Rick's Daily Tips

Massive security flaw found in every version of Internet Explorer

Posted on April 29, 2014

Microsoft has announced that every version of Internet Explorer since version 6 has a massive security flaw that allows hackers to place viruses directly onto your PC, even if you are running up-to-date anti-virus protection.

And yes, this includes YOUR version of Internet Explorer so there is really no reason to check.

All you have to do to have your PC “catch” a virus is to visit an infected website with your Internet Explorer web browser. That’s all. You don’t have to click on anything, just visit the site, and wham – you’re infected! [Read more…]

How to prevent Netflix from automatically playing the next episode of a TV show

Posted on April 28, 2014

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you might have noticed that when you reach the end of an episode of a television show the next episode in the series begins playing automatically. Whether or not this happens for you will depend on your Netflix settings.

Some people love this “Post-Play” feature, but others hate it. If you fall into the latter camp, it’s easy to disable Post-Play to prevent the next episode in a series from playing until you want it to. Here’s how: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can I delete the Organizer from PhotoShop Elements 10?

Posted on April 27, 2014

Question from Ariel P.: Rick, I have used PhotoShop Elements 10 for a long time, and although I really like the Editor I absolutely loathe the Organizer!

My problem is every once in a while I’ll accidentally click the wrong link on the Welcome screen and load the Organizer when I didn’t mean to. When that happens I have to exit the Organizer and start Elements again from scratch. And it’s really irritating!

Is there any way to delete the Organizer portion of PhotoShop Elements from my computer and leave only the Editor installed? If there is, I can’t figure it out.

Thanks for helping me with this. If it makes a difference my PC is running Windows 7/64 bit.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

How to create a ‘System Recovery’ USB drive for your Chromebook

Posted on April 26, 2014

chromebook-system-recovery-drive Chromebooks are wonderful in their simplicity. Just turn one on and you can start surfing the web or working with your favorite web-based applications in less than a minute.

As Google likes to say about the Chromebook, “It just works!” Well…except when it doesn’t. [Read more…]

How to give any iOS device a ‘Night Mode’

Posted on April 25, 2014

Night Mode is absolutely awesome if you use your mobile device at night. Night Mode inverts the colors on the screen, making the device emit a lot less light – which in turn results in a lot less strain on the eyes.

While Night Node is built into a handful of popular apps, it isn’t a standard feature on all iOS devices that works regardless of what you happen to be doing with the device at any given time.

But that’s ok, because we can easily “create” a virtual Night Mode on any iOS device that can be toggled on and off as needed with a single button! Here’s how: [Read more…]