conserve battery iphone

Hurricane Sandy has touched down on the East Coast leaving power outages in its path. That means, for some people, battery life on a smartphone is even more of a precious commodity than it was before. Here, we outline some basic battery saving tips that will not only help during Hurricane Sandy, but also during power outages caused in other ways.

In this day and age, a smartphone is an important tool to have when facing an emergency, especially one like Hurricane Sandy where traveling and communicating can be extremely difficult. Sadly, we’re not in an age where our smartphones have unlimited battery life and that means that conserving and making that battery last is essential when dire times occur. And for those that are without power in New York and elsewhere, saving battery life becomes even more important.

Fortunately, there are some simple tips that iPhone and Android smartphone (and probably Windows Phone users as well) can follow in order to make sure their phone is ready when you need it most.

Here are ten things to do if you need to conserve battery life if Hurricane Sandy or something else has knocked out your power and you have no way of charging your smartphone.

Shut Off 4G LTE
If you own an iPhone 5 or an Android phone that connects to a 4G LTE network, turn 4G LTE data off. 4G LTE is a battery hog and by turning it off, you will save an immense amount of battery life.



On the iPhone 5, simply head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Enable LTE to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, tap Network Mode and select the option that does not contain LTE.



You will no longer have access to high-speed data but you will see a significant boost in battery life if you toggled off 4G LTE and use an HSPA+ 4G network or CDMA network  instead,

Turn Off Cellular Data
If you aren’t using data on your phone, or are using it sparingly, you can turn off Cellular Data altogether which, like turning off 4G LTE, should help to keep battery drain at a minimum.



On the iPhone, head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Cellular Data to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, and make sure Data enabled is not checked.

This will limit data to Wi-Fi if there is a Wi-Fi connection available. If no Wi-Fi connection is available, there simply will be no access to the web, email or notifications. It’s a bit of a price to pay, but it will ensure quality battery life.

Minimize Screen Brightness
The brightness of the screen can be, believe it or not, a major drain on a smartphone’s battery. Just by minimizing the brightness of the screen, you’ll see a significant increase in battery life.



On iPhone, head into General in Settings, go to Brightness and Wallpaper, and adjust the brightness of the iPhone screen accordingly. I have mine set to about the 15-20% level and it has worked well for me.

On Android, go to Settings, tap Display under the Device category, go to Brightness, and adjust brightness accordingly.

This is a small price to pay for ample battery life and we recommend turning screen brightness down in general to help conserve battery.

Turn Off Wi-Fi
By turning off Wi-Fi when you’re not in a familiar area with a known Wi-Fi connection, you can conserve a bit of battery life. Best of all, it’s extremely easy to turn back on should you need to.

On iPhone, go into General, tap Wi-Fi, and toggle Wi-Fi to Off.

conserve battery iphone

Hurricane Sandy has touched down on the East Coast leaving power outages in its path. That means, for some people, battery life on a smartphone is even more of a precious commodity than it was before. Here, we outline some basic battery saving tips that will not only help during Hurricane Sandy, but also during power outages caused in other ways.

In this day and age, a smartphone is an important tool to have when facing an emergency, especially one like Hurricane Sandy where traveling and communicating can be extremely difficult. Sadly, we’re not in an age where our smartphones have unlimited battery life and that means that conserving and making that battery last is essential when dire times occur. And for those that are without power in New York and elsewhere, saving battery life becomes even more important.

Fortunately, there are some simple tips that iPhone and Android smartphone (and probably Windows Phone users as well) can follow in order to make sure their phone is ready when you need it most.

Here are ten things to do if you need to conserve battery life if Hurricane Sandy or something else has knocked out your power and you have no way of charging your smartphone.

Shut Off 4G LTE
If you own an iPhone 5 or an Android phone that connects to a 4G LTE network, turn 4G LTE data off. 4G LTE is a battery hog and by turning it off, you will save an immense amount of battery life.



On the iPhone 5, simply head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Enable LTE to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, tap Network Mode and select the option that does not contain LTE.



You will no longer have access to high-speed data but you will see a significant boost in battery life if you toggled off 4G LTE and use an HSPA+ 4G network or CDMA network  instead,

Turn Off Cellular Data
If you aren’t using data on your phone, or are using it sparingly, you can turn off Cellular Data altogether which, like turning off 4G LTE, should help to keep battery drain at a minimum.



On the iPhone, head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Cellular Data to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, and make sure Data enabled is not checked.

This will limit data to Wi-Fi if there is a Wi-Fi connection available. If no Wi-Fi connection is available, there simply will be no access to the web, email or notifications. It’s a bit of a price to pay, but it will ensure quality battery life.

Minimize Screen Brightness
The brightness of the screen can be, believe it or not, a major drain on a smartphone’s battery. Just by minimizing the brightness of the screen, you’ll see a significant increase in battery life.



On iPhone, head into General in Settings, go to Brightness and Wallpaper, and adjust the brightness of the iPhone screen accordingly. I have mine set to about the 15-20% level and it has worked well for me.

On Android, go to Settings, tap Display under the Device category, go to Brightness, and adjust brightness accordingly.

This is a small price to pay for ample battery life and we recommend turning screen brightness down in general to help conserve battery.

Turn Off Wi-Fi
By turning off Wi-Fi when you’re not in a familiar area with a known Wi-Fi connection, you can conserve a bit of battery life. Best of all, it’s extremely easy to turn back on should you need to.

On iPhone, go into General, tap Wi-Fi, and toggle Wi-Fi to Off.

conserve battery iphone

Hurricane Sandy has touched down on the East Coast leaving power outages in its path. That means, for some people, battery life on a smartphone is even more of a precious commodity than it was before. Here, we outline some basic battery saving tips that will not only help during Hurricane Sandy, but also during power outages caused in other ways.

In this day and age, a smartphone is an important tool to have when facing an emergency, especially one like Hurricane Sandy where traveling and communicating can be extremely difficult. Sadly, we’re not in an age where our smartphones have unlimited battery life and that means that conserving and making that battery last is essential when dire times occur. And for those that are without power in New York and elsewhere, saving battery life becomes even more important.

Fortunately, there are some simple tips that iPhone and Android smartphone (and probably Windows Phone users as well) can follow in order to make sure their phone is ready when you need it most.

Here are ten things to do if you need to conserve battery life if Hurricane Sandy or something else has knocked out your power and you have no way of charging your smartphone.

Shut Off 4G LTE
If you own an iPhone 5 or an Android phone that connects to a 4G LTE network, turn 4G LTE data off. 4G LTE is a battery hog and by turning it off, you will save an immense amount of battery life.



On the iPhone 5, simply head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Enable LTE to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, tap Network Mode and select the option that does not contain LTE.



You will no longer have access to high-speed data but you will see a significant boost in battery life if you toggled off 4G LTE and use an HSPA+ 4G network or CDMA network  instead,

Turn Off Cellular Data
If you aren’t using data on your phone, or are using it sparingly, you can turn off Cellular Data altogether which, like turning off 4G LTE, should help to keep battery drain at a minimum.



On the iPhone, head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Cellular Data to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, and make sure Data enabled is not checked.

This will limit data to Wi-Fi if there is a Wi-Fi connection available. If no Wi-Fi connection is available, there simply will be no access to the web, email or notifications. It’s a bit of a price to pay, but it will ensure quality battery life.

Minimize Screen Brightness
The brightness of the screen can be, believe it or not, a major drain on a smartphone’s battery. Just by minimizing the brightness of the screen, you’ll see a significant increase in battery life.



On iPhone, head into General in Settings, go to Brightness and Wallpaper, and adjust the brightness of the iPhone screen accordingly. I have mine set to about the 15-20% level and it has worked well for me.

On Android, go to Settings, tap Display under the Device category, go to Brightness, and adjust brightness accordingly.

This is a small price to pay for ample battery life and we recommend turning screen brightness down in general to help conserve battery.

Turn Off Wi-Fi
By turning off Wi-Fi when you’re not in a familiar area with a known Wi-Fi connection, you can conserve a bit of battery life. Best of all, it’s extremely easy to turn back on should you need to.

On iPhone, go into General, tap Wi-Fi, and toggle Wi-Fi to Off.

conserve battery iphone

Hurricane Sandy has touched down on the East Coast leaving power outages in its path. That means, for some people, battery life on a smartphone is even more of a precious commodity than it was before. Here, we outline some basic battery saving tips that will not only help during Hurricane Sandy, but also during power outages caused in other ways.

In this day and age, a smartphone is an important tool to have when facing an emergency, especially one like Hurricane Sandy where traveling and communicating can be extremely difficult. Sadly, we’re not in an age where our smartphones have unlimited battery life and that means that conserving and making that battery last is essential when dire times occur. And for those that are without power in New York and elsewhere, saving battery life becomes even more important.

Fortunately, there are some simple tips that iPhone and Android smartphone (and probably Windows Phone users as well) can follow in order to make sure their phone is ready when you need it most.

Here are ten things to do if you need to conserve battery life if Hurricane Sandy or something else has knocked out your power and you have no way of charging your smartphone.

Shut Off 4G LTE
If you own an iPhone 5 or an Android phone that connects to a 4G LTE network, turn 4G LTE data off. 4G LTE is a battery hog and by turning it off, you will save an immense amount of battery life.



On the iPhone 5, simply head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Enable LTE to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, tap Network Mode and select the option that does not contain LTE.



You will no longer have access to high-speed data but you will see a significant boost in battery life if you toggled off 4G LTE and use an HSPA+ 4G network or CDMA network  instead,

Turn Off Cellular Data
If you aren’t using data on your phone, or are using it sparingly, you can turn off Cellular Data altogether which, like turning off 4G LTE, should help to keep battery drain at a minimum.



On the iPhone, head into General in Settings, tap Cellular and toggle Cellular Data to Off.

On Android, head into Settings, tap More… under Wireless & Networks, tap Mobile networks, and make sure Data enabled is not checked.

This will limit data to Wi-Fi if there is a Wi-Fi connection available. If no Wi-Fi connection is available, there simply will be no access to the web, email or notifications. It’s a bit of a price to pay, but it will ensure quality battery life.

Minimize Screen Brightness
The brightness of the screen can be, believe it or not, a major drain on a smartphone’s battery. Just by minimizing the brightness of the screen, you’ll see a significant increase in battery life.



On iPhone, head into General in Settings, go to Brightness and Wallpaper, and adjust the brightness of the iPhone screen accordingly. I have mine set to about the 15-20% level and it has worked well for me.

On Android, go to Settings, tap Display under the Device category, go to Brightness, and adjust brightness accordingly.

This is a small price to pay for ample battery life and we recommend turning screen brightness down in general to help conserve battery.

Turn Off Wi-Fi
By turning off Wi-Fi when you’re not in a familiar area with a known Wi-Fi connection, you can conserve a bit of battery life. Best of all, it’s extremely easy to turn back on should you need to.

On iPhone, go into General, tap Wi-Fi, and toggle Wi-Fi to Off.

Olay Pro-X Advanced Cleansing System 0.68 Fl Oz

I know you are wondering if a $28 item can compare at all to something that cost nearly ten times the price. The answer is YES! I have the Clarisonic Pro - which is the top of the line for their model, so before you spend the money on both, I'll do a side by side comparison for you. Mind you, I am VERY happy with my Clairsonic. Even knowing that this I am happy I made the purchase for both of them, since they are fairly different. Here's why:

Size: The Olay Pro-X is about half the size of the Clarisonic. This is actually better in many ways. It is easier to hold, lightweight, it fits in my shower caddy easily without dropping, you can travel with it very easily. I think this is my favorite part about the differences. It also makes the brush head much smaller, which has a different effect. Of course, the motor is at least half the size as well, and this effects how this feels. I can't actually say it is better or worse than the Clarisonic, it's just different. It is like getting a Sweedish massage (Olay) as opposed to a deep tissue massage (Clarisonic).

Cleansing Products: The Olay cleansing formula has tiny granules and is exfoliating. The Clarisonic cleansers are gels and the specifically say that you cannot use exfoliating cleansers with granules on theirs - most likely because the motor is stronger and it will scratch your skin. I really liked the way my skin felt after using the Olay product. I felt sparkling clean and my skin was shining.

Versatility: This is where I love my Clarisonic more. Since I bought the pro, I can use it on my body, and have different size brush heads and change the timing. Is it worth 10x more the price? Not necessarily. The Olay Pro-X has two speeds, you don't really need more than that. But I do love having the option of using the full body brush on the Clarisonic. Also, there is slightly more control with the Clarisonic since it is sturdier, the ProX does slide a bit, though not excessively so. You can still maintain some control with the Por-X though not as much.

Charging: The Pro-X uses two double-A batteries that it comes with. It was a bear to take the battery case off, but once I did it was fine, and it doesn't need recharging that often. I use the best batteries in the world, eneloopSanyo Eneloop 8 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries and I'm good to go for several weeks. The Clarisonic has a charging holder that you plug into the wall, you don't need to change the batteries, but you do need to find a place in your home to park it for an hour or so every week. I prefer having the double A rechargeable option of the Olay. It also makes it so much easier to travel with.

Please note: It is not that easy to figure out how to install the batteries, and there are no instructions. You might not want to pull open the wrong part of your product for fear of breaking it. I had to call the company to figure it out, and I've had a couple of people email me to ask me, so here goes: Hold the product with your right hand by the top/sides of the handle with the brush head facing down. Keep holding firmly with your right hand, while with your left you pull the handle away from you. The top part of the handle comes off to load the batteries.

The bottom line: I think the Olay Pro-X is a steal. If you are on the fence about which to buy this or the Clarisonic, and you only need it for your face and not your body, you will probably be better off saving your money and going with this! Personally, I am glad I have both. This is definitely worth the investment!

External Hard Drive Storage

I'm a computer repair technician, and one issue I have all the time with my customers is, the famous, 'a virus hijacked my computer and those precious pictures are inside'. Yeah, the prom, the honeymoon, or the newborn pictures are usually held without ransom. Most of the time we are dealing with malware of some sort that affects the Windows operating system files, but leaves the data intact. So, before I repair the computer, I rescue the pictures, and any other file they might value. However, not all repair technicians do this, most allege that the files are corrupted, which might be the case, but usually it really means they are too busy to rescue anything, don't know how to do it, or will not do it unless paid big cash.

For one own's sakes, the best thing to do is backing up the data before the computer gets infected, or the hard drive fails. For pictures I recommend backing up the original files into data discs, but for faster everyday files backups (music, movies, games, software etc.) is better to use an external hard drive.

The Western Digital My Passport 2 TB is an awesome way to carry large amounts of data in a tiny container, that is always available and secure. I love its dimensions, both physically and in bytes.

Also, the truly fast data transfers done with the USB 3.0 interface save time every day. Speaking of the USB connector, another great feature is that only requires a single USB port for power, while many external hard drives and enclosures, with form factor 2.5", require two USB ports.

This drive is great not only to keep multimedia files, but also for storing documents in digital form, because it saves space. Besides, in case of an emergency it's faster to grab it then a folder. I've been doing backups using both hard drives and discs, and it has been of great help throughout the years. For example, the last time I moved, the new school district wanted my daughter first vaccines' records. I knew I have the original card somewhere in a box, but I needed it fast. Then I remembered I scanned the card years ago, and that print-scanned image, which was storage in my daughter's digital folder, inside my external hard drive, saved me hours of search and quickened her registering process at the new school.

About the WD SmartWare software offered by the manufacturer, I hesitated before going for it, because in the past WD back up software didn't work well for me. However, when one is dealing with such a big amount of data, doing it manually is a pain, and the alternative of using the backup and restore features included in Microsoft Windows 7, is something I would only do for a complete system image, not for the everyday backup. So, I installed the WD SmartWare software and so far, it's performing well, it does require time and attention to learn its functionality though. If you decide not to use the WD SmartWare, you can still use the hard drive right out of the box, like any other external hard drive.

Besides reading the user's manual, I strongly suggest that before plugging in the drive into your computer, you go to the Western Digital My Passport's support page, and read how to use it.

Because there are a few details to know before starting backing up your data. Among these topics, How to install WD SmartWare from the external drives, How to create a category backup using WD SmartWare, How to backup specific files and folders using WD SmartWare, How to retrieve a backup using WD SmartWare, Setting up security to lock or unlock a WD external drive with WD SmartWare, (videos are provided in some of these), and How to partition and format a WD drive on Windows (7, Vista, XP) and Mac OSX etc., etc.

I can't post links here, but one can do a search for WD Support / Downloads / My Passport and will find the page where a variety of software that works with the Western Digital My Passport 2 TB, can be downloaded for free.

However, the most important fact of reading Western Digital's support information for this drive, is to learn how to use it 'before' entrusting your valuable data to it. Specially, if you choose to install the WD SmartWare software.

There are very important steps everybody should know while setting up these drives, so it's clearly stated on the Western Digital's support pages.

For example, while installing the software, it will ask if you want to apply any security (password & encryption) to the drive. Before setting up the password you must check an, I understand box, certifying that you understood that if you forget the password, the data is unrecoverable. I repeat, and excuse the capitals, but this is crucial, IF YOU FORGET THE PASSWORD, THE DATA IS UNRECOVERABLE.

Since there is no way to retrieve your password if you forget it, please write that password in a secure available location. If you want, it's possible to change your security settings, remove security or/and change the password, but in order to do either, you still need the original password entered the first time.

If you forget your password, you will not be able to access the data storage in the hard drive, but you can continue to use the drive again if you format it. Of course, the process of reformatting the hard drive will erase all the data inside the unit, and remove the password.

I highly recommend the Western Digital My Passport 2 TB external hard drive.

I do have an warning though, the only proven and trusted way to preserve important files is to burn them into data discs (CD/DVD/Blu-rays). Because hard drives have a limited lifespan, and will fail sooner or later, usually without any warning signs. An external hard drive is very convenient to use, but the stuff that cannot be easily replaced, should always first be backed up on discs. Trust me, it will give you peace of mind. Also you can have two different hard drives with the same information, like I do. If you really don't want to keep discs around anymore.

How To Master Your Kitchen

In case I haven't mentioned it before, it is my mom is the one who taught me how to cook and bake. I learned everything I needed to know about the kitchen from her. There are two legacies that she has passed down to me, first is her love for God and the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus and the second is cooking and cooking from scratch more importantly. The saying may go, everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten but my saying is everything I needed to know about the kitchen, I learned from my mom. 

Why am I doing this series? I believe that knowing how to use kitchen tools properly is important and will help you make better food. Knowing how to master your kitchen is like your job, you must have certain appliances to help you do your job better and kitchen tools are the same. This series is about knowledge and then hopefully help you realize that cooking isn't all that bad, it is just about knowing how to use your tools properly.

Check out the previous installments about a zester, food processor, dutch oven, stand mixer, and a metal steamer, and a peeler.

In this next installment, I am taking about the good old fashioned tongs, a tool I never used much, gave much thought to, or never said to myself, "man, I wish I really had a pair of tongs right now." However, I am glad I put them on our wedding registry and someone was kind enough to purchase them for us because I use them a lot, a lot more than I ever expected.

A few uses for tongs could be when browning meat and you need to brown the other side or sides. When cooking chicken, tongs will help you to flip the chicken. Tongs are great for pulling corn on the cob or eggs or ramekins out of boiling water. Tongs are not ideal for soft foods like fish. A popular vegetable this time of year, asparagus can easily be taken from a saucepan or steamer with a pair of tongs.

If you are serving pieces of fruit, or cubes of cheese, tongs are a great serving tool. Tongs can be great stirring devices like spaghetti noodles in the sauce. Tongs are useful devices if you dropped something in between your stove and the counter and your fingers are too big to reach. If you need to reach something in the back of your cupboard and your arms aren't quite long enough, reach with the tongs.

Tongs came in stainless and stainless nylon varieties. Be careful if you have all-stainless tongs, don't rest it on a hot surface for a long time the heat will transfer into the tongs.