Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Can I use a second router to extend my Wi-Fi signal to cover my entire house?

Posted on August 12, 2016

Question from Karren: My cable modem and wireless router are sitting on a table in my living room, which is located on the first floor near the end of my house.

I have a fairly large home and the Wi-Fi signal is extremely weak in a couple of the second floor bedrooms.

My grandchildren stay with me several nights every month, and I’d like for them to be able to use the Wi-Fi while they’re in their bedrooms.

If I bought a second wireless router would I be able to use it to extend the existing router’s Wi-Fi signal to cover the entire second floor?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to enable Two Factor Authentication on your WordPress blog

Posted on August 10, 2016

Important update: After using the Duo Two-Factor Authentication method described below for a few weeks I started experiencing several serious issues with it.

I was unable to get all of those issues resolved so I removed it from my blogs and stopped recommending it.

I now use and recommend the super-secure Google Authenticator plugin.

Original post continues below…

One of the most effective ways to prevent any online account from being hacked is to enable two-factor authentication on it.

In case you’re unfamiliar with how two-factor authentication works, it basically adds an additional layer of security to the login process by sending a special code to your mobile phone that you must enter in order to complete the login process.

Once two-factor authentication has been enabled, if a person doesn’t have access to your phone, he/she won’t be able to log into your account even if they have your username and password. It’s really that simple.

I have already posted instructions for enabling two-factor authentication on several of the most popular online services, and in this post I’m going to explain the easiest way to enable it on your WordPress blog(s). [Read more…]

How to personalize your blog posts and emails with a handwritten signature

Posted on August 8, 2016

rick Do you like to “sign” your blog posts and emails by typing your name at the bottom of the text block?

If so, you can give your writings a more personal appearance by inserting an image depicting your handwritten signature below the last paragraph of text.

There are several ways to created a signature image, but here are two of the easiest methods that I have found: [Read more…]

How to shorten and simplify your Public Profile URL on LinkedIn

Posted on July 25, 2016

If you have a LinkedIn account you might have noticed that the Public Profile URLs for many LinkedIn users are quite long and virtually impossible to remember. That’s just the way they are by default.

But luckily, you can shorten your LinkedIn Public Profile URL to something that is easy to remember and will actually fit on your business cards. Just follow these simple steps: [Read more…]