Touch Screen advice - DOs and DON'Ts

A device or gadget with a touch screen has a certain appeal that the non-touch screen devices will never have.  Something about being able to interact with the device in such a primitive, human-like manner has certainly been one of the main reasons behind its growing popularity, but with touch screens come lots of smudges and fingerprints.

In fact I find myself constantly cleaning my touch screens, call it an impulsion if you will, but I just prefer having them looking nice and clean (sure, I can simply not use them, but then why buy them in the first place?) and so if you're like me then i'm certain that you'd want to know how to clean them without damaging them.

1. Do read the manual your device came with
2. It is best to turn the screen/device off before beginning the cleaning process.  Some touch screens are so sensitive that you cleaning it while it's on could result in you selecting options and changing setting unintentionally. You will also be able to see the screen better when it's turned off.
3. Use a soft, lint-free cloth or a Microfiber cloth (if you can find one).  The piece of cloth that comes with your prescription glasses works great.
4. If you need to add moisture or liquid to the equation, be sure to moisten the cloth.  NEVER SPRAY LIQUID DIRECTLY ONTO YOUR SCREEN.

1. Do not use any ammonia-based cleaners or alcohol on your touch screen
2. Polyester and denim-like materials should not be used as cleaning cloths (anything abrasive for that matter should be avoided)
3. Never spray ANY liquid onto the touch screen 
4. Avoid applying too much pressure or pressing too hard on the screen, you may end up doing more harm than good.
5. Things like paper towels and bathroom tissue do not make the best cleaning "cloths"
6. Do not use spit (tempting though it may be at times) to clean your screen  it will only result in more grime building up on your screen.

Tech Myth - Incognito mode makes you invisible

Some time back I wrote an article on how you can conceal your web-browsing tracks by using the private browsing mode which is now built in to the three most popular browsers available on your personal computer namely Inprivate browsing on Microsoft Internet Explorer, Incognito on Google Chrome and Private browsing on Mozilla Firefox.

Since then several persons have approached me wanting to know if these modes will really "hide them" while they surf the Internet.  Simple answer, YES and NO.

While these modes WILL erase your browsing tracks or where you've been online from your local computer's hard drive, it does not make you invisible or anonymous.  They simply ensure that the usual histories and cookies that are normally stored on your local computer are erased after each session, your browsing tracks/history is still logged or recorded by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), by your work network administrator and/or the government (in some cases).

The bottom line is this, somebody will always be able to tell where you've been on the Internet so wherever you do decide to go while online it makes sense to keep that in mind.

NB:  You definitely will want to ensure that your protection software is up to scratch to protect from being spied on remotely via spyware software.

Microsoft Windows Phone 8 vs Microsoft Windows 8

So it's October 2012 (for a while still) and Microsoft has finally unleashed it two "new" operating systems on the World - Microsoft Windows 8 and Microsoft Windows Phone 8, but exactly what are they?  How are they different or similar for that matter?

First up Windows Phone 8 (code name Apollo):
This is the new, "next" generation/version of the Microsoft operating system for smartphones.  Unlike Windows mobile 6.x which felt more like a laptop/desktop OS, Windows Phone 8 is all about the smartphone and user-friendliness.

This OS is based on having "live-tiles" (formerly called the metro design) as your main interface where your apps are displayed as squares or rectangles (tiles) and can update themselves as often as you set them to or as they were designed to.

Of course Microsoft first introduced this user interface/concept (Windows Phone 7) in October 2010.  Since then there have been several incremental updates to the original 7.0 release (Mango, Tango) which has now led to it evolving into the bigger, better, "badder" Windows Phone 8.

Now in my opening sentence for this post I mentioned new in quotation marks ("new"), simply because in my mind I do not see Windows Phone 8 as a completely new OS, to me it is what Windows Phone 7 was intended to be from day one - it is the grown up, more mature and business-like version of it's earlier self.

Now Windows 8
This is a brand new OS for tablets, laptops and desktop computers, but it is not a completely new concept either.  This operating systems has borrowed heavily from Windows Phone 7 or 8 (based on how you look at it).  It is all about tiles, live tiles for that matter and although you can get the user interface to bear some resemblance to the earlier Windows versions (like XP, Vista or 7) it was designed to be different, more touch and user friendly and a whole lot more fun.

Unfortunately, unlike it's predecessors, Windows 8 was not designed to be installed on old legacy hardware without compromising its beauty, power and flare.  On laptops for instance, not having a multi-touch trackpad will rob you of experiencing the OS as it should be experienced and though having a touch screen is not a must, it definitely will add to the element of fun and productivity.

NB: I must admit it took me a while to find the shut down button on Windows 8 the first time I used the operating system, but that did not make me love it any less.