Rick's Daily Tips

Here’s an easy way to fool burglars into thinking you’re at home

Posted on July 5, 2025

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Did you know that many burglars actually knock on the victim’s door or ring their doorbell before breaking into a home?

Well, it’s true, and there’s a reason why: If no one answers the door, they know there’s a good chance that nobody’s home.

But you don’t have to fall victim to burglars in this way. Simply install a Ring Wi-Fi Enabled Video Doorbell and you’ll be able to answer your door from anywhere in the world. [Read more…]

How to disable all apps and games (and block game requests / app notifications) on Facebook

Posted on July 4, 2025

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Lots of folks love playing games and using apps on Facebook, but many others would rather drink a glass of spoiled milk through a dirty straw.

If you fall into the last group you probably aren’t all that thrilled to see a game or app invitation pop up in your notifications area.

And with all the malicious apps, quizzes and games there are these days, I don’t blame you. After all, malicious games and apps account for a large percentage of the hacks and data theft taking place on the Facebook platform.

As luck would have it, you can easily disable all apps and games as well as block all game and app invitations/notifications, now and forever! [Read more…]

Are your surge protectors giving you a false sense of security?

Posted on July 3, 2025

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You’re probably aware that lightning and power surges can damage electronic devices such as computers and TV sets.

I’m also guessing that you have your expensive tech gear plugged into surge protectors.

But did you know that surge protectors don’t last forever?

[Read more…]

Q&A: Will a ‘Modified Sine Wave’ UPS damage a computer?

Posted on July 2, 2025

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Question from Celina: I have a question about battery backup devices, Rick.

I went to our local office supply store to buy a battery backup for my iMac and the man I talked to said I needed to pay extra for one that provides “pure sine wave” AC current. The one he tried to sell me costs over $100 more than the one I had planned to buy.

He said the cheaper “modified sine wave” models can damage my iMac because it was designed to only accept only a pure sine wave signal. Is that true? [Read more…]

Q&A: Would moving the Page File to a RAM Disk make a PC run faster?

Posted on July 1, 2025

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Question from Ethan: I was reading an article last night that discussed using part of a computer’s unused RAM as a RAM Disk, and it got me to thinking.

I have a 6 year old desktop computer that’s running Windows 10. It has 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive.

This machine runs really slow, coming almost to a crawl at times. After doing some research I’ve determined that it’s likely sluggish because it’s doing a ton of swapping back and forth with the page file.

Do you think moving the Windows Page File to a RAM Disk would help speed it up? [Read more…]