We use passwords and Lithium-ion batteries (the batteries that power whichever device you are reading this on) a fair bit. I went on a best-practice gathering mission the other day on both. And here’s what I found –
Passwords – Lifehacker resource
– Use Lastpass or KeePass to create random passwords (available as extensions on chrome)
– Don’t use a password formula – e.g. Password123 – unless absolutely necessary
Suggested approach (based on reading suggestions across a few blogs)
Step 1: Use a password manager (i.e. lastpass) with a secure master password
Step 2: Create 2 tiers of applications – critical and non critical. For critical, set difficult passwords and ensure two-factor authentication is turned on.
Examples of critical applications
1. Email
2. Storage – Crash plan + Dropbox
3. Payments and credit card accounts – Amazon, iTunes, PayPal
4. Bank accounts
5. Social – Facebook + Twitter+ Tumblr + Linkedin
6. Any others For all others, just use a couple of generic passwords you will remember in case Lastpass isn’t at hand. They probably don’t matter that much anyway.
Lithium-ion batteries – Lifehacker resource
– Don’t worry about discharging the battery completely – just do it once a month (Old Nickel based batteries needed this. Li batteries don’t)
– Shallow discharges and charges or charging from 40%-80% are seen as ideal to prolong battery life and are much better than discharging to 0% and recharging to 100%
– One charge cycle is when you use the FULL 100% – so 40% + 40% + 20% discharge is just 1 cycle. Discharging to 50% results in optimum charge cycle usage
– If you plan on storing a battery away for a long time (e.g. your laptop’s), discharge to about 50% and keep in a cool place
– Always use the correct charger
– Don’t leave the battery plugged on overnight – causes overheating.
Hope this helps!
A Learning a Day 