match is also higher with children under 13, since their facial features haven’t become sufficiently distinct yet.

By default, Face ID works only when you look at the iPhone X—it can’t be unlocked by your face when you’re sleeping or in my case when I am staring at my Mac’s display with the iPhone on my desk.

How fast is Face ID?

Not quite as fast as Touch ID in current iPhones, but fast enough that you likely won’t notice. When you pick up your iPhone X so you can look at it, Face ID will, in most cases, have already recognized you.
This quick recognition is possible in part because the iPhone X can start scanning early, thanks to iOS’s Raise to Wake feature and a new Tap to Wake feature that automatically wakes the iPhone X when you touch the screen.

What if Face ID doesn’t work?

First off, things like wearing a hat, scarf, or glasses won’t confuse Face ID, nor will growing or shaving a beard. Thanks to that infrared camera, it even works in complete darkness, sorta. It does seem to have more trouble working with black people in the dark or maybe even darker skinned people. However, Face ID does fail occasionally. One reason for a Face ID failure is holding the iPhone X too close to your face—this is easy to do accidently if you’re nearsighted and not wearing your glasses. (Some sunglasses prevent Face ID from seeing your eyes, but you can work around that problem by disabling Require Attention for Face ID in Settings > Face ID & Passcode.)

To make Face ID retry a facial scan, hold the iPhone X at a normal viewing distance, tilt it away from you, and then tilt it back to your normal viewing position. If that doesn’t work, or if you want to let someone else use your iPhone, enter the passcode. Entering the passcode is always an option.

Alas, unlike Touch ID, which let you enroll up to five fingers (so family members could unlock your iPhone without using the passcode), Face ID lets you have only a single face.

Can I use Face ID for anything besides unlocking?

Oh yeah, Face ID completely replaces Touch ID, so you can use it to authenticate when you’re using Apple Pay, or the App Store or iTunes Store. Plus, apps that previously relied on Touch ID, such as the 1Password or LastPass password managers, will automatically use Face ID instead.

We hope Apple can make the hardware necessary for Face ID cheaply enough to bring it to other devices as well. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could walk up to your Mac and have it automatically unlock because it had recognized your face? Now, if it could just read my mind and do my work for me I’d be all set!

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wrote in 1065: Show Me The Cash, Setting Up Your New iPhone, Pioneer Rayz .

It is hard to believe that we are already into December. It seems that the older you get the faster that time flies on by. That is why I am a firm believer in Grace’s motto which she reminds me of every time I complain about being old – More Fun! Life is truly short and we have to make the best of each day.

Working at home can get pretty lonely but every now and then Jezebel will come and put her head on my lap and basically say – time for a walk, Don. She so loves the dog park here that she pulls and drags me and whimpers all the way from the car to the gate. Once there, she has to greet each and every dog and in just about 10 or 15 minutes is so tired from running around that she is ready to go back home. The dog park is pretty popular right around sunset so that is where we head most days, skipping the huge sunset tourist party at Mallory Square.

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

Don, Emily and Joanne

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wrote in 1065: Show Me The Cash, Setting Up Your New iPhone, Pioneer Rayz .

My granddaughter Khadija is away at college at Boston University and from time to time she will hit her gramps up for some bucks. I am happy to help, because as I tell Grace, what exactly do I work for if not to help out my granddaughter! But that’s not the story, when Khadija asked me for $20 I asked her how to send it to her and she uses Venmo. That’s what I did but then I told her Apple Cash is coming out and the next time I am only sending by Apple Cash!

With the latest release of iOS11.2 for your iPhone and iPad, Apple has activated Apple Cash which is a really easy way to send money to friends and family. It is basically an App for Messages and it works really well. But even better you can just ask Siri. I just said “hey Siri, pay Grace a dollar” and just like that I virtually took a dollar out of one pocket and put it in another.

You can connect Apple Pay Cash to a credit or a debit card but if you use a credit card you will be dinged the 3% fee. Use your debit card and there is no fee!

But let’s review how to set up and use Apple Pay Cash. Step one is that you have to be sure to upgrade your iPhone or your iPad to the latest iOS – iOS 11.2. To do that, simply go to Settings—->General—->Software Update and check to see if you are current.

You do have two-factor authentication turned on, right? You need that for so many features that just about everyone should have it active. If not go to settings—>iCloud—>Password & Security—->Two Factor Authentication and follow the instructions there.

Okay, so you have iOS 11.2 and Two Factor Authentication, what now? Now open the Wallet app. At the top you will see a brand spanking new Apple Pay Cash card. Click on that and hit continue to activate your Apple Pay Cash card. This card is really important. This is where you will receive any money that others send to you. It will be stored in your Apple Pay Cash card and can be easily used to send cash to someone else, to pay for goods or services using Apple Pay or you can transfer it to your bank account.

Once your digital Apple Pay Cash card is set up, you will be asked to pair a credit or debit card to the new service. I put in one of each but a debit card makes the most sense since you do not get charged the 3% fee. If you put in more than one you will be asked each time to choose which card you want to use, which is another step.

Once you have added a card and agreed to the terms and conditions you will be asked to verify the card by entering in a code that will be sent to you automatically. Now, you can add some cash to your Apple Pay Cash card if you wish. That makes sending money a couple clicks easier but it is not necessary.

If you click on the “i” button on the Apple Pay Cash card screen you will get your information screen which will tell you your balances, have buttons for adding money or transferring it to your bank, etc. It also has a tab to review your transactions.

To send money to a friend you can simply ask Siri in the Messages app, open the App drawer and choose the Apple Pay icon. Remember that both parties must have iOS 11.2 installed for person to person payments to work. So, that means no sending bucks to Android users.

When you tap on that icon you will get a pop-up to ask you how much you want to send. Your friend will receive a pop-up to accept. Once you verify the transaction using your fingerprint or in the case of the iPhone X it is super easy – just look at your iPhone and bingo! you have sent the cash.

Your friend has instant access to the cash in their Apple Pay Cash card which they can use for Apple Pay or to send on to someone else. If you want to transfer the money to your bank account you tap on Transfer to Bank and then add your bank account’s routing number and account number. These transfer requests can take up to 3 days so they are not instant.

You can set up your Apple Cash Card as your default payment in Apple Pay if you find that you have a lot of good friends sending you cash all the time. If you are going to send or receive more than $500, Apple Pay might require that you verify your identity with social security number, DOB or even your driver’s license.

Regardless, I think that at least for the millions that use iPad and iPhones Apple Pay Cash will be the easiest way to send money and should give PayPal and their peer-to-peer cash system, Venmo, a run for the money, so to speak.

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wrote in 1065: Show Me The Cash, Setting Up Your New iPhone, Pioneer Rayz .

Dear Friends,

I know it is getting close to the holidays as Hapy posted his list of beer pairings for Christmas songs. It is hard to know it is Christmas down here in Key West other than the houses with over-the-top lights and decorations and of course, the lighted boat parade coming up this weekend. I laugh at the faux snow.

I keep discovering great new websites that offer valuable services. When I went out to San Francisco I discovered Turo to rent a fancy car and then, of course, Hapy said he used it all the time. We were looking for a new dog sitter so Grace and I could ride the motorcycles up to Ft. Myers to catch the new Star Wars on IMAX and I discovered Rover.com which is a great resource for dog walking and dog sitting.

Speaking of Star Wars, we brought in some Star Wars collector edition drones at around $150 over Emily’s strenuous objections (she is not a fan of drones). I hesitated to buy any for Key West because drones are basically illegal here because everywhere is close to the airport on our 2 mile by 4 mile island. But surprisingly we have sold all that we have sold here in Key West for gifts and none in Vermont. Go figure. If you are interested in getting one of these cool drones in the special edition singing box please, please call or email Emily!

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes Exclusive features the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. It has a 2.8GHz I7 processor, 16GB of ram, 256GB SSD drive and 2GB of VRAM in Space Gray. This is one of the units that has a bad shipping box but perfect contents. There are just 6 of them left so it is definitely first come, first served for this special. We are bundling this MacBook Pro 15-inch with AppleCare+ which extends your warranty to 3-years, provides 3-years of Apple tech support and with a deductible covers 2 incidents of accidental damage. Normally this MacBook Pro with AppleCare+ would cost $2679.98 this week, while supply lasts, Kibbles & Bytes readers can buy this bundle for $200 off at $2479.98.

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wrote in 1064: iCloud Key Chain, Soap Box, Siri Tip .

Almost all of the nearly 400 restaurants here in Key West will deliver their food. But for some reason, Grace and I do not take advantage of this service. I know that my employees here will have cups of coffee delivered as well as lunch but I must have lived in the boonies too long to feel okay about that.

Our citrus tree got trashed by Irma so we planted another this week. We are determined to grow tropical fruit in our yard or I may have to move back to the frozen northland. We currently have mango, lemon, lime, pineapple, banana, orange, and grapefruit but no food! Well, it did take me about 25 years to finally grow apples in Vermont so I will just have to be patient.

This next week has the lighted bicycle and lighted boat parades which are part of the Key West holiday celebration. Grace keeps trying to spell something out with some lights on our fence but I guess we need some new lights.

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

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,
Don & Emily

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wrote in 1064: iCloud Key Chain, Soap Box, Siri Tip .

Start Soapbox

After hearing Geraldo Rivera say that the recent “perv of the day” revelations is ?? criminalizing courtship ??, I could not remain silent anymore. He clearly does not get it and to be honest I don’t think I can truly understand what it means to be sexually harassed without being a woman any more than I can truly understand racism without being black.

It is ironic that we have a President who admitted to sexual assault while there is a groundswell of courage from women all over the USA and other places in the world that are saying “ENOUGH!” This is not about sexual innuendo, friendly banter or certainly not about courtship. What it is about is unwanted assault, the blatant misuse of power and the inalienable right of women to be fully equal members of our community.

When men (or in rarer cases, women) use their position of power as a business person, a personality, a boss or just someone that intimidates to touch, grope and assault it is simply a crime. It is worse when it is this sort of power play where the victim is put into a position of fending off unwanted advances from someone that has some power over them in terms of career, etc.

It really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the difference between a welcoming hug or a comforting touch and a grope, grab or an assault. This is not the end of a sexually diverse workplace nor is it the end of men and women being friends in the workplace. It must be the end of those one-sided encounters where strength and power lead to humiliation and discomfort.

I do not think we can effectively criticize cultures where women are treated much more severely if we do not show the way to how men and women should be treated with equality and respect. We need to be the example, and like in so many areas, our leaders are failing. It is those so-called leaders that have misused the trust of those they lead.

I listened to Donald Trump talk about assaulting women on the Access Hollywood tape. He described it as “locker room talk” but I have been in many locker rooms and that would not be acceptable. And I don’t care if it is his “playpen” talk, it is wrong and he should be held accountable just as each of the men accused recently have been. He needs to resign and get some serious counseling before he blows us all up.

I have always been around strong women, starting with my mom who would have been very angry about this but also my wife, my daughters and all of my employees have a strong sense of self-worth. Feminists? I sure hope so! Women gained the vote less than 100 years ago, women in Saudi Arabia have just been allowed to drive. That is not progress, this is a travesty, women deserve equality in every way, in every land, right now.

End Soapbox

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wrote in 1064: iCloud Key Chain, Soap Box, Siri Tip .

Dear Friends,

I spent some time this weekend up on my roof, repairing the damage to my solar water heating system caused by Irma. I sure don’t have the stamina that I had as a youth, but I managed to get it done and even got Grace to climb the ladder and help me.

Black Friday has changed. It was named Black Friday because it was the day that retailers after losing money all year, finally crossed over into the profitable black. Now, it is a race to see who can open earliest, draw the most crowds and have the lowest prices. We do not stay open late and certainly, would never open on Thanksgiving but this year we came up with some great deals and we had a stronger sales day than last year.

I have been having a series of Mac glitches over the past weeks. First, my MacBook Pro failed and needed a new display and logic board, then when it came back from Apple the new logic board failed so back it went. Restoring from Time Machine was easy but somehow I got things all bolloxed up again and this restore didn’t go well and I am learning a lot about iCloud and iCloud Keychain as I work to make this functional again. The good thing is that I am using my iPad Pro more and realizing that my Mac is not essential to my digital existence.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive is an iOS bundle. I am bundling three Hammerhead products for you. The first two are 2-port USB chargers. One for your car and one for your home. Both will charge an iPhone and iPad simultaneously. We are bundling these two chargers with our latest product, a selfie stick in your choice of color. Normally, these would sell separately for $50.97 but this week for Kibbles & Bytes readers only you can get this bundle for only $35.99

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wrote in 1062: Use Do Not Disturb While Driving, Share iCloud Storage .

I have to replace the solar water heater panels on my roof that got trashed by hurricane Irma but that is a minor inconvenience compared to the devastation just up the Keys a bit. Grace and I took a motorcycle ride up to Big Pine and just about every home has some damage and many were completely destroyed. Huge mountains of debris still line the road and the county just approved some FEMA trailers so that some residents have a place to live while they rebuild their homes.

Boats were washed up on shore, boats sank and just over on Smathers Beach which is a few blocks from my house there are boats that have capsized and washed ashore. Nevertheless, we see evidence of rebuilding and a can-do spirit here, just as we have seen in other areas devastated by hurricanes or disasters.

It should be an interesting journey back to the north country this weekend but I love Vermont so it will be good to be back and knowing that I will soon return to the land of sunshine should help to keep me warm!

Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

Don & Emily

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