Rick's Daily Tips

Verizon throttled a fire department’s smartphone data while they were busy fighting a major wildfire

Posted on August 23, 2018

Sometimes corporations make decisions that are so bone-headed you just have to wonder what they were thinking. The most recent example comes to us courtesy of Verizon.

As you probably know, first responders in California are currently fighting dozens of major wildfires across the state.

And as you can imagine, fire-fighters and other emergency personnel rely heavily on their smartphones for critical communications between themselves and the folks who are directing the campaign to put out the fires and save the lives and property of thousands of California citizens.

One large fire department that’s been hard at work fighting the blazes had their devices’ Internet data speeds severely throttled by Verizon because every device they were using had exceeded the data limit allowed under their “Unlimited Data” contract. [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I get the “Compose New Email” box back to the center of the window in Gmail?

Posted on August 22, 2018

Question from Claire: I use Gmail and when I click “Compose” button to write a new email the text box has always been centered in the Gmail window.

But this morning when I opened Gmail and clicked “Compose” the box opened in the lower right corner of the window.

I tried clicking on the title bar and dragging the box back to the center of the window, but it won’t budge.

I don’t like having the “Compose New Email” box way down there in the corner. How can I get it back to the center of the window?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Scam alert: You’re likely being tracked online if your web browser stores your passwords

Posted on August 20, 2018

Do you allow your web browser to store the passwords to your online accounts?

I realize that stored passwords make using the Internet a lot easier, but truth be told it’s a very dangerous practice.

I wrote a post a while back that explains several reasons why using stored passwords is a bad idea, but now another reason has come to light. [Read more…]

Q&A: Why is the D: drive on my refurbished computer already full?

Posted on August 20, 2018

Question from Wanda: Rick, I just bought a refurbished computer with Windows 7 Home Premium on it.

In case you’re wondering why I bought a refurbished machine, it’s because I hate Windows 8 and Windows 10 so I decided to by a refurbished PC in order to get Windows 7.

LOL You probably think I’m crazy, but that’s why.

Anyway, this machine is showing two hard drives in Windows Explorer, a C: drive and a D: drive.

When they refurbished this computer they supposedly reinstalled Windows from scratch. I haven’t put anything at all on the D: drive, yet the Windows Explorer shows it as being full with hardly any free space left.

I can’t open that D: drive to see what’s in it making be think it might have a virus.

Is it possible for the equivalent of a brand new computer to have a virus that’s filling up the hard drive? My Norton isn’t finding anything.

Any help you can provide will be much appreciated. Thanks.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How can I see only questions that haven’t been answered yet on Quora?

Posted on August 18, 2018

Question from Michael E.: I recently started answering questions on Quora to drive traffic to my blog, and I’m really happy with the amount of visitors it’s sending me so far.

I’ve noticed that when I’m the first person to answer a question my answer will often remain at the top after other people add their answers. That’s why I prefer answering questions that haven’t been answered yet.

Do you know of a way to get Quora to display just the questions that haven’t been answered yet?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]