Using a Laptop as a Personal Heater
Feeling cold and lazy?
Try firing up a browser tab or two with a heavy Flash application. That will get your laptop good and hot, then just hold it against yourself.* Now you don’t have to stand up to adjust the heat or grab a blanket!
My 2011 MacBook Air runs a little too efficiently for this trick. Kind of makes me miss my first gen Air… That old bastard was a furnace. It didn’t run well, but damn it, it was great on cold Winter nights.
*Don’t scorch yourself. You’ve been warned. I accept no responsibility for the stupidity of other’s.
Record the Serial Number of Big Ticket Items
No one buys an expensive item and expects to have it stolen (unless they’re committing some kind of fraud). However, you should still take a few simple precautions in the event that one of your prized possessions is stolen. Here are a few simple steps to follow.
Identify Which Items Matter
For me, the items that matter are:
- Any item that costs more than $1,000.00 (car, guitars, television, computers)
- Any item that contains my data (mobile phone, netbook)
- Anything that I will be hopping mad if it’s stolen
Cyclists might have an expensive bike, photographers will probably have a DSLR or two and a few lenses.
Expensive purses, luggage, watches, jewelry and art are a few other things you might want to think of.
Record Key Information
Whatever items you identify as worthwhile, you’re going to want to record the following information:
- Make
- Model
- Color
- Serial number (MEID or CDMA number for a mobile device)
- Any other distinguishing features (modifications you’ve made, identifying marks)
The serial number is the most important thing to note.
This is the information you will need to give the police if your possessions are stolen.
Photographs
Take photos of your items and their serial numbers.
When you photograph a serial number, make sure you set your camera to “macro.”
The photos don’t need to have great composition, they just need to be functional.
If the item looks just like hundreds of thousands of others, like a stock MacBook, you can skip photographing it.
Backing Up the Info
You’re going to want to record this information in a place where you will always be able to access it. A Word doc on your laptop won’t help you if your laptop is stolen.
My solution was making a Google Docs Presentation (Google Doc’s version of PowerPoint), with all of the information. Since Google Docs save to Google’s servers, I will be able to access the information from any computer.
Here’s what one of my slides looks like (the serial numbers are blurred):
Business Equipment
I record the information for computers and devices on loan to me by my employer because I never take for granted that someone else has diligently recorded the information.
Computers & Mobile Devices
Be sure to password protect your computers and mobile phones with a reasonably strong password so that they will be useless to a thief.
Practice safe computing.
Arm the Iranians with Communication Technology
This is a weapon:
This is a weapon:
This is a weapon:
This is a weapon:
This is a weapon:
Oppressive governments always take two crucial steps to try and crush uprisings.
- Take away the peoples’ guns
- Disrupt the flow of ideas
Before the Internet, anti-government ideas were whispered from person to person, and documented in pamphlets. Today, they are emailed, blogged, and tweeted.
The Internet is a tool of revolution: economic revolution, technological revolution, communication revolution, and social revolution.
Governments know this. It’s why China tries to filter what its people view; why the US wants our web activity saved for two years; and why the Iranian Government has blocked Gmail, sent armed thugs to search homes, and seize satellite dishes as well as cell phones.
February 11th is the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, and anti-government protests are supposed to take place. The Iranian Government is scrambling to prevent them.
Today, my thoughts are with the protesters. Any people who seek to seize freedom from oppressors have my respect. I wish them luck, and hope that they are successful.
Limiting Damage to Your Phone or Laptop
In the immortal words of The Tick: “Gravity is a harsh mistress.”
When using a flip phone, laptop, or any other device with a hinge, the closed position is always safest during a fall.
The more compact, closed position will almost always take a fall better than the open position. This has to do with a number of factors including:
Smaller surface area – there is less exposed that can break.
Screen exposure – it is less likely that the screen will crack if it isn’t stuck directly.
Self-reinforcement – the more compact, closed position will typically allow the devices parts to reinforce themselves a bit more.
The bottom-line - Keep your laptop or phone closed when you aren’t using it. Especially if it is in a precarious position.
This won’t necessarily save your device, but it will increase the odds of it surviving a fall.
If you drop you device in water, follow these instructions:
http://geekwhisperin.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/saving-a-drowning-cellphone/
Practice safe computing by not dropping the delicate electronics!
Plug Your Laptop in for the Heavy Lifting
Here’s a quick tip for you:
When using a laptop, so long as you have a healthy battery, it’s fine to use it without plugging it into the wall.
However, if you need to do something that will take a bit more power than basic applications such as installing software, installing updates, editing photos/ movies, or ripping/ burning a CD, I recommend that you plug your computer into an outlet.
Why?
When you run off of battery power, many computers will clock-down the processor. That means that your computer is jogging instead of running. Some computers might also clock-down the speed of your CD drive also.
Most of the time you can run on battery power alone, but if you need the extra juice, plug into the wall.
Get More Out of Your Batteries
In a mobile world, you live and die with your batteries. I’m pretty sure everyone has been stranded without a necessary power cable at some point.
Also, have you ever noticed how as your batteries age, they don’t seem to hold their charge for long spans of time?
Keep batteries healthy with a few simple steps.
Here are a few tips to help your battery live a long happy life:
New batteries should be fully charged before you use the device. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Laptops, cameras, cell phones, or regular rechargeable batteries, they all need to fully charge before their initial use. This helps the battery reach full capacity.
Also, when using a new battery you should make sure that you fully charge and fully discharge it for at least the first four uses.
You do this by using the device until the battery is empty or your device start yelling at you because the battery is about to die. This is important because it will take a few cycles for your battery to achieve full capacity.
After the first few charging cycles, make sure that you fully charge and fully discharge the battery every two weeks.
This helps to keep your battery healthy and keep it from diminishing in capacity. The exception to this rule are Lithium Ion batteries or Li-Ion. The type of battery will be printed somewhere on the battery itself. The other common types of batteries are Nickel Cadmium or NiCad & Nickel Metal Hydride or NiMH.
NiCad & NiMH batteries must be cycled every few weeks. Li-Ion do not require the effort.
Here’s the bad news. If you failed to do this with your current batteries and you are looking for a way to make them live longer, tough. It’s time to go out and buy new ones and start over.
If you have a choice, go with Li-Ion batteries.
They are just as powerful as NiMH and more powerful than NiCad batteries. They are lighter, more eco-friendly, and are easier to use because you don’t have to cycle them.
All batteries will erode over time. Eventually you will have to replace any battery, but proper care will delay that inevitability. Plus, you never know when you will need that device to last a couple minutes longer.
