New ways to keep your cellphone clean, safe and easy to return if lost

Don't Waste Your Money

We use them everyday, all day.

But there are things about our cellphones, laptops and tablets that a lot of us just ignore. For instance, did you know how dirty your cellphone really is?

A study in the UK found cellphones with 18 times more bacteria than the handle on a public bathroom. Yes, the same cellphone you touch and put up to your face all the time.

Other than some soft soap and a moist towel, there hasn't been an effective way to really clean them.

Until now. Meet the "Phonesoap ."

"Think of it like a tanning bed for your smartphone," according to Ken Colburn of Data Doctors .

That's because you put your phone in a small box, with a light above and below, and close it. They are ultraviolet lights that are supposed to zap the phone for about 15 minutes killing the bacteria. The phone can also be charged during the process.

We found the Phone Soap online for about $65.

As for its claims, the Discovery Channel tested the device and found it did kill the bacteria on its phone.

So now your phone is clean, how do you get it back if you lose it?

It's a problem sometimes, because most phones are usually locked.

So, if a good person wants to return it, they can't get your contact information. That is, unless you put that information on your front screen.

Colburn said his phone shows Data Doctors and a phone number right on the front. That way, anyone can see it without having to get into the phone.

It's also valuable in case of an emergency and you can put medical information on the front screen as well. Here's how to make that happen whether you have an android phone or an iPhone .

Finally, how lame is your computer password? You may think it's strong because you used capital letters and an exclamation point.

But Colburn said that's still not enough.

He used a website to show how easily hackers could get into a computer with an eight character password full of symbols and letters.

It would take 2.2 seconds.

Colburn said the problem is the length of the password.

"By adding characters, you exponentially add the number of combinations it will take" to hack your computer, he said,

We tried an easy-to-remember 15 character password.

Colburn typed in I-space-HATE-space-PASSWORDS.

We then ran it on the website and found basically it would never be hacked.

It would take 23 centuries.

So keep your passwords complex, but also longer than you may have them now.


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