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You also need to be wary of apps that keep your screen active (because although you might not think about it, it takes a lot of energy to keep your phone’s screen lit up) or put a strain on your smartphone’s internal processor. Beyond the video streaming apps we’ve already mentioned, be on the watch for games; they might be fun, but they’ll cut sharply into your battery life. Video and photo editing apps like iMovie and iPhoto also take a lot of power to run, so keep them closed unless you need them. And using your phone as a flashlight is useful, but keeping the screen or camera flash active can definitely ruin your battery expectations.
If you’re concerned about your iPhone’s battery life (or you’re going over your phone’s data plan limits), it’s worth spending a few minutes to think about what you really need your phone to be doing. If there’s anything you keep running but don’t actually need, the best bet is to close it. Log out of AIM, skip checking Facebook and close Pandora when you’re done listening.
Tap your home button twice to pull up a list of running apps. On iOS 7, this is a list you swipe through, while on earlier versions it’s a set of icons at the bottom of the screen.
To close an app in iOS 7, swipe it up and off the screen. In earlier versions, press and hold the app until it starts jiggling, then tap the red minus symbol in the upper left corner.
When you’re done, tap the app you want to return to, or tap the home button twice to go back to your home screen.
Your less-burdened battery will thank you!
Location services can be terribly convenient, letting apps know where you are and providing useful, location-specific information. However, keeping your iPhone’s GPS running can go through your remaining battery power very quickly.
You can tell when something on your phone is using location services by the arrow icon that appears in your menu bar at the top of the screen. If you’d like to save battery life, you have several options where location services are concerned.
Close apps that use location services when you don’t need them. Common culprits are map and navigation apps and services that provide you with location-based information, like Yelp and Foursquare.
If you don’t think an app needs access to location services, it’s easy to disable it on an app-by-app basis. Just open Settings > Privacy > Location Services, and find the apps you don’t want to access location data. Move the slider next to them to the off position. That application won’t be able to fire up your phone’s GPS until you change that setting.
You can also disable location services entirely if you aren’t using them. Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services, and move the slider by Location Services to the off position.
Downloading lots of data doesn’t just burn through your monthly data plan; it also burns through your battery life as your phone works to pull that data down from cellular or Wi-Fi networks. So if you’re particularly concerned about battery life, you probably want to avoid apps that will be a major data drain.
The most common culprits are anything that streams video or music: Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, Google+ Hangouts, Skype and FaceTime. You might not think of your email, which pushes new messages to your phone, or your favorite social networks, where you’re viewing friends’ photos, videos and status updates (and probably uploading your own!). Though text-based updates are small, photos and videos are larger files (especially as the iPhone’s camera improves), and viewing lots of them will leave you with less battery life.
Though free apps may seem tempting, these ad-supported apps burn at least a little extra battery power to download and display advertisements. In our own experience, apps downloading advertisements was the fourth highest data use on our iPhone — and as we mentioned above, when you’re downloading data, you’re also burning down your battery.
If you like an app enough to use it all the time, why not go ahead and pay a dollar or two to buy it instead of making your phone download advertisements every time you open it?
There are lots of things your phone can do that will cause your battery to drain faster — and you might not even use some of them. Here are some common battery culprits and how to disable them if and when you don’t need them.
If you don’t use any Bluetooth accessories, turn Bluetooth off under Settings > Bluetooth. In iOS 7, there’s a shortcut: Swipe up from your home screen to bring up a mini settings menu, and click the Bluetooth icon to shut off Bluetooth.
Keeping your screen brightly lit at all times can be a massive battery drain. Go to Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness (or Brightness & Wallpaper on older versions of iOS), and set the brightness slider to the lowest level you’re comfortable with. Then enable Auto-Brightness, which automatically makes the screen darker or lighter in response to current lighting conditions. You can and should also reduce screen drain by setting your phone’s screen lock to kick on as quickly as possible, reducing the amount of time the screen is needlessly lit. Go to Settings > General > Auto-Lock, and set it to 1 minute.
It’s handy to get notifications when an app wants to tell you something, but it also means that your iPhone is always keeping track of what the app is up to, which burns battery power. Even worse, a lock screen notification that pops up lights up your screen for a minute to show it to you — and as we noted above, keeping the screen lit can be a significant battery drain.
Turn off notifications for individual apps under Settings > Notification Center (or Notifications for older versions of iOS). Most apps seem happy to notify you about any and everything, so we suggest disabling most of these notifications. Scroll down to the list of apps, and click each app to see what kind of notifications it does. If you don’t want any, select None and turn off Badge App Icon, Alert Sound, Show in Notification Center and Show on Lock Screen (or View in Lock Screen on older versions of iOS).
If you aren’t using Wi-Fi, turn it off; otherwise, your phone will constantly check for available Wi-Fi networks, draining your battery in the process. You can disable Wi-Fi under Settings > Wi-Fi, but don’t forget to turn it back on again when you need it or you’ll regret all that data use when you see your next wireless bill!
If you don’t need any kind of data service (or if you’re in an area where you aren’t getting a good signal), you can save a lot of battery life by turning on Airplane Mode under Settings. This disables Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular service, cutting off all of the worst battery drainers. Again, iOS 7 has a shortcut: Swipe up from your home screen and click the Wi-Fi icon to disable Wi-Fi or the Airplane Mode icon to enable Airplane Mode.
Many of us use our phones to keep tabs on our email accounts, but how often you check your email can take a major toll on your battery life. The iPhone lets you set up new mail to be automatically pushed to your phone (although not all email services support this) or fetched from the mail server at certain intervals.
Because push mail means a constant connection, you’ll get better battery life by fetching mail at intervals — and the less frequent the interval, the better your battery life. To change how often your phone checks your email, go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Fetch New Data. For best battery life, turn Push off and reduce your Fetch interval or set it to Manual. If you really need mail from a specific account fast, you can also enable Push-only on the accounts you choose from this menu.
Instead of waiting for your battery to run dry, plug it in when you’re at your desk at work or in the car. Even a few minutes worth of charging could make the difference.
Many apps claim to help improve your battery life. While none of them work miracles, they can all help you make the most of your battery and stay aware of how much battery life you have left. Here are our favorites.
This free app isn’t very intuitively organized and has some oddball extras (like the ability to check the weather and set alarms, ostensibly for charging your phone), but since it offers more battery information than the competition, we’re willing to overlook these oddities.
The app tells you how much battery life you have remaining in time, listing how long your battery will last on various tasks (click Remaining), which is very useful for determining what your 50% battery life will get you. Its most useful feature is the ability to tell you how much power different apps are draining (click App Being Used), so you know which apps you should shut down. Click Optimize to find out how much extra battery life you can get by changing certain system settings.
This one is the only iPhone app that tells you how much data each of your apps is using. Before you click to download it, be aware what it doesn’t do: Onava Count is poor at measuring whether you’re about to go over your cellular plan’s data cap. In our experience, the app doesn’t differentiate between cellular and Wi-Fi data. But Onavo does do a great job of telling you which apps are spending a lot of time downloading — and those are the apps you might want to see about shutting down when you need to save battery life.
If you’re looking for an app to help you stay inside your data limits, we like the easy-to-use DataMan Next. However, you may also find the iPhone’s built-in monitoring works just as well for you; you can find it under Settings > General > Usage > Cellular Usage, though you’ll have to remember to reset it manually every month.
Am I overdoing it on data?
As we’ve said, downloading data can kill your battery life — and even worse, if you go over your cell phone plan’s data caps, you can get slapped with extra fees. Fortunately, each carrier offers easy options to check how much data you’ve used. If you don’t want to hit the web to look up your account information, you can check the details from your phone.
AT&T: AT&T should text you data usage alerts when you reach 65% and 90% of your data plan. If you want more details, the myAT&T app lets you see all of your AT&T account information in one place. Dial *3282# to receive a text message indicating your current data usage.
Verizon: Verizon sends you an alert when you reach 50%, 75%, 90% and 100% of your data allowance. If you want more details, download the My Verizon Mobile app to view all your Verizon account information. Dial #3282 to receive a text from Verizon listing your current data usage.
Sprint: Sprint sends you an email or text alert when you reach 75%, 90% and 100% of your data allowance. As with the other carriers, there’s an app that lets you get detailed account information: Download Sprint Zone for easy access to all your details. If you aren’t keen on an app, text “usage” to 1311 to receive a text message listing your voice, text and data usage.
T-Mobile: T-Mobile sends usage alerts that can be configured under its web page. (Once you’ve logged on, just go to Go to Manage, Your Profile page, then the Account Usage Alerts.) Download the T-Mobile My Account app to check your account info from your phone, or dial #932# to get a text message with usage information.
Now that you’re armed with information, we wish you good luck and long life with your iPhone battery!
Who’s Gathering Your Personal Information?
VIDEO showing the moment a man was floored by a coward punch, sending him flying about a metre before landing on pavement, has been released in a bid to find the culprit.
The CCTV footage showed a man wearing a black T-shirt and shorts outside the Liar's Bar on Burleigh Rd at Broadbeach, on the Gold Coast at about 12.45am on February 11.
Police said he had just been asked to leave the sports bar when he was filmed walking up to another man who he then punched in the head, knocking him back at least a metre onto the pavement.
The 26-year-old victim appeared to have his hands by his side and was talking to another man when he was hit.
The victim suffered multiple fractures and required surgery as a result of the attack.
Police would like to speak to the man seen in the footage to assist with inquiries.
Spectronics Inc can be found at Nw Reeves St 11230. The following is offered: Medical Supplies & Equipment. The entry is present with us since Sep 7, 2010 and was last updated on Nov 12, 2013. In Portland there are 10 other Medical Supplies & Equipment. An overview can be found here.
Spectronics Inc is located at 11230 NW Reeves St, Portland, OR. This location is in the Cedar Hills - Cedar Mill neighborhood. This business specializes in Eyewear.
In Kentucky's pension fight, teachers want to remind you: They don't get Social Security.
Teachers in Kentucky don't get Social Security benefits. And that's one reason they oppose pension cuts.
As a young teacher, Lauri Wade didn't think much about the fact that in Kentucky, public school teachers are not eligible for Social Security benefits upon retirement.
"When you're in your early 20s, you don't think about that stuff," said Wade, who retired after 28 years as a teacher with Jefferson County Public Schools.
But she does now and that's why she joined several dozen current and retired teachers early Monday at Atherton High School to rally in support of preserving teachers' pensions in Kentucky.
As the debate over Kentucky's underfunded public pension system rages in Frankfort, Kentucky's teachers — who have flooded the state Capitol in growing numbers — say it's important to remind the public that their pensions are critical because they don't get Social Security most retirees depend on.
"If this well dries up we have nothing," Wade said.
That's one reason teachers are opposed to cuts to the cost of living increases for retirees in the proposed pension overhaul bill pending in the General Assembly. Because of controversy and opposition — much of it from teachers — legislative leaders have effectively declared Senate Bill 1, the pension bill, dead for the current session.
Retired teachers depend on cost of living increases just like people drawing Social Security, they say.
Raymond Wilcox, a JCPS public school teacher contemplating retirement in a few years, said it's unfair for lawmakers to look for savings by cutting benefits for retirees.
"They have to raise money," said Wilcox, who also attended Monday's rally. "They can't keep cutting."
The reason Kentucky teachers don't get Social Security dates back to 1935 when the Social Security law was enacted, leaving out state and municipal employees, said Beau Barnes, deputy executive director of the Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System, or KTRS.
In that era, school teachers didn't earn a lot of money, Barnes said.
"They worked their whole lives because the only option was to retire in poverty," Barnes said.
In the early 1950s, the federal government decided to allow states to opt into Social Security for public employees including school teachers, Barnes said. While many states chose to opt in, Kentucky officials did not include teachers, he said, probably because policymakers did not see the need.
"They already had a retirement system," he said.
Today, Kentucky is one of 15 states where school teachers all or in part do not participate in Social Security and rely on state pension systems, according to a USA TODAY story last year.
The other states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Rhode Island and Texas.
Teachers do not pay into Social Security but pay into their state retirement systems.
In Kentucky, teachers pay about 12.9 percent of their earnings toward retirement, Barnes said.
Teachers also are limited to little or none of a deceased spouse's Social Security benefits under federal law that requires them to offset potential benefits based on their pensions. For most teachers, that means no survivor's benefits, they say.
If her husband were to pass away, "I get nothing," said Susan Osborne, who retired from JCPS after 30 years as an elementary school teacher.
Barnes said the average age for teacher retirement in Kentucky is 59 and the average length of service is 30 years. The average teacher pension is about $36,000, he said.
And while teachers are rightly concerned about their pensions, Barnes said that under funds Gov. Matt Bevin added in last year's budget and the amount he has proposed for the next two years, the teachers' retirement plan is on a solid path to solvency.
"That's wonderful news," he said.
Full-back Simon Hammersley has signed a two-year extension to his Newcastle Falcons contract.
The 22-year-old established himself as a Falcons first-grade player in his debut season at Kingston Park, finishing with 24 appearances.
He signed in the summer of 2014 after he graduated from Durham University.
"It's a very exciting time to be involved at Newcastle. The club is making great strides forward and I am happy here," Hammersley said.
"I've had some great exposure in the first team and am very much looking to continue my form from last season and helping the team and ultimately the club achieve its goals."
Director of rugby Dean Richards said: "He made an immediate impact on our game at the start of last season and we're looking forward to seeing him continue to grow and develop throughout the seasons to come."
The phrase "Google it" is getting a whole new meaning today; the search giant has just released its goo.gl URL shortener to the public and created a standalone website so that anyone can use Google to shorten and track the URLs they share via social media sites and e-mail.
Goo.gl initially debuted last December as a feature integrated into other Google products. Google's newly public URL shortener competes with a myriad of other popular services, Bit.ly being the most notable of the bunch.
The company claims that its shortener boasts stability, security and speed. The former two are especially important as several other services have been plagued by both downtime and malicious parties masking deceptive links. Goo.gl features automatic spam detection, and "near 100% uptime since our initial launch," according to the company's announcement.
The product also comes with expected URL-tracking features. As a goo.gl user, you can log in to your Google account to view URL history, traffic sources, referrers and visitor profiles for countries, browsers and platforms.
Google is known to hide bonus easter egg features in its products, and goo.gl is no different. Earlier today, Google engineer Matt Cutts tweeted one such easter egg — add .qr to a shortened goo.gl URL and you'll create a QR code that, when scanned, will redirect to the original URL. It's a quirky additive that makes goo.gl all the more friendly for brands and marketers experimenting with QR codes. A Twitter tipster also informed us that you can add .info to the goo.gl URL to check out analytics.
As for why Google is going public with goo.gl, it's anybody's guess. Initially, goo.gl was designed because the company didn't want to rely on other URL shorteners for the same purpose. Our guess is that it's another small part to the much speculated about social strategy. After all, Google is the business of URLs, and URLs are the fabric of the social web. What's your take? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Is troublesome TV show really art imitating life?
Anyone working with teens these days is aware of the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. It was all the rage and so popular that season two is now under production. I first ignored it because the premise sounded manipulative and unrealistic, yet almost every teen I met watched it, and loved it. So, I watched. There were the main subjects of suicide and bullying. I also noticed two other themes that aren’t getting as much attention and they should.
The first is frequent substance abuse. I got the impression from watching that the writers put it in as normal. In one scene a boy comes home drunk. His mother, upset he is late for dinner, scolds him, “are you drunk on a school night?” As if it would be acceptable for him to drink around town inebriated on a weekend. There are constant drinking parties, and most of the issues are rooted at the parties.
The second theme was lack of meaningful connection, even between the adults and teens. The parents of the young girl genuinely care for her. But they are so busy they don’t take the time to bond with their daughter. When they do talk with her, it’s about the struggling family business. School staff are all busy and focused on their to-do lists. The show’s adults leave a vacuum, and what fills this void is sinister.
The teens are desperate for relationships but conflate admiration and popularity with caring and companionship. They end up with insincere relationships that dissolve quickly. No one steps in to provide them an alternative; not a youth pastor, coach, teacher or neighbor. In the end the one person who is paid to help won’t because he is busy, and her issue makes him uncomfortable.
When students tell me they relate, it breaks my heart. I don’t believe they are being dramatic; I’ve looked at the data. The Arizona Youth Survey shows that 51 percent of teens don’t feel connected to their community (about 2,726). Roughly 17 percent of teens (about 900) drank alcohol last month. Our community survey consistently ranks parties with friends as a top source of alcohol for Maricopa youth. The city data shows between January and November there were 68 suicide attempts by adolescents.
“The Be Awesome Youth Coalition” is dedicated to developing confident, connected and successful youth. To do that, we need adults who are willing to be the opposite of those depicted in the show. Adults who will make the time, do what is difficult and refuse acquiesce in the face of youth substance abuse. You can find more information at MCAASA.org/Be-Awesome, or join us every second Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. at Maricopa Elementary.
Priscilla Behnke is program director for Maricopa CAASA and Be Awesome Coalition.
This column appears in the February issue of InMaricopa.
Apple is finally ready to jump into the fray with Netflix and Amazon Prime.
One of the worst-kept secrets in tech over the past year or so is that Apple is gearing up to launch a video streaming service akin to Netflix.
It's one of the few services Apple doesn't offer at this point, so the news is hardly a surprise.
Still, Apple hasn't officially announced it just yet. After a long wait, it seems Tim Cook is finally ready to talk about Apple's streaming plans during a special event on Monday, March 25 at 1 p.m. ET. Like every announcement event Apple has, it can be streamed on Apple's website.
The tech giant says it'll be best experienced on an Apple device using Safari, but it should work on Chrome and Firefox on Windows PCs, too.
Normally, Apple holds stage shows at its Cupertino headquarters to show off fancy new hardware products. This time, though, the focus is different. Apple has spent the past week getting various minor hardware announcements out of the way, leaving little room for product talk at Monday's event.
This week brought us new iPads, new AirPods, and power upgrades for iMacs. All of those things likely would have filled time at a normal Apple event, but this isn't a normal Apple event.
Oprah is reportedly working on something for Apple.

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