Rick's Daily Tips

Rick’s Daily Pick: Apple 2026 MacBook Air 15-inch Laptop with M5 chip

Posted on September 27, 2026

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

My “Pick” for today is this fantastic Apple 2026 MacBook Air 15-inch Laptop with M5 chip.

This is my favorite MacBook, bar none. It’s a truly powerful machine with an awesome M5 processor, 24GB of unified memory, 1 TB of super-fast SSD storage and up to 18 hours of battery life.

With RAM and SSD prices through the roof right now this is a great machine for the money. It has a stellar 4.8 out of 5 user rating on Amazon, which is virtually unheard of for laptops.

Click here to check out the Apple 2026 MacBook Air 15-inch Laptop with M5 chip at Amazon.

Did you miss (or want to revisit) one of my earlier picks? You might find it right here.

Picture of the Day: “It’s Appaloosa Time”

Posted on September 27, 2026

Today’s POTD features a pair of beautiful Appaloosa horses grazing in a Grayson County, Virginia pasture field. I hope you like it.

Have lots of treasured photos of your own that you’d love to display in your home but you have limited wall space? A digital picture frame (#ad) is an excellent solution. Check them out!

Enjoy these Pictures of the Day? Sign up for my free Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter and you’ll never miss one (or any of my tech tips either)!

Monthly Tech Giveaway – September 2026

Posted on July 31, 2026

Note: The links on this page are affiliate links.

September’s winner will receive a fantastic CyberPower 1500VA/1000W Sinewave UPS Battery Backup / Surge Protector.

This will keep your computer, modem and router online for a full hour after your power goes out, preventing a dangerous instant shutdown that could damage your computer gear and cause you to lose any unsaved data that’s currently in the machine’s RAM.

All subscribers to the Standard edition of my Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter have an equal chance to win.

Premium subscribers have two chances to win (their email addresses are added to the “pot” twice).

Not a subscriber? Just enter your email address in the sign-up form on this page.

Once subscribed you’ll be eligible to win each month’s drawing – starting with this month. Better yet, opt for a Premium subscription for double the chance to win!

The drawing for this month’s prize will be held on September 30 and the winner will be notified by email. The winner will be selected at random.

Good luck!

How to use your own Office software on any PC (even a borrowed one)

Posted on September 27, 2026

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Do you ever find yourself needing to use Microsoft Office on a PC that doesn’t have it installed?

An easy solution is to use a cloud-based Office suite like Microsoft 365 Online or Google Docs, but what if you happen to be in a place that doesn’t have Internet access?

Well, there’s a simple (and free) solution to this problem: Simply put the portable version of Libre Office on a USB flash drive and take it with you everywhere you go! [Read more…]

Q&A: Why did they give Bluetooth technology that odd name?

Posted on September 26, 2026

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Question from Ken: I know that Bluetooth is the wireless signal that connects smartphones to speakers and other portable devices.

What I’m curious about is why did they choose the name Bluetooth?

That seems like a really odd name for something to do with technology. [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I set Windows 11’s Power Mode to ‘Best Performance’?

Posted on September 25, 2026

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Question from Keegan: I recently updated my PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11.

With Windows 10 I had the power mode set to “Best Performance”, but I can’t figure out how to change it in Windows 11.

I could be imagining things, but it seems like Microsoft made a lot of changes to the Windows interface.

How do I set my computer’s power setting to “Best Performance” now that Windows 11 is on it? [Read more…]