How to care for a Lithium Ion Battery

Inside your smartphone or hand-held gadget, is most likely a Lithium-Ion battery.  Over the years proper care of batteries has been muddle and this type of battery has unique care recommendations.  

• Do not fully discharge the battery (it does not have memory issues.) 
• Avoid charging the battery when it has reached a full charge.  
• Re-charging frequently is ok, (avoid full discharges.)
• As for all batteries avoid High Temperature sustained temperatures over 90 degrees will weaken the battery, and freezing is bad as well. 
•  For long term storage, have about a 40% charge and store in a cool dry location. 

With proper care your Lithium-Ion, should perform well for many years.

Picture in Word 2010 (applies to other versions)

A picture may be worth a thousand words but it can also jam up a Word document and make it difficult to handle – to send or to revise.

If you like to put pictures in to Word documents (Word 2010 and other versions) and you think you’ve re-sized them to fit, be aware that you have actually saved the original picture file, whatever its size, into your Word document, where it is stored.  

That’s why I recommend that you change the following setting in Word so that the file size is what you need for your document and not the file size of the original image you want to paste into it.  Remember, too, that this setting applies only to pictures in the current file or the filed selected in the list next to Image Size and Quality.  By default, this setting is put at Print (or 220 ppi).

1.      Click the File tab in the menu.

2.      Under Help, click Options, and then click Advanced

3.      Under Image Size and Quality, clear the check box “Do not compress images in file”.

Now, when you save your Word document, your pictures will be reduced to the size you need in that document, which often means a much smaller and more manageable file, especially if you need to e-mail it elsewhere.

Printer Repair

OK, admit it, some of you treat your old printers like a pet, or a member of your family.  Doesn't matter to you if they wheeze, grind, go to sleep fitfully – you're used to them and don't want to change.  Well, if you've got an older Hewlett Packard printer, what happens when it finally stops printing and you've let the warranty lapse?  Well, if you're not prepared to "let go" (sob) right now, BTS has learned about some HP repair shops that may be able to help.

Corsica Technologies (11 East 22nd St, 3rd Floor, NY NY 10010) offers a fixed rate of $129.99 an hour to repair later-model HP printers.  Two of our clients have used them and were satisfied with the work done.

Universal Multilink Inc (116 West 23rd St, Suite 500, New York 10011) is HP-approved, too, and gives free estimates for repairs, which may help you with your decision.

Thunderbolt is as fast as it sounds

You want speed?  You want power?  How about 10 Gigabytes per second with 10 watts of power?  This is what Apple/Intel's new connector, Thunderbolt, is promising.  And this means much quicker, bigger data storage and transmission (ie, transferring a full-length HD movie is less than 30 seconds), so it will be fun to see what devices show up to take advantage of this new standard.

Malware Alert

"AntiVirus 2011" attempts to trick users into giving credit card numbers

Malware Alert

BTS has recently been seeing another surge of malware infections of various computers.

Malware is of course short for "malicious software", which is software that is designed to cause all of us trouble.  Sometimes it's just annoying pop-up ads that are a pain in the neck to get rid of, and at other times, it can be full-fledged spyware seeking to track your activities for potentially illegitimate purposes or even trying to steal your identity.  

Because Windows PCs comprise the vast majority of computers in use today, ego- and profit-driven malware programmers usually like to annoy Windows folk the most, but you Mac OSX users aren't totally safe from renegade programmers looking to embarrass Steve Jobs. In other words, every computer user should play safe and be alert when browsing the Internet these days in order to avoid nasty surprises.

Here are some suggestions from BTS on how you can avoid malware and viruses: 

1. Keep your computer up to date, by using Windows update (from All Programs) or Apple software update (from the pull-down menu), which often include security updates.
2. Have current Anti-virus/Anti-malware software installed (ie, Symantec, McAfee, etc.)
3. Do not download or install software from a site whose reliability you have not confirmed.
4. Obviously, you should avoid websites that are known to be unsafe.
5. It is possible, unfortunately, to be infected with a virus or malware from a mere search result
6. Because Internet Explorer is part of the operating system, it can therefore provide unauthorized or unknown access to the OS – it is preferable for security reasons in our opinion to use browsers separate from the operating system, such as Firefox or Chrome.

CNET maintains a free anti-virus recommendation website here.

CNET also has free malware checks here.

MalwareBytes is a good, free software we like that can diagnose malware issues – it can be a bit tricky to install and use, so if you need help, let us know.

iPhones – is there a difference between AT&T and Verizon iPhones?

Well, yes, there are some differences, but they are, in most experts’ opinions, very, very slight. One major difference is that Verizon’s iPhone does offer “hotspot” capability for up to five devices through wi-fi.  At the same time, and most importantly for us, the Verizon iPhone does not allow simultaneous data and voice connections.

Recent networks comparisons have also shown conflicting results. While the Verizon iPhone gets better reception in most places, AT&T's iPhone was faster connecting to the internet (Data).

Oh, and be aware that the Verizon iPhone can’t be used in Europe, while the AT&T iPhone can be.

eCycling

So your 12-year-old niece isn’t interested in your old iPod (she already has an iPhone) and your mother-in-law has declined to take your Dell Dimension (you learn she uses a ThinkPad), so what do you do with your old computer/IT stuff?  Well. recycling old electronic equipment is not only earth-friendly, it can in some cases earn you a few bucks as well.

Earth911 has a pretty cool site (http://search.earth911.com/) that asks what you want to recycle and what zipcode you’re in – Best Buy is a popular one near us in 34^th Street and Fifth Avenue.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a site (http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/plugin/partners.htm) that can be helpful as well for recycling information

Apple products (computers, iPods, iPhones, etc) can be recycled through the company (http://www.apple.com/recycling/), which, if they have some value, will give you a gift card or a price reduction.