Rick's Daily Tips

Microsoft is killing off the ‘Groove Music’ app for Android and iOS devices

Posted on June 1, 2018

Do you use Microsoft’s “Groove Music” app to listen to music on your iOS or Android mobile device?

If so, you’ll need to switch to something different before December rolls around.

Microsoft has just announced that they’ll be “retiring” the Groove Music apps for both Android and iOS on December 1, 2018.

After that date you’ll still be able to access any music that you have stored on OneDrive, but you’ll have to listen to it using OneDrive or some other Microsoft-based player because the Groove Music app on your Android or iOS mobile device will no longer work. [Read more…]

Scam alert: Protect your router from the dangerous VPNFilter malware that’s attacking routers worldwide

Posted on May 31, 2018

By now you’ve probably heard about the dangerous VPNFilter malware that’s attacking routers all over the globe.

If you haven’t, this is an insidious strain of malware that could potentially allow a hacker to take control of your router and use it for a wide variety of illicit purposes.

What’s more, the malware can even remove itself after a time and brick your router in the process. [Read more…]

Advertisers and publishers hate ad blockers, but they have only themselves to blame for them.

Posted on May 27, 2018

The recent explosion in the number of Internet users installing ad blockers has greatly reduced the amount of advertising revenue being earned by many online publishers.

Truth be told, I use ad blockers on all my browsers myself, and I doubt if I’ll ever surf the web without them again.

Publishers hate ad blockers because the ads they place on their websites never make it to the reader’s web browser. And as one would expect, every blocked ad represents a loss of revenue.

But guess what? The publishers have no one but themselves to blame for this huge loss of income. To understand why that is, it’s important to consider the history of online advertising… [Read more…]

Heads-Up: Google is removing the “Secure” indicator for secure websites from the Chrome browser

Posted on May 21, 2018

If you’re like me you’ve probably grown used to seeing the green “Secure” indicator in the address bar when you visit a secure website with the Chrome web browser.

That simple word “Secure” and green padlock gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling about the websites I visit because I know that any information I might supply to them will be encrypted before it’s transmitted across the Internet to their server.

Well, here’s a little heads-up: Google will soon be eliminating that comforting “Secure” designation from Chrome. [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I still buy a video card that doesn’t use a fan?

Posted on May 19, 2018

asus-ati-radeon-hd6450-silence-1gb-video-card — (#ad)

Question from Glen J.: I have what is probably a very odd request. I need a low powered video card that doesn’t use a fan.

The video card in my PC has always been very noisy, and now the fan has started making screeching noises and the blades are wobbly (bad bearings perhaps?).

My question is can I buy a simple low powered, fanless video card that will work in a PCIe slot? I don’t need anything fancy, just something to drive my 21″ LCD monitor. I wouldn’t even replace the bad card at all were it not for the fact that my motherboard doesn’t have integrated video.

Any help you can provide will be very appreciated. [Read more…]