Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is BlogUpp a safe and reliable way to promote a blog?

Posted on June 19, 2014

Question from Sylvia M.: Rick, I have a womens’ book review blog that I’m trying to promote. I’ve been writing at least one post every day for 7 months, but my traffic is still just a trickle compared to where I would like it to be.

I was doing some research on the Internet about how to grow blog traffic and I discovered a service called BlogUpp. Since there’s no sign-up of any kind required and you don’t have to give them any personal information, I’m seriously considering adding their widget to my blog.

I have a couple of questions that I’d like to ask you before I start using the BlogUpp widget:

1) Is it really effective at driving traffic to a blog?

2) Will using BlogUpp cause me any problems with the search engines ranking my blog posts?

Thanks in advance for your help Rick!

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Review: Quantum Axis A23 7″ Dual Core, Dual Camera, 1024×600 Capacitive Screen Android 4.2 Tablet

Posted on June 19, 2014

quantum-axis-a23-tablet I had been on the lookout for an inexpensive Android tablet for a while when I learned about the Quantum Axis A23, a 7″, dual core, dual camera model with 512MB of DDR3 RAM.

To be honest, the low price tag concerned me a bit, but since I had heard good things about it I thought I’d give it a try.

The very first thing I noticed when I picked it up for the first time was how well built this tablet is. I expected a tablet that costs so little to feel cheep and fragile, but the feel of this Axis A23 is neither. The attractive molded plastic case firmly holds the screen in place with no bending or cracking sounds. [Read more…]

Comcast announces the first 12 regions that will be subject to a data cap

Posted on June 18, 2014

Last month Comcast announced that they plan to place a monthly cap on users’ Internet data usage, then charge their customers an extra fee if they exceed it. They also announced that the data cap will be rolled out across the country over time.

Well, the company has just released a list of the unlucky regions that will be subjected to the cap first, and here it is: [Read more…]

Q&A: How do I take a screenshot on my Galaxy S5?

Posted on June 13, 2014

Question from Elisa M.: Hi Rick. I just ditched my old phone that I’ve had for years and bought a new Samsung Galaxy S5. I like taking screenshots with my phone from time to time, but I can’t figure out how to do it with this one.

Can you tell this dummy how to take a screenshot with a Galaxy S5? LOL – and thanks!

Rick’s answer: You’re not a dummy Elisa. If you don’t know how to do something, you don’t know how to do it. That’s why every day offers new opportunities to learn. And believe me, I learn something new every day!

To answer your question, it’s pretty easy to capture a screenshot on the S5 once you know how. Here are the steps: [Read more…]

Great deal: Get PhotoShop Elements 12 for a great price!

Posted on June 12, 2014

If you take photos for a living, you’ll probably want the awesome power and flexibility that comes with Adobe PhotoShop. Simply put, PhotoShop is the professional photographer’s image editor of choice.

But if you just want your photos to look like they were taken by a pro, then PhotoShop Elements is an excellent (and much more affordable) option. PhotoShop Elements 12 is plenty powerful enough to make your photos look their best.

In fact, most of the advanced editing features of the full-blown Adobe PhotoShop application are included in Elements as well. I’ve used PhotoShop Elements for years, starting with version 4. Every new version includes handy new features, and PhotoShop Elements 12 is the most powerful version ever!

PhotoShop Elements 12 would set you back about $100 at your local retail store, but you can pick up a copy at Amazon for just a lot less – and they’ll ship it to you for free!