Protect Your Identity

Identity theft is becoming an enormous problem in the United States and worldwide. Identity theft involves the misuse of your personal information to fraudulently purchase goods, services or open accounts to purchase good and services. According to a FTC report, identity theft cost victims, businesses and financial institutions $500 billion in 2003. The average victim spent more than 75 hours cleaning up their name...

Gmail guide for beginners – 3 Videos –...

This week’s video tip is a HelpMeRick.com first…it involves 3 videos to cover the topic of Gmail. Directly above each video below, I give a short synopsis of the videos contents. The more I use it, the more impressed I am with Gmail. If you currently use Gmail, don’t be afraid to watch these videos as you might pick up a tip or two yourself. Google offers a good Help section covering their email system, and...

Free Pocket Guide to Ubuntu

  The author of Ubuntu Pocket Guide and Reference, Keir Thomas, made his book available for free in PDF format today (click here to download). If you tend to like your manuals and books in tangible book format, click here to get the $9.94, 166 page book version from Amazon.      ...

Clean your inbox

Email truly revolutionized communication. The ability to retrieve a message from anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds is mind boggling. However, judging by the size of your inboxes (a poll I posted recently showed that 60% of email users had more than 100 messages in their inbox), you could benefit from some tips on how to keep your inbox clean. I used to keep as many as many as 50 or so email stacked up in my inbox,...

My first year with Gmail

I closed Outlook and started using Gmail exclusively one year ago. At first, I thought it would be a good experiment to see what Gmail was really all about, but I was also fed up with Outlook and its limitations. It took me two or three weeks to wean myself of thinking of my email in the same way that I used to with Outlook. For the experiment to work, Gmail had to satisfactorily accomplish 3 key functions of email that I...

Set up a home network – Part I

Home computer networks used to be just for geeks, there was no practical reason to setup a network at home because most people only had one system and the Internet was only accessible through a dial-up connection that couldn?t be shared. Today that has all changed. Computer networks are not only practical but they are also easy to setup and in many cases they are absolutely necessary. Over the next few weeks, we will...

Your one stop troubleshooting spot

In the almost 14 years that I have devoted to helping computer users, I have discovered a few computing standards: Many computer problems can be solved by simply restarting the computer. In the event of a mouse, keyboard, monitor, sound, printer or Internet problem, always triple check your cables to make sure everything is plugged in securely. Much to the dismay of computer users, almost all problems were caused in...

Increase the speed of your computer

If your computer still performs all the functions you want it to do, there is no need to replace it. However, no matter if you’ve been using the same computer for a month or seven years, all computers need and crave RAM (Random Access Memory). RAM provides the ‘umph’ for our computers and an abundance of it helps Windows’ performance tremendously. Hard drive space (physical storage of your data) and...

Always check the cables

Two customer visits this week took less than 10 minutes after I arrived on the scene. When printers, speakers, keyboards, mice, etc stop working and I get a call, the first thing I ask is whether the cables/cords are all plugged in correctly or at all. About 50% of the time, I’m told either “yes they are” or “I don’t know how to check them and want you to do it.” I show up and check the...

5 Easy Wireless Security Hints

Thankfully, broadband (high speed) Internet is spreading further and further. I don’t walk into many homes anymore than don’t have high speed access, and I can’t remember the last time I helped a business customer who had dial-up access. With high speed Internet access, many computer users install a wireless router to the modem to allow multiple computer access to the Internet. Wireless routers are easier...

Sadly, dial-up Internet is still alive and well

The majority of people I have seen this week have been dial-up Internet users. In every case the appointment lasted longer and cost more money than if they would have been on broadband. In other words, the appointment could have taken only a few minutes. Instead the appointment took so long that it cost as much as three month’s worth of broadband service. I carry most of the tools for fixing computers on my flash drive...

Make multiple computers work for you

The last few weeks I have seen many clients who own multiple computers and are learning to use a computer network to take advantage of printers, Internet connections and file sharing. If you own more than one computer and a high speed Internet connection, you need to consider connecting the computers together via a network. Doing so will allow you to own just one printer that all the computers can print to, take advantage of...

The Incredible Wikipedia

What is a Wikipedia ? In the words of the Wikipedia web site, ?imagine a world in which every person has free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing [at Wikipedia].? Sound amazing? It is incredible. Wikipedia, in everyday terms, is an online encyclopedia that is free to access, unlike paid services from Britannica.com and Encarta.com. Wikipedia plays on a term from the Hawaiian language,...

Will old media kill itself off?

Viacom is suing YouTube (Google) for $1 billion for copyright violations. People (not YouTube) have posted clips (not entire shows unless the shows were under 10  minutes) on YouTube without Viacom's permission. As a result, many YouTube visitors were turned onto Viacom regular programing as well as many other programs like, The Office, 24, Desperate Housewives, The Family Guy, Ali G, and Lost. While some of these...

Dummie’s Books and Idiot’s Books

I don't hate many things (except lima beans), but I despise the Dummie's and Idiot's line of books. Why? At least three reasons: 1.  Philosophically, I believe that buying any of these books plants a seed in your head that you are not intelligent enough to figure out a subject (you can now get this abomination of a series on everything from marriage to cooking, and computers to stamp collecting). I believe that...