Dearest readers, I have a confession to make. A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a newsletter about how to utilise your best spy skills when doing holiday research, by using private browsing or incognito mode.
However, a few of you have kindly pointed out that I neglected to mention how to get back out of private browsing or incognito mode when you’ve finished with it – what a rubbish spy I would make, not covering my tracks! Guess I’d better stick to writing…
So I thought I’d better let you know how to get back to a regular browser window when you’ve completed your mission. On computers (both Macs and Windows) it’s pretty straightforward – click on the cross in the top corner of the screen, just like you would do to close your browser normally.
On smartphones and tablets, the first thing to do is tap on the “Tabs” button, which will be somewhere near the top or bottom of your browser window. In Google Chrome, the tabs button is a square with a number in it – the number tells you how many tabs you have open. In Safari (on iPads and iPhones), the tabs button looks like lots of squares.
Once you tap on that button, you’ll see a grid showing you all of your open tabs. Tap on the cross at the top of a tab to close it – if you close all of them in Google Chrome, then you’ll automatically go back to your normal web browser.
In Safari, you’ll need to look for the word “Private” at the top or bottom of the screen. If there’s a little downward arrow next to it, tap on that and then on where it says “5 tabs” or however many you have open.
If there’s no downward arrow, then look for a button that says “5 tabs” (or however many) just next to it, and tap on that. Then complete your assignment by tapping on “Done” so that you can report to M for a debrief.
What we’ve been working on lately…
I think you’ll agree that over the last 2 or 3 decades, technology has absolutely ballooned – smartphones have gone from being a crazy new idea to an everyday item (to the point where it’s getting hard to manage without one)… and that’s before you even start on developments like artificial intelligence, facial recognition and smart glass technology… it’s truly staggering. So it’s no surprise that some of this new tech has been incorporated into the health market. Or that your watch can now tell you how well you slept last night…
There’s all sorts now – not just smartwatches (and bracelets, rings and chest straps) that measure how far you’ve run or how you slept. There are online GP services, home testing devices for things like blood pressure, blood oxygen levels or blood sugar… or assistive technology that can help people with hearing or sight loss to navigate the world more easily with the help of talking glasses or audio labels. There’s so much, it’s hard to know where to start.
So we decided to write a book that explains it all – all about the different technology that’s out there in the health world – which bits you can’t avoid and which bits you probably wouldn’t want to avoid. We’ve had the whole editing team working away, researching, writing and talking to real people about their experiences… and we’ve put together a book that I think you’ll find really useful. Well, two books, actually – more about that later.
If you think that’s what you need, then keep your eyes peeled over the next few days, and I’ll tell you a bit more about the books. We’re just making some of the finishing touches to the second one, but all being well, they should be ready to order by next week. Watch this space…