Barkings! | The Small Dog Apple Blog

Calling all hackers, coders, programmers, and developers of all shapes and sizes! Spend a weekend with us and change the world!

Join us for Small Dog Electronics’s very first Burlington, VT Random Hacks of Kindness (RHoK) event. This event is part of RHoK Global, which hosts simultaneous hackathons all around the world on June 2nd-3rd. Meet like-minded programmers, create new and exciting apps, and win prizes and hack for humanity!

RHoK’s mission is to make the world a better place through a global community of innovation developing practical open technology. In this two-day event you’ll have the opportunity to help find solutions to submitted problems from all over the world. Work with local subject matter experts on problem submissions from within our community, or choose from hundreds of global problems. This is a phenomenal opportunity to find technological solutions to solve local and global issues.

Quick FAQs:
When: June 2nd-3rd
Where: UVM – courtesy of UVM Summer University
Cost: FREE! We’ll even feed you!

Who’s invited? Whether you program a little or a lot you’re welcome to attend. This can be a great chance to stretch your skills and learn new ones. Community members who feel they can contribute, even if they don’t code, are also welcome.

How does it work? On Saturday morning, after an introduction to some of the local problems, you’ll break up into groups, choose a problem and work together to find a solution. Solutions need to be kept open source and you have the option to continue working on them after the hackathon. Sunday afternoon you’ll have a chance to present your solution to the group and a few lucky groups will go home with some pretty sweet prizes.

Need Housing? Hotel deals TBD. Want an even cheaper solution? Try CouchSurfing.

Sign me up! For more information and to register check out our event page at RHoK

Any Questions? Contact Rebecca Kraemer, Director of IT for Small Dog Electronics, at 802.496.7171 ×643 or rhok@smalldog.com.

This year, we’re focusing on the “Mobile Mom”—you know, the one who, instead of hanging around the house and letting her husband fix anything technical, is constantly on-the-go and uses technology to help get things done.

Check out our Mother’s Day page for some great specials and products for mom here: Smalldog.com/mom

Check out our top 5 apps for Mobile Moms below:

The modern Mobile Mom may still cook, but she uses Epicurious to do it. She keeps track of the kids, but now she might even consider Family Tracker to do it.

Here are my Top 5 apps for a Mobile Mom:

Pinterest, free
Admittedly, I’m a bit obsessed with this myself. From design inspiration to DIY projects, I “pin” the web to make bookmarks easier to find—visually.

Marble Jar, $1.99
Little G isn’t old enough for this yet, but many of my friends rave about this app and its ability to help raise “responsible, competent kids.” Listed among the top 10 apps by Parents.com and voted among the top 50 by Babble in 2011.

TellMeLater, $0.99
I love this app for its simplicity. The interface is clean and it does what it says—simply enter a to-do with a time and it will tell you later (when you need it). Perfect for basic reminders like “Call the Doctor” and “Wish Beth Happy Birthday!”

Magic Hour, $1.99
It’s similar to Instagram, but with custom options. It has built-in and user-created filters, plus you can make your own. Capture those memories, moms!

Grocery iQ, free
Save money on the thing you need most: food. Grocery iQ is integrated with coupons as well, so you can see what’s on sale. A must for the Mobile Mom who wants to make grocery shopping quick and painless.

Jim Kelly from Wired.com’s GeekDad blog conducted a “truck-test” of the Hammerhead Capo case, which means he purposefully ran over the case—with an iPad inside—to see the results.

Check out his full article here, and take a look at his video below! Amazing stuff…nary a scratch on the case, and the iPad is completely protected.

We get a lot of customers bringing in their MagSafe adapter because it won’t charge their laptop anymore. In most cases, the cable is damaged on either end due to over-flexing. Apple has acknowledged this issue and has a replacement program in effect.

Apple describes the issue as “Fraying, melting, straining, sparking, weakening, discoloration, bubbling or overheating.” If your charging adapter is showing symptoms similar to this, you should bring it to any of our stores. In order to get a replacement, we do need to check the adapter in. We will also need the serial number of the computer the adapter came with.

It typically takes 3 to 5 days to get a new adapter. In order to file a claim, we have to submit pictures of the damaged adapter so Apple can approve the replacement. There needs to be melting or burning on at least one end of the adapter. If there are any signs of accidental damage (such as if your pet chewed it) we are not able to get the adapter replaced at no cost.

We understand that when you are without an adapter, it can be very frustrating—stop by the store and we will see what we can do for you!

Recently, a friend of mine who shall remain nameless (cough…Kerry…cough) sent an email to someone that was intended for someone else. Her scenario was fairly benign, but I’ve heard stories of dire consequences for making a mistake like this. (Inappropriate email to your boss, anyone?)

It’s easy enough to do—Apple Mail autocompletes email addresses* that you’ve used before (whether or not the person is in your Address Book), so by just typing one letter, you could potentially select the wrong address if you’re moving too fast.

Here’s how to delete an address from auto-complete:

• Start typing the recipient’s address or name in a new message.
• Select the desired address from the auto-complete list as if you’d compose an email to them.
• Click the small down arrow in the recipient.
• Select Remove from Previous Recipients List from the menu.
  You can also search for the unwanted address directly in the previous recipients list:
• Select Window | Previous Recipients from the menu in Mac OS X Mail.
• Highlight the address you want to remove.
• You can highlight multiple addresses by holding down the Command key.
• Click Remove from List.

You can also use the Previous Recipients window to eliminate old addresses. Click here to view the step-by-step the process.

*There is a setting in Mail Preferences that is checked by default called “Automatically complete addresses.” You may uncheck this if you’d prefer (though it is very handy as long as it uses only email addresses you want).