Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is it safe to plug a 300W inverter into my car’s cigarette lighter socket?

Posted on September 6, 2026

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Question from Carl: I bought this 300 watt 12VDC to 120VAC power inverter to run my coffee pot and a couple of other items while I’m camping.

While I was researching a related topic online I found a couple of articles that said not to plug an inverter larger than 200 watts into a car’s cigarette lighter because it’ll burn the inverter up.

That’s a problem because the inverter I bought only came with a cigarette lighter plug. You can’t remove it and there’s no place to plug in cables that can connect it directly to the battery.

What I need to know is will my 300W inverter really burn up if I plug it into my car’s cigarette lighter socket? [Read more…]

How to instantly silence any ringing smartphone

Posted on September 5, 2026

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Have you ever been in a setting where complete silence was expected only to have your smart phone start ringing?

Whether it was during a church service, an important business meeting or in a packed movie theater, it was probably quite an embarrassing event.

In all likelihood you panicked and started fumbling around trying to get the phone out of your pocket so you could tap “Decline” as quickly as possible to make the ringing stop.

[Read more…]

Q&A: What’s the difference between Bluetooth and WiFi?

Posted on September 4, 2026

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Question from Marvin: After using a flip phone for years, I finally decided it was time to upgrade to a smart phone.

I found a good deal on a new iPhone so I bought one. I like the phone ok, but some things about it are really confusing.

For example, my phone’s user manual says it supports both Bluetooth and WiFi wireless connectivity.

What is Bluetooth and how is it different from WiFi? [Read more…]

Why more Ontario homeowners are renovating instead of moving

Posted on September 4, 2026

For much of the past twenty years, homeowners throughout the Greater Toronto Area followed a fairly predictable pattern. A young family would purchase a starter home, build equity for several years and eventually move into something larger as their needs changed.

Whether it was an extra bedroom, a finished basement or a larger backyard, upgrading usually felt like the natural next step.

Today’s housing market has rewritten that playbook. [Read more…]

How to remove an antivirus app that Windows can’t uninstall

Posted on September 3, 2026

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I receive dozens of tech questions every week, and as you might expect some questions get asked over and over.

One of the questions that gets asked most often is some variation of “How do I remove [McAfee, Norton or whatever] from my computer?”

For various reasons, antivirus apps can sometimes be difficult to remove with Windows’ native uninstaller, and I’ve had my own issues with many of them in the past.

Luckily, there’s a simple way to remove most any antivirus program from your computer: Just download and run that company’s automated removal tool! [Read more…]