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Next week I will be on the road so it will be fun to see how Emily handles the Apple quarterly results that are going to be announced on Tuesday. I guess I’d better write that up in my hotel room from the road.

Last year, most of our plants suffered while we were gone. Between the lack of water and the chickens we had to do a lot of work to get them back. I installed a nice drip irrigation system this year but we will still have chicken invasions. For those of you that don’t know, Key West protects wild chickens and they are everywhere. That must be why Grace loves Key West so much!

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

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Emily, Hadley & Amy_

Apple announced some changes to the 12-inch MacBook and 13-inch MacBook Air this week. Let’s talk about the MacBook Air first. Apple discontinued the 13-inch MacBook Air models that had 4GB of RAM and made them sport 8GB. There were no other changes to this model but the additional RAM comes at no additional cost as Apple doubled the RAM but kept the price the same at $999 for the 128GB SSD unit and $1299 for the 256GB SSD.

With just this minor update to the MacBook Air we can speculate that perhaps this unit is on its way out within the next year. The MacBook Air does not have the Retina display nor does it support the latest in Intel mobile processors. On the other hand, it is Apple’s best selling laptop.

The changes to the MacBook were more significant. They added a Rose Gold (er…pink) color which might actually be a nice option for some. More importantly, Apple went to the new sixth-generation dual-core Intel Core M processors which run at clock speeds up to 1.3 gigahertz, with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 gigahertz. The revamped notebooks also feature faster 1866 megahertz memory.

This new processor yields increases in performance from 15-20% in initial testing. With the Intel HD Graphics 515, the new MacBook has about 25 percent faster graphics performance. Speed has also been enhance with new, faster PCIe-based flash storage.

The lower power requirements and a slightly larger battery has also improved battery life, with the Apple claiming the new MacBook offers up to 10 hours of wireless surfing and up to 11 hours of movie watching.

While some were expecting additional ports or an improved FaceTime camera, these features did not make the cut.

We should have all the models in stock next week as well as some great deals on the newly discontinued models.

Last week we talked about how to activate and use dictation to write emails and documents but there is a lot more that you can do. I keep thinking about Scotty from Star Trek when he went back in time and was “**confronted with a Mac Plus**”:https://youtu.be/LkqiDu1BQXY?t=1m8s. He picked up the mouse as natural as can be and said “computer…”. That time is coming and Dictation Commands are already built into your operating system.

Once you have dictation activated you can activate dictation commands by going to the Accessibility system preference.

* Choose Accessibility from System Preferences.

* Choose Dictation from the list on the left side of the Accessibility pane.

* Click the Dictation Commands button. You can see a list of available commands in the Dictation Commands sheet.

* A starting set of commands are enabled by default. Additional speakable items like “Open document” and “Click item” are available by enabling advanced commands using these next steps:

* Select (check) the option to “Enable advanced commands” in the Dictation Commands sheet that appears.

* Click Done.

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After you have enabled advanced commands, you can also create your own commands by clicking the Add Command (+) button. This lets you link a spoken phrase to an app, a menu item, a keyboard shortcut, or an Automator workflow.

You have enabled Dictation Commands and now you can speak any of the items in this list to perform the related action. Press the Fn key twice, then say a command to make it happen, such as “Search Spotlight for the Cubs score” or “select sentence” or “new document”. Give it a try and pretty soon you will be just like Scotty and the Mac Plus.

As a shortcut, you can speak the command “Show commands” to see a list of the commands you can say.

_Dear Friends,_

It is raining today here in Key West but as with most tropical showers it will likely pass over soon and the sun will come back. My neighbor, Glenn Thomas, posted a picture of the first daffodil at our Prickly Mountain location so I guess it is safe for me to head back north. Grace and I will be packing up and driving up I-95 next week.

Apple quietly made some changes to the 12-inch Macbooks and 13-inch Macbook Airs this week that I will review below and as promised we will talk some more about dictation. Apple did not hold a big event for these laptop upgrades but they are welcome changes that should be a precursor to updates to the rest of the laptops in Apple’s lineup. We will have these new Macbooks and Macbook Airs in stock this week and have some great deals on the newly discontinued models with up to $200 off.

This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive features the Hammerhead Jacket case for the iPhone 5, 5s or the new 5se. This case offers exceptional corner protection with a double injection molded design featuring strong polycarbonate and flexible TPU. Anti-slip sides keep the phone securely in your hand when in use. Of course, all the ports and buttons are easily accessible through this protective case. We have ten designs for this case: Watermelon Red, Hubcap, Pride, Snake Skin, Helmet, Hammerhead Purple, Lemon Yellow, Black, Sky Blue and Hammerhead Orange. I know you can decide which to use so for this week we are offering a 10-pack featuring one of each case. Change as your mood sees fit or give one to a friend. Normally, these cases are $14.99 each but “**exclusively for Kibbles & Bytes readers you can get all ten for only $49.95!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002206

My daughter Autumn and her husband Ismael are coming to visit next week which should be fun. Then we pack up and head back to Vermont. Hopefully the weather will cooperate but it seems like warmer weather is in the forecast for the Green Mountains.

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

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Emily, Hadley & Amy_

What is a Dux you ask? Dux is a really great product line from STM and one that we are really excited to begin carrying here at Small Dog. This product line up has cases for your iPad and your computer and for the last week or so I have been testing out the Dux case for Macbook Air.

My first impression is that it gives my computer a sharp new look. I feel as though my computer is highlighted more in this case. It features a primarily clear case and then a border that comes in an assortment of colors. The one I am using is black and it really looks sharp and sleek on the computer.

I will be the first to admit that I am not a huge fan of hardshell cases for computers. They do add weight to your computer and they can be hard to put on and take off. However, this case did stand out to me as soon as I saw it and I immediately asked for a sample so that I could test it out. It’s the reinforced border that caught my eye. The plastic is slightly different from that of the clear case and really gives you a feeling of protection for your computer.

Customers ask me all the time why someone might want a hard shell case, it’s a combination of accessorizing and protection. Hard shell cases are great for those who might like to sticker their computers. You can sticker all you want on a removable case and not damage your computer. For people who bring their computers everywhere it’s a great way to protect them from the dings and scratches that can happen just by pulling your computer in and out, especially those whom might fly a lot. One piece of advice I will give users of hardshell cases is that you still need to remove them! The idea and concept of hard shell cases is to provide added protection to your computer, to keep it looking like new under the case. However, if you don’t remove the case from time to time and clean the case and computer from dust and debris your computer will still get scratches. I have seen countless computers get just as scratched up with these kinds of cases than those without and the cause is always the same: dirt build up. This particular case comes on and off much easier than some others on the market making my recommended occasional cleanings much easier to perform. After all you’ve probably purchased a hard shell case to keep your computer looking new.

Overall I am very happy with this case, but the biggest test is yet to come. I am flying to Arizona next week for an event with one of our vendors, and I’ll be keeping this case on my computer for my travels. The real test will be if I notice the added weight while making my way through airports, so far I haven’t really noticed the increased weight in my daily travels.

P.S. Hadley, even if it means burpees and laps in an airport terminal I plan to maintain my lead in our competition. It’s ON!

So we have Siri and I’ve been playing around with Alexa (don’t tell Grace!) but now I have Dora, too. Dora is the computer from Robert Heinlein’s Time Enough for Love, The Number of the Beast, The Cat Who Walks Through Walls which were some of my favorite Sci-Fi as a kid.

I was helping a customer that has pretty bad arthritis and struggled to use the keyboard. I was straightening out her email and getting her off of AOL (something we do often!) and noticed how difficult it was to type a simple email. So, I showed her dictation on the Mac and wow, it was like a light just got switched on. Dictation has come a long way and if your are on Mavericks, Yosemite or El Capitan, Apple’s enhanced dictation works wonderfully.

Dictation will not be a satisfying experience for you if you have a lot of noise in the room, i.e. other people talking, music, etc, but if you are working alone in a relatively quiet environment it can be a great tool not only for dictating that email but you can also use spoken commands to direct your Mac to take action.

Setting up Enhanced Dictation

* Open System Preferences, then click on Dictation & Speech. Turn on Dictation and set up your options.

* Click *Use Enhanced Dictation*. This will download a 1.2GB file so that you can dictate without internet connection.

* Choose your language and dialect. Some languages, such as English, have multiple dialects.

* Choose the keyboard shortcut you will use to signal that you’re ready to start dictating. The default is pressing the function Fn key twice, which I find convenient but you can customize it.

* Choose your preferred microphone from the pop-up menu below the microphone icon. Normally, you use the internal microphone but if you are using a headset or external microphone you can choose that.

Using Dictation

* Go to a document or other text field and place the insertion point where you want your dictated text to appear.

* Press the keyboard shortcut for starting dictation. The default shortcut is Fn Fn (press the Fn key twice). Or choose Edit > Start Dictation. When your Mac is listening, it displays a microphone with an input meter that rises and falls as you speak.

* Speak the words that you want your Mac to type. Use dictation commands to add punctuation, formatting, and more.

* To stop dictating, click Done below the microphone icon, or press Fn, or switch to another window.

The more you use Dictation, the better it understands you. Dictation learns the characteristics of your voice and adapts to your accent.

I will go into some of the more enhanced features like Dictation Commands in next week’s Kibbles & Bytes but I can tell Dora to Open an App, select text, move up or down and much more. I think you will like dictation on the Mac, give it a try!

_Dear Friends,_

New data from Piper Jaffray’s teen survey show that Apple is dominating that market at least as far as mobile devices are concerned. They have 71% of the teen market for smart watches and almost 70% for iPhones and 64% for iPad. Another survey has Apple Mac sales showing positive growth while literally the entire PC market is in decline.

I have been playing around with Amazon’s Echo and I have to say that I like it a lot. I wake up each morning and say “Alexa, what’s new?” and I get the news reports from NPR, CNN, Huffington Post and BBC as well as ESPN Sports and the local weather report. During the day, I ask Alexa to “play the blues” or “play some classical music” and while the speaker is not as good as my Sonos system it does fill the room. I can be around the corner or across the room and the Echo can hear me. Apple needs to step it up a bit and get Siri on the Mac or even better yet, integrated into their networking gear. I would love to be able to tell my Sonos app to play my music from my iTunes library!

Speaking of networking here’s a Kibbles & Bytes exclusive! This isn’t for everyone but if you have a big house and your Wi-Fi signal isn’t reaching that far corner of the house this could solve three problems for you! I am bundling the Apple Factory Refurbished 3TB Time Capsule with an Apple Factory Refurbished Airport Express. Both have the same 1-year Apple warranty as new but you can save some bucks. The 3TB Time Capsule gives you the Airport Extreme wireless access point and automatic wireless back-ups to the integrated 3 terabyte drive. The Airport Express allows you to extend that wireless network. Normally “**this bundle**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002195/extend-your-network-and-back-up-your-data-for-only-325-99? is around $500 new, but this week for Kibbles & Bytes readers, while supplies last you can buy this refurbished bundle for only “**$325.99!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002195/extend-your-network-and-back-up-your-data-for-only-325-99?

Mississippi joined North Carolina and several other states that have passed laws that legalize discrimination against LGBT folks. Vermont banned non-essential government travel to those states and our Governor sent a letter to entice PayPal to move their 400 jobs to Vermont after they announced they were cancelling their expansion into NC. Good idea, because Vermont has always been a leader in banning discrimination from being the first state to make slavery illegal to the first to enact civil unions.

It looks like a cold weekend in Vermont and I won’t bore you with the forecast down here in the Keys but I hope you have an awesome weekend!

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

Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

_Don, Emily, Hadley & Amy_

You are visiting Key West, accompanied by your trusty iPhone and MacBook Air. Suddenly there’s an emergency at work, and you need to get online with your Mac. You can pick up a cell signal with the iPhone, but there’s no Wi-Fi that isn’t locked up. Well, my first thought might be “oh well, I’m on vacation!” but you are dedicated and need to be online.

Don’t worry! You can use your iPhone’s cellular data plan to create a personal Wi-Fi hotspot that lets your Mac access the Internet through your iPhone. Also called “tethering,” it’s fast, easy, and can be a life-saver when you just have to get online with a Mac or your Wi-Fi-only iPad. It supports up to 5 users, too, which means you can get your team online, too!

Before we explain how to do set up a personal hotspot, note that most but not all cellular carriers allow tethering on existing plans. For some, you might have to pay more for tethering. Keep in mind that any data consumed by your Mac while tethered will count against your data allowance and may generate overage fees. Carriers with “unlimited” data, like T-Mobile and Sprint, generally throttle your bandwidth to slower speeds if you use too much data.

Along those lines, if you use a file sharing service like Dropbox or Google Drive, or an Internet backup service like CrashPlan or Backblaze, turn them off before connecting. Particularly if they haven’t connected in a while, those services can transfer a lot of data quickly, which could result in a hefty overage charge or awkward data throttling for the rest of the month.

With those warnings out of the way, follow these steps in iOS 9 to turn on Personal Hotspot:

1. On your iPhone, if you’ve never enabled the feature before, go to Settings > Cellular > Personal Hotspot. Once you’ve turned Personal Hotspot on once, it moves up a level, so you can access it from Settings > Personal Hotspot.

1. Tap on Wi-Fi Password and enter a password that’s at least 8 characters long and easy to type. It doesn’t need to be super secure because you can keep Personal Hotspot turned off unless you’re using it. But you do want a password so random people nearby can’t connect and use your data.

1. Once you’ve entered a password, slide the Personal Hotspot switch.

That’s it! The Personal Hotspot screen provides basic instructions for connecting to the iPhone via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB. Stick with Wi-Fi, since it’s the easiest and most reliable in most cases.

• To connect to your new Personal Hot Spot on your Mac, click the Wi-Fi icon in the menu bar and choose your iPhone’s name.

• On your iPad, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and choose your iPhone.

• Enter your password when prompted, making sure to select Remember This Network. That way, you won’t even have to enter your password the next time.

• The Mac or iPad then connects to your iPhone, showing a hotspot icon instead of the usual wave icon for the Wi-Fi menu.

Could it get any simpler? When you’re done, the safest thing to do, to ensure you don’t accidentally end up using too much of your data allowance, is to turn off the Personal Hotspot switch in Settings > Personal Hotspot. Your Mac or iPad will automatically disconnect.

Actually, it CAN be simpler! Your Mac can automatically use the personal hotspot on your iPhone to connect to the Internet when they’re within range of each other.

Use Instant Hotspot on your iPhone (with iOS 8 or later) to provide internet access to your Mac computers and other iOS devices (with OS X Yosemite or iOS 8) that are in range and signed into iCloud using the same Apple ID. Instant Hotspot uses your iPhone — you don’t have to enter a password or even turn on Personal Hotspot.

Make sure your iOS device and your Mac are signed into iCloud with the same Apple ID.

On your Mac, click the Wi-Fi status icon in the menu bar, then choose your iPhone or iPad.

After you connect to the iPhone or iPad Personal Hotspot, you can check the cellular signal strength and the battery status of the iPhone or iPad in the Wi-Fi status menu.

When you’re not using using the hotspot, your devices automatically disconnect to save battery life.

One more big advantage of Personal Hot Spots. When you are shopping for that new iPad, perhaps you don’t need the cellular model if you nearly always have your iPhone handy. That’s what I do. If I need internet access on my Wi-Fi iPad, I simply connect to my Hot Spot! Saves me the added cost of a cellular-enabled iPad and the monthly fees from the cell carrier!