The electrical tape provides extra protection for the boost regulator circuit (it’s easy to touch that area with your finger when pushing the power button, and without the tape your finger can change the boost voltage to levels that are out of spec for components on the board). We do not recommend that you remove it.
The print_long problem is a known issue with the newest library release; we are working on releasing a fixed version. In the meantime, please see this thread for more information:
