Here is my Dell M1210 battery, dead after 1.5 years of usage. The capacity was less 50% after 1 year of usage.

This battery was frequently used, laptop brought to school for of the time with battery attached running sleep mode.

M1210, an ultra-portable ultra-performance laptop, heat is a big issue. High-heat reduced the physical battery life.

The battery itself have a caution label : Do not expose battery to temperature above 65°C (149°F). My M1210 CPU temperature is at 70°C under normal usage, and will increase up to 90°C under heavy usage even with a laptop cooler.

By using Battery Tracker, I am able to obtain the battery specifications. The screenshot on the left shows the Battery Manufacturer, Battery Design Capacity, Full Charge Capacity and Current Capacity.

Battery Quality shows the Full Charge Capacity and Battery Design Capacity.

Unfortunately this battery no longer charges, the Current Capacity remains at 0%.

A new  85 W/h 9-cell battery for my M1210 will cost $155.99 from Dell. It is not worth it considering the amount of bad reviews this battery have obtain in Dell’s website. Let’s see what happens when i buy a used battery from eBay for $40.

Grab this Battery Tracker @ http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/files/folders/tamir/entry23412.aspx

Alternative mirror @ http://blog.zynine.com/downloads/?did=1

Simple guidelines to prolong lithium-based batteries

• Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.
• Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.
• Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)
• Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.
• If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.

source : http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm

to be continued…

Just recovered from fever & food poisoning @ Wasabi.

While waiting for $5 generic remote switch being shipped from Hong Kong, a $45 Dolica Proline tripod from Amazon (can’t afford a Manfrotto at the moment) and a clear night sky, I did some custom shape bokeh.

Bokeh (derived from Japanese, a noun boke 暈け, meaning "blur" or "haze") is a photographic term referring to the æsthetic quality of point-of-light sources in an out-of-focus area of an image produced by a camera lens using a shallow depth of field. Essentially, bokeh is a qualitative measure of light distortion in the out-of-focus areas of an image, and is primarily caused by lens aberrations and aperture shape.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Got this idea from : http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh

My version :

• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• 50mm diameter black piece of paper/cardboard
• custom shape within 20mm diameter
• 52mm UV filter

Instead of putting outside, I’ve decided to sandwich it between the lens and filter (not a good idea if you are constantly changing the shape)

Taken from inside the car.

Taken outside with street lamps

You will need Windows Live Photo Gallery and LiveUpload to Facebook plugin.

Two photos are selected to introduce to you the capabilities of Windows Live Photo Gallery paired with LiveUpload to Facebook.

The first capability is People Tags. Windows Live Photo Gallery will try to recognize faces found in a photo.

For this People Tags test, I will assign a name for Yoke Ping in my Windows Live Messenger contact information.

Now to start tagging people in a photo, select the face and search for the name. Yoke Ping’s name has been assigned to her Windows Live Messenger contact in my contact list.

Since i did not assign a name for Gee Woon’s Windows Live Messenger contact, it will not appear. You will probably have to search her using her Windows Live Messenger address or nickname.

After tagging everyone, you can start uploading to facebook.

Select the photos to upload, click Publish –> LiveUpload to Facebook.

Add a new account if you haven’t done so.

You will have to login, a browser page will appear.

After logging in, this dialog will appear. This will reduce the steps needed to upload photos.

Allow the application.

Create a new album.

Now here is the name matching. This application will try to match the names found in Facebook.

Here are some names which the application was not able to match to Facebook. You will have to manually match the name.

This is the result after uploading. You will notice some names are not matched to the Facebook account (I did not manually match them).

Tools needed:

• Digital Camera [if you are going to use film, you will need to scan all of them ]
• Tripod [not needed but recommended]
• Windows Live Photo Gallery [or any other panorama software]

For this tutorial, I will be using Windows Live Photo Gallery to stitch the photos. Live Photo Gallery is provided free by Microsoft. Please do not mistaken this with Windows Photo Gallery that is shipped with Windows Vista.

Step 1 : Camera Settings

Some digital cameras comes with stitch assist or panorama mode. This function can assist you in taking overlapping photos. If your camera does not have this function, you still can create panorama shots.

Canon PowerShot SD750 / IXUS 75 camera with stitch assist mode.

Note : Since I am using a dSLR, i will be taking pictures using manual mode. The advantage of using manual mode is that you can maintain a proper exposure. (you wouldn’t want some pictures to be dark or too bright). I use the same ISO, aperture and shutter speed for multiple photos taken.

Step 2 : Taking the photo

Take a series of overlapping photo.

In this tutorial, 7 photos will be used

Note : The settings used for the photos above are ISO-200, f/8 and 1/125s shutter speed on a Canon Rebel XSi.

Step 3 : Import into Windows Live Photo Gallery and start stitching

Select the all photos you want to stitch together, then click Make –> Create panoramic photo…

Save the photo.

This is the result after stitching.

Step 4 : Finalizing

Get rid of the unwanted edges. Click Fix –> Crop photo.

You can tweak the exposure and color and save!

This is the final result