My sister just had an issue with her white Macbook (2008) where first it was saying “Replace Battery Soon,” and then it was saying “Replace Battery Now.”

Soon after it said to replace it now, it said that it was going to take 20 hours to recharge and was STUCK on 20 hours (the battery was no longer charging). When this happened, she tried unplugging the charger from her Macbook to see what happened, and it would just turn off right way (the screen would go black, all the lights would go out), as if the battery were dead.

This didn’t really make much sense, because she had just gotten a new battery a little over a year ago, and the program iStat Pro ( great FREE widget for your Mac’s Dashboard) said that the battery’s health was 98%.

So after trying different things, she decided to turn it ALL THE WAY OFF, and THEN charge it fully. This is what fixed it for her. You actually should do that EVERY TIME you drain the battery fully, which you should do ONCE A MONTH to keep your battery healthy.

Just in case you’re wondering, Apple says that you can get 400 cycles out of a battery, but that seems to be conservative, as her battery has completed 379 cycles and iStat Pro says its health is 97%, and iStat Pro says my battery has completed 430 cycles with a health percentage of 88% (see image below).

On top of that, her previous battery had completed 530 cycles before it went bad, so it seems as though both of our batteries have plenty of life left, although I do plan on buying a new Macbook Pro soon.

What didn’t help was she was charging her Macbook fully, unplugging the charger from it, and using it until the battery died, charging it back up again, using it until it died, etc. She never kept it plugged in after the battery was fully charged, which means she was quickly using up her “400” cycles, or however many is the accurate number of cycles that a Macbook battery will last. So it’s a good thing that this happened. Otherwise she was on track to use up her battery life quicker than normal.

To find out how many cycles your battery has used, download the widget, iStat Pro (it’s FREE), and install it. Then go into your Dashboard (the icon in the bottom left of your screen next to Finder), wait around 10 seconds of it to read your computer, and then it will give you all of the vital stats of your Macbook (check out the image above to see a screenshot).

So the two things we learned here are the following:

1. If your Macbook battery is not charging, then turn your Macbook ALL THE WAY OFF and then CHARGE IT ALL THE WAY UP. After it is fully charged, and the light on the charger (the part that is plugged in to your Macbook) is GREEN indicating that it is fully charged, then start up your Macbook, wait until it is fully booted, and then try unplugging the charger from the Macbook and see if that fixes your battery issue. Of course “your mileage may vary”, meaning this may not work for your situation, but it worked for my sister.

2. EVERY MONTH, you need to unplug the charger from your Macbook and use it until the battery dies. Then, when the battery dies, or right before it dies, TURN YOUR MACBOOK ALL THE WAY OFF and charge it until the charger light turns green, indicating that the battery is fully charged.

If you have other fixes that you have found worked for your Macbook’s battery, post it in the comments below, and I will update this post with the fix that worked for you so everyone can benefit from your brilliance.

Thanks!

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I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but I never got around to it. Been very busy. However, seeing that Steve Jobs just resigned as CEO of Apple today (so sad), I feel today is a very fitting day to post this.

Steve, I know that you will be the Chairman of the Board and director, but you will be sorely missed in the day to day operations of Apple. You’re a brilliant man, and taught us how to “Think Different.” You made a GREAT and POSITIVE impact on not only the computer world, but also the entertainment world. You pushed the human race forward, and I want to thank you for that. You have definitely put a “ding in the Universe,” as you so eloquently expressed to be your foremost desire.

I dedicate one of your own commercials…to you.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oAB83Z1ydE[/youtube]
Here’s my review of a great interview with Steve Jobs conducted by All Things Digital that I should have posted a while ago, but I’m glad I didn’t…

I recently watched a really great interview with Steve Jobs that was conducted at the D8 – All Things Digital conference. You really get to peek inside his head and discover his core values for his business in this interview.

The main core value of Apple is to “build the best products for people.” He kept on saying that over and over throughout the interview, and he said it with such passion. It was awesome to watch. It’s the foundation for the company. I love it when entrepreneurs display their passion for their values and their company. It shows that it’s not about the money for them. It’s about their vision for their business and what they stand for.

Another thing that I was really intrigued about was that Steve said that Apple is the “largest startup company in the world.” What he meant by that is that Apple is still structured as a startup. What does that mean? Well it means that it is an “incredibly collaborative company.” There are no committees. They have one person in charge of each department, and they trust that “their team will come through with their parts.”

I agree with setting up a company this way, and it’s not just because Apple is highly successful and that’s what they do. I just feel that the whole corporate structure is outdated and does not work in today’s society. People are tired of working for corporations that treat their employees like a number, and that don’t listen to them or their ideas. People want to feel that they are a part of something bigger than themselves, and that they are contributing and making a difference in the company.

Eben Pagan, a very successful Internet marketer, says that great people work for “Impact,” not for money. They want to be involved with a company that is going to make a substantial difference in the world. They are not in it for the cash, because they have such talent, they can make great money no matter where they work. I agree 100%.

In the interview, Steve also explains what he does all day…what his day as CEO of Apple is like. I’m sure you want to know that, right? What does one of the most highly successful CEO’s in the world of one of the most successful and highly valued companies in the world do all day? What does he do with his time? You’ll have to watch the interview to find out.

Here are 10 more things you will find out by watching this interview:

1. Why Steve would have rather QUIT than let the whole Gizmodo / stolen iPhone 4 prototype issue slide
2. What are the 3 main reasons why Apple disapproves apps for The App Store
3. Why HTML5 is better than Flash
4. Why Steve believes personal computers will eventually “be like trucks” (meaning not many people will have one)
5. Why Apple is going into the Advertising business (it’s probably not the reason you think)
6. Where people are spending most of their time when using the iPad
7. Why mobile ads are great for the advertiser, publisher, and end user
8. How Apple protects the privacy of their users (much respect, Steve!)
9. What Steve would like to do with his commencement speech that he made to Stanford in 2005 (see below)
10. What was wrong with the music industry before the digital download era

And here are the Top 12 Business Lessons that I learned, or that I already knew but were reinforced for me, from watching Steve in this interview:

 
Business Lesson #1

Steve: We focus on developing GREAT products for people (it’s Apple’s core value) and they let us know how we are doing by voting with their wallet

Business Lesson: Always focus on delivering the best product or service possible, and the market will let you know how you are doing by buying (or not buying) your product or service

 
Business Lessons #2 & #3

Steve: You can save a lot of time and energy if you “choose the correct horses to ride” (referring to why he chose to go with HTML5 instead of supporting Flash with the iPhone and iPad; read Steve’s full article, Thoughts on Flash, that he wrote back in April 2010)

1st Business Lesson: Focus on a few great products and be the best at using them, instead of trying to please everyone, spreading yourself too thin, and not really being a master at anything

2nd Business Lesson: Team up with products whose business graphs are going up, not down

 
Business Lesson #4

Steve: Price things aggressively and go for volume (referring to software and content)

Business Lesson: If you want to dine with the classes, you have to sell to the masses (and price things accordingly!)

 
Business Lesson #5

Steve: People are willing to pay for content on the Internet (iTunes)

Business Lesson: There will be times where you will have an idea and people will say, “How could that possibly work? People aren’t going to buy that! They can get that for free!” But the only way you’ll find out if something will work is to TEST it, like a good marketer and entrepreneur always should be doing. Don’t try to THINK what the masses will do, FIND OUT by TESTING on a small scale. If it works, SCALE IT UP and make BANK!

 
Business Lesson #6

Steve: We started with the iPad FIRST. But then I realized we could make a phone out of the touchscreen technology we had developed, and we decided to go with that first and shelve the iPad until we “got our breath back” from the launch of the iPhone.

[Brilliant business choice since the iPhone accounts for almost 50% of their revenue! (46.6% to be exact)]

Business Lesson: ALWAYS be flexible enough to change your plans along the way, no matter how much time, effort, and focus you have put into the development of a certain product/service. If it makes better business sense to change plans, DO IT!

 
Business Lesson #7

Steve: Personal computers are going to be like trucks. They are still going to be around, but not many people are going to have them (watch the interview to see why Steve believes that)

Business Lesson: Always be focused on where things are going in your industry and plan accordingly

 
Business Lesson #8

Steve: We get 10,000 – 20,000 apps submitted to us each week, and we approve 95% of them within 7 days (Impressive!)

Business Lesson: Have things set up in your business to be ready to handle your success

 
Business Lesson #9

Steve: We originally disapproved of a political cartoon app because we had one rule: “You can’t defame people” [which I really admire]. However, that was one consequence of that rule that we did not see coming. So we made political cartoons the one exception.

Business Lesson: Always be willing to change the rules.

 
Business Lesson #10

Steve: We make mistakes along the way, and we fix them as fast as we can.

Business Lesson: You see, even the most successful companies in the world make a fair amount of mistakes. So don’t let making mistakes stop you from achieving your dreams. It is part of the process, and always will be no matter how successful you get.

 
Business Lesson #11

Steve: If you want to hire great people, you have to let them make a lot of the decisions.

Business Lesson: You must be willing to let your employees/team members make a lot of the decisions. People work best in an autonomous environment (check out the book “Drive” by Dan Pink for more on that). That’s how you hire and KEEP great people. Otherwise, they will not feel as if they are part of the team, nor will they feel like they are making a difference in the company, let alone the world. They’ll feel more like a puppet in a controlled environment in which they have no say. Consequently, they will jump ship and go to a company that does have an autonomous environment where they and the company will thrive.

 
Business Lesson #12

Steve: You have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best idea must win, not the “best person” with the most power or seniority.

Business Lesson: In business, you have to be humble and be quick to recognize a great idea, no matter who it comes from. Reiterating what was said in Business Lesson #11 above, if you want to keep great people, you must appreciate their brilliance, use their ideas, and reward them for it.

 
So those are the top 12 business lessons that I learned by watching Steve Jobs in this interview. I hope you can use some of them to help your business. Comment below and let me know how these ideas have helped you, and feel free to mention any business lessons that you learned from watching this interview.

Watch the full interview below and enjoy!

Steve Jobs at D8 (an All Things Digital Conference) – Full Video

 

 
And here is Steve’s brilliant commencement speech that he gave at Stanford in 2005:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc[/youtube]

Remember to comment on what you learned from either my article or the interview…or both!

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What a sad day it is. Steve Jobs, the co-founder and pioneer of Apple resigns as CEO. However, don’t get your head all down, because he did propose to be Chairman of the Board and director. The board BETTER accept his proposal is all I have to say. Apple without Steve Jobs is like the light bulb without Thomas Edison.

Here is his letter:

 

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

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Have you heard of Google+?

You can find it here: http://plus.google.com.

It’s Google’s version of Facebook and Twitter, combined into one, and it’s actually pretty cool.

It allows you to share photos, videos, have unlimited text in your status updates, and other features that are similar to Facebook and Twitter (sans the unlimited text in the status updates).

Here is Google’s overview of its new social network:

The Google+ Project: A quick look
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwnJ5Bl4kLI[/youtube]

The Google+ Project: Explore Settings
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnv1Mbj1jKw[/youtube]
Aside from the similarities it has to Facebook and Twitter, there are some very unique features that Google has come up with…

HANGOUTS

One really cool feature G+ has that Facebook and Twitter do not is called “Hangouts.” This is where you can have a group video conference call of up to 10 people! That’s pretty sweet. And a buddy of mine said the quality is great.

Facebook has rolled out video calling via Skype, although it does not support group chat yet. So G+ definitely has 1 up, or should I say 10 up, on Facebook on this one!

The Google+ Project: Hangouts
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tku1vJeuzH4&NR=1[/youtube]

The Google+ Project: Explore Hangouts
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN38vHZjWXw[/youtube]
CIRCLES

Circles allows you to put people you know in certain groups. So you can have your family in one Circle, your co-workers in another Circle, your business contacts in another Circle, your clients in another Circle, and maybe people you’re “following” (a la Twitter) in another Circle (more on the “following” concept later).

This allows you to group your contacts, which is very helpful, as you’ll see.

For example, clicking your family Circle allows you to only view the status updates of people in your family. Likewise, if you want to check out what your co-workers are talking about, you can click on your co-workers circle.

SHARE YOUR CONTENT WITH CERTAIN PEOPLE IN YOUR NETWORK

G+ also allows you to do another cool thing, which you can’t really do in Facebook. You can, but it is a bit clunky, and you have to go through a lot more hoops to share your content with groups of people, especially in the initial setup of it.

In Google+, you can easily share your status updates, which includes photos, videos, links, etc., with just certain Circles of yours, or with just one Circle, or with just one person, or with just certain people.

So if you have pictures from your family outing that you only want your family to see, then simply opt to only share it with your family Circle. That’s yet another feature which Facebook definitely needs to make easier to use if they want to be able to compete with G+.

CAN I SHARE MY CONTENT WITH EVERYONE, EVEN THOSE NOT IN MY CIRCLES?

If you want to share a status update (or picture or link or video, etc) with anyone and everyone, including those who aren’t even in your circles or who you even know, then you can select to share whatever you’re sharing with the ‘Public.’

Google definitely nailed it with Circles.

The Google+ Project: Circles
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeMZP-oyOII[/youtube]

The Google+ Project: Explore Circles
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocPeAdpe_A8[/youtube]

SPARKS

There is also a feature called “Sparks.” This is where you can create streams of news articles, videos, pictures, etc., that are being shared on the Internet and organize them by topic.

So if you want to see all of the news that’s being shared a lot related to the upcoming iPhone 5, you can do that.

And if you want to see all of the news that’s being shared related to raw food recipes, you can do that as well.

It’s a great way to sift through information overload, because the articles, videos, and blog posts that are being shared by many many people are obviously of high quality.

The Google+ Project: Sparks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRkAdTflltc[/youtube]

The Google+ Project: Explore Sparks
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DoAl4JXhQo[/youtube]

MOBILE

Google+ now has an app for both Android phones and the iPhone. They both have the following features: Stream (it’s like your homepage on Facebook where you see all of the postings of whatever Circle you’ve selected, or you can select to see them all), Huddle, Photos, Profile, Circles. The only difference right now between the Android App and the iPhone app is the Android app has the INSTANT UPLOAD feature (see below). Both are great apps and work very well. Very stable so far, as expected from Google.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8gvHaX1cwY[/youtube]

INSTANT UPLOAD

This is a feature specifically for Android smart phones at the moment. There is an iPhone app for G+ now, however, it does not have this feature.

Instant Upload allows you to upload every picture and video you take with your Android smart phone to a private photo album in your G+ account. This way, all you have to do is decide who to share it with once it’s uploaded.

It takes the hassle of syncing your phone with your computer to get the photos and videos from your phone on to your computer, then uploading them from your computer to the Internet…out of the equation. This feature does all of that for you automatically.

The Google+ Project: Instant Upload
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y_xKVSRAy8[/youtube]

HUDDLE

Huddle is a cool way to be able to group text with your friends (or group instant message if you prefer that term).

In Huddle, which is a feature in both the Android and iPhone G+ app, you can all text in the same conversation so everyone in the group can see everyone else’s texts. It’s great for organizing a night out on the town, or for setting up a mastermind meeting.

The Google+ Project: Huddle
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iA22daAstNg[/youtube]

MORE GOOGLE +1 BUTTON LOVE FOR YOUR WEBSITE (HUGE!)

Here’s a BIG reason to join G+ if you have a website. First, you’ll need to add the Google +1 Button to your website. Then, every time you share a link to a blog post that you made, or a new web page that you created, you can share it on G+ and get some more +1 love from your friends, colleagues and followers.

On G+, it’s as easy to +1 a link as it is to “Like” a link on Facebook. This will help increase the ranking of your website in Google, which will push it higher up in the search results.

And if things go the way the industry says it’s going to go (they’re saying that Google is going to place a lot more weight on the number of +1’s a page/website has in determining the page rank), then this is going to be a HUGE game changer, especially if you have 100,000 people “following” you on G+ whom you’re sharing your website links to, which is a great lead-in to my last topic on G+.

Google Business: Introducing the +1 Button
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RyY2-ofP4g[/youtube]

And if you want a more indepth look at the +1 button. Check out the video below. I watched the first five minutes, and it definitely seems like a worth while watch if you really want a good understanding of what the +1 button is, and what it can do for your website. Plus it only has 1 dislike (probably from a Facebook fan), so it must be good.

Google I/O 2011: An introduction to the +1 button
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl3c79n_wRg[/youtube]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN PEOPLE CAN “FOLLOW” ME ON GOOGLE+?

This is where Google+ acts like Twitter. Yes, people can follow your posts just like they can on Twitter, and you don’t have to approve them for them to be able to follow you. They can just follow you (you can block them if you want, though). They can put you in any of their Circles that they wish. They can even put you in more than one Circle (Friends Circle and Business Circle, for example).

The thing that is different from Twitter is that when someone follows you, their posts are put into a stream of yours called “Incoming.” So if you want to see the posts of people who are following you, all you have to do is click on your “Incoming” stream and voila! You get to see what your followers are up to.

WANT AN INVITE?

So now that you have a pretty good idea what Google+ is about, do you want an invite so you can check it out? With products like Google+, you can only do so much research before you realize that you actually have to experience it to really know it.

So if you want an invite so you can experience Google+, send me an email with “Google+ Invite Request” in the subject line, and I’ll send one right over to you. Please note that I can only send out a certain amount per day. So if you don’t get an invite on the same day, be patient. I will get to you within a few days after you request it.

Have any comments, opinions or experiences with Google+? Think it’s a Facebook or Twitter killer? Leave a comment below and tell me what you think!

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