technology Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: What does the term ‘bottleneck’ mean?

Posted on May 28, 2026

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Question from Alvin: I recently retired after working for the same construction company for 43 years.

Now I’d like to take up something new to occupy all this free time that I suddenly have to fill.

I’ve always wanted to learn about computers so I’ve started reading a few tech blogs, and RicksDailyTips is one of them (thanks to my brother Keith for recommending it).

I’m not tech savvy by any stretch (I hope to change that eventually) but I do believe I’m progressing ok for an older dude who still uses a flip phone.

There’s a term that keeps popping up in the articles I read that I just can’t seem to get my head around. Can you tell me what the word “bottleneck” means in regards to computers? [Read more…]

Small business technology decisions that work until employee count hits 40

Posted on May 28, 2026

Your Atlanta company started with eight people sharing a handful of laptops, using Google Workspace for email, and calling your tech-savvy employee whenever something broke. It worked fine. You grew to 20 employees with the same basic approach—added more devices, same IT setup, occasional help from that one person who knows computers.

At 30 employees, you started noticing friction. Systems that used to be fast felt sluggish. The informal “ask whoever knows technology” support model created bottlenecks. But nothing was completely broken, so you kept going with the same approach. [Read more…]

Q&A: How on earth do you remember all this tech stuff?

Posted on April 20, 2026

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Question from Marie: You never cease to amaze me, Rick. It seems like you have an answer for every question that people ask of you.

How on earth do you remember all the obscure and complicated tech stuff that we’re always asking you about? Do you have a photographic memory or something? [Read more…]

How technology continues to evolve in a data-driven world

Posted on March 27, 2026

Long days have a way of revealing the truth. Technology is everywhere, whether anyone notices or not.

Phones light up before the alarm rings. Maps reroute the morning commute without being asked. Streaming platforms somehow know what feels right after a tiring evening. It’s helpful, but also a little strange.

Daily life runs quietly on data now. It’s in the background all the time. Grocery apps remember what was forgotten last week. Fitness trackers count steps and sleep, even on nights when sleep barely happened. Online stores suggest things that look exactly like what was just searched for five minutes ago.

Still, there’s that small pause. [Read more…]

Managing technology growth without creating system fragility

Posted on January 23, 2026

Technology growth inside organizations happens through accumulation rather than singular transformation. New tools, platforms, users, and integrations arrive gradually, often in response to immediate operational needs.

As such, this layered expansion changes how systems behave, how data moves, and how failures propagate. Managing growth requires attention to structure, dependencies, and oversight rather than focusing solely on functionality or speed of deployment. [Read more…]