Hello, and welcome…
This is your Rick’s Daily Tips Tech Update for Monday, July 5, 2021.
Topics covered in this issue…
–Why new smartphones are being sold without chargers
–Try this first if a newly installed program doesn’t work as expected
–Here’s an easy way to extend a wired Internet connection to a distant room
–Q&A: Can I stop people’s faces from popping up when they PM me on Messenger?
–Katherine Johnson: The ‘computer who wore a skirt’
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Today’s Quick Tip….
Planning to buy a new smartphone any time soon?
If so, don’t be surprised if you open the box and discover there’s no charger for the device included in the package.
Apple has already stopped supplying chargers with some of their new devices (including the iPhone 12), and Samsung and several other manufacturers are beginning the process of eliminating them as well.
Their reasons for doing this are as follows:
1 – They feel since most consumers now have multiple chargers on hand already there’s really no need to include another one with new devices.
2 – Many existing devices such as computers, automobiles and even modern TV sets have USB ports that can be used to charge our smaller devices.
3 – Eliminating the chargers from the packages means they can use smaller and lighter boxes, saving the company money on packaging materials and shipping costs (which of course means higher profits).
4 – They say eliminating the charger also contributes to a “greener” environment since they’ll be able to ship a lot more devices on each pallet, resulting in fewer shipments having to be made overall.
Whether you agree with those reasons or not (I happen to think they are dubious), this is the future of the gadgets world.
Bottom line: Either hang on to your charger(s) when you ditch your current device(s) or make plans to purchase a good third-party charger when the time comes for your next gadget upgrade.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…
Do you think it’s a great idea? Is it terrible?
Feel free to hit the “Reply” button on this email and weigh in with your opinion.
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From the blog…
Try this first if a newly installed program doesn’t work as expected
If you install a program or app and it fails to work correctly there’s one trick you can try to fix it that works more often than not.
Here’s an easy way to extend a wired Internet connection to a distant room
Need to connect a device that doesn’t have wireless connectivity to your router that’s located in a distant room? Here’s a very simple solution.
Q&A: Can I stop people’s faces from popping up when they PM me on Messenger?
This post explains how to disable the Chat-Heads” feature in Facebook’s Messenger app.
Rick’s Daily Tips is hosted by InMotion Hosting. Click here to find out why.
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Rick’s Daily Pick…
Amazon Basics 4,500 Joule 8-Outlet Surge Protector
If you’ve been following this blog for a while you know how often I remind everyone to protect their computer and other electronic devices with a good surge protector.
Well right now Amazon has a great deal on one of very best consumer-grade surge protectors you’re likely to find anywhere.
This little gem provides eight electrical outlets, each of which has 4,500 joules of protection against power surges and lightning strikes.
While no surge protector can protect the gear that’s plugged into it from a direct, near-by lightning strike, this one provides the best protection possible at a price that’s easy to afford.
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Today’s inspirational post from ‘My Daily Smile’…
Katherine Johnson: The ‘computer who wore a skirt’
The astronauts at NASA trusted this amazing lady’s mathematical computations (which she did by hand) more than they trusted their agency’s computers. And for good reason.
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Rick’s Photo / File Recovery Service…
Do you have precious photos and/or other irreplaceable files that you’d like to recover from a non-working computer?
Chances are I’ll be able to recover them for you, even if the machine won’t turn on or start up correctly.
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Thanks so much, and have an amazing day.
Your tech buddy,
Rick Rouse
https://www.RicksDailyTips.com