Rick's Daily Tips

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Posted on May 31, 2026

Hi there!

I’m Rick Rouse, an A+ Certified Computer Tech with over 40 years of experience in the IT field.

I love sharing my practical, easy-to-follow tech tips, and I’d love to share them with you via my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter.

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Sign up below and you’ll receive one email each morning featuring links to my latest tech tips and info, plus several interesting and informative “Tech News” stories.

You’ll also receive a special “Featured Tech Tip” that I hand-pick just for my newsletter subscribers and your tech questions will take priority over questions asked by non-subscribers.

And finally, all subscribers to the Standard edition of my Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter have an equal chance to win my monthly Tech Giveaway drawing.

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

June’s winner will receive a fantastic Goldenmate 1000VA/600W Sinewave UPS System w/ LiFePO4 Battery & Surge Protection..

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To summarize…

You’ll just get great tips and info to help you get the most enjoyment possible out of your computer and other tech gadgets.

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Q&A: Where can I get a really old roll of 110 film developed?

Posted on May 30, 2026

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Question from Toniah: My mom recently passed away and we had to clean out her house so it could be listed for sale.

While going through one of her closets I found an old Kodak 110 camera with a half-used roll of film in it.

Are there any places that still process 110 film? [Read more…]

4 tips for protecting your computer from lightning strikes

Posted on May 29, 2026

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Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Well, summer is officially here, and that means the long, hot days to come will be spawning plenty of electrical storms.

There’s really nothing you can do to keep the coming storms at bay, but there are several things you can do that would greatly reduce the risk of a lightning strike damaging your expensive computer equipment.

Here are a few tips for protecting your computer from lightning strikes: [Read more…]

Q&A: What does the term ‘bottleneck’ mean?

Posted on May 28, 2026

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Question from Alvin: I recently retired after working for the same construction company for 43 years.

Now I’d like to take up something new to occupy all this free time that I suddenly have to fill.

I’ve always wanted to learn about computers so I’ve started reading a few tech blogs, and RicksDailyTips is one of them (thanks to my brother Keith for recommending it).

I’m not tech savvy by any stretch (I hope to change that eventually) but I do believe I’m progressing ok for an older dude who still uses a flip phone.

There’s a term that keeps popping up in the articles I read that I just can’t seem to get my head around. Can you tell me what the word “bottleneck” means in regards to computers? [Read more…]

Small business technology decisions that work until employee count hits 40

Posted on May 28, 2026

Your Atlanta company started with eight people sharing a handful of laptops, using Google Workspace for email, and calling your tech-savvy employee whenever something broke. It worked fine. You grew to 20 employees with the same basic approach—added more devices, same IT setup, occasional help from that one person who knows computers.

At 30 employees, you started noticing friction. Systems that used to be fast felt sluggish. The informal “ask whoever knows technology” support model created bottlenecks. But nothing was completely broken, so you kept going with the same approach. [Read more…]