It’s time for digital spring-cleaning
Every year in spring, apartments, bicycles, and gardens are cleaned. Computers, tablets, and smartphones are often forgotten, but spring-cleaning is also worthwhile for these much-used devices.
British consumer protectors, «Which?», carried out swab tests of tablets, smartphones, and computer keyboards. The result: There are more than 30 times as many staphylococci bacteria on tablet surfaces as on toilet seats. Smartphone screens revealed seven times more bacteria than toilet seats. And when you turn a keyboard over, you’ll also notice how many crumbs and dust accumulate in it.
Keyboards are a hive for bacteria
However, this is no reason to become a germophobe: Tablets and smartphones can be cleaned with a soft, lint-free cloth. Microfiber or glass cleaning cloths are suitable, either dry or moisturised. But the use of cleaning liquids containing alcohol is not recommended, since they can damage the surface. By the way: The inside of Apple’s smart covers is designed to wipe the tablet clean.
Keyboards can also be cleaned with a piece of cloth after turning them upside down and giving them a good shake. The gaps can be cleaned using a damp cotton swab or blown out using a can of compressed air. But do not use the household vacuum cleaner on the keyboard, as a loose button may disappear down the pipe. However, a small hand-held vacuum cleaner is far more suitable.
Cleaning your software
Spring-cleaning should not be limited to the hardware, but also concern the software, data, and operating system. Computers must be kept clean, too. It is important to back up your data before you clean your computer – for example in a cloud service, so that photos, addresses, and diaries are not lost.
And if we are honest, most of the apps on our smartphone and programmes on our computers have rarely or never been used. All of these apps require a lot of unnecessary storage space, just like redundant and old documents on your computer.
Spring-cleaning also concerns your emails. Which notification and which newsletter do you really need and which push notifications simply annoy you? We should part with everything that is either never read anyway or is nothing but a distraction.
One important final step – which should not only be done once a year during spring-cleaning – is to change your passwords. Passwords should be changed at least twice a year. And remember never to use the same password for all of your accounts.
Driver injures himself in self-accident under the influence of alcohol
A drunk-driver had to be taken to hospital after causing an accident on the A18 in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The accident happened at 2.45am near the exit to Aesch as the 36-year-old was driving towards Delémont.
Current investigations by Baselland police reveal that the driver lost control of his vehicle on a right hand bend and drove straight across the grass strip on the motorway entrance. As a result, his car overturned and came to a stop on its roof.
The driver was injured in the accident and had to be taken to hospital by paramedics.
An alcohol test carried out showed an alcohol level of 0,92 per mille. The man had to hand over his driver's license and is facing charges by the Baselland public prosecutor’s office.
The car was a complete write-off and was transported away by a towing company.
Police search for 7-year-old boy successful
A major search involving a helicopter from the Swiss Air Rescue (Rega) and multiple volunteers was carried out on Saturday after a 7-year-old boy went missing.
The operative forces searched for the boy, who has Down’s syndrome, after the «Jungschar» youth group he was with had lost contact with him in the «Im Linsberg» area in Bettingen. The boy was found in the early evening at the Wenkenpark playground in Riehen and was handed over to his parents.
The youth group first noticed the boy was missing at 4.45pm. The cantonal police, which had been alerted, immediately launched a search for him. The border guard corps, a unit with a tracking dog of the Solothurn cantonal police, the Baden-Württemberg police, the Basel Transport Services (BVB), and a Rega helicopter were also deployed. Local residents who learned about the search mission because of the large police presence spontaneously joined the operation. Numerous classmates of the missing boy also took part after learning of his absence.
At 7pm, border guards and cantonal police patrols were able to find the boy on the playground after being informed by the local public. He was later reunited with his parents and has come to no harm.