Rick's Daily Tips

Microsoft (sort of) throws in the towel on their development of the Edge browser

Posted on December 10, 2018

After years of trying to prop up the failing (and extremely insecure) Internet Explorer web browser, Microsoft finally saw the writing on the wall and made the decision to abandon it.

To that end, Microsoft developed their shiny new Edge browser and released it along with the initial release of Windows 10.

Luckily, Edge isn’t just an updated version of IE.

It’s in fact a brand new browser, built from the ground up with a new browser engine that supports all the latest web technologies right out of the box.

And truth be told, Edge is indeed a massive improvement over IE in terms of both speed and security.

The problem is, Edge never really gained a foothold in the browser market. In fact, as of November 2018 it still only had a minuscule percentage of the browser market share according to market research firm StatCounter.

[Read more…]

Review: Dell XPS9360-7758SLV-PUS 13.3-Inch Touchscreen Laptop

Posted on December 8, 2018

Most laptops used to be weak, watered down PCs that sacrificed power for portability, but that’s no longer the case.

Today’s modern laptop and notebook computers are plenty powerful enough to do most anything that even the fastest desktop PCs can do.

Even as laptops get more powerful by the day, they are also getting thinner and lighter, making them easier than ever to take along with you as you travel for work or pleasure.

The Dell XPS9360-7758SLV-PUS 13.3-Inch Touchscreen Laptop (#ad) is a perfect example. Even though it’s strikingly thin, measures just 15×12 inches and weighs less than 3 pounds, this machine has all the power that one might need in a laptop. Check out these awesome specs: [Read more…]

100 Million Quora users affected by massive data breach

Posted on December 4, 2018

Do you use the “Question & Answer” site Quora?

If so, you should know that your account might well have been compromised.

Quora has just announced that hackers have gained access to their system and stolen the personal information of up to 100 million users.

The full extent of the damage is yet to be determined, but here’s a list of the types of info that are already known to have been compromised: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I disable Flash in the Edge browser?

Posted on December 3, 2018

Question from Athenia L.: I recently bought a new computer that came with Windows 10, and I really like it now that I’ve gotten used to it.

A friend at work said I should disable Flash in the Edge web browser. I told her I use Chrome instead of Edge, but she said I need to disable the Flash in Edge anyway just to be safe.

First, is she right about needing to disable Flash? And if she is, how do I disable it?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Is is safe to replace a video card that literally burned up inside my computer?

Posted on December 2, 2018

Question from Telsi P.: I have a 5 year old gaming computer that came with a fairly weak video card.

About three years ago I replaced that original GPU with a MSI R9 390 GAMING 8G Graphics Card and it worked great until yesterday when it burned out on me.

And I do really mean BURNED OUT!!

This computer’s case has a see-through side panel and I literally saw the video card shooting flames.

I quickly unplugged the computer and removed the video card. One small section of the card was almost completely destroyed but there’s no damage that I can find anywhere on the motherboard.

The computer starts up fine and runs perfectly using the motherboard’s integrated video. My question is can I just replace the bad video card and everything will be ok?

I’m not all that concerned about the computer itself because I’m planning to replace it fairly soon anyway but I’d hate to burn out an expensive new video card by plugging it into a bad GPU slot.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]