Many of us hold on to our cars these days. They run longer, the don't break down as often and we know everything about them.

The problem is, our technology has evolved, but your car hasn't. So how can you connect today's smartphones to yesterdays cars?

The Smartini BT, may be just the tech you need to pimp out your old ride.

The Smartmini plugs into a 12-volt power port in your car. They used to be called cigarette lighters for you old timers.

The device does 2 things, it talks to your phone or tablet via bluetooth, and transmits the signal to your FM radio.

Now, if you're wanting to hear your music, the Smartmini is able to make a wireless, one-way audio connection by broadcasting to an empty frequency on the FM radio, you just tune in to listen. Like you do right here!

The best way to get a clear signal is the let the Smartini do it for you.

You don't need a bluetooth device to play your tunes, there's also a standard input jack. The Smartini BT even has an output for cars that have a mini jack.

On the other side, you'll find a powered USB port. It's able to charge a smartphone, but not your tablets. As an added bonus, the device also features a Bluetooth 2.1 connection which adds hands-free calling.

We've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

When you buy a new computer, software, or accessory these days, you'll notice one thing missing from the box, the manual. So where is it?

Have we become so smart that manuals are now considered last century? No, not really.

Manuals these days are often buried on company websites as a PDF file. And it's sometimes hard to know you have the right one, for the correct model.

If you're in front of your Windows computer right now, help is just a button push away. Just hit F1 and you're done!

The F1 key is the universal help key in Windows. Almost every program will open the help screen when F1 is pressed in virtually any application.

Mac user don't have it quite that easy, but it's not too challenging. They simply need to press and hold Command, Shift and the Question Mark to pull up the help menu.

These built in help screens do more than save the tress. As updates are released, the help menu gets updated at the same time. The information you pull up when you need help is accurate and current.

Don't go crazy scouring the web for your missing manual. It's right in front of you, right at your fingertips.

Just remember, it's F1 and you're done!

We've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

Are you listening to this Data Doctors Tech Tip while sitting at your computer? If so, sit up straight.

We humans have taken an evolutionary step, backwards. Our posture at work sucks, and we can all thank the computer for that.

The posture lessons, cautionary tales, and ergonomic gadgets of the past 30 years have apparently taught us nothing, and as a result, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is now the most common neurological problem.

It affects many of us who sit at a computer typing away all day long. After all, we're Bipeds, hunter gatherers, not sitters and typers.

The typical treatment, even for moderate cases of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is surgery, and it's all be­­cause you were too lazy to sit up straight.

So how do you fix the problem? You need to set yourself, your desk and your chair up for success.

Keep your chair at a height so that your knees bend at a 90-degree angle; also keep your feet flat on the floor, and make sure your wrists are parallel with the floor.

Laptops are great but if you can, get an external keyboard and raise your computer up. Everyone looks down at laptops and that's a painful problem.

If you need some help keeping your hands from going numb, check out a pair of Imak computer gloves. We've got a link to them on Facebook.

We've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

What can I do to get better battery life from my smartphone? It doesn't even get me through the afternoon on most days.

- Ed

Smartphones are an amazing bit of technology, but all those features come at a high cost: battery life.

Understanding which features eat up your battery and only using them when or if you need them is the best way to extend the life.

One of the biggest drains on the battery is powering those big beautiful screens, so always turn the brightness down to the lowest tolerable setting and turn off the auto-brightness so you can manually control when the screen gets brighter.

Turn off the ‘push' setting for your e-mail so that mail is not constantly being sent to your phone whether you are reading your e-mail or not. The ‘fetch' setting determines how often your phone checks for new mail, so set it to the longest possible interval or better yet, set it to manual so that the only time you will get new messages is when you manually tell it to fetch them.

Location services can be used by many apps, so having the GPS circuit constantly updating your location as you move around will also drain the battery. Turn it off unless you need it (if an app needs it, you'll be alerted) and start saying no to apps that ask to use location services when you first install them.

Having your phone constantly scanning for a wifi signal or a Bluetooth device can also add to the drain, so turn them off until they're needed.

If you are constantly getting notifications from lots of apps, you probably aren't paying attention when you are installing apps. You should turn off notifications for all but the important ones (you'll probably be more productive as well!) and start saying no to apps asking to send you notifications when you install them.

Using your phone as a hotspot for other devices is a super handy feature but you can kill your battery very quickly by using it. Try to avoid turning on the hotspot feature unless you are plugged into a power outlet.

If you do turn on the hotspot while on battery power, remember to turn it off as soon as you are finished or your phone will be on fumes in a relatively short period of time.

Start getting into the habit of routinely checking for any apps that are running in the background and shutting them down, especially those free games that are constantly loading in the ads that support the app.

Newer Android phones have a power-saving mode that does a really great job of managing your phones resources based on the way you use your phone, so try turning it on.

You can also see which apps are eating up the most power on Android devices, which can help you decide if its time to get rid of some unwieldy apps.

One last major thing to remember: heat is a major killer of batteries and will reduce the batteries ability to hold a charge. Avoid direct sunlight especially in the hot summer months and avoid using the phone until it cools down if it's hot to the touch.

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Today's Data Doctors Tech Tip is a simple, but necessary reminder. Back It Up!

Last month, a Rutgers student posted a plea to a thief that stole the laptop. They didn't care about the computer, but they were willing to pay $1,000 bucks for something on the computer.

Their thesis and 5 years of work, lived on that laptop and that laptop only. Can you imagine losing something so valuable, so fast? Neither could they, but it happened.

So how could this poor student have avoided the pain? A simple backup. Yes, simple.

We see people all the time that buy an external hard drive, call it a backup but the reality is, it's not.

First: A backup means you can locate the file in more than one place. If you have an external hard drive and the document is only there, that's not a backup.

It needs to live in your documents folder on your computer, and a duplicate needs to exist on the external hard drive.

If you're working on an important document (like a thesis), you can always perform a save as or copy to a flash drive.

You can also use any number of free cloud services for those ultra important documents, and they'll even backup automatically.

No matter what you do, do something. The worst kind of backup, is no backup.

Need help with your backup plan? We can help. All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

In the final part of our series to avoid getting hacked, we tell you about a tool that tells you if it's time to change your password.

You just sent out an email to your friends with great info on the latest diet, the problem is you didn't. So are you being spoofed or did someone hack your account?

Most of time it's a harmless, but what if someone hacked your account, used it, compromised it, How would you know?

If you go to should I change my password dot com, you can enter your email address and in an instant, the site will report back if it appears to have been compromised.

To date, they have discover nearly 52,000,000 compromised email addresses.

Over 34,000,000 password breaches.

And they are adding about 30,000 new email addresses to the database every day, to keep the reporting accurate and up to date.

You can check an individual email address for free, or if you want to keep tabs on multiple addresses you can subscribe to the service for $10 bucks a year, for up to 10 email accounts.

So if you're not sure if it's time to change your password, check out should I change my password dot com.

We've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

In part 4 of our weeklong series to avoid getting hacked, today's Data Doctors Tech Tip explains why the pain of 2-step verification is worth the price of admission.

2 step verification is nothing new, yet it's amazing how few people use this powerful and free tool to to protect themselves.

Microsoft started rolling out its two-step verification process back in April. Also known as two-factor authentication or two-step authentication, the process strengthens your account security by requiring you to enter your password (step 1), then a security code (step 2).

The security code sent to you by SMS (text messaging), or in Microsoft's case you can make it a phone call, or you can use an authenticator app on your mobile device.

Turning on two-step verification on your Microsoft account will enable it across all of your Microsoft services that currently support two-step verification, like Outlook.com, Office 365, and SkyDrive.

Even if someone gets your username and password, they won't be able to get in. Why? because they need one more important thing. 2 step authentication requires something you know, like a username and password, and something you have, your smartphone.

If someone tries to login as you, you'll get a text message with a code that must be entered to proceed. Without that code, your account is locked and you'll be alerted that someone has your password.

Lots of others like Facebook and Google have been offering this for a while, when you see the option SAY YES!

Tomorrow, we wrap up our series on how to avoid getting hacked, We'll tell you how to know if it's time to change your password.

Remember, we've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

In part 3 of our weeklong series to avoid getting hacked, did you know your smartphone holds the key for hackers? And it's the quickest way for them to take over your life.

It's time for another Data Doctors Tech Tip.

Your home is loaded with a bunch of valuables, high end TV's, Jewelry, lots of computers... would you leave the door wide open?

Duhhh! Of course not!

OK time for a quick test. Grab your smartphone right now and wake it up. Can you access your stuff without entering a password? Then your door is wide open.

If a bad guy got your phone, it would take him no time to find out what bank you bank with via the app you most likely use, request a password reset through your email, which he has in his hand, and well... you can figure out the rest of the story.

Manufacturers give you the ability to password protect your smartphones for a reason. They are just like your desktop or laptop computer. Full of valuable information, and incredibly easy to access.

Finally, for you Android users that swipe a pattern to unlock your device... hold it up to the light and look at the screen. If a hacker found it, they'd be able to retrace your swipe in an instant.

Tomorrow, Microsoft has finally done it and you should too. Securing your safety with the 2-step.

Got a tech question? We've got the answers.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

In part 2 of our weeklong series to avoid getting hacked we'll tell you why you should stop using the same password over and over again.

We've all been told not to use the same password for all our online accounts, but so many people still do it.

Let's face it, we know using the same password everywhere is dumb, it's not safe, but who can remember dozens of complicated passwords?

No one! That's why everyone should think about using a password management utility.

Utilities such as LastPass take the complexity out of using lots of complex passwords, because you only need to remember one.

That's right, you setup an account with Lastpass and it generates strong passwords that are unique to each of your online accounts and remembers them so you don't have to.

Simply login with your single password to get to all your stored account credentials and click the mouse to securely connect.

Because Lastpass is a cloud-based service, you don't have to have special software or apps to get to your secured accounts, you can do it from any computer on the Internet.

Your credentials are stored on a securely encrypted system and the best part is that Lastpass is free!

Tomorrow, we'll tell you why your smartphone holds the key for hackers.

Remember, we've got the answers to your technology questions.

All you have to do is ask us at facebook.com/datadoctors.

I've very reluctantly started allowing some of my employees to use laptops because they travel enough to justify it, but I'm worried about security especially when it comes to our sensitive company data. Any tips to make me feel better about this decision?

- Alex

You're completely justified in being concerned about the change because it does expose your company and your employees to a completely different set of security issues. Mobile devices are exponentially more likely to be stolen and you should just assume that it's going to happen someday and plan accordingly. Here are some basic security issues to consider for mobile users:

• Set Access Passwords on all Devices - Every mobile device in your company (laptop, smartphone or tablet) should be setup with an access password that would prevent a stranger from picking it up and start using it. This is a really easy thing to test for and even easier to rectify, so start there.

• Don't Allow Stored Passwords - Teach your employees that whenever the browser asks ‘Would you like me to remember the password' the answer is always NO! The inconvenience of having to type in the password far outweighs the security risk created when the browser contains all of the passwords to your web accounts. This is also an easy thing to spot check from time to time if you want to make sure the rules are being followed.

• Structure a Procedure for Data Storage - This actually should have been created prior to allowing any laptop to be deployed with access to sensitive company information. Without a clear procedure, your employees will simply store data in the default locations on the local hard drive of the laptop which can be a huge security risk. The most secure way to control your company data with mobile users is to not ever store anything sensitive on the device itself. If it gets stolen or lost, the only loss is the device itself, not your sensitive company data. In the past, this would have been an expensive and complicated undertaking, but with today's plethora of cloud platforms, remote access tools and the relative ease in setting up a VPN (Virtual Private Network), it's no longer an issue.

• Use The Cloud - For instance, instead of installing Microsoft Office on the laptop, use Microsoft's web apps or Google Docs so that all the documents are stored (and backed up!) in the cloud. Do the same with e-mail by configuring a Gmail or Outlook.com account to access your company's e-mail server if you don't already have an online option for checking mail. E-mail is such a huge security hole for most companies because it's generally loaded with sensitive attachments and company communications, so don't take it lightly.

• Use Encryption & Online Backup - If storing data on the laptop is required, consider setting up an encrypted section of the computer that all data gets stored in (checkout TrueCrypt) and make sure the laptop has some form of automated online backup service such as Carbonite installed.

• Install Tracking Software - When the laptop goes missing, having a good remote tracking and deletion program installed (which I recently wrote about) can save the day. These are some simple things to think about and don't even begin to scratch the surface of what can be done, so I'd highly recommend that you consult a professional to review your exact scenario to give you true peace of mind.

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