Tag Archives: Antarctica

About 2360 days ago Mobility Tips and Tricks

Maximizing Your Cell Phone Battery Life

The idea that mainstream technology is built to eventually malfunction may be less of a conspiracy theory and more grounded in fact than we realize. This is for a couple reasons. First, making long-lasting equipment is expensive. Second, companies want you to come back and upgrade your equipment periodically. For cell phones, the life span seems to be about two years. The main threat against cell phone durability isn’t the memory card that holds the address book, nor the fancy screen that shows the numbers. The problem is: battery life. After a year or two of reliability, older phones may last a day on one charge, if not just a few hours. Fortunately, there are precautions you can take to extend battery life: Bad habit #1 – Charging Every Day It’s a habit, especially for travelers: Get into the hotel room, search for the nearest available outlet and plug up all rechargeable electronics before settling in. Unfortunately, according to a T-Mobile spokesman, this very practice can drain life from your cell phone battery. Cell phones, iPods and other rechargeable electronics have so-called battery memory. When first bought, your cell phone is prepped to charge fully each time you plug it into an outlet. Repeatedly charging your phone when it has, say, half power actually lowers the capacity of the battery. It gets used to holding a half charge. Solution: Charge every other day. The average cell phone charge last about three days. Unless you’re a risk taker, it’s probably not a good idea to wait until the third day (after all, this isn’t an exact science). A more realistic goal is to plug in your phone every other day. Not only will this improve long-term battery life, but it also keeps you untethered for half of the week. Bad habit #2 — Keeping Your Cell Phone in Extreme Temperatures Most people don’t have business in Antarctica or the Sahara, but leaving the phone in a hot summer car or a cold office will hurt battery life, too. “A common mistake made by cellular phone users is to leave their battery pack in their vehicle during the heat of day,” Motorola warns. “A car’s internal temperature can exceed 80 degrees Celsius, and the temperature of a dashboard with direct exposure to the sun can exceed 120 degrees Celsius.” Solution: If it must be stored, keep it away from sunlight during summer. In winter, keep that phone well-covered or close to a warm body. Bad habit #3 — Being Disconnected While Indoors Twenty years ago, having a cordless phone at home was a luxury, but now it is standard. As such, we aren’t used to having a wire keeping us in place – even if we’re talking on a cell phone five feet away from the outlet. The constant depleting and recharging will wear out batteries no matter what precautions are taken, so it’s essential to use your cell phone’s battery power only when necessary. If you’re stationary and by an outlet, plug in the phone. The cell’s power will then be taken from the outlet, not from your battery. Solution: Charge while talking.  Bad habit #4 — Keeping the Cell on 24/7 The beauty of cell phones is that, dead zones notwithstanding, we can be reached at any time. We tend to leave them on all day and all night, and complain when they break down from exhaustion. What people don’t realize is that cell phones, like computers and other technological gadgets, need a little rest. Downtime allows your phone to cool down, while turning on the phone anew will refocus its coordinates (which may help you get better reception). Solution: Turn it off. Shut it down periodically, ideally at least once daily. Fives minutes will do.

About 2451 days ago PCs, Laptops, and Notebooks

How to Make Your Cell Battery Last Longer

You’re familiar with the scenario: You’ve been traveling all day, from one airport to another to a conference room here and a car service there. The whole way, you’ve been fielding calls from the home office and sending back requests for data you need on this important client call. But before you know it, you’re out of juice: All that time, you never had a chance to plug in and recharge your cell phone, and now you’re stuck. Here are a few simple tips for extending your cell phone battery over the long haul, so that when you do recharge — it lasts. Tip: Charge Up Less Often It’s a habit, especially for travelers: Get into the hotel room, search for the nearest available outlet and plug up all rechargeable electronics before settling in. Unfortunately, according to a T-Mobile spokesman, this very practice can drain life from your cell phone battery. Cell phones, iPods, and other rechargeable electronics have so-called battery memory. When first bought, your cell phone is prepped to charge fully each time you plug it into an outlet. Repeatedly charging your phone when it has, say, half power actually lowers the capacity of the battery. It gets used to holding only half a charge. Solution: Charge every other day. The average cell phone charge lasts about three days. Unless you’re a risk taker, it’s probably not a good idea to wait until the third day (after all, this isn’t an exact science). A more realistic goal is to plug in your phone every other day. Tip: Monitor Cell Phone Temperature Most people don’t have business in Antarctica or the Sahara, but leaving the phone in a hot summer car or a cold office will hurt battery life, too. “A common mistake made by cellular phone users is to leave their battery pack in their vehicle during the heat of day,” Motorola warns. Solution: If it must be stored, keep it away from sunlight during summer. In winter, keep the phone well-covered in a case or your bag. Tip: Turn Your Phone Off at Night The beauty of cell phones is that, dead zones notwithstanding, we can be reached at any time. We tend to leave them on all day and all night, and complain when they break down from exhaustion. What people don’t realize is that cell phones, like computers and other technological gadgets, need a little rest. Downtime allows your phone to cool down, while turning on the phone anew will refocus its coordinates (which may help you get better reception). Solution: Turn it off. Shut it down periodically, ideally at least once daily. Fives minutes will do. At the very least, when you go to bed at night — let your phone get a little rest, too.

About 2969 days ago E-Commerce

26 Most Fascinating Entrepreneurs: Trip Hawkins

Trip Hawkins for still scrapping because “optimism is essential” Imagine Henry Ford leaving Ford to start another car company, or Walt Disney establishing a realm beyond the Magic Kingdom. Trip Hawkins (who counts these two men among his heroes) has essentially done just that. He built Electronic Arts, of John Madden Football fame, into a powerhouse — then left it to start another business (which failed) and now another (which, thanks to ever-shifting industry forces, is likely to compete with EA). Hawkins originally left EA to focus his energies on a start-up he had launched called 3DO, which was trying to devise a better gaming console. Hawkins had hoped that his former firm would grant him exclusive rights to a hot new game, thus securing 3DO’s future. But after Sony unveiled the PlayStation in 1994, EA kept 3DO at arm’s length. “Chip manufacturing is expensive and political,” Hawkins says. “I should have known a company with deep pockets like Sony could pull the rug out from under us.” Eventually 3DO went bankrupt. Hawkins, now 51, shook off 3DO’s failure and soon launched another company, called Digital Chocolate. “D-Choc,” as he refers to it, creates games for cell phones. So far, over three million D-Choc programs have been downloaded. The company, which raised $20 million in financing, grossed $4 million last year. Some observers have wondered whether mobile gaming, with its rudimentary graphics, represents a technological retreat for Hawkins, but he says no. Others suggest that D-Choc’s prospects depend on how aggressively his old pals at EA enter the mobile gaming market. “I expect them to enter more directly either this year or next,” Hawkins says, but “rather than fight with them for market share, we are trying to blaze new trails.” Of his reverse entrepreneurial journey from industry icon to upstart, he adds: “It’s like being an explorer who discovered North America and then found out, hey, there’s South America and Antarctica, too.” Lora Kolodny Martha Stewart, Martha Stewart Omnimedia because she took one for the team Richard Branson, Virgin Group because he’s game for anything. In fact, everything. Michael Dell, Dell Computer for being brilliantly straightforward Jim Sinegal, Costco because who knew a big-box chain could have a generous soul? Diane von Furstenberg, Diane von Furstenberg Studio for staging an elegant comeback Julie Azuma, Different Roads to Learning for offering hope and help to the parents of autistic children Fritz Maytag, Anchor Brewing for setting limits Ray Kurzweil, Kurzweil Technologies and other companies because he is Edison’s rightful heir Craig Newmark, Craigslist for putting the free in free markets Jack Mitchell, Mitchells/Richards because his family business makes an art of customer service Frank Robinson, Robinson Helicopter for whipping an entire industry into shape Mark Melton, Melton Franchise Systems for giving immigrants their shot at the American Dream Michelle Cardinal & Tim O’Leary, Cmedia and Respond2 for rewriting the rules for husband-and-wife teams Mike Lazaridis, Research in Motion because someone had to stand up for all those frustrated engineers Trip Hawkins, Electronics Arts and Digital Chocolate for still scrapping Warren Brown, Cake Love and Love Cafe because only in America will someone quit a secure job as a lawyer to start a bakery Muriel Siebert, Muriel Siebert & Co. for being a notable first with a worthy second act Chuck Porter, Crispin, Porter + Bogusky for verging on reckless Katrina Markoff, Vosges Haut for setting a completely unreasonable goal for her business Barry Steinberg & Craig Sumerel, Direct Tire and Auto Service for showing the power of the peer group Victoria Parham, Virtual Support Services for serving as a mentor to military spouses Tom LaTour, Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants for staying at fleabag hotels so that we don’t have to Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams, Mitchell Gold for creating a true comfort zone Izzy & Coco Tihanyi, Surf Diva for kicking sand in the face of conventional wisdom Tony Lee, Ring Masters for saving 16 jobs, including his own Rueben Martinez, Libreria Martinez Books and Art Galleries for simultaneously building a business and nurturing Latino culture