It's been a very short journey for the LaCie ItsAKey rugged USB stick. It lasted for 7 months and its the first USB stick that ever died till now. The intention of it's rugged design was probably to last a lot longer but it doesn't. Have a look.
 

Windows 7 - Consider replacing your battery

Windows 7 has native support for reading and tracking laptop battery life time. Before, additional software, like BatMon or NHC, had to be installed to read laptop battery info. Detailed laptop battery info is available for several years already originating from the Smart Battery standard. Though it seems Microsoft has released this feature while still in a steep learning curve.

Laptop battery life time

Laptop battery technology has seen a very steep development curve in just 10-15 years. Nowadays the average laptop, notebook or netbook uses a bunch of complex chips for the sole purpose of charging and monitoring laptop battery cells. Here’s a bit about core technology involved in managing laptop battery life and what you can do to maximize laptop battery life time.
 

Laptop battery does not charge

With the growing complexity of laptops, notebooks and netbooks, figuring out why a laptop battery does not charge is not easy. Laptop batteries that suddenly die or notifications like "laptop battery not recognized" trigger valid reasons for suspicion. Even more - simply replacing a laptop battery is an expensive affair and certainly not always the solution. Nowadays there are many components involved in charging a laptop battery. In this story you’ll find a simplified approach to narrowing down a laptop battery problem and possible leads to a solution.
 

Simple laptop battery capacity test

Here’s a simple laptop battery test for laptops, notebooks and netbooks based on one basic principle – what goes in, should come out. The simple Laptop Battery test measures actual laptop battery capacity and can be used to rate 2nd hand laptop batteries and (presumably) new laptop batteries.

The simple laptop battery test principle : 
 

Kipor 2000Ti used portable generator

Wondering how a Kipor used portable generator performs? Well you found the info - and it probably won't get any better than this.

You're looking at a Kipor Sinemaster 2000 Ti used portable Generator. It’s been (ab)used for 4 years on an overland trip through Asia and the Middle-East.

And it still runs well, no need for a replacement or any big time maintenance yet.

It was bought new on Amazon and delivered by UPS within 1 week.

 

The 3G roaming holiday season

With the 2009 record sales of post-paid internet / data contracts with iPhones, Nokia smart phones and alike, the 2010 holiday season undoubtedly results in a fresh wave of bill shocks.

It’s a deja vue of early 90’s bill shock stories with excessive voice and SMS roaming tariffs.

This time the bill shock potential is even worse – with the speed of 3G cellular internet 15 minutes on-line time can burn a big hole in your wallet.

On European soil the EU bill shock measure has taken effect on the 1st of  March 2010.


 

3G roaming nightmare with McAfee Security Center

Picture this, you’re on a postpaid contract roaming the 3G internet landscape with a laptop in a foreign country.

You've done everything to prevent McAfee to automatically download updates.

Laptop power generator

Powering a laptop with a fossil fuel generator is a last resort when renewable energy sources and other power sources are una