Just replaced a HP laptop battery with a new one... do these batteries, I assume a Lithium battery, have "memory"? Is it still important to do a deep discharge followed by a recharge a couple of times?

No and no.

Generally no, however, there can be one exception to this rule.

On some "smart" lithium-ion/polymer battery packs, their management circuitry will measure how much energy has flowed in or out of the battery. This energy accounting is use to keep track of the battery's state-of-charge (SOC) or, how "full" it is.

If this energy counter gets out of calibration you can often reset it by fully discharging then charging the pack. In some cases, this will improve the runtime of a laptop or cellphone as it's internal circuitry has a better idea as to the real SOC of the battery.

Efrem: 2.53MM?!?! My god...one day I'll have that many miles behind me!

Program miles. Flown miles are another matter. Some AA folks are already above 10MM. I'm at 2.7MM and as of the end of 2001 had precisely zero. I'd still be at zero, wouldn't have elite status AND would've missed out on a ton of fun, enjoyment and travel had it not been for FT. 100% of the credit goes here.

To the original poster, one note. Lithiums DO NOT like being discharged for long and they don't take well to being deep-discharged. I'm describing deep discharge as 'turning on the device and seeing only a brief flash of activity before it dies'.

This problem is compounded by the fact that lithium batteries self-discharge faster than other technologies. Mind you I'm talking about over a matter of months here but if you have a cellphone/camcorder/what have you that gets used rarely you need to be mindful. The battery will kill itself and when you go to charge it could well be left with only 10-15% of it's former capacity if it even takes a charge.

As a rule they DO NOT need to be absolutely drained and it shortens their life to do so. Two full cycles should be enough to recalibrate a battery that seems to have lost life. If it doesn't come back after that... it's time to toss it and get a new one. It's enough to drain the battery to the point where the device shuts itself down. At that point, you should charge the battery IMMEDIATELY. Storing the device that way is a sure way to kill the battery off.

kanebear is right - total program miles. That includes 100 percent elite bonus on all flights, assorted other bonuses (including 100K for touching all six continents with oneWorld in the summer of 2000), hotel and car rental miles, credit cards (including a lot of AMEX MR points "laundered" through TWA when that window was open) ... I'd estimate about 650K BIS miles on AA since 1998, four 100K years and others over 50K.

Wow, talk about a thread hijack! And that from an evangelist!

I guess a hijack resulting in the discussion of the accrual of ridiculous quantities of miles should be expected on a site like this...you guys (gals?) are my heroes.

As for me, I'm just digging in to the mileage game but I'm proud to say that in a matter of weeks I'll have status (UA) for the first time in my life! It's not much, I know, but everyone starts somewhere and I only get to travel for pleasure (not work) so that makes things difficult. So far: 22 new countries since I graduated from college two years ago! Thank you FlyerTalk!