Also this week: 5 ways to take charge of your Windows taskbar; OnLive Desktop Plus, the lastest way to play Flash videos on the iPad, and how to wipe everything—and I do mean everything—off your iPhone or Android phone.

10 tacky things to avoid posting on Facebook
What might’ve looked cute in the pages of your private journal could be a one-way ticket to Tacky Town on Facebook. Need some examples? Read more…

5 ways to customize the Windows taskbar
Don’t want the Windows taskbar at the bottom of your desktop? Wish it were smaller, or even gone? Read on for 5 ways to make the taskbar do what you want. Read more…

How to wipe everything off your iPhone or Android phone (updated)
Ready to trade your aging iPhone or Android phone for the latest model? Don’t do it without wiping your personal data off your old handset first. Read more…

Hands-on with OnLive Desktop Plus, the latest way to watch Flash videos on the iPad
OnLive Desktop, the clever new service that “streams” Windows 7 to the iPad, now boasts a Flash-enabled web browser. The catch? It ain’t so cheap. Read more…

How to pinch or swipe the iPhone’s screen without pinching or swiping
Don’t have full use of your fingers? With the iPhone’s “AssistiveTouch” feature, you can pinch the screen, crank the volume, and more with one fingertip. Read more…

Send us your favorite iPhone auto-correct fail (and learn how to turn auto-correct off)
Ever send a text on your iPhone that was way more interesting than you intended? Do share! Also: how to turn off auto-correct on your iPhone or Android phone. Read more…

Facebook tip: Double-check your privacy settings before you post
Surprised that your last Facebook post was set to “Public”? Here’s why it may have happened. Read more…

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First launched back in January, OnLive Desktop is a free service that gives you access to a full-on Windows 7 desktop—well, remote access, anyway.

As I described in my initial hands-on with OnLive Desktop, the system works by sending a live video stream of a Windows desktop that’s running in far-flung server warehouse. When you tap, say, the Windows Start menu on your iPad, your command is streamed instantly (or almost instantly; there is a slight but noticeable lag) to one of OnLive’s remote PCs.

The free version of OnLive Desktop is fairly limited; you only get access to the core Microsoft Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint), along with Windows Media Player, some system utilities, and 2 GB of storage.

Earlier this week, however, OnLive unveiled OnLive Desktop Plus, a new version of the service that adds full web browsing via Internet Explorer—including support for Flash, a feature that’s sorely missing on the iPhone and iPad.

OnLive Desktop's web browser isn't just for Flash; indeed, it's often faster than the iPad's Safari browser at loading big web pages.

I gave OnLive Desktop Plus a quick test drive, and came away fairly impressed. Yes, there’s still a slight delay between the time you tap a button on the OnLive-powered Internet Explorer browser and when something actually happens; that said, even the most Flash-happy sites I tried loaded smoothly and quickly, while the Flash videos I played on the desktop version of YouTube looked impressively sharp. Even a 1080p-quality movie trailer on YouTube (which can’t be fully rendered on the iPad’s not-quite-HD display, by the way) played with only a few slight hiccups.

Don’t forget, though, that the OnLive version of Internet Explorer is a full-fledged web browser, and a speedy one at that. Despite the tiny lag when typing a URL into the address bar or clicking a link, you’ll see web pages—even big ones, like the New York Times home page—load in a flash (no pun intended), often faster than they would on the iPad’s mobile Safari browser.

Nice, but there’s a catch: OnLive Desktop Plus will set you back five bucks a month.

That’s a fairly hefty price to pay just to watch Flash videos—especially considering how many Flash-heavy sites now boast mobile-optimized versions that work just fine on the iPad. Then again, you’re also getting Windows 7 and Microsoft Office in the bargain.

There is a cheaper alternative to OnLive Desktop: Skyfire, a third-party web browser for iPhone and iPad that’s also capable of playing Flash videos. Skyfire costs just $5 with no monthly fee, a bargain compared to what you’ll pay for, say, a year’s worth of OnLive Desktop Plus.

That said, the experience of watching Flash videos on Skyfire is somewhat clunkier than it is through OnLive. Instead of streaming just like they would on a desktop browser, Flash videos on Skyfire must load in a separate window, and you’ll often find yourself waiting for a half-minute or so for videos to begin playing. Again, though, we’re talking just $5, with no monthly subscription.

So, would you pay $5 a month for Windows 7 and Flash video on your iPad?

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Bleeding Green writes: When I try and listen to live radio or certain TV programming on my iPad, I get a message that says that I need to download Adobe Flash. When I try to do this, I get a message that Apple does not support Adobe Flash Player.

Presumably, this is some corporate battle between Apple and Adobe. But is there an app that can be used in lieu of Adobe and do you have any insight to this issue? Thanks.

P.S. On the other hand, perhaps it is best that I do not pollute my brain further with sports talk radio…

Hello, Bleeding Green! (Fly, Eagles, fly!) Yes, you’re right—there is a fair amount of corporate intrigue behind Apple’s disdain for Adobe’s Flash browser plug-in.

On the one hand, Apple claims Adobe’s Flash technology (which powers streaming videos on sites ranging from Hulu to YouTube, not to mention interactive modules on countless other sites) is too slow, buggy, and power-hungry for its mobile devices, while Adobe accuses Apple of walling off its iOS platform from Flash applications developers. (You can read all about it here, if you’re interested.)

Skyfire for iPad can stream Flash-enabled videos to the iPad—for a price.

The bottom line, though, is that for now, there’s no Flash on the iPhone or the iPad—period. And while some Flash sites now boast fully functional, non-Flash versions for the iPhone and iPad, many others still don’t.

That doesn’t mean you’re totally out of luck, however.

For example, Apple’s YouTube app (it’s already on your iPad) lets you watch just about any video on YouTube, no Flash required, while Hulu has its own iPhone/iPad app for watching streaming videos (provided you’ve subscribed to Hulu’s $7.99-a-month premium subscription plan).

And if it’s sports radio you’re after, check out Radio.com, a free iPad app from CBS Interactive that features more than a dozen sports radio stations.

Last but not least, there’s Skyfire, a $5 browser available on the App Store that will stream Flash videos to the iPhone and iPad.

The process is a tad clunky; you must tap the “analyze” button to check for playable videos, and even then you must wait a good 30 seconds or so before playback begins. But if you’re patient, Skyfire does the trick about 80 percent of the time.

Hope that helps, and let me know if you have more questions!

Click here for more tips and how-tos for the iPad.

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