Rick's Daily Tips

LivingSocial has been hacked – Change your passwords!

Posted on April 27, 2013

The popular “Daily Deals” site LivingSocial.com has announced that their site has been hacked and the personal information belonging to over 50 million users has been compromised.

If you have an account with LivingSocial you need to change your password immediately (click here for tips on selecting one that’s tough to crack, but easy to remember). You should also begin monitoring your credit report and financial statements for irregularities.

According to LivingSocial, the customer data that has been compromised includes the following: [Read more…]

Samsung smart phones outselling iPhones 2 to 1

Posted on April 27, 2013

samsung-smart-phone Korean electronics giant Samsung has quietly become the 800 pound gorilla in the smart phone marketplace.

According to market researcher IDC, in the first quarter of 2013 Samsung shipped 71 million smart phones compared to Apple’s 37 million. In fact, during that three month period Samsung’s market share was greater than the next four companies combined.

Of the top five smart phone vendors, Apple is the only company in the bunch that actually lost market share in the first quarter. And another recent study shows that more customers switch from iPhone to Android when purchasing their next phone than the other way around. [Read more…]

Turn your digital photos into gorgeous paintings!

Posted on April 26, 2013

There are a number of programs and apps available for creating paintings from digital photos,and one of my favorites just happens to be completely free. It also runs entirely within your web browser so there is nothing to download or install.

It’s called Psykopaint, and here’s how to use it: [Read more…]

The simplest way to type accented characters

Posted on April 26, 2013

Most of us English speakers rarely need to type accented characters, but if you have family or friends in Europe or Latin America and you wish to converse with them in their native language, you’re going to need a simple way to type accented characters on your English language keyboard.

And if you’re taking a foreign language class, being able to type accented characters is essential for completing assignments, typing essays, etc.

Typing an accented character typically involves looking up the ALT code for the character in question, then holding down the ALT key while typing the appropriate code on the numeric keypad. But a great free utility called Holdkey eliminates the need to perform either of these steps.

Using Holdkey couldn’t be simpler: [Read more…]

Canonical releases Ubuntu Linux 13.04

Posted on April 25, 2013

Over time Ubuntu has gradually become the most popular flavor of Linux among users who have decided to make the switch from Microsoft Windows, and for good reason.

In addition to its fast and easy installation, Ubuntu also offers a more “Windows-like” user interface than many of the other Linux distros out there. [Read more…]