Are you making the most out of your smart phone?

It was sometime in the early 1990s and a buzz – or more precisely a shrill bri-ing bri-ing – swept through businesses across the land.

It came attached to a handbag-sized lump of plastic,Have a look at all our custom bobbleheads models starting at 59.90US$ with free proofing. a now laughably primitive gadget that, should you happen to drop it on your toe, meant a trip to A&E, but also unleashed the power of the telephone call wherever you might be – assuming there was a signal.

Now, of course, we’re all glued to our smartphones, tweeting and updating our status, uploading, downloading, streaming, searching, texting, snapping and even, occasionally, phoning.

While some Edinburgh phone users are getting to grips with the superfast 4G network – watching films and television without annoying buffering – from today, there will be another reason to look closely at the smartphone in our pocket. After a fairly dire couple of years the BlackBerry, with its much-loved Qwerty button keypad, is poised to make a return.

RIM, the firm behind the businessperson’s one-time favourite phone, launches BlackBerry 10, a touchscreen device that aims to recoup ground lost to the likes of the Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy and Sony Xperia.

It arrives in a rapidly changing marketplace. At the weekend it emerged that Apple is losing ground to Samsung, prompting suggestions it has “lost its cool” to the South Korean firm.

According to Ben Woods, senior reporter for technology news website ZDNet, BlackBerry 10 is a vital throw of the dice for its maker. “No longer is e-mailing, web browsing and video calling the preserve of a business user,” he said. “Which is why it [RIM] has worked hard to fully revamp the core software. It also offers a simple way to separate work data from personal data, which should appeal to IT admins and restore some of its appeal to the enterprise.”

Steve’s HTC is in almost constant use but rarely as a phone: “It’s probably more of a mini PC that happens to be a telephone, because only about ten per cent of what I use it for are actually calls.”

Flick through his mobile and it’s clear it’s mostly “business over pleasure”, stuffed with document storing apps, work contacts and photographs of apparently random properties.

“I make calls and send texts with it, but the social networking access it also gives me is important.Learn how an embedded microprocessor in a smart card can authenticate your computer usage and data. I send updates to my personal Facebook page but also to our two company Twitter and Facebook accounts because promoting your business, dropping the name in wherever groups of people might be, is now really important.

“I use it to access LinkedIn a lot. It helps if you’re heading for a meeting, you want to find out a bit more about who you are seeing.”

His phone maps help him navigate to various properties and he uses the RingGo app to help pay for his parking charges.

His phone camera is handy for snapping pictures of buildings he spots which could add to the firm’s portfolio and, if you ever wondered who uses the compass on their phone,We are one of the leading manufacturers of solar street light in Chennai India. it’s Steve, showing clients which way a building faces.

Among his handiest apps is Camscanner, which captures documents while on the move, and the torch app is a vital tool for visiting empty properties with dark corners.

A glance through Paul’s iPhone5 reveals his passions lie in the kitchen. He has a mass of images of his latest culinary creations, while his contacts list is full of foodie suppliers and his most used apps provide guidance on cooking methods.

Still, the Peppa Pig app is a clear hint that, unless he’s a fan of the pink piglet, he’s not only a chef, but a dad, too. His iPhone alarm works as a kitchen timer and the calculator scales up recipes to cater for larger numbers and tots up his costs. Meanwhile, his Twitter account is handy for connecting with customers – an increasingly important weapon in the fight to keep clients and hunt out new ones.

He says he can hardly imagine not having such a gadget to hand. “Everything I need is there. If I remember something at 2am,We have become one of the worlds most recognised Ventilation system brands. I can grab the phone and fire off an order so it’s there with the supplier first thing. Everything is done on the mobile.”

Leanne Rinning, 30, works in marketing and PR and has been busy helping to promote the Huxley bar and restaurant at 1 Rutland Place.Totech Americas delivers a wide range of drycabinets for applications spanning electronics. She touts an iPhone 4 in one hand and her Blackberry Curve for business in the other.

Leanne separates business from personal life, keeping her BlackBerry Curve for work e-mails and documents, and her iPhone for everything else – from scanning news apps for celebrity news to picking up dinner recipes.

“I like the iPhone because of the nice big screen, you can see things clearly,” she says. “I’ll be on the bus in the morning going to work looking at the BBC recipes website to see what I might have for dinner, or reading the morning paper, or BBC News website on the iPhone.

She uses her iPhone to keep on top of Facebook and Twitter – vital tools for trying to raise a client’s online profile – and My Fitness Pal app keeps her exercise and healthy eating routine on track.

After near misses as a player and coach

San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has been to Super Bowls before, but never the way he really wanted. He's the coach of a 49ers team that was a couple of fumbled returns away from a possible NFC title game victory over the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants last season, and back in January 1996, he was the quarterback for an Indianapolis Colts team that lost the AFC title game to the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-16 ... and would have won the game if receiver Aaron Bailey could have brought in Harbaugh's 29-yard Hail Mary pass as the clock ran out.

At the 49ers' introductory press conference just after the team arrived in New Orleans to prepare for Super Bowl XLVII, Harbaugh said that he'd also been to a few Super Bowls -- but only as a fan.

“Yes, I have attended Super Bowls in the past. For example, the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers two years ago [Super Bowl XLV]. I was at the Super Bowl in New Orleans when San Francisco played Denver [XXIV, at the end of the 1989 season], and there might have been one other one along the way. There might have been a couple other ones.”

So, he's been as close as you can get in every possible way without getting there. Now, after the 49ers trumped the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC title game despite an early 17-0 deficit, he's finally here the way he always wanted to be. But as you might expect from a coach who is all business and wouldn't tell the media anything but, Harbaugh's focus is on the game against the Baltimore Ravens in a a week's time. Starting, of course, with second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who helped propel the 49ers to that rarefied place, even with a host of stars around him.

“It’s been a team effort," Harbaugh said of his players. "I feel like there’s a lot of people that have a lot of fingerprints on this team’s success. Like I said, the team has been focused on the unity of the team and on winning better than any team I’ve ever seen or been around. Really credit that to the men in the locker room. They enjoy each other’s company. They like being around each other and they like competing. They hold themselves to a high standard in terms of that. Colin’s play has been outstanding. He deserves tremendous amount of credit for that. He, like the rest of the guys on the team, are focused on the opportunity to play and win a championship.Come January 9 and chip card driving licence would be available at the click of the mouse in Uttar Pradesh.”

But that opportunity might not exist had Harbaugh not stuck to his decision to play Kaepernick in the wake of Alex Smith's mid-season concussion, and to keep Kaepernick as the starter even after Smith was healthy. Smith, more a game manager in the traditional sense, played his best for Harbaugh, but no matter how you sliced it, his ceiling was simply lower. Kaepernick has made some rookie mistakes, and that's what he effectively is based on starting experience, but he's got a combination of mobility and deep accuracy that has transformed the 49ers' offense from a ground-based system high on efficiency and now on fireworks to an offense that can do it all.

When the second-year man from Nevada set a single-game rushing record for a quarterback with 181 yards in the divisional round of the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers, that was the ultimate statement regarding Kaepernick's abilities as a threat on the run. When the Falcons tried to adjust and force Kaepernick to throw, the young quarterback overcame a very week first quarter to do what needed to be done. It's not easy to impress a coach who was quite a quarterback himself, and is also quote the control freak, but Kaepernick has done just that.

“I shared this with some of our beat writers a week and a half ago, but it’s true -- it’s a true story," Harbaugh said with a smile. "When Colin is running and the stride that he has, the gracefulness with his stride,Laser engraving and laser laser cutting machine for materials like metal, the ground that he covers, how fast and quick he is reminds me of myself. Then I wake up. But when I dream and have visions of how I run personally, it’s the way Colin runs.”

Dr. Mark Stagg and Dr. Jennifer Stagg, owners of Whole Health Associates, welcome Dr. Robin Russell, naturopathic physician, who recently joined their expanding staff of providers at their integrative medical practice. Located at the Hartford Hospital Healthcare Center in Avon,A ridiculously low price on this All-Purpose solar lantern by Gordon. 100 Simsbury Road, Suite 208, Whole Health Associates offers chiropractic and naturopathic medicine, acupuncture and massage therapy services.

Russell received her doctorate in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr University and has been in private practice in the Seattle area since 2005. Originally from Torrington, Russell decided to relocate back to Connecticut with her husband, two young children and dog, a giant Leonberger. Russell’s clinical focus is women and children’s healthcare. As a former primary care physician in the largest pediatric and women’s natural health clinic in the Seattle area, Russell brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Whole Health Associates.

Russell provides effective natural treatment for infant and childhood illnesses including cradle cap, eczema, reflux,You must not use the laser cutter without being trained. colic, feeding/lactation difficulties, chronic ear infections, asthma, allergies, constipation, ADHD, and behavioral concerns. She also specializes in treating health conditions affecting women including fatigue, stress, hormonal imbalance, menstrual irregularity, infertility, PMS/PMDD,Did you know that custom keychain chains can be used for more than just business. menopausal symptoms, depression and anxiety.

Russell is an active member of American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Connecticut Naturopathic Physicians Association, and Pediatric Association of Naturopathic Physicians. She is accepting new patients.

At Whole Health Associates, every patient is addressed on an individualized level, tailoring treatment plans to meet the specific needs of each patient. The doctors are providers for many insurance companies including Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Cigna, Connecticare, Healthnet, Oxford, United Healthcare and others.

How to resist Big Brother 2.0 — Don Tapscott

As the Net becomes the basis for commerce, work, entertainment, healthcare, learning and much human discourse,Build a "Floor tiles" by dragging the corners of a quadrilateral. each of us is leaving a trail of digital crumbs as we spend a growing portion of our day touching networks.Factory direct stone mosaic featuring marble mosaic floors.

The books, music and stocks you buy online, your pharmacy purchases, groceries scanned at the supermarket or bought online, your child’s research for a school project, the card reader at the parking lot, your car’s conversations with a database via satellite, the online publications you read, the shirt you purchase in a department store with your store card, the prescription drugs you buy — and the hundreds of other network transactions in a typical day — point to the problem.

Computers can inexpensively link and cross-reference such databases to slice,Distributes and manufactures RUBBER SHEET. dice and recompile information about individuals in hundreds of different ways. This makes these databases enormously attractive for government and corporations that are keen to know our whereabouts and activities.

George Orwell’s iconic text Nineteen Eighty-Four described the dystopian society where a totalitarian state rules in its own interests and everyone is under constant surveillance by authorities. This situation was often correctly alleged about the totalitarian East Bloc countries during the Cold War.

It is unfortunately increasingly true of Western democracies today. In the name of national security, governments are collecting real-time information from us,Features useful information about glass mosaic tiles. sampling phone calls, emails and social networks, and taking our biometrics at airports and a growing list of other places.

We have little idea what governments are doing with this flood of personal information. And the aftermath of 9/11 should remind us just how quickly our civil liberties can be undermined in the name of national security.

Recently the New York Times reported that: “Law enforcement tracking of cellphones, once the province mainly of federal agents, has become a powerful and widely used surveillance tool for local police officials, with hundreds of departments, large and small, often using it aggressively with little or no court oversight.”

The Times reports that this practice has become big business for cellphone companies, too, as carriers market a catalogue of “surveillance fees” to police departments to determine a suspect’s location, trace phone calls and texts, or provide other services. Sure, you could argue that it’s becoming difficult to restrict the information that governments can collect, and yes of course we need to be vigilant about how that information should be used. But we still need to resist attempts of governments to collect unnecessary information. We still need to fight for the basic privacy principle of “data minimization” — of limiting the information collected to clearly definable and socially helpful purposes.

There should be no tapping of phones or anything else without due process. If a government agency proposes setting up a video camera in your neighbourhood, you need to decide if the benefits of possible crime reduction outweigh the possible dangers of unknown governments being able to watch you constantly.

Or increasingly, governments want to collect biometrics information about you — like fingerprints, retinal scans and even DNA. We each need to make choices. Sometimes this benefits you with better government services or faster movement through airports. But what are the long-term implications should a government agency or individual become malevolent? The average person must be cautious and vigilant, and even resist the collection of unnecessary personal information.

To me, it’s not so likely that the future will resemble Orwell’s 1984,TRT (UK) has been investigating and producing solutions for indoor Tracking since 2000. or Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon prison, or an East Bloc police state during the Cold War. Those are dystopic models from another era that depended upon a single, all-knowing malevolent power seeking control.

The appropriate metaphor for the growing loss of privacy today is found in Frank Kafka’s The Trial: The central character awaits trial and judgment by an inscrutable bureaucracy for a crime that he is not told about, using evidence that is never revealed to him, in a process that is equally random and inscrutable.

In like manner, we, too, will be judged and sentenced in absentia by unknown public and private bureaucracies having access to our personal data. We will be the targets of social engineering, decisions, and discrimination, and we will never really know what or why.

In the private sector, companies want to know more and more about what makes each of us tick — our motivations, behaviour, attitudes and buying habits. The good news is that companies can give us highly customized services based on this intimate knowledge — and build trusting relationships. Sometimes it is great to have highly customized ads.

What experts think of our ailing economy

Senedd Correspondent Matt Withers spoke to three of Wales’ leading economic thinkers to ask one simple yet challenging question: where is the economy heading over the next 12 months?

Robert Lloyd Griffiths, Wales director of the Institute of Directors

“Well, this really is the billion dollar question isn’t it?

“I suspect that 12 months is likely to be a short time-span in our recovery process. Yes, I was encouraged by this week’s second tranch of quantitative easing but there’s still much bad news out there.

“The negatives seem to come thick and fast, the latest being these financial institutions having their credit rating downgraded. Such a trend does little to instil optimism in the economy and I think we’ll be in choppy waters for quite a while yet.

“Due to us now operating in the global market, we’re constantly at the mercy of events out of our control and Wales’ close links to the rest of the UK mean our fortunes are likely to remain broadly parallel. As a region we suffer in GVA (Gross Value Added) terms, that is in the value of goods and services produced in Wales, so I remain concerned that we’re lagging behind there.

“Do I see us overtaking other regions in the coming months? Probably not. Do I see a massive turnaround? Probably not.

“Is there hope? Of course – every day I see businesses working hard to build confidence. But I’d like to see some recent Welsh Government announcements come to fruition and a greater coherence in the way which all governments support business and carry forward the leadership baton.

“Wales’ key business sectors need to be given every chance to thrive and, with me chairing a Welsh Government group looking at a strategy for micro-businesses, I’d like to see our eventual recommendations taken on board to show that the Government really does value the knowledge and experience of the private sector.Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.”

Dr Eurfyl ap Gwilym, former deputy chairman of the Principality building society and economic adviser to Plaid Cymru

“People in general are cutting back their spending and, quite interestingly, if you look at some of the supermarkets you see a shift to the less expensive product ranges,The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, so people individually are being much more careful and that of course feeding back quite badly into the economy in general.

“So the big thing is uncertainty. If one were to take the real worst scenario – I’m not saying this is going to happen, of course – the Eurozone creates great concern now because the problem been dragging on for so long.

“I’m of the view personally that the eurozone makes sense whilst you had relative economic stability but at a time of great crisis – which I don’t think was foreseen – to have a country like Greece in the eurozone really doesn’t make much sense unless you move to a very integrated federal fiscal system which then raises all sorts of issues.

“Then if you look at the UK, certainly I’ve said all along the Conservatives, in the run-up to the General Election, made a big mistake painting themselves into a corner by making their key objective that of eliminating the current deficit within four years.

“It’s looking increasingly unlikely that they will succeed in doing that, in fairness partly because of global problems which are outside of their control such as the eurozone, the slowing down in China and the US problems, but also because it was too sharp a reduction in spending too quickly.”

Professor Patrick Minford of the Cardiff Business School, a former economic adviser to Margaret Thatcher

“The underlying problem that is driving slow western growth is slow productivity growth created by the world shortage of raw materials.

“With emerging market productivity growth fast (so that world growth overall is a strong 4% this year after 5% last),These girls have never had a oil painting supplies in their lives! supplies of raw materials are pre-empted by the emerging markets, and their prices driven up; this in turn undermines western productivity growth, which relies on ever-rising computer power and cheap raw materials.

“In the oil and raw material crisis of the 1970s, similar things occurred. At that time western governments estimated excess capacity at high levels and called for large-scale co-ordinated stimulus in the face of the ‘oil producer surpluses’.

“However, this essentially Keynesian analysis turned out to be seriously wrong and precipitated a massive world inflation.

“Another way of looking at the situation is to note that ‘balance sheets are weak’ after the crisis. This in turn makes firms and consumers reluctant to spend.

“A number of commentators have grasped this side of the picture and suggested it is a pure ‘demand’ phenomenon, which therefore justifies stimulatory monetary and fiscal policy. But ‘weak balance sheets’ simply reflect low productivity and poor profit prospects,It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. consistently with the account of the West given above.we supply all kinds of polished tiles,

“All this means that the outlook is for slow UK growth. It cannot be affected much at all by the loose money policies from the Bank of England; these unfortunately will just make inflation worse and more stubborn and so are a mistake.

Three's a charm

The first time I camped at Driehoek farm in the Cederberg mountains, a barking dog kept me awake all night. Damn dog, I cursed again and again, trying to block out the sound. That night, I was a decidedly unhappy camper.The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations,

The next morning the truth came to light: it wasn't some yappy stoepkakker causing trouble, but rather the farm's Anatolian Shepherd Dog keeping the flock safe from a Cape Mountain Leopard that had come a-visiting. Anatolians trace their lineage to Turkey, where their lot in life was keeping sheep safe from bears, so barking off the pretty but petite leopards must be a bit of a doddle for these sizeable hounds.

For the Cederberg is leopard country, and the Cape Leopard Trust regularly uses the craggy valleys surrounding Driehoek in their ground-breaking monitoring programme. These endangered cats criss-cross the farm all the time, so it's no surprise we caught a night when the lone Anatolian was kept busy.

The rocky hills around Driehoek may be wild with the growls of leopard, but the farm is an unabashedly bucolic spot. In sharp contrast to the sandstone cliffs, lush green fields are dotted with puffed-up sheep (and their Anatolian bodyguard),It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. while an enthusiastic young Border Collie herds everything from wayward campers to the farm's pet pot-bellied pig.

This cheerful menagerie of farmyard creatures makes Driehoek a wonderful getaway for families with small kids: the grassy yard echoes with the bleat of goats, raucous gobble of turkeys (who always seem to talk over one another - how rude) and cackle of chickens. In a field near the barn, ponies wait patiently for their next ride around the paddock.

But family holidays aside, Driehoek is a spot with something for almost anyone.

I camp here before tackling cold nights on high peaks. I hang out with mates, sharing beers and tall tales. I escape here with my wife for a romantic weekend, or we load up the car with infant paraphernalia and introduce our young son to the wonders of the Cederberg, from San rock art to stargazing at the observatory. David Nieuwoudt produces some of SA's best wines in this cool mountain air, and the hills are littered with walking trails. The choice is yours.

So days may be spent whizzing about the valley or tramping over its rocky shoulders, but when the sun ducks behind the spiky rocks known as the Uilsgat needles, there's only one place I like to rest my beer in the Cederberg: on a brick round the braai at Driehoek.

Superb value for money wherever you choose to lay your head.we supply all kinds of polished tiles, About 20 grassy campsites along the river, or book one of the excellent wooden huts that come with basic furnishings and a small kitchenette. If you'd prefer your own castle to call home, the wide stoep and private lawns of the six-sleeper (at a push) Kothuis is a good bet for families.These girls have never had a oil painting supplies in their lives! The nearby Groothuis is equally good.

Camping starts at R120 per site (for four people), while riverside huts with basic facilities range from R230 to R330 per night for two people. The well-equipped and spotless Groothuis and Kothuis cost R400 per night for two people. Bedding and towels available at R50 per person per stay.Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.

Creating art on an iPad

David Hockney has always been an avid doodler,These girls have never had a oil painting supplies in their lives! whether meandering the English countryside or the decidedly un-countrified landscapes of Los Angeles. So much so, in fact, that when he started having his suits and jackets custom-made at Savile Row in the 1970s — he’s been among the most successful painters in the world for about that long — he had them sew in a large interior pocket to hold his sketchbook.

Over the long march of technology from then to now, Hockney’s suits haven’t needed alteration. Now on display at the Royal Ontario Musuem is “Fresh Flowers,” a selection of images made with Hockney’s current sketchbook of choice: Apple’s iPad, which, through a remarkably simple and adaptable application called Brushes, has become a suit-pocket studio of sorts to indulge Hockney’s ever-curious eye.

It makes for an unconventional museum display: A row of small screens, all of them vertical, fastened tight to the wall. Some present slow-motion slide shows, lingering on each luminous, quirkily cartoonish drawing for a minute or so before fading into the next.It's hard to beat the versatility of zentai suits on a production line. Others are fast-motion animated versions of the artist at work: cross-hatching deep facial for crevices for a portrait of his friend, Morris Payne, or a moody evening cityscape as seen from a dark interior, peeking through heavy drapes.

All together, there are 100 drawings iPad drawings displayed on 25 iPads, and another 100 drawings Hockney made on the tiny screen of his iPhone.

If it seems like an odd turn for a 72-year old contemporary master painter to take, think again: Hockney’s always been a willing experimentalist, morphing his classical training and interests as a modern painter into new realms like set design for theatre. He’s dabbled with technology before, too,we supply all kinds of polished tiles, using Photoshop to create a series of prints.

His i-art came about less by design than by happenstance, though. Hockney is famously hard of hearing; a few years ago he got an iPhone so he could communicate with friends via text messaging. In his always-curious fashion, the artist was an avid peruser of the iTunes app store, and quickly came across Brushes, which he downloaded and started to fiddle with almost immediately.

In his bedroom in Bridlington on the northeastern coast of England, Hockney would have fresh flowers replaced every couple of days. Rolling over in the morning, it wasn’t uncommon of him to sketch them in his book. But in the darker mornings of fall and winter, when natural light wouldn’t allow it, Hockney turned to his iPhone. He found the immediacy of the experience could be shared just as immediately, a world away.

“He started sending these flowers to us,” said Charlie Schiep, a long-time friend of Hockney’s and curator of the show at the ROM. “They were charming – he’d be in England, I’d be in New York, and when I’d get up in the morning to have my coffee, there would be this beautiful flower on my phone, waiting.”

Schiep has heard the predictable grousing about the work – that without the discipline of bending oil to canvas, the struggle with the material,The additions focus on key tag and magic cube combinations, the obvious cheat of being able to zoom in almost microscopically on-screen to render tiny, intricate textures in extreme close-up, none of it qualified as actual artistic practice.

“When we had the Fresh Flowers show in Paris, people were saying we should have had a painting show, this, that, and the other thing,Replacement China Porcelain tile and bulbs for Canada and Worldwide.” he sniffed. “I told them ‘this isn’t some little thing, this is David Hockney!’ ”

In the gallery, there’s no mistaking that. Hockney’s signature fascinations and techniques are on full display here: His unabashed love of colour, his rough, playful figurative gestures, his unapologetic curiousity for the forms of mundane objects (images of ashtrays, or stacks of magazines, or suburban rooftops often interrupt the more serene flow of floral still lifes).

In other words, they look like Hockneys — just a Hockneys of a different sort. For the offended purist, you might take comfort in the fact that the i-drawings are for Hockney more akin to sketching than finished works: note-taking studies, so to speak, for eventual in-studio paintings, which many of the drawings have become.

More than anything, “Fresh Flowers” is about an artist’s process: translating a ravenous curiousity for the visual world in ways that broaden a practice that’s been evolving as long as he’s been doing it. “The paintings are feeding into the iPad drawings, and vice-versa,” Schiep says. “He’s invented new marks that go with the limitations of the program (Brushes). Those have fed into some of his new paintings.”

So much so, in fact, that when a huge new survey of the artist’s landscape painting opens at the Royal Academy in London, Hockney will present 60 or 70 iPad sketches — printed on paper, no less; none of these have been released to the pubic — alongside “The Four Seasons,” the painting for which they served as studies.

It’s bound to offend somebody, though I can’t see why. With his embrace of simple digital technology, Hockney is also embracing the truism that art is not a static thing – either its definition or its practice. This is just Hockney doing what he’s always done – and maybe a little more so.

Dr. Johnny's Car Clinic: Inhale, exhale and breathe easy

Why is it important to change the air conditioning filters in your home? Simply put, to keep your system running efficiently and effectively, and to make sure the air you're breathing is free of pollutants and allergens.

The same can be said for a lesser known filter that happens to be in your car. It is commonly known as a cabin air filter, but it is also called an interior ventilation filter, a pollen or dust filter or a passenger compartment filter.

Its role in your overall physical well being is obvious. Think of all the pollutants in the air you are typically exposed to while driving, especially in traffic jams: exhaust, dust and pollen for starters. Most newer model vehicles today are sealed pretty tightly,An Insulator, also called a dielectric, so little air from outside the passenger cabin gets in the car when all the doors and windows are closed. That explains how sometimes that last door you try to shut takes a little more effort.

In addition to filtering out contaminants, cabin air filters help prevent the accumulation of debris on the evaporator core,What are the top Hemroids treatments? which would cause the growth of mold and accounts for that musty smell in your car. Today we're all much more aware of the health risks associated with mold. If your cabin air filter becomes clogged, it can cause damage to your car's air conditioning compressor. When it's not working efficiently, you'll know because when you turn on your air conditioning, it just doesn't give you the cold air as quickly, or at all.

So now you know a little bit about your vehicle's cabin air filter. So where is it located? While I can't speak for every make and model, typically you'll find this filter either behind the glove box or underneath the dashboard.is the 'solar panel revolution' upon us? While it does take some work and effort to get to the filter, your technician can do so efficiently for you. Just like oil changes, it's important to change this filter on a regular basis. With normal driving habits, you should have this filter changed once a year or every 12,000 to 15,The same Air purifier, cover removed.what are the symptoms of Piles,000 miles. Such a simple thing can help prevent costly repairs.

With a clean cabin air filter, you can breathe in, breathe out and breathe easy while in your car.