Review of the Best 20,000 mAh Power Bank

Living in a wireless world has its benefits. We can get in touch with anyone we want, whenever we want. Any information we require in our day to day lives is accessible with the touch of a button. And all of this is possible without being tethered to a cord. But this doesn’t mean that our access to information is unlimited. In more ways than one, we’re limited by our battery.

Of course, the most obvious example is the fact that once our mobile devices run out of battery, we can no longer use them. But software developers are also forced to restrict the capabilities of their software in order to preserve battery life. If you’ve ever used a late model smartphone, you’ve probably realized that the battery life isn’t quite as good as it used to be. While this can be due to the age of your phone, it’s often because the apps you’re running were designed with a more powerful phone in mind. In order to keep up, your phones CPU has to run much harder than it’s used to, and all this extra power puts additional strain on your battery.

For some, the solution is simply to buy a new phone. But whether you’re planning to be away from an electrical outlet for an extended period of time, or you just want to breathe a little extra life into an older device, a power bank (for example: SUNJACK HEAT BANK ) is the solution.

These devices, in their simplest form, are just portable external batteries. They come loaded with a number of lithium ion cells that can be recharged on the wall, and used to charge up any USB powered device. There are a lot of different power banks on the market, each of which are rated by a certain capacity. In our eyes, 20,000 mAh is the best value on the market. An iPhone 7 battery has a capacity of just under 2,000 mAh. This means that a 20,000 mAh battery bank can charge it up to 10 times. For some, this can keep you going for days. Others might use it to recharge their phone, their tablet, and all of their friend’s devices as well.


Despite the incredible capacity, these battery banks aren’t quite as expensive as you may think. But it’s still important to make sure you choose the right one. Some models use poor quality lithium batteries, while others self-discharge when not in use. We’ve gone through all of the different models available to find what we believe to be the three best power banks on the market. We’ll help you understand the differences between them, and find the model that’s right for you.
Anker PowerCore II 20000


We weren’t surprised at all to find that the PowerCore II performed so well. Anker is one of the leading brands in portable USB chargers, and they have a proven track record of creating high quality battery backs that don’t break the bank. Reliability is one of the key things we expect from their batteries, as they use only the highest quality lithium ion cells that have been shown to last a long time, even under heavy load.

What You Get


The Anker PowerCore II is sold as an all-inclusive device, meaning that you won’t need to purchase any additional accessories in order to use it. Although it’s a simple gesture, we really appreciate how two micro USB cables were included. Most of these chargers require a micro USB cable in order to give it the initial charge, and they fact that they’re both included means that you won’t have to rob one off your phone, or buy another if you use Apple devices.


This allowed us to leave our standard Micro USB cables at home, keeping the included ones for on-the-go use. This reduces the chance that you’ll lose a cable, saving you money in the long run.

Aside from the cables and the device itself, the packaging was minimalist. Thanks to a smart design, you’ve still got everything you need.

Capacity & Charging Time


Although every charger on our list has 20,000 mAh of capacity, there is always some loss when power is converted from the internal voltage of the battery bank to the 5 or 9V supply that USB devices use. This particular battery is rated to charge the latest iPhone 7 times, or the Galaxy S7 4 times. For very high consumption devices like the latest iPad Pro, you can get two separate charges with the battery before it will need to be plugged in.



Design


The PowerCore isn’t a flashy or ‘in your face’ looking battery back, but it certainly isn’t ugly. The matte black exterior has a smooth finish that feels good in the hand. If it wasn’t for small accents like the sleek edges and the blue accents on the top and in the USB ports, we’d almost think of it as minimalist.


The few parts that do capture your attention aren’t just there to look good, they also serve a purpose. The four blue LEDs on the bottom right corner are your power indicators. When 100% full, the battery has a complete charge. Each light represents 25% of the capacity, and it is turned off as the battery is discharged. On the side of the battery, right next to the power indicators, is a power button. It’s a tiny little round button that is easy to press with your thumb. If it wasn’t for the slim LED right around it, you might not even notice it was there.


The battery is easy to slip into a pocket or a backpack, making it one of our top choices.

Connectivity


There are a total of five USB ports on the Anker PowerCore II. The three full-size USB 3.0 ports on the front are used or charging. They all support both standard charging (5V 1.0A) and fast charging (5V 2.1A). This makes it compatible with virtually all portable USB devices on the market.

The two micro USB ports on the side are used for charging the battery pack itself. If you plug them into 2.1A chargers, the battery can fast charge allowing it to go from 0% to 100% full in as little as 6 hours. In a pinch, you can also connect them to standard USB ports (ideally on your computer or other AC supplied device) to charge it.

Roofers - You Get What You Pay For When Hiring a Roofing Contractor

The roof on your home or business is the first line of protection when it comes to safeguarding your real estate property investment! Roofs are usually the most expensive single item that property owners will replace. When it's time to have a new roofing system installed, it's often tricky to understand which roofers New York to hire for your job! Homeowners should be skeptical of using their roofers New York based on cost alone. When selecting a roofers New York, you generally will get exactly what you pay for! Employing roofers New York solely because they supplied the cheapest bid may create a bad excellent roof which may leak and reduce the curb appeal of your residence.

Hiring roofers New York could be perplexing, but property owners may be assured that they are selecting the best roofers New York for their specific roofing company NYC needs by following a few critical measures.

ROOFERS WITH EXPERIENCE IN YOUR SPECIFIC TYPE OF ROOFING SYSTEM

There are a lot of roofing contractors in your area. But, not all roofing contractors are experienced in your specific type of roofing contractor NYC. Residential roofers New York should be licensed using GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, IKO, and Atlas Roofing. A commercial roof contractor ought to be proficient in all types of flat New York roofing and certified with assorted commercial roofing manufacturers such as Carlisle Syntec, Sika Sarnafil, GAF, Versico, and Malahide. Ask the roofing contractor you're thinking about if they have expertise in installing the exact sort of New York roofer that you want to be installed. Be specific in addressing this question. As an example, if you are thinking about installing a metallic shingle tile roof, inquire the roofer if they've actually installed a metallic shake tile New York roofer instead of only a metal roof. New York roofing systems can be very distinct in their preparation and setup requirements. The same applies for thick designer tiles, TPO roofs, slate roofs, tile roofs, or some other type of roof. You wish to hire a roofer with hands on expertise in installing the specific sort of roofing companies NYC that you would like installed on your home or business!

KNOWLEDGEABLE IN ROOFING CONSTRUCTION

Regrettably, not all roofing companies NYC are knowledgeable about NYC roofing contractors. In the modern market, the roofing contractors NYC can be lucrative and brings people that are savvy in the marketing and interested in owning a profitable company but they're not necessarily knowledgeable about roofing construction. Be specific when Selecting commercial roofing NYC and ask questions such as:

Are they up to date on current principles and construction requirements
Are they currently certified using the roofing manufacturer for Your Particular roof
Have they scrutinized your current ventilation system
Can they talk ventilation options or enhancements
Have they inspected your roof decking
Can they notify you of possible rotten wood that Might Not Be visible
Do You've Got space decking which will Have to Be re-decked
Will they be using actual starter strip and zoning cap
Can they replace all pipe jacks and roof accessories
Will they be removing the Present shingles and starting with a clean roof deck
ARE THEY MEMBERS OF THE BBB WITH A Good RATING

Be sure and contact the Better Business Bureau and also be certain that the roofing contractor has an A+ rating! It's crucial to utilize a roofer who is committed to client service and treating clients fairly! In case the roofers New York you are considering has an A+ rating with the BBB you can be confident that they will work hard to install an excellent quality roof that meets or exceeds your expectations.

Google Is Launching a Tool That Will Tell You if Solar Panels Are Right for You

Adding solar panels to your roof can be frustrating, since it's often difficult to know if your home receives enough light to justify the investment. Google Maps, however, has satellite, navigation and sunlight data for every property in the world, so it's ideally placed to tell you how many rays hit your crib on a daily basis.  That's why the firm is launching Sunroof, a database of how much solar energy hits each building in a city, helping people work out if it's worth the effort. Sunroof is intended as a "treasure map" for future green energy projects, telling you how much of a saving you'd make and how long it'd take to make back your initial outlay. For more efficiency you can use controllers like Renoy 30A PWM Charge Controller


To begin with, Project Sunroof will only be available in three locations: Boston, San Francisco and Fresno. If it turns out to be successful, however, then Google will roll the service out to the rest of the country and, possibly, the world. Once you've put in your address, you'll be told how much you're likely to save in energy costs, and then be put in touch with a local installer.



We tested the service out on Aol's building in San Francisco, and it told us that we received 1,840 hours of usable sunlight per year. In addition, we learned that we have roughly 15,641 square feet of available space that we could use to install solar panels. It then took us through our options, letting us know that we'd save $14,000 if we leased the hardware, or $24,000 if we bought them outright. So, if you're in one of these three areas, why not share how much Google thinks you're likely to save and if that'll prompt you into signing up.

Interfaith Quilters quilt show in Longmont on Saturday

From left: Donna Parsons, Karan Michael and Luanne Ross pose in front of the "Harmony in Blue" quilt Friday morning during setup for the 31st annual Interfaith Quilters quilt show at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 803 Third Ave.

The 99 patches for "Harmony in Blue" were created by individual members of Interfaith and is one of approximately 725 quilts for sale. Last year's sale raised $34,000 for the OUR Center and Safe Shelter of St. Vrain Valley.

"We really appreciate the community support, big time," said Michael, Interfaith's vice president.

The sale runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Small business planning

Small business planning

Some people aspiring to start or get into a small business, especially those with available equity, often take proper business planning for granted. A proper business plan is typically required when applying for a business loan, but some people who do not need to apply for such loans may also tend to forget about the business plan, often to their detriment.

Take the case of Elsa whose eldest daughter Terrie was graduating from college. Like any good parent, Elsa was planning to give her daughter a good career start, and she thought getting her to manage her own business was the way to go. Problem was Elsa never had a background in business herself, so she did not really know where or how to start.

Elsa’s sister Brenda, on the other hand, married a local businessman and it just so happened that they had a small internet and arcade gaming business that they no longer had time to manage; or so they said. So they approached Elsa and suggested that it may be a good idea for her to purchase the business from them, with the eventual goal of getting Terrie to manage it after she graduates.

Waffle of the month

Waffle of the month

Some of our more regular and observant visitors might wonder what the WOTM category is all about. It actually stands for “waffle of the month”, and it’s the license we give ourselves to go a bit off-topic every once in a while. We did promise in our very first post that we’ll “keep the waffling to a minimum”, so readers can expect the waffling to just only be once a month.
Joining Twitter

We joined twitter last month. We joined merely because everybody seems to be talking about it, but over a month on, we’re still not quite sure how to use it most effectively. Our preliminary conclusion is twitter – social media in general, in fact – can potentially be a great business tool, but it may not be for everyone.

So while twitter can and should be included in marketing mix considerations, we probably won’t lose too much sleep if we can’t make it fit into our model. A possible folly is for people to just latch on to it because it seems to be what people are talking about these days and lose a lot of resources just getting it to work right for them.
Playing with site look and feel

We are still constantly playing with the look and feel of the site. We added, and then removed, a tags widget on the left sidebar as it looked too cluttered for our taste. We added Clustrmaps at the bottom of the right sidebar, mainly to give us a (free) indication of where our visitors are coming from. We did not expect visits from China and India to be so high, at least relative to the rest of the world; but thinking about it now, it probably makes sense just with their sheer volume of internet users.

9 Model Business Blogs

9 Model Business Blogs

Following on from our post on pretend online gurus, we thought it might be good to present our readers with a few examples of what we believe are model business blogs. For blog readers looking for value, these can be looked at as benchmarks of what to look for in monetized blogs. For business bloggers looking to monetize their blogs, these can serve as standards to aspire to.

Two common themes you will find from the samples: (1) these bloggers appear to have already established reputations in their offline lives and their blogs just serve as extension channels; and (2) they provide a lot of free, useful content for their readers. We also deliberately picked blog authors who provide at least some content downloads without the opt-in requirement to their mailing lists or newsletters.

Chris Anderson

• Chris Anderson is editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. He is the author of “The Long Tail”, which is also the title of his personal blog. You can download a book extract that includes the full introduction and a chapter titled “The New Tastemakers” for free. The Long Tail Manifesto is also freely downloadable.