Rick's Daily Tips

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

Posted on January 26, 2026

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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…]

Q&A: Can I use an old external hard drive with my new MacBook?

Posted on January 24, 2026

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Question from Lawrence: Hi, Rick. I’m hoping you can answer a question for me about hard drives.

I have an older Seagate STHN2000400 2TB external hard drive that I used for several years to store photos and other files from my old MacBook. Well that MacBook finally died and I replaced it with this MacBook Pro.

The problem I’m having is the MacBook Pro won’t work with the Seagate drive because there’s no connector on the laptop that will accept the old-style USB plug on the drive cable.

If at all possible I’d like to keep using this drive with the new MacBook Pro because it contains thousands of photos that don’t exist anywhere else.

Is there any way I can use this drive with the new laptop? Maybe some kind of adapter? [Read more…]

How to know when it’s time to replace your old router

Posted on January 23, 2026

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If you have a broadband Internet connection you probably use a router to share that connection among multiple computers and mobile devices.

I frequently receive emails from folks asking if I think they need to replace their aging routers, and I usually answer them by asking a few questions of my own: [Read more…]

Managing technology growth without creating system fragility

Posted on January 23, 2026

Technology growth inside organizations happens through accumulation rather than singular transformation. New tools, platforms, users, and integrations arrive gradually, often in response to immediate operational needs.

As such, this layered expansion changes how systems behave, how data moves, and how failures propagate. Managing growth requires attention to structure, dependencies, and oversight rather than focusing solely on functionality or speed of deployment. [Read more…]