Rick's Daily Tips

Why I use VaultPress to back up my WordPress blogs

Posted on July 26, 2023

Do you run a WordPress blog?

If so, you’ve probably spent a lot of time thinking about what would happen if your blog got hacked or your server’s hard drive crashed?

I know I have, and it isn’t a very pleasant thing to think about.

[Read more…]

Q&A: Why does Apple call their computers ‘Macs’?

Posted on July 26, 2023

Question from Marion.: Why are computers made by Apple called Macs?

That seems like a really odd name for a computer.

It actually sounds more like something you’d find on the menu at McDonald’s.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Can you put a DVD drive in a laptop that didn’t come with one?

Posted on July 25, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Devin: A few weeks ago I ordered this new Dell laptop and found out after I got it that it doesn’t have an optical drive.

Is it possible to add a DVD-RW drive to a laptop that didn’t come with one from the factory? [Read more…]

This is probably my best tech tip, ever. (Trust me!)

Posted on July 24, 2023

If you’ve been following this blog for a while you’ve probably figured out by now that I love technology.

No, check that – you’ve probably figured out that I REALLY love technology!

I also love sharing the things I’ve learned while working in the IT field for almost four decades as well as helping people out of jams whenever I can.

To those ends I have posted over 5,200 tech tips on this blog to date. And now I’m about to share what is likely the best tip of the lot.

What is this awesome, must-read tip you ask?

Well, it’s this…

[Read more…]

Speed up your blog (and make it more secure) with a CDN

Posted on July 24, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, you might have noticed that your blog’s page load times have increased over time as you added posts and started receiving ever more traffic to them.

Every active blog slows down over time as ever-increasing numbers of visitors put an ever-increasing load on your web server’s resources.

As more pages are loaded from your server its CPU must work harder and the RAM and disk I/O eventually get maxed out. This results in sluggish page loads, and during peak times your blog can even grind to a halt.

There are several things you can do to mitigate the problems you’ll almost certainly encounter as your blog grows in size and popularity. [Read more…]