Hey Dave, just to let you know I got a fraudulent email from you directing me to your domain (http://rag.nu/b/wp-includes/images/smilies/bfa/do.php?cmd=Validate&ie=d3e203643521c1343b24957f16f68e54)
to log into a Bank of America account. I don’t have a BofA acct! And if I did I would know a scam when I see it.

So anyways, I forwarded that email to abuse@bankofamerica.com so you’ll be hearing from them soon!

@Kevin, Thanks for the heads up. I’ve deleted those files and contacted my host about securing my website.

I really appreciate your help. Please note that I would never be involved in any kind of scam such as this phishing attempt.

Thanks again for reporting this to me.

if you find your fans turning on regularly, you might also want to check the application monitor for any runaway apps. that’s how i discovered that safari, when displaying pages with flash content, would ramp up to about 50% of one core, with the obvious consequences for battery time. i now use camino.

i don’t necessarily quit apps which i’m not using, most behave very well when they’re hidden. but again, watch in application monitor for any ones which don’t behave.

Ruby, that’s good advice, but I would add that application monitor itself should only be opened if you suspect something is out of control — it uses quite a few processor cycles itself.

Lithium-ions don’t have a memory from charging them. So, plugging them in is not a problem anymore. A problem is draining them completely. This can damage a LI battery. Newer systems have a circuit that prevent you from over-draining them, so it is not much of a problem anymore. Actual lifespan of a LI is determined from date of manufacture. Whether or not they are used, lifespan of the battery slowly depletes from time of production. High heat increases speed of depletion. So, putting the computer on a pillow or something is a big NO, as it blocks vents, and heats up the whole computer, including the battery. this also means, don’t buy old batteries, even unopened, as life goes away automatically.
hope that answers the “This might not be true anymore with Li Ion batteries. I’m not sure… someone will know in the comments.”
Oh, and I am new here. HI!

“Whether or not they are used, lifespan of the battery slowly depletes from time of production.”

I’m no expert, but I’m pretty sure this is incorrect. I just read an IEEE Spectrum article (http://spectrum.ieee.org/mar08/6008) and the expert there said LIs deplete due to usage. Estimated lifespans are determined by “average” use but vary by use. Why? From the article:

“Over time, the current imbalance between the cells can go to an extreme that forces bits of lithium metal to adhere to the anode. When this happens, the battery is able to store less energy than it is designed to store, meaning a shorter computer run time per charge.”

If there is no current (usage), the metal stays put. The article goes on to say that normal batteries have 50% capacity after a year of normal usage, but the person being interviewed is designing a battery to have 80% charge after 3 years. These Boston Power batteries will hit the market pretty soon. (No I don’t work for them.)

I apologize if my information is incorrect. I have a college tech book that refers to the aging process, and many websites refer to how the LIs lose life over time (yes, I know wikipedia can sometimes be wrong). If others find something that shows this is a myth, please share.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium-ion_battery#Advantages_and_disadvantages
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/lithium-ion-battery2.htm

Actually, it depends on how you use the Li Ion battery. It is recommended that you discharge a Li battery once a week to the point that your system tells you to recharge it. If you are not going to use the battery it should be discharged to about 40% and then stored in a cool dry place. In studies it’s been found that if you store the battery at 100% it loses about 6% of capacity a year, and ~2% if you store it at 40%. I don’t remember the exact numbers, but it was something close to the above.
You should almost never let your battery go below 2-3% because that is when the metal adherence takes place, even if you have preventative circuitry (The preventative circuitry needs power too). Batteries are *always* discharging, whether you are using them or not, it has to do with the chemistry and physics of how batteries are made, so if you deplete a battery completely, it will cause the internal circuitry to malfunction after a period of time. So, capacity loss will be mitigated, but not completely prevented.
I have used the above techniques on my batteries and they have lasted me 2 years instead of the usual 1 which most people get.

• It’s better not to fully discharge lithium-ion batteries – power “top-ups” don’t hurt them as they don’t have memory like nickel batteries. However, if you never fully discharge the battery, the “power remaining” gauge becomes inaccurate. A full discharge every 30 or so charges will take care of that.

I’d just like to point everybody to apple’s site:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86284

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Thanks for your interesting article

Thanks for the post, I have been having the same problems.

Thanks for the post, I have been having the same problems.