Happy Friday! I hope you are enjoying your Friday and have a lovely weekend planned. Today I want to get back to our regularly scheduled programming of technology tips and advice. I have a bunch of links, lists, and fun bits of information to share with you so that you can share them with others. It’s a round-up of tips for getting more out of your smartphone, figuring out when to buy stuff, and one lovely app from NARA. Allons-y!

Lifehacker has some great articles on smartphones and I want to share a few specifically about Android phones. First is the article on how to speed up your old or sluggish Android device. This seems especially relevant now that it seems that for those who have a Samsung device (in the United States), and haven’t rooted their phone, will be waiting for quite some time to get an OS update. Makes you think twice about rooting and voiding your warranty, doesn’t it? This is also a good article to share with your patrons who complain about their Android device running slowly, but don’t know what can be done about it.

If you haven’t yet succumbed to temptation and purchased an Android phone, you might want to read the article on how to pick your next Android phone: the specs that matter and the ones that don’t. Refuse to be an uninformed consumer of tech goodness.

Now, leaving Android-specific land, check out the tips on how to secure your smartphone. At least make it harder for people to steal your phone and your data.

Also in the realm of security, check out Lifehacker’s enhance your security this weekend article, if you were too busy to deal with this over the holidays. Though I am sure, dear readers, that you already do most of this, but it might be handy to pass on to your library patrons. While enhancing your security, you may also want to look into 6 social media pain points (and what to do about them). Again, good information to share with others.

After you are done enhancing the security of your smartphone, you may want to load the new-ish app from NARA (National Archives and Records Administration). Check out the press release here: Today’s Document Goes Mobile. It is quite lovely and you get one document a day with links to more information, transcripts, the ability to browse collections, etc. Kudos to NARA embracing mobile technology on top of redesigning their website, their logo, their brand, etc.

And because I love lists (and good deals), I had to share this Lifehacker chart/calendar/list on the Best Times to Buy Anything in 2011.

To end our whirlwind tour of technology, enjoy viewing this video using Chameleon Circuit’s “Exterminate, Regenerate” and then go buy one of Chameleon Circuit’s albums over at DFTBA Records.

Have a fantastic rest of your day and a wonderful weekend. I’ll be back next week with more fun in library/archives/tech-land. Thank you, dear readers, for reading.