HOW TO MAKE YOUR LAPTOP BATTERY LAST LONGER

In this article I present lengthy tips on how to keep your laptop battery healthy and in the long run save costs and frustrations.Please read on.

1. Let the battery discharge completely the first time you use it. When you get a new laptop or just a new battery, plug the computer in and charge the battery fully. Unplug the laptop and run it on battery power until the computer warns you that it's about to run out. This calibrates the battery--essentially "teaching" it how much charge it can hold.
2.Avoid frequent charging and discharging. A typical lithium-ion laptop battery has a life of about 300 to 500 charge "cycles," according to researcher Isidor Buchmann of BatteryUniversity.com. Unplugging the computer, running it on battery power for a time and then plugging it back in constitutes one cycle. This does not mean running the battery all the way down each time--Buchmann advises that partial discharges are preferable to full ones in everyday use--but it does mean that it's better to run the laptop unplugged for an hour than to do so for 10 minutes, then plug it in for 5 minutes, then unplug it for 15 minutes, plug it back in for 10, and so on.
3.Allow the battery to fully discharge about once every 30 cycles. This will help recalibrate the battery.
Allow about a 50 percent charge on the battery if you plan to store the laptop for more than six months. Apple Inc. says that long-term storage of a fully discharged battery may render it unable to recharge at all, whereas storing a fully charged battery for an extended period can reduce its capacity.
5.Do not  overheat. There is a direct correlation between the temperature at which a battery operates and the degradation of its charging capacity. PC Magazine advises laptop users to avoid operating the computer on soft surfaces that trap heat, such as blankets, upholstery or--somewhat ironically--your lap. Use a lap desk or cooling pad when you have the computer on your lap. If you usually use the computer on a desk, make sure the surface of the desk is free of dust.

6.Turn off Wi-Fi and BlueTooth - Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking.

7. Don't play computer games, music or DVD movies - Multimedia activities drain laptop batteries.

8. Disconnect all external device like PC Card modems, Firewire, USB devices and optical drives. Use the notebook touchpad instead of an external mouse.

9. Adjust your screen brightness - Dimming your display saves battery power.

10. Tweak Windows Power Options - Choose a Laptop power scheme that turns off the notebook monitor and hard disk after 10 minutes of inactivity.

11. Decrease or mute the Laptop Speaker Volume.

12.. Turn off all scheduled tasks.

13. Turn off Auto-save features in Microsoft Office and other applications.

14. If your PC has a built-in wireless card, turn it off or disable it when not in use.

15. Programs that are run from a CD or DVD can be copied to and run from the hard drive, which typically consumes less power than an optical drive.

17.. If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.

18. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can't create as much power.

19. Make sure to plug your laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.

20. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

21. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
22.. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.

Battery-saving sleep modes: should  be used, Stand By or Hibernate

Standby mode
Use standby modes to save power when you will be away from the computer for a short time while working - your monitor and hard disks turn off, all applications and open files are stored in RAM. When you want to use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you left it.

Hibernation Mode
Use hibernation to save power when you will be away from the computer for an extended time while working - your computer shuts down to save power but first saves everything in memory on your hard disk. When you restart the computer, your desktop is restored

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HOW TO REDUCE YOUR BROWSING COSTS

I have jokingly told people my second home is the internet, the reason being that am in partnership with Google, to promote some categories of adverts. I must as matter of necessity be on the net at least once a week. It cost a fortune to be on the net 24/7.But there are people who are unnecessarily dashing gms   operators money. This article may assist you to stop putting holes in your pocket.

I know my Nigerian internet friends who are versed on how to surf the net knows how to convert credit to browsing data. But there are some people who need to be educated to on how convert t credit to data size and browse for longer hours

Each phone networks has its own economic data tariffs

For the purpose of simplicity I will give the codes and data sizes of the lowest rate, which can make an individual browse or surf the net for 24   hours

NETWORK	AMOUNT(N)	TEXT	TO	DATA SIZE	DURATION
MTN	100	104	131	10MB	24 HOUR
ZAIN	100	*141*712*11#		10MB
ETISALAT	100	Go   to etisalat corner  on your set, select data service, choose the data plan that suits your budget
GLO	100	51	127

N/B: BEFORE APPLYING THESE YOU MUST HAVE RECHARGE YOUR SIM    TO GET ADEQUATE CREDIT TABLE HELPS YOU TO  CONVERT THAT CREDIT TO DATA   SIZE FOR BROWSING

KNOW A PSEUDO FACEBOOK ACCOUNT

I   have  not posted articles  on this  medium  for some time, because of some unforeseen circumstance, beyond my control. I am  not really happy about this, I missed not reaching my  international audience. I have put measures in place to ensure that this does not happen again. I apologies for being away for quite awhile.

Facebook has its usefulness, it gives one the platform to connect with friends, and for the business person, it a rich source of adverts. However every thing that is good has it negative side, facebook is not an exception.

It is has been estimated that over 50% of facebook accounts are fake,false or pseudo.
The word pseudo is a Greek word, denoting fake, false.That is my choice of word for this article.
The task before me is to help my friends, detect scams through Facebook ids or accounts. I have my ways of determining these, following my verse experience on how some of these scams are perpetrated.Scrutinize every facebook account or ids,
Look at the tales signs of pseudo, false, or fake ids,

1. Look for photos in the profile. If there is only one photo of the individual in the whole profile it may be  that the account is fake.

2. Look for status updates, wall posts and comments. If the user hasn’t updated a status for quite a long time and hasn’t been involved in any wall posting or commenting on other status, it means that the profile is likely to be fake.

3. Look at the recent activities. If  the user has just been adding  and making new friends, and that there are no pages liked or groups joined, it  may suggests that the user is just adding people and hence the profile is fake.

4. Check out the friend list. If you find out that all  of the friends are of the opposite gender,it can be assumed that the profile is used either for fun or for random dating.

5. Check the info.If found that there is no ideal links given regarding school or education institutions or workplace and that the user is looking for dating and interested in both men and women, it is a pointer

7. Fake profiles of girls usually have a contact no. in their info. Lets face it, girls hardly will have their contact details in public. So watch out if the user exposes contact details  that should not  be made public. 
8. Look out for recent wall posts, if you see loads of people asking…’THANKS FOR THE ADD….DO I KNOW YOU’……and yet the posts remain unanswered…it is bound to be a fake one.
9. Look for common traits used in facebook, like.using applications such as farmville,pet society etc….and adding siblings. If these traits are not found among the user, the profile is highly inactive or fake. This point can’t single handedly prove the fakeness, however this will be a supporting clue along with other points.

10. If you are quite certain about the profile’s fakeness, and want to be absolutely sure, try browsing google for some random profile pictures. Fake profile pictures are usually selected from Google and while browsing through it, you might as well come across the picture the user chose for the fake account.
11. Try confirming the phone number of the facebook id.If when you call, the number doesn’t go, be on the watch. Where you do have a chance to talk to the facebook account owner, access the person’s statement, see it as if you are interviewing the person.
These are my submission; I do not claim to know it all. But you have a lead to determine pseudo facebook accounts

HOW TO PROLONG YOUR PHONE BATTERY

There are people that can treasure the optimum functioning of cell phone batteries. There is nothing as sad as when one buys mobile phone and within a short time, the battery starts misbehaving. Prolonging the lifespan of a battery  has always been the dream of phone Users. No wonder, when one buys a new phone or new battery for phones, he or she is strongly advised to charge the phone/battery for at least six hours before usage. Below are the ways to further make your phone battery last .

1. Switch  off the phone. This will probably be the most effective and simple way of conserving your battery’s power. Why? This will help conserve energy and also charge your phone. If you don't plan on answering the phone while you're sleeping or after business hours, just turn it off. Do the same if you are in an area with no reception (such as a subway or remote area, since constantly searching for service depletes the battery fairly quickly.) Some phones have an automatic power save feature, but it takes about 30 minutes with no service to kick in. By then, much battery power has been used. If you don't need to receive or make calls but are using a smart phone as a PDA, disable the phone functionality (flight mode).

2.Stop searching for a signal. When you are in an area with poor or no signal, your phone will constantly look for a better connection, and will use up all your power doing . The best way to ensure longer battery life is to make sure you have a great signal where you use your phone. If you don't have a perfect signal, get a cell phone repeater which will amplify the signal to provide near perfect reception anywhere.

3.Follow the method of full charge and full discharge. Don’t put your phone on charging when there is the battery remaining it for another few hours unless it’s very important. Charge it when your battery is about to get totally discharged and when you put it for charging, let it get charged totally.

4.Turn off  the vibrating  function of on your phone,  The vibrate function uses additional battery power. Keep the ring tone volume as low as possible.

5.Turn off your phone's back light. The back light is what makes the phone easier to read in bright light or outside. However, the light also uses battery power. If you can get by without it, your battery will last longer. If you have to use the back light, many phones will let you set the amount of time to leave the back light on. Shorten that amount of time. Usually, one or two seconds will be sufficient. Some phones have an ambient light sensor, which can turn off the back light in bright conditions and enable it in darker ones.

6.Do not use unnecessary features. If you know it will be a while before your phone’s next charge, don’t use the camera or connect to the Internet. Flash photography can drain your battery especially quickly

7.Keep calls brief..  Many times we you hear someone on their mobile phone say, "my battery’ is getting low," and then continue their conversation for several minutes or hour . If you really need to conserve the battery, limit your talk time.

8.Turn off Bluetooth. It will drain your battery very quickly.

9.Same goes for WIFI, GPS, and infrared capabilities, if your phone has these features built in. Keep them off except when you need them.

10.Turn the brightness of the display to the lowest setting possible.

11.Use GSM rather than 3G - Using your phone in 3G / Dual Mode will drain the battery quicker than if you just use GSM mode - have a look at your phones spec and you'll see it will quote two different battery life times - normally 50% more for pure GSM use.

12.With a smartphone, avoid using moving or animated pictures or videos for your background. Animated backgrounds will drain the battery faster.

13.Use a black background whenever possible. AMOLED screens use a lot less power displaying black instead of white

TAKING CARE OF YOUR COMPUTERS

Most  computer Users usually like to ignore computer maintenance . They simply forget to perform even the slightest bit of computer maintenance and only think about it when something goes terribly wrong with their computer system.This  could be a costly negligence.
If only they knew how much time and money computer maintenance can save them.
The tips below are essential to the survival of your computer.

1.Recognize Errors

When I am in a hurry I break this rule myself sometimes—although I often regret it later. I see a computer error, maybe a blue screen of death or even a computer black screen but I don’t have time to deal with the problem, so I ignore it.
Especially if the computer magically heals itself on the next restart, I forget about the error and continue to use the computer. Meanwhile the same error has been left unattended and is still brewing in the background.Have you been through this road before?
But ignoring computer errors is like ignoring traffic signs on the roads. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, if you ignore a Yield sign or Reduced Speed Limit sign, nothing bad will happen. But that hundredth time you could get into an accident. This is the same for computer errors, so don’t ignore them.

2.Don’t Avoid Anti-Virus Software

Some people think they do not need antivirus software on their computer. Somehow they think they are safe and will not get a virus. But unfortunately this is not true as there are hundreds of ways to get a virus on your computer and when it happens, it is not a nice experience.I got frustrated when I played down on this,it was attack upon attack,I lost man hours,I could not deliver projects on schedule.
We have all heard the old saying “prevention is better than cure” so why not do this with our computers? If you have an internet connection on your computer then you better get yourself some anti virus software. Even if you are not connected to the internet, you might borrow an external hard drive from a friend or even use a cd with a virus attached. Do not think it will not happen to you.
Anti-virus software saves you from the much more onerous computer maintenance task of removing a virus, so don’t ever run a computer without anti-virus software.

3.Do Backups

I am sick of preaching about computer file backup but it seems I have to continue as people still ignore this important part of computer maintenance. Every single one of the toughest computer maintenance jobs I’ve ever had to do were some form of file recovery for people—usually family—who didn’t have backups. It is a pet hate of mine…They come to me and ask me to save their files.
Making a one-off backup will probably take you  five minutes. Setting up a good backup system will probably take you about 30 minutes. But recovering files from a half-dead hard drive without a backup can easily take you hours and hours of work. Which would you prefer?.Give it a serious thought.
Any non- technical person can make easy secure backups and save themselves a loads of stress.

4.Watch that harmless Dust

People often clean dust from their shelves and furniture in their house but mostly never notice the dust building up inside their computers.  Dust can build up on any part inside your computer and on the vents on your computer case itself.
I have even had power supplies blow up due to dust build-up. You usually hear a large pop and then smell burning. That’s the dust cooking. Your power supply works hard to convert the ragged alternating current (AC) power in your house into the steady direct current(DC)  needed by sensitive electronics, but this conversion creates a lot of waste heat, especially in powerful gaming computers.
I know some local computer guys can clean out your computer quite cheaply as it will take them only minutes to do. If you decide to clean dust from your computer yourself, always take the proper precautions and please wear a mask to shield your lungs from the harmful dust.Did you get that?A stitch in time saves nine!

5.What of junk Files

People are always complaining of a slow computer and want to know how to make their computer run as fast as it did when they purchased it.  “It was so fast when I bought it, but now it takes 10 minutes just to start up.”.. You could ask yourself this question: what has changed since you first bought the computer? For most people the answer is simple: “I installed a bunch of programs.” The problem is almost never hardware because it either works or it doesn’t. The problem is with you. You have let your computer get filled with junk files and programs you are not using any longer.
Each program on your computer takes up resources even when it isn’t running. If you think about it, they are checking for updates on the internet, competing with other programs, and even starting up when you start your computer. All of this  slows your computer down. Please as a rule install only what is necessary. Some people's computer has excess luggage.
Just removing unused programs can bring back much of that lost computer speed you had when you first bought your computer. It’s simple but great computer maintenance. Also running some computer maintenance software can get rid of hidden junks files and  will help with your computer maintenance.

COMPUTER PROPHECY

COMPUTER PROPHECY

If you are a Christian, and your church activities have Pentecostal flavour, then a expect a prophecy for the new year 2013.It has become a common phenomenon, especially in Africa, where we are so keen on knowing what the Almighty has for us   the incoming year.

In this article I will project myself as a pastor, my ministry is the computer industry. After getting your prophecy for your spiritual life. Know that beyond that, your precious computer  and Phones needs to work optimally. The outgoing year was a source of headache for computer and phones Users especially those phones, that exhibit computer like features.

2013 will present a more serious problem for computer Users as far as virus is concerned.

I bring to you the predictions of experts on this issue
 “The previous year has been nothing short of an eruption of new viruses and spyware. Millions of people each year are attacked by all different sorts of viruses and malicious software, some of which aren’t even aware that their computer is infected. 2012 presented many new types of infections, which has kept antivirus and anti-spyware companies busy. The new viruses have made online virus removal more difficult and have forced new techniques to be put in place.
One particular type of infection has grown significantly over the past year. New viruses that are disguised to look like a government program have been spreading around the world. The new type of virus generally blocks users from accessing their desktop, documents, and programs until the user pays a ransom (generally a hundred dollars or more) to the cyber criminals who created the virus. The goal of these new viruses is to trick people into thinking they have committed a crime, and are paying the government to clear charges, but in reality it’s all a scam to steal money. In the United States, the most popular instance of these new scams are the FBI Virus, Department of Justice Virus, and the United States Cyber Security virus.
Dan Steiner, Co-Founder of OnlineVirusRepair.com expresses “These new viruses are very malicious, and are probably the most common type of infection we’ve been seeing all year. Some of the new viruses even turn on webcams to scare people into believing the virus is legitimate. We’re expecting the worst, and anticipate that 2013 will present even more viruses of this type.”
Online Virus Repair has been training it’s staff and implementing new standards to take on these new malicious programs. The company highly anticipates that this type of scam will be significantly more prevalent in 2013, along with an increase in fake antivirus scams and cyber scams. “It’s not unusual for these viruses to disable or prevent anti-virus software from functioning once infected. Users need to be aware of these types of scams, and should contact professionals for help when it occurs” Steiner continues.
This is the picture of virus attack in the New Year, so get prepared; our phones will not escape this attack. Prophecy is  an instrument of encouragement and sometimes warning. I am not going to play the role of somebody who projects a problem and do not prescribe the solution. To be on top of the situation, be in constant touch with experts who can provide remedy for such attacks .Some do not know that their handset needs antivirus. This is a wakeup call to you to protect your handset. Do you know some phone numbers ain some Nigerians’ handset are worth millions of dollars. If that is the case then you need to act fact. Already around me, anti virus solutions for 2013 is being deployed in readiness. What about you? Is your handset ready? Is your Computer ready?

PRESERVING DIGITAL INFORMATION

Preserving digital information can be described as a procedure for keeping all relevant information in a suitable media for future use. The medium chosen depends on the duration required the preservation. Most times, it is expected that data which gives rise to information should be preserved for a long time.

 In my last article,I was trying to point the lack lustre performance of one of the supposed telecom company in Nigeria, but my articles ought  to have a global or  an international  appeal.

One of the vehicles driving the developmental effort of any nation is the volume of data it has concerning it peopled, events, and places. A nation without a strong database will grope in the dark. Ask World Leaders, and they will confirm this assertion.

Surprisingly a lot of computer literates do not know how to preserve their data. They take things for granted that all is well. Data preservation is a process of  keeping data safe for future use. This preservation is vital to the average computer User. One of the commonest way of preserving data these days is through flash drives, this has replaced the floppy drive. When floppy drives came out there was a school of thought that said a flash drive can last for ten (10) years. Not anymore. The life span of a flash drive will depend largely on the quality of that flash drive.If one has a  computer maintenance sense, one should know a  number of ways of handling the flash drive.

The following are important tips in handling your flash drives.

1.Do not put the flash drive on  magnetic field, i.e any electronic machines which is in operation(television,radio)

2.Eject the flash drive after use,do not just drag it out

3.Do not put your flash drive in your trouser or jean's back pocket

4.Avoid putting  the flash drive  near water.

5.Do not step the flash drive.

6.Do not lay on the flash drive.

7.Avoid high temperature.

8.Scan flash drives routinely.

We can also use the following tips to preserve data.

        i.            9.Create an online library using a dedicated email address.

      ii.            Make multiple copies of valuable data

    iii.            For those that have good rewritable cd,on their pc,write your data into an empty cd

Aparts from using the above media,for those that have good compact disk rewritable computer,they need to write their valuable data on cd.