Rick's Daily Tips

How does being in nature help you unwind?

Posted on May 11, 2026

You’re in the kitchen at 8 o’clock in yesterday’s T-shirt. Waiting for the kettle to finish. Messages on your phone that you’ve not yet replied to. The back door is open to the sound of a lawn mower working across town. The noise is piercing. It’s hard to focus. You’re going to find yourself impatient. Rushed meals. Even quiet is fleeting.

But that doesn’t mean that’s when you realize you need a break. That usually isn’t dramatic. Crisis. Collapsing. Just a slow, persistent annoyance that shapes the entire day. You become less patient. Your meals are hurried. Silence, when you finally get a bit of it, is temporary. A few days of bird song, endless views, and less noise around you can settle something that was strained for months. [Read more…]

How to use Google as a handy Timer

Posted on May 10, 2026

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Google has built tons of nifty features into their popular search engine that do a lot more than just help folks find things on the Internet.

A couple of great examples are their instant instant weather snapshot and their handy dictionary service (simply type define:word into the search box, where word is the term you want to have defined).

Another of my favorites is the Google Timer. Here’s how to use it: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I share my Internet connection with a nearby building?

Posted on May 9, 2026

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from James: My wife has accepted an offer from her employer to work remote from home.

She will be setting up her office in a small 12′ x 15′ detached guest cottage that’s approximately 75 feet from our house.

Our cable modem and router are in our living room.

Since the cottage is separate from our living space we do not have the ability to just run a long Ethernet cable and phone cable from the router to that space.

The cottage gets a very weak Wi-Fi signal from our router but she has to have a wired Ethernet connection in order to use the devices she has.

What essentially I’m asking is should she set up her own internet service in that room and have the ISP just hardwire the space? [Read more…]

Scam alert: Beware the very dangerous ‘Cellular Carrier Loyalty Giveaway’ scam

Posted on May 8, 2026

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As you probably know by now, the scammers of the world are always coming up with new ways to separate innocent people from their hard-earned money.

Since the dawn of the World Wide Web, most phishing scams have been perpetrated via email, but that’s beginning to change.

While email is still the primary vehicle for delivering these types of scams, a relatively new generation of scams are now arriving in the form of SMS text messages.

[Read more…]

Q&A: Why won’t my TV work with my computer?

Posted on May 7, 2026

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Question from Glenda: I bought a used TV at a yard sale and I want to use it as a monitor for an old desktop computer that I’m going to use just for watching Netflix.

I plugged an HDMI cable between the computer and the TV and nothing comes on the screen. It’s like it isn’t getting any signal.

I know the HDMI port on the computer is working because it works with the old monitor just fine. And I know the TV is working because I hooked it up to my cable box.

What could be causing the computer to refuse to work with the TV? [Read more…]