Finally, some sensible advice on prolonging batteries! I know that batteries will lose their ability to hold a charge no matter what, but that doesn’t mean you can take steps to make it last for a few extra charge cycles.

Slate’s Farhad Manjoo recently interviewed Isidor Buchmann, the CEO of battery-testing equipment manufacturer Cadex Electronics, about characteristics of contemporary gadget batteries and how to use them to your advantage. Note that the tips below only apply to Lithium-Ion batteries, the most popular type used in gadget today:

Keep Your Batteries Away From Heat. Heat lessens a battery’s lifespan, and unfortunately many gadgets today (especially laptops) can get very hot. The solution, aside from keeping the unit as cool as possible, is to always charge the battery when the gadget is off. When using laptops that are plugged in, remove the battery once it’s fully-charged.

Maintain an Optimum Charge Level. As Buchmann says, “you should try to keep your battery charged from 20 to 80 percent”. This means you should actually minimize letting a battery drain, and of course be mindful of overcharging it. Once the battery is full, unplug!

Charge Before Storing. Storing a battery drained of all power definitely lowers its lifespan. So if you plan to stow away that power pack for a long time, make sure to charge it to around 40 percent. Aside from prolonging the battery’s life, you’ve also got power for those emergencies.

Reset Your Battery Meter. This is tricky: some gadgets reset their power meter once you let the battery completely drain before charging it up back to full strength—a clear violation of maintaining an optimum charge level. But, if not done frequently (i.e., only when you think your gadget’s remaining power estimates are off), the damage to lifespan should be minimal.

Do you have your own proven tips on prolonging your gadget’s battery life? Remember, the longer our batteries last, the more efficient we become!

Source

At the risk of playing Captain Obvious here—it’s easy to see why people would want to go online for more information after big events—I’ll conclude that feltron’s research into CNN.com’s traffic over the last 13 years is proof that historic events drive pageviews and unique visits.
At least that’s true if you’re a well-known baseline news source like CNN. Feltron’s graph below, aside from plotting the site traffic’s steady rise, also points out the 10 busiest weeks, shows how much of the traffic each part of the site enjoys, and marks important events in recent (American) history.

The research also makes it …read more

For some reason I keep on forgetting to post the following message, which of course came straight from Flipswap’s marketing peeps:

Flipswap will give anyone as much as $350 for their iPhone plus a guaranteed $25 bonus with Droid proof of purchase. By taking advantage of this third party promotion, your readers will not only be the first of their friends with the latest gadget – but they’ll still have enough left over to buy out their current smart phone contract or pick up a Droid Multimedia Station.
The specifics are simple: Trade in your iPhone by November 30th and use promo …read more

Enterprising Tom’s Hardware member tecmo34 has taken the time to write a “Recommended Build” guide, outlining the parts you should get for a “budget” gaming PC. Whether you prefer an Intel or AMD CPU, tecmo’s got you covered. Here are two gaming PC builds he’s recommended, with input from TH’s more veteran members. Both are designed to “play games at mid. to max. settings at a monitor resolution of 1440×900 or less”:

$505 Intel Build

CPU: Intel Pentium E5300 2.6GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor ($70)
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP43-UD3L ATX Intel Motherboard ($80)
RAM: CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 …read more

Believe it or not, while glasses that turn a shade darker under bright sunlight have been around for 40 years, only recently has someone developed a pair of contact lens that does the same.
Even better, through the use of some nifty nano-engineering, these photochromic (that’s the scientific term folks) lens perform even better than their traditional, frame-rimmed counterparts. According to the director of the Singaporean institute responsible for this development, the contact lens adapt faster, thanks to the use of a network of really tiny tunnels distributed evenly throughout the lens.
These tunnels contain the dye that automatically adjusts to the …read more

You most likely use plug splitters to plug your entire gadget arsenal into one wall socket anyway, so let’s hope Rozetkus gets around to mass-producing its 3-month old 3D power socket design, which basically calls for five sockets to compact into one when not needed.

Simple mechanics, simple engineering, maximum usability. Pull the whole assembly out of the wall to reveal four hidden sockets, push it back in when you only need to power one gadget. Chances are out the 3D power socket will remain out, especially given the geek’s natural laziness and the demanding nature of workstations. But I’m sure …read more

Straight from Philippine-affiliate Technograph comes pictures of a store featuring a modified version of the Amazon logo. Does the online retailer, which made a name selling books, DVDs, and gadgets, have anything to do with this traditional, physical presence?

Probably not. But let’s see if dropping the “.com”, placing an arc over the text, using a slightly different font, and the red-yellow ensemble passes as its own trademark. Besides, does the US and the Philippines have a trademark enforcement agreement in the first place? No word yet on what the in-store employees have said about this, hopefully Technograph can do a …read more

As manufacturers constantly come out with new hardware, the answer to the question “what is the best graphic card for my money?” also changes. I don’t have the time to do the research and check out the specs, and that’s why I’m thankful Tom’s Hardware takes care of that for me, through the website’s Best Graphics Cards for the Money series.
Like previous editions, the November 2009 issue simply lists the best graphics card(s) for a particular price point, and explains why it is so. Without further ado, here are the cards:

Price
Card

$55
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4650 100253HDMI

$80
HIS Radeon HD 4670 H467QS1GH

$90
XFX GeForce …read more

Here’s a rare find from the recently concluded Tokyo Game Show 2009: Wet Ones in a black packet, with the Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising logo the only thing keeping the disinfectant wipes from leaving the packaging. Click a thumbnail to zoom in.
Possibly the result of a strategic alliance between Playtex and Codemasters (the makers of the wipes and the game respectively), are these OF:DR wipes symbolic of anything? Perhaps Codemasters literally wants to wipe the tactical shooter genre clean with its newest offering? Or maybe this is just another phase in Playtex’s plan to continue dominating the disinfectant wipes battlefield? …read more

There’s at least one advantage with the Alienware brand now under Dell’s control. How does paying only $99 for an Inspiron Mini sound? Buy any Alienware laptop or desktop and add an Inspiron Mini netbook for only $99!. Ends 12/23/09 5:55 AM CDT.

It also seems Alienware’s picked up Dell’s tendency to offer free shipping: Light Up The Holidays With Alienware and receive free shipping on all Alienware laptops and desktops. Ends 11/12/09 5:55 AM CDT.
Some more promos to check out:

Studio ONE 19 all in one desktop with touch screen monitor and free color upgrade for only $699! End Date: 11/30/09 …read more