It’s been reported that in Texas alone, over 146 million dollars of damage has been done by these ants.  They crawl into cell phones, iPads, Laptops, Electrical outlets, AC ducts and anything else with wiring. Once in, they feed on exposed wiring until electrocuted. One ant may seem harmless but upon death they do a move called gaster flagging which basically means they wave their torso up and down releasing pheromones – attracting more ants. More ants mean more damage!

For those who live in Texas, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana the problem is very real! So what can you do to protect your gadgets if visiting one of these areas?  First, I recommend that you wrap your gadget tightly with store bought saran wrap.  Never leave any phones or iPads out, especially outside.  If you’re going to the beach or for a picnic, leave it in your car wrapped up. Because these ants like to hitch a ride in cars, RV’s, suitcases and electronics it’s a good idea to thoroughly check your items before leaving the area.

Let’s be cautious about our travels so we don’t allow these crazy ants to create more damage!

Two Ways to Protect Your Laptop & Notebook

• Use a screen protector.  Leaving your screen unprotected is a bad idea; dirt, oils and scratches are some of the biggest complaints consumers have when it comes to their notebook or laptop screen.  Because just about anything can scratch the surface it’s a good idea to use a screen protector, the cost is usually only around $10!  A good investment that not only protects your screen but cuts down on glare.
• Choose a snug carrying case.  Cases come in all shapes and sizes but they all provide the same thing, protection! Because your notebook or laptop can bounce around inside of a case it’s important to find one that fits like a glove.  The use of a screen protector will limit damage but it’s still a good idea to find something that won’t allow your device to flip flop around inside of the bag. A good case should run you around $50, but definitely worth the price considering a new notebook costs $500 or more.

No matter what type of mobile device you have, you should always invest in some sort of protection.  Screen protectors keep your device from dirt, scratches and can even save your device from cracking.  In fact that’s the first thing I buy when I purchase a new device.  A good case and screen protector can save you time and money!

If you do happen to break your laptop screen please bring it in for us to take a look at or give us a call for a free estimate.

But all is not lost, as there are quick and simple things we can do to keep our phones as clean as we can and even help the planet out while we’re at it. By using eco friendly cleaning materials or practices, our phones will look and feel like new; without harsh chemicals or toxins. See my tips below on ways to clean your smartphone the eco friendly way.

1. Use Eco Disinfecting Wipes – did you know they make eco friendly wipes? They do and some of the most notable brands that do so includes Seventh Generation. They make eco friendly disinfecting wipes that come in canisters and can be found online via Amazon. The wipes are all natural and will allow you to wipe the surfaces of your phone clean while keeping out bad toxins and chemicals. Not too mention yucky unpleasant odors.

2. Use A Microfiber Cloth – for glass screens (and any screen really) microfiber cloths are best. They’re soft, gentle and contain no harsh additives that could potentially harm your sensitive touchscreen. Find these online or at any local hardware stores in your town. Microfiber cloths are not expensive and they tend to last a while from the date of purchase. So get a few and they will last you a good bit. Maybe even outlast your phone.

3. After, Try An Eco Friendly Screen Protector – What is an eco friendly screen protector? It’s one made from PET, which is essentially recycled plastic. These screen protectors look and work the same as the traditional type except they’re are made with recycled materials. We found many online via eBay and you can too. A screen protector is one of the best ways to conserve and preserve your phone’s delicate screen. Why not try an eco friendly one and help the planet as well.

As you can see, it’s quite simple to clean your phone in an eco friendly way. A few supplies are indeed needed that by the way – you can grab in most stores, but the process is quick and simple. Next time you need to wipe or clean your smartphone, try our quick tips above.

At Know Phone, we take pride in both our reverse cell phone lookup service and our actual phones. When we need to clean them, we do so in a planet friendly way and hope you do too.

Quick Reader Question:
How do you keep your phone clean? Tell us below in the comment section.

How many of you have just thrown out your old mobile devices?

According to the EPA electronic waste is accumulating at almost three times faster than ordinary household trash.  They are including computers, laptops and other types of electronic devices in this estimate as well.

Pretty amazing when you think about it.

They have estimated that up to 130 million cell phones are no longer being used.  If all of these phones were recycled, we could have:

• 4,550,000 pounds of copper

• 100,360 pounds of silver

• 9,750 pounds of gold

• 4,290 pounds of palladium

Math isn’t my specialty, but those numbers look pretty awesome to me!

But recovering these precious metals is not the only benefit to recycling cell phones, studies have shown many benefits to the environment as well.  For example, it reduces the greenhouse gas emissions and conserves natural resources.  With 100 million phones recycled, we could save the energy used to extract the materials such as copper, silver, gold etc … from the environment.  They have estimated this energy save to be enough to power more than 194,000 homes in the US for one year.

Power 194,000 homes in one year!

Recycling these same million phones reduces greenhouse gas emission equaling 1,368 cars being taken off of the road for one year.

With benefits like these, why wouldn’t people recycle their unwanted cell phones?  In 2007, research showed that 1.2 billion phones were sold worldwide.  Sixty percent were replacement phones.   Fewer than 20% of cell phones are actually recycled each year!

The sales of cell phones is only increasing and the numbers of unwanted are only tripling, so why do only 20% get recycled each year?  Many believe it is due to the lack of information on how to best dispose of their devices.  People just don’t know what to do with them.

Recycling programs are starting to pop up everywhere and hopefully the number of phones recycled will start to move in a better direction.  During my research for this article, I found many options for recycling your unwanted mobile devices.

• Cell Phones for Soldiers – We are an official cell phone recycling drop off location in Atlanta.
• ReCellular
• Earthworks

If you have other resources for recycling cell phones, let us know.  We would love to share the information with everyone!

That being said, health and fitness is big business, so it can often be difficult to separate health-based app options that truly work from those that are mere filler. With that in mind, here are some of the top proven health apps for the iPhone in 2013. The best part is that all of the options listed below are free.

Locavore

The first step to getting healthy is shifting to a healthy diet. That means plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. But as everyone knows, produce is seasonal and it can often be difficult to find many premium quality options at one time. Locavore takes the guesswork out what is or is not in season by providing the user with detailed lists of the produce that is currently peaking. This handy app will also point the user in the direction of the nearest local farmer’s market.

My Fitness Pal

Eating right is only part of the equation; monitoring food intake is vital as well. My Fitness Pal is a calorie counter and so much more. It doubles as a comprehensive food journal and offers a database of exercises as well. It is made up of over 350 exercises including cardio and strength training. The app also has a bit of a social networking aspect to it, as users can check in on their friends and see how their diet and exercise progress is coming.

Weight Watchers Barcode Scanner 

Weight Watchers has risen in popularity to become one of the most-recognized names in diet and weight loss. There are many ways to adhere to their program via online or in app form, but this mobile option offers a barcode scanner everyone can use. Simply install the app and use the iPhone as a scanner during the next trip to the market in order to get a product’s full nutritional value.

Wellness Cookbook+

This app does have a premium option, but it is free to browse. The goal of Wellness Cookbook+ is to provide the user with a comprehensive database of recipes all geared towards the delicious as well as the healthy. It even offers updates on diet trends and provides filters that allows users to search recipes by region as well as item.

Gain Fitness Cross Trainer

One of the biggest hurdles to making a lasting and healthy lifestyle change can be adjusting to the new routine while learning new workouts. Gain Fitness Cross Trainer provides a large database of exercises that covers everything from yoga to cardio to strength training, but it also offers video tutorials. The app is a virtual personal trainer for burgeoning health and fitness nuts.

iPhone owners can install each one of the options listed above on their handheld and it won’t cost a dime. More importantly, it should cover everything a person needs to get a quick start down the road to body wellness.

Aaron Mills is a tech writer and blogger. He writes on behalf of leading brands such as protectyourbubble.com, a cell phone insurance provider.

WOW!  We are so excited to have such a great turn out for our video contest.

We had a great time watching all of the entries.  We thought we had seen it all being in the cell phone repair business, but you guys came up with some new ones!  Great job! These videos are a good indication of the talent out there!  Thank you for all of your hard work and participation in making this contest a huge success for us.  We left the picking of the winner up to you the viewers, we didn’t have any part in choosing the video that won.  The winning video had an outstanding number of votes from the viewers and won by a landslide with 73 votes!

Congratulations Mark Van Horn!

The winner of gift card giveaway was David Escobar!

Thank you David for voting for your favorite video!  We appreciate all that participated in the voting and helping us choose the winner from all of the great videos.

Please keep watching our page, we will be having more chances to win.  This is only the beginning of the contests we are planning.  We would love to have everyone participate again.

1. Pencil Eraser Method

This tip is considered as the most affordable and easiest way to remove the scratches from any screen. First, you need to clean the area with a clean, soft cloth. Get a soft and clean pencil eraser. It is very important to check your eraser to make sure there is no pencil graphite or any other items on the eraser that can scratch the screen even more. Gently rub the eraser over the scratches on your smartphone screen. Keep rubbing the scratched area until all scratches are completely removed. This method is very effective to remove scratches from the screen.

2. Alcohol Method

This is another great method that you can use to remove any scratches from your screen. You have to prepare the solution first before you start doing the cleaning process. Make a solution of the 3.5% solution of Isopropyl Alcohol in distilled water. In most cases, this alcohol is sold at the 70% solution. Therefore, you have to dilute 1 part of the 70% alcohol with 20 parts of water. You need to use a soft cloth that should be dipped into the alcohol solution. Do not drown the cloth in the solution, simply dab a small amount onto a corner. The cloth should be wiped gently to the affected areas. Lastly, you have to remove the alcohol by using a damp cloth.

3. Toothpaste Method

This is another simple thing that you can do to remove scratches from your smartphone screen. First, you need to clean the surface of your smartphone’s screen. Then, you can apply the toothpaste to the affected areas by using a soft cloth. You need to wipe off the toothpaste very gently during this process. This product is very effective to make any scratches disappear from your smartphone screen.

Screen Protectors

Those are top 3 ways to remove scratches from a smartphone screen. However, it is better if you to prevent the scratches from occurring. You should put a protective covering on your smartphone screen to protect your phone from being scratched. There are many different protective coverings that you can use to protect your smartphone screen, such as Zagg Shields or Ghost Armor. Those two coverings are very effective at protecting the screen on your smartphone.

1. Do not use your phone in a public area

When you are staring down at your phone screen you are less aware of things going on around you. How many times have you bumped into someone or had someone bump into you because they were looking at their phone and not paying attention to where they were walking? Using your phone while you are walking in a public area can attract thieves that will try to steal your mobile phone.

2. Do not open any important data

When you are travelling, you should not open and read any important data from your phone. This includes checking your bank account. There are methods that hackers use making it possible to steal your personal data from your mobile device when you use it on a public wi-fi. Try to close any networks, such as bluetooth or wireless connection in order to prevent any attacks from outside. There are many horror stories regarding people who have had their personal data or information, such as bank account, email password, telephone number, and many more, via a network connection.

3. Apply a password on your phone

This is another way that can protect you from losing any data from your phone. The password is going to lock your phone and not allow anyone else to open it without knowing the password. It is important to use a unique password and you should not write it down. Make sure that you change your password regularly to make it difficult for people to crack.

4. Install an app to protect and find your phone

There is an application called Lockout. This application is very effective in protecting your phone from any attacks, such as spyware, virus, malware, and many others. It is a perfect solution for protecting your personal data on your phone. Another benefit of using this application is its ability to find your phone when you lose it. The application will send out notifications to your other devices, such as a computer, to inform you where your lost phone is located.

5. Remember the IMEI of your phone

All mobile phones have unique 15 digit serial number called the International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI. This number is unique for every mobile phone in the world. You should record the IMEI number of your phone. It becomes very important when your phone is stolen or lost. This is considered the identity for your mobile phone. Check your phone’s IMEI number by calling *#06#.

Why You Should Go for the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD…

There are a couple of reasons you might want the Droid. Firstly, it’s the faster phone. It runs a 1500 MHz processor rather than the slower 1300 MHz one on the iPhone, making it more powerful, snappier and more responsive. It also has the larger screen, measuring in at 4.7 inches against the Apple’s four inch screen. The display is better quality, it’s a Super AMOLED screen, rather than the older LCD technology on the iPhone, so it’s brighter and more vivid. Plus, the display has around thirty per cent higher resolution, so the picture quality is sharper and clearer. Finally, you get a much better battery life on the Droid. It averages two and a half times more talk time per battery charge cycle than the iPhone does, a massive twenty one hours compared to just eight hours, so you’ll need to charge your phone a lot less often…

What the iPhone 5 Can Do Better…

There really isn’t that much that the iPhone can do when compared to the Droid. It is smaller and thinner, but then again it has a far smaller screen, so it’s to be expected. Being an iPhone means that you have more app choices available to you, the iPhone App Store has around thirty percent more apps available than the Android App Market. But that’s pretty much it.

What’s the Top Tech Phone?

Obviously, the Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD is a much better phone for your money than the iPhone. The extra power, extra screen space, better screen quality and battery quality all mean that the Droid gets our solid recommendation.

Phil Turner likes the look and feel of the Motorola Razor and it is top of his personal shortlist.

A. Strakey via Compfight

iPhones are big business, not just for retailers but for thieves as well. These devices can net big money on the open market, especially when they are sold in poorer countries. But there are often other more serious issues that accompany hardware loss, such as data theft. iPhones are basically mini personal computers, and the loss of vital personal and professional data, like photos, account numbers and work info can be devastating to a person. In fact, a talented and tech-savvy thief can easily parlay a stolen iPhone into full-on identity theft.

So what’s to be done about this problem, and how can iPhone 5 owners properly protect themselves against such theft? The good news is that with each subsequent operating system, Apple improves its iPhone security features. Here are some tips every iPhone 5 owner should follow when considering the overall security of their smartphone.

Enable auto-lock and passcode lock.

This is the first line of defense against those looking to steal data off an iPhone. Yes, it can be more than a little frustrating having to enter a passcode on the keypad every time the screen locks, but it’s a small price to pay for piece of mind. The process for enabling these features is a simple one:

From the home screen, go to Settings > General > Auto Lock. Then set the auto-lock feature to the desired amount of time the unit is inactive before the screen locks.

For passcode lock, go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock. Locate the Simple Passcode field and set it to OFF. Locate the Require Passcode field and set the amount of time the unit is inactive before the passcode is required.

iPhone 5 users can also opt to enable a more severe security measure called the Erase Data feature. By enabling this feature, the unit automatically wipes all data on the device after 10 failed password attempts.

Install the latest software updates

This may seem like a no-brainer as well, but those with older iPhone models would often forgo this tip because installing updates meant physically connecting the unit to a computer. Not so with the latest operating system. iPhone 5 users can now quickly find and download software updates right from their handhelds by going to Settings > General > Software Update.

iPhone 5 users should do this regularly, as software updates often contain new and useful security patches.

Limit Internet use

Whenever possible, iPhone users should limit their use of Wi-Fi. Not only does this help protect data, but it conserves battery life as well. To do this, go to Settings > Wi-Fi and select the OFF setting. It’s also important not to use many Wi-FI access points, especially in crowded areas such as airports or shopping centers. Places like this are ground zero for thieves looking to intercept data transmissions via email or other methods.

On a similar note, iPhone owners should only use Bluetooth when necessary. Having this feature enabled all the time puts the device at risk of being found by dubious third parties who may want to connect to it and intercept data. To disable Bluetooth, go to Settings > General > Bluetooth and set it to OFF.

Disable location-based services

Many mobile users love checking in on location-based social networking sites such as Foursquare. But even though sites like this can be fun and useful, the iPhone’s location services can pose a security risk as well. Unless absolutely necessary, location services should be turned off by going to Settings > Location Services and setting them to OFF.

Secure Safari

Data thieves love stealing password and account info via unguarded Safari browser settings. To prevent this from happening, iPhone users should disable AutoFill in Safari by going to Settings > AutoFill and switching it to OFF. Users should then set the Fraud Warning to ON. This will prevent Safari from accessing any one of a number of fraudulent websites stored on a blacklist.

By adhering to these simple tips, iPhone 5 users should be reasonably confident in their data security. More importantly, iPhone owners should avoid jailbreaking at all costs. Aside from the legal ramifications now involved, the process of opening up an iPhone so it can be used on any network erases vital security code signatures and makes the device vulnerable to malware and data theft.

Scott Johnson is a tech blogger who writes on behalf of companies such as Protectyourbubble.com smartphone insurer, a popular brand who insures gadgets that people can’t live without.