Your daily dose of practical, easy to follow tech tips!
Windows PC users have been dealing with viruses, trojans and adware for decades, but until recently Mac users didn’t really have to worry about malware infecting their computers.
I’m sorry to say that’s no longer the case.
While the percentage of Macs that are getting infected with malware compared to Windows machines is still relatively small, reports of Mac adware attacks have been on a sharp rise of late. [Read more…]
Question from Angie: I started dating a guy a few months ago. I really liked him but he had an annoying habit of picking up my phone and looking at my called logs.
I think he was checking up on me to see if I was calling other guys. I didn’t like him spying on me that way and I told him so, but he kept on doing it.
I finally put a PIN on my phone so he wouldn’t be able to get into it.
We recently broke up so I no longer need the PIN. The problem is it won’t let me remove it (that option is grayed out).
What do I need to do to remove the PIN from my phone? [Read more…]
Question from Kyle: Hi, Rick. I’m hoping you can help me solve a problem I’m having.
After using Windows computers for years I decided to try a Mac after my last Acer laptop stopped working on me.
I ended up buying a MacBook Pro and I think I’m really going to like it, but there’s one thing that’s driving me nuts.
When I’m using Safari it only shows the website’s domain name and not the entire URL in the address bar.
I hate that because I like knowing exactly which page of a website I’m on at any given time.
How can I force Safari to display the entire URL of the current page? [Read more…]
Does it seem like the battery in your Android phone dies a lot sooner than it should? If so, you’re certainly not alone.
A while back I wrote a post listing 7 tips for extending your Android phone’s battery life, and they all help quite a bit.
Well, here’s a bonus tip that will make your battery last even longer. All you have to do is change your phone’s wallpaper to one that’s solid black!
You’re probably wondering why using a black background can save battery life, and that’s a good question. And the answer is really pretty simple: The brighter the screen, the more current the battery must supply to keep it lit up.
Bottom line: Changing from a light colored background to a solid black one allows your phone to operate with less current being drawn from the battery.
Switching your phone to a solid black wallpaper is easy. Here’s how: [Read more…]
Facebook now has a feature called Face Recognition, and some folks aren’t all that fond of it due to the privacy implications.
In a nutshell, Facebook’s new Face Recognition feature works something like this:
When another user uploads a new photo or video to his/her account Facebook will compare it to YOUR profile picture and any photos you’re tagged in to see if you’re in that new photo.
If Facebook’s scan determines that your face is indeed included in that photo or video you’ll be sent a notification that someone has posted a picture/video that has you in it. [Read more…]