Browsing on the HP TouchPad with Adobe Flash support

I've been testing the HP TouchPad and I find it refreshing to browse the web with Adobe Flash support. I also have an Apple iPad which doesn't support Flash (unless you use a browser like Skyfire), so it's nice to use a tablet where I can view Flash-enabled content. Pinch-to-zoom and touch navigation was quick and responsive. Instead of using tabbed browsing, the HP TouchPad uses cards for each new web page. It's easy to switch windows, but it requires a few additional steps. I personally prefer tabbed browsing because it's much faster to switch windows.

The TouchPad has a 9.7-inch diagonal XGA capacitive, multitouch screen with a vibrant, 18-bit color, 1,024 x 768 resolution display.

Stay tuned as I continue to review the HP TouchPad. I'll be posting some photos comparing the HP TouchPad, the Apple iPad, and the HP Slate 500 soon.

Benefits of using different web browsers simultaneously

There are many reasons why you may want to simultaneously use different web browsers. Here's one key benefit:

• You can log in to different sites simultaneously using different user names. For instance, I can be logged in to Yahoo mail on Firefox as user1, and also logged in to Yahoo mail on Internet Explorer as user2. This is great if you have multiple accounts to various websites and you want to check things simultaneously. (talk about some serious multi-tasking!)
• Group your icons in your Taskbar. Assuming that you're using Windows XP, Vista, or 7, your taskbar may automatically group similar taskbar buttons. You can change this setting, but you may like it this way. If you have a tendency to open multiple web pages in separate windows, then it often helps to use different browsers to group them. For instance, all your news pages might be open on Chrome. Client-related sites may be on Firefox. etc. This way, you can quickly glance down and find your "group" very efficiently.

So which web browsers do I currently use? Mainly Firefox, Chrome, and Internet Explorer. I also have Safari and Opera, but I don't use them very often to browse the Internet. Speaking of Chrome, did you notice the upgrade to version 3?

Computing tips: Ctrl + W and Ctrl + D

If you're like me, you like to open many different tabs on your favorite web browser. Whether you're using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or Opera, this shortcut should work to help you quickly close tabs (or web pages) without moving your mouse. It's a simple tip: Ctrl + W

• Using Ctrl + W may save you some mousing movement and spare your hands/wrists from repetitive motion injuries.

Before you try the Ctrl + W tip, make sure you hit Ctrl + D. This shortcut adds a bookmark/favorite to your web browser. Make sure to bookmark my site (or subscribe to my RSS feed). I hope you'll be back for some more very simple computing tips.

Browser Wars

On my other site MedicalSmartphones.com, I wrote a short blurb about "Smartphone Wars." I'm continuing that theme to discuss a few of my thoughts regarding web browsers. Which web browser do you use? All of them? Let me list the ones that I use in descending order:

• Firefox
• Internet Explorer
• Chrome
• Safari
• Opera

Firefox has been my browser of choice, but I've recently started having some problems with Xmarks (a bookmark synchronizing utility). Is it time to switch to a different browser for a while?

Tip of the Day: F11

In most web browsers (like Firefox, Opera, and Internet Explorer, but not Chrome - unless you have Chrome 2.0 - or Safari), if you hit the "F11" key, you'll enter a nice "full-screen" mode. Away goes the navigation controls and the Google and Yahoo toolbars. You can view webpages in your entire monitor. Nice! To exit "full-screen" mode, just hit that F11 key again.

So, how do you remember F11? When I was in medical school, I was utterly dependent on mnemonics to remember everything. So, here's my mnemonic to help you remember F11.

The "11" almost looks like a box (it just doesn't have a top or bottom, but it has both sides of the box). Now, your monitor is a box, right? So, the F11= full-screen monitor

See? Now you'll never forget what that F11 key does when you're browsing the web.