Rick's Daily Tips

Review: Truffol 5-Port 36W Wood/Aluminum USB Charger

Posted on January 25, 2016

truffol-cherry-wood-usb-charger It seems like every company on the planet is selling USB chargers these days, and I’ve tested and reviewed a bunch of them.

I recently received a desktop charger for review that’s entirely different from all the ones I had ever seen before.

The Truffol 5-Port 36W Wood/Aluminum USB Charger is a small, elegantly designed multi-port charger that’s hand-built into a gorgeous cherry wood case. Yes, that’s right – a real cherry wood case that’s hand-built! [Read more…]

Microsoft has recalled the power cords for some Surface Pro devices

Posted on January 21, 2016

Due to a potential over-heating issue, Microsoft has announced a voluntary recall of the power cords for some models of their popular Surface Pro devices.

The recall only applies to the power cords, not the Surface Pro devices themselves or their power supply “bricks”. [Read more…]

Easily encrypt your emails with the ‘Enlocked’ browser add-on

Posted on January 21, 2016

Much to the chagrin of the Postal Service, the number of emails sent each day far exceeds the number of “snail mail” letters sent during the same time period. And for good reason…

Instead of writing a letter, stuffing it in an envelope, putting a stamp on it, mailing it, and waiting to see if it ever arrives at its intended destination at some point in the future, you can simply type out an email, click “Send” and have it land in the recipient’s inbox in seconds.

But the convenience and low cost (virtually free) of email comes with one major drawback: It is completely insecure. Since they are not encrypted, email messages can be intercepted and read at any “stop” along their digital routes.

As luck would have it, it’s easy to encrypt emails before they are sent using most any of the major online email providers (Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc.) with a browser add-on called Enlocked.

Follow the steps below to check it out: [Read more…]

How to enable Two-Factor authentication on your LastPass account

Posted on January 17, 2016

Regular readers of this blog know I’m not a huge fan of password managers, but many folks seem to to love them. And that’s fine – to each his/her own as they say.

If you happen to use a password manager, there’s a good chance that you us LastPass, the most popular password manager out there by far.

If so, I strongly recommend that you enable two-factor authentication to prevent crooks and hackers from breaking in to your account and stealing all of your important passwords.

Follow the steps below to set up two-factor authentication on your LastPass account: [Read more…]