Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: How can I force Google to always show American search results?

Posted on February 10, 2023

Question from Brett: I need your help with something if you don’t mind, Rick.

I travel frequently on business, often to other countries (mostly to western Europe but occasionally to South and Central America as well).

The problem I’m having is every time I click on my bookmark to load Google it takes me to the Google site for whichever country I’m in at the time.

I really need for my browser to load the Google search results for the United States at all times because only those results are relevant to the research I do for my job.

Do you know of a way to force Google to always show the American search results no matter which country I’m in at the time? [Read more…]

Blog stats: The differences between Hits, Page Views and Visits

Posted on February 9, 2023

Many new bloggers take a look at their blog’s traffic stats and become confused while viewing the stats for “Hits”, “Page Views” and “Visits”.

Even worse, they often become more confused when they see other bloggers/webmasters bragging about how many “hits” their sites receive every month.

If you find all of this traffic terminology confusing as well, I’ll try to clear it all up for you with this post. [Read more…]

8 tips to make remote learning and video conferencing safe

Posted on February 9, 2023

Most educators can’t imagine their daily lives without video conferencing. It’s useful for everything from online lectures to sprint meetings for the whole team.

Because of its design, it can reach more students without requiring them to be physically present in classrooms. However, keeping outsiders out of video conferencing is just as crucial. [Read more…]

Q&A: Is Microsoft Defender just as good as other antivirus apps?

Posted on February 8, 2023

Question from Darryl: I have always understood Windows’ built-in “Microsoft Defender” antivirus app to be inferior to other antivirus programs.

But yesterday I heard that might no longer be the case.

What’s your opinion about Microsoft Defender?

Is it really just as good as the third-party antivirus programs that are being sold today?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Registry Finder: A fantastic replacement for Regedit

Posted on February 7, 2023

Many of the tips I post on this blog involve making changes to the Windows Registry.

The problem is, Windows’ native Regedit Registry Editor can be a real pain to use.

One of my biggest pet peeves with Regedit has always been the way we have to navigate several layers deep into the registry tree using the mouse.

But thanks to a fantastic free utility called Registry Finder, you no longer have to. [Read more…]