Quick And Easy Guide For Cleaning Your Smartphone

Your phone may look all squeaky clean and shiny to the naked eye, but you may be surprised (or rather disgusted) to learn that these small gadgets have been proven to shelter more bacteria than doorknobs, keyboards and – oh, the horror – toilet seats. However, you do not hold up a toilet seat to your ear or talk into it – that makes your mobile phone a powerful carrying case for seasonal flu and other infections.

Thus, giving your phone a regular cleaning is not only an aesthetic thing but a necessary hygienic precaution.

When it comes to cleaning any electronic gadgets, the keyword of the whole procedure should be – gentle. Your movements must be soft, careful and light – that is why it’s not recommended to indulge in the relaxing process of phone cleaning if you are running late or are not in a good mood. Other than that, the process is pretty much straightforward. All you need are the proper tools and the knowledge of the basic do’s and don’ts.

Here’s how you do it:

Let’s start with the screen and cover the don’ts first.

Don’t: It may be a natural instinct to use window-cleaning products on your screen (glass is glass, after all). But this is a very bad idea. Windex and other popular household chemicals contain ammonia – which may significantly damage your screen overtime. Additionally, some touchscreens (like that of iPhone, for instance) are covered with a special coating, that would be destroyed if a heavy chemical is applied.

Do: Use a special cleaner meant for electronics. If you a DIY kind of guy or girl you can prepare a solution of 60 percent water and 40 percent isopropyl alcohol.

Don’t: Never use any paper materials – towels, Kleenex, tissues – to clean our screen. Rough fibers can scratch the display.

Do: Use a microfiber cloth (the one that usually comes together with eyeglasses).

Don’t: Never spray the solution directly onto the screen. ip the microfiber cloth into the cleaning mixture and gently wipe down the screen.

Do: Instead, dip the microfiber cloth into the cleaning mixture and gently wipe down the screen.

Once your touchscreen is wiped clean, let’s get down to harder-to-reach areas, like earphone and charging slots. These crevices can easily gather dust, crumbs and other dirt.

• Use a Q-tip, dipped in the same solution, to gently clean the slots.
• Another way to do it is to get your hand on a can of compressed air and “air out” the areas in question.

For a more high-tech approach to cleaning, you could try a professional phone sanitizer, that uses UV light to get rid of all the hidden bacteria.

Using Airplane Mode: In the Air And On Land

We all know that our phones have airplane mode and we also know that quite logically, we should be using that mode when on board the plane. But what is it exactly that the airplane mode does and are there any alternative uses of this feature? That’s what we are here to find out.

In The Air

So what does enabling airplane mode actually change in your phone? First, it disables your cellular connection, meaning your phone will no longer be searching for connections with cell towers.

First, it disables your cellular connection, meaning your phone will no longer be searching for connections with cell towers.

By toggling on airplane mode you will also automatically disable Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. But the latter can be turned back on manually – as these days most airlines offer paid Internet on board the plane.

The question of whether it is really that necessary to switch to airplane mode or turn off your phones during take-off or landing has been brought up numerous times. The idea behind the ban is that whenever turned on, your phone will be trying to establish a connection with a cell tower, even when it means boosting the signal (as will be the case high up in the sky) and all this data transmission may get in the way of airplane’s navigation equipment. Surely, this does not mean that a turned on cell phone will cause a crash – but to stay on the safe side, airlines have always been careful about all sorts of interferences – and you can’t really blame them. On your side, having your phone turned on and in constant search of signal will eat away at you battery in vain – so you’re not missing out on anything.

On Land

One of the most popular alternative uses of airplane mode is battery saving. True, you will not be able to receive or make calls or send text messages – but if you are in an emergency and really need to make that battery last – a quick tap on the airplane mode will conserve your juices till you get your hands on the charger. Keeping your phone in airplane mode during charging itself will also speed up the process. So if you don’t have that much time left – you might choose to keep “flying” to get as much power as you can.

Personally, I found airplane mode a quick fix at a meeting, negotiation, discussion – or any situation that demands your undivided attention. This means you will get rid of all the ringing and buzzing with one simple move and will be able to concentrate.

On the same note, there may be times during the day when you just want to “disappear” – it may be an urgent work project, a trip to the spa or some quiet time with a book. Whatever it is – you deserve peace when you need it.

If you seem to have too many distractions coming from your phone – a quick switch to airplane mode can keep all of them out of the way with your phone still being on, and the ability to go back to the world whenever you want to.

When traveling internationally, and if you have roaming enabled, having your phone switched on can get expensive. Even if you do not initiate any calls yourself – people may be calling you, leaving voice messages and sending texts, completely unaware of the humongous bills you’ll have to face when you get back.

With all of the uses that airplane mode may have on land, it’s important to remember that it will prevent people from being able to reach you (even in the event of an emergency) – so use it wisely.

How To Print From Your Android Phone

True. The world is moving away from paper printing, as we have more and more portable devices. And in many ways, your Android phone is a perfect replacement for a printer, as you can store and take your documents anywhere you want.

However, it may take another century or so to get rid of red tape completely, and from time to time, as much as we may despise the idea – we will have to print.

But enough with the drama. If you feel like printing from your Android phone, here’s how you do it.

First, you’ll need to get connected to Google Cloud Print, a service that allows you to print over the web from any device, be it your Android phone or tablet. To start with,  let’s tend to your printer. Connect it to your computer and activate Cloud Print support in Chrome – this way you will be syncing your printer with your Google account.

Next, move on to your phone and install Google Cloud Print app.

Now let’s go through the printing process step by step. Select a document you want to bring onto paper, tap the Share button and select Cloud Print app to share the document with. The? you should be able to see your printer and get down to the process. Do note that you will need to be using the same Google account on your phone and printer.

Using a cloud service for printing is quite convenient as you will be able to send documents to your home or office printer from anywhere and even share your printer with others, so that they can do the same – great way to save time (and spend fewer hours at the office).

But printing does not necessarily mean paper. I often us ethe print feature on my laptop to convert a document into PDF. However, and quite unfortunately, our phones do not have a Print button – and thus – no Print To PDF function.

But not all is lost. You can follow pretty much the same steps with a Share button, but you will need to pre-install an app that can convert your files to PDFs.
One way to do that (and if you want to quickly PDF a web page) is to use the ever-handy Cloud Print app that you have already installed. Another great feature of the app, is that once you enable it, your Google Chrome browser (if you do not have one on your phone, you will need to install it) will also have printing functions. So all you’ll have to do is open up a web page in the browser, select Print – and the page will be saved as PDF onto your phone’s Downloads folder, probably under the name “ChromeSnapshots”.

Another way to PDF things is to use the Share button. Share the document with Cloud Print app and save the file to Google Drive. It will then appear in your Google Drive storage as a PDF document – ready for you to access and use anytime you want.

If you are looking to convert more different formats into PDF, you can also look into downloading a specialized app, like Word To PDF for Android. The application handles .doc, .docx, .odt, .ott and .rtf and will do the job quickly with a simple click.

So here it is! Printing has never been so easy – no additional cable mess, driver installation or any fuss of that kind. But as easy as printing has become – do take a minute before tapping “Print” and think if you could just go digital and save a few trees.

How To Adjust Your Android Phone If You Are Left-Handed

From Raphael and Leonardo Da Vinci to Marylin Monroe and Jerry Seinfeld, the world knows lots of outstanding left-handers. And people often say that being left-handed may come with a number of benefits, like being better at certain sports or even having a higher IQ.

However, when it comes to the routine of everyday life, being left-handed may come with quite a few inconveniences. And using a mobile phone is no exception in this. As our phones are becoming more and more ergonomic, and their usage more and more convenient, all users, no matter  right or left-handed, should benefit from it.

So how do you make your Android phone experience better if you are left-handed? Here are a few simple tips:

First thing you’ll need to consider doing (and the one that will enable all the following moderations) is activate CyanoGenMod app, that will (among other things) allow you to make changes that will turn your device into a more left-hand friendly one.

What is CyanoGenMod?

CyanoGenMod is open source firmware, designed for the Android system, allowing its users to get access to features and options not found on their devices by default. Switching to left-handed mode is one of those features and this is what we will cover today.
But CyanoGenMod offers a rather extensive set of other features, like tethering (making your phone double as a modem), overclocking (increasing your phone’s processor speed for better performance), an enhanced reboot menu, application permissions management, Open VPN client and more.

For our current purpose though, let’s get back to the left-hand mode. Once you have the software installed – head on over to Call Settings and enable Left-Hand mode. It’s as simple as that – your phone is now optimized for left-handed use and you will be able to maker smaller tweaks as you navigate your phone for more new features.

Head on over to Settings and enable Left-Hand mode. It’s as simple as that – your phone is now optimized for left-handed use and you will be able to maker smaller tweaks as you navigate your phone for more new features.

So what has changed?

First, it’s about making calls. As a left-handed user, you may have a natural habit of holding your phone to your left ear when talking. However, later versions of Android come with sensors that can detect when you are about to hold up the phone to your face. This comes with some pretty cool benefits, as the phone will automatically disable the touch screen, to avoid any accidental button pressing and send it into sleep mode to save battery. But holding up your phone to the left ear instead of the right can throw off the system and make it works less well. Left-hand mode, enabled thanks to CyanoGenMod, will change that and you’ll be able to hold the receiver any way you like.

Another thing to consider is screen rotation. Android phones are already great in a way that they rotate the screen automatically when you turn your phone. However, the way the screen rotates puts left-hand users at a disadvantage – as all the action buttons will remain on the right side of the screen, making the scrolling or choosing options quite inconvenient.

Once again, CyanoGenMod comes to the rescue. You will need to head over to the Settings menu, go down to Sound and Display, where (only with CyanoGenMod  enabled) you will find a new option labeled Screen Rotation. The option comes with full customization and allows you to choose between 0 and 360 degrees. Selecting 270 degrees will put the action buttons right where they would work best for left-handed users – on the left side of your phone’s screen.

There you go. These may be just a few small tweaks and changes, but we hope that they will improve your comfort level and allow you to operate faster and smoother.

Your 3D-printed car will be ready to drive in 44 hours

You knew the printed car was going to happen, but as soon as this weekend? That’s when the first printed car arrives. It will be built up from carbon-reinforced plastics, then driven out of Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center and onto the streets of the Windy City. The vehicle will be printed over 44 hours. Technicians will add in the unprintable — electric motor, battery, wiring, window glass — and the car, called Strati, should be out the door Saturday.

Rather the print dozens of smaller sub-assemblies and screwing, gluing or bolting them together, the concept car has a main body structure built up as a single module using something called the BAAM Machine. BAAM stands for big area additive manufacturing, with a deposition rate of 40 pounds per hour.

Can your trade show do this?

All this happens at a trade show called IMTS, the International Manufacturing Technology Show. It’s being held this week in the Windy City, attracts 100,000 attendees, and is awash in acronyms. IMTS is run by AMT, the Association for Manufacturing Technology, which promotes US-based manufacturing technology. Many of the manufacturing technologies used to make Strati were pioneered at the DOE (Department of Energy) manufacturing demonstration facility at ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory).

The Strati components that aren’t printed in the trade show microfactory from carbon reinforced ABS plastic (see, another acronym; photo right) will be added to the car by a company called Local Motors. The company also creates specialty cars and motorcycles using more traditional construction techniques.

The built-up, 3D-printed body comprises everything that doesn’t move, doesn’t need to be clear, or doesn’t conduct electricity. Local Motor additions include the motor, battery, wiring, seats, windshield, suspension, wheels and tires, steering wheel, windows, and headlamps. AMT touts the American nature of the operation. France’s Renault supplies much of the EV running gear, though, sourced from the components that go into its Twizy electric cars.

Could this be the future of automaking?

Ford’s River Rouge complex in Dearborn, MI, has 16 million square feet of factory space and can build several hundred thousand vehicles a year. A microprinter doesn’t need much more than the footprint of the car to operate, about 100 square feet, and can build a car every two days, if Strati is typical. (It’s a two-seater, smaller than most cars.) And it would be easy to configure different cars. Want more back seat room because you carry four adults a lot? Want extra headroom for someone who’s six-foot-six? All that is theoretically possible.

Right now, custom-ordering is frowned upon or impossible with cars shipped in from overseas, especially Asia. The same mindset continues even now that they have factories in the US. American automakers will build to order, but it can take a couple months, and a lot of incentives or rebates cover only the cars in dealer stock. German automakers do a brisk business in custom-order and European delivery and the majority of Minis are sold built-to-order. But those are the minority.

If a regional facility or even your dealership printed the car of your dreams this week, it might change the nature of the car business. We’d say it’s for the better. Someone working an assembly line might feel differently.

Cristiano Ronaldo could make move to the United States, says Jorge Mendes

ESPN FC's Craig Burley reacts to Valencia's inspired come-from-behind victory against red-hot Real Madrid.

Cristiano Ronaldo could move to play in the United States after his Real Madrid career has come to an end, the player's agent Jorge Mendes has told Telefoot.Ronaldo, 29, signed a new contract with Madrid in September 2013, keeping him at the club for a further five years.

And while the Portugal captain could well pen another deal with the European champions before his time at the Santiago Bernabeu comes to an end, Mendes has suggested he may then follow in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard, whoannounced on Saturday that he will leave Liverpool for the United States at the end of the season.

"He will finish his career at Real Madrid, and after that, perhaps he will go to the United States. Only God knows what will happen," Mendes said.

Ronaldo has long been linked with a big-money move to Paris Saint-Germain, who would be one of the few clubs capable of being able to afford the former Manchester United man.

Cristiano Ronaldo enjoyed an incredible 2014 with Real Madrid.

However, Mendes believes that Ronaldo, who is the favourite to win the 2014 Ballon d'Or when it is announced on Jan. 12, would never join the Ligue 1 champions. "There is no way he will sign for Paris Saint-Germain, that's impossible -- including for Cristiano, someone for whom anything is possible."  Mendes went on hail the quality of Ronaldo, whose form has hardly wavered since signing for Real Madrid from Manchester United for 80 million pounds in 2009

.Real Madrid C.F.        

✔ @realmadriden

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.@Cristiano has scored 60 or more goals in each of the last four calendar years (2011-2014) #HalaMadrid

He added: "Cristiano is a machine, he's the best player in history and no one is anywhere near him or can do what he does. I'd ask you to name any winger who has scored 10 percent of the goals Cristiano has scored."