Rick's Daily Tips

How to enable HTTPS secure browsing on Facebook

Posted on January 2, 2013

Hackers, crooks and busybodies are always on the prowl for sensitive information on unsuspecting Facebook users, and one of their favorite hangouts is at venues that offer free, unsecured Wi-Fi service such as restaurants, airports and libraries. And if you have an unsecured wireless router in use inside your home (not recommended!) they can even steal your info while sitting in your driveway!

You can protect yourself and your Facebook account from hackers, thieves and other scoundrels by securing your account using HTTPS encryption. Here’s how to turn it on: [Read more…]

Ditto – a great Windows Clipboard replacement

Posted on December 31, 2012

ditto For me, one of the biggest annoyances of Microsoft Windows has always been the Clipboard utility. Well, it has for me at least.

Why? Because it can only remember the contents of the last “Copy” or “Cut” and if the computer crashes or gets shut down for any reason, whatever is on the Clipboard at the time is lost forever. If you do a lot of Copying, Cutting and Pasting like I do that gets really old in a hurry.

There are a number of good Clipboard replacement programs out there, but the one I like the best is called Ditto. This little gem runs as a stand alone program. It runs in the background, waiting patiently for you to call it up by clicking on its icon in the System Tray. I’m pretty picky about which programs I allow to load automatically every time Windows boots up, and this is one of them. [Read more…]

Rick’s Picks: 6 of my most visited websites

Posted on December 31, 2012

I spend a lot of time on the Internet both for work and pleasure, and over the years I have come to rely on a number of websites that help me with both. Here are six that I find myself visiting over and over:

1 – TodaysPhoto.org – Yep, this one actually belongs to me, but I enjoy posting the “Picture of the Day” every morning and reading all the wonderful comments left by members of the TodaysPhoto community. I hope you’ll check it out and stop by yourself as often as possible! I post a new photo every morning at 7am eastern time.

2 – Pandora – I love listening to music and Pandora allows me to listen to just the kind of music that suits my mood at the moment. I have created “stations” that play nothing but Bluegrass, Bluegrass Gospel and Country. If I don’t like a song (or it doesn’t fit the genre of the station) I can give it a “thumbs down” and it will never be played on that station again. If I like one particularly well I can give it a “thumbs up” and Pandora will seek out and play more songs that are similar to it. I love Pandora! [Read more…]

How to find the “Search” and “Run” boxes in Windows 8

Posted on December 30, 2012

As I explained in this post, Windows 8 looks and works quite a bit differently from previous versions of Microsoft Windows. Some items have been hidden or moved to new locations while others have been either replaced or eliminated altogether.

There is the missing Start Menu of course (click here for instructions for adding one), and a couple of other rather important items aren’t in their usual places. But luckily, they are extremely easy to find and use. Here’s how: [Read more…]

How to calibrate your screen colors in Windows 7/8

Posted on December 30, 2012

calibrate-screen Here’s the scenario: You take a great picture, spiff it up a bit in your favorite photo editing program, then sit back and admire the rich colors that look pretty much exactly as you remember them looking when the picture was taken.

But there’s a problem. When you print the photo or view it on another computer, the colors look absolutely horrible!

If this happens to you, the culprit is most likely a miscalibrated computer screen. Windows 7 includes a nifty utility that can help you calibrate the colors on your monitor. It’s called the Display Color Calibration Wizard, and here’s how you use it: [Read more…]