Rick's Daily Tips

WordPress: The WP-Slimstat plugin has over a million blogs at risk of being hacked

Posted on February 26, 2015

Do you run a WordPress blog that uses the very popular WP-Slimstat plugin?

If so, a newly discovered security hole in certain versions of the plugin could have your blog at risk for data theft and other serious security breaches. In fact, hackers could possibly even exploit the flaw and take control of your entire blog.

If your blog uses this plugin, I recommend that you log into your WordPress Dashboard immediately and check to see which version of WP-Slimstat is currently installed. If it’s 3.9.5 or lower (or if WordPress says there’s an update available), you need to update WP-Slimstat to the latest version NOW. [Read more…]

Review: Canon PowerShot D20 12.1MP Waterproof Digital Camera

Posted on February 26, 2015

Have you ever wanted to photograph a beautiful autumn scene on a rainy day but hesitated because you were afraid the rain would ruin your expensive camera?

Or perhaps you’ve always wanted to try your hand at underwater photography but you think a waterproof camera would simply be too expensive?

Well, the Canon PowerShot D20 12.1MP Waterproof Digital Camera (#ad) makes it safe, fun and affordable to do those things, and a whole lot more. [Read more…]

Q&A: What’s the best way to run Linux without installing it on my hard drive?

Posted on February 24, 2015

Question from Evan L.: Hi Rick. First of all, I love your site and all the great info you post here. Thanks so much!

And now on to my question. I just finished reading your post about replacing Windows with Linux to speed up an older computer, and I’d love to give Ubuntu a whirl on my Acer S3-391-6046 Ultrabook.

I don’t want to install Ubuntu on my hard drive because the drive is so small (and full) that I’d have to wipe out Windows 8.1 to make room for it, and I don’t even know if I’ll like using Linux or not.

I know that you can run Ubuntu from either a CD or a USB Flash Drive, but I have no idea which way to go on that. What do you recommend?

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I uninstall the YouTube app from my Motorola Droid?

Posted on February 23, 2015

Question from Jimmy A.: I was looking at the list of installed apps on my Droid and I saw that there’s a YouTube app on there. I never installed it, and I don’t want it, but I can’t figure out how to remove it.

Can you tell me what I need to do to uninstall this stubborn app from my Droid? Thanks in advance for your help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Scam Alert: Beware the insidious fake AdwCleaner look-alike that’s going around (it’s actually malware)

Posted on February 23, 2015

scam A few months ago I wrote about an awesome anti-malware program called AdwCleaner.

This free utility will quickly scan for and remove virtually every type of unwanted toolbar, adware and browser hijacker that’s out there from your computer.

As I explained in the post, AdwCleaner works great, and since it’s free I highly recommend that everyone download it and run it on occasion.

Well, now the scammers have turned the tables on AdwCleaner by creating a fake look-alike program that claims to be the real AdwCleaner, but is actually malware.

This is how the scam works: [Read more…]