Software Archives | Ricmedia PC Help

Website optimizations for a faster experience

Today I installed a special WordPress plugin called WP-Rocket which optimizes this website for a much faster and smoother user experience. I also setup a CND via MaxCDN to further speed up delivery from Ricmedia PC Help. Part of this optimization is something called Minifying, which removes white-space in certain text files like JavaScript and CSS, and although this feature greatly increases speed, it can sometimes break the website and cause display issues.

I will attempt to keep on top of this issue as much as I can, but it would be terrific if you guys can also let me know if you have any problems…thanks 😉

Cheers!

Richie

Set custom DNS servers on Linux with Network Manager or resolv.conf

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aLuVw7JB28]

Setting custom DNS servers on Linux can increase performance, security and even thwart some websites using Geo-blocking via DNS. There are two ways to do this: via Network Manager GUI that’s included in many Linux distros like Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives, or via resolv.conf (not directly, but via the head file) and I’ll show you how to do both in this guide.

FYI: The resolv.conf file is overwritten on each boot so we can’t edit this file directly, but we can edit one of the two files used to create the resolv.conf file, those being the head and base files in /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/. We’ll be editing the head file in the second part of this guide so that each boot-up, resolv.conf gets written with our custom DNS servers at the top.

Before changing DNS servers you’ll also need to find a third-party DNS provider, there are plenty of good (and free) services available too. I recommend Google DNS which is what I use and have never had an issue. I will list here the most popular DNS providers:

GOOGLE
Primary IPv4: 8.8.8.8
Secondary IPv4: 8.8.4.4
Preferred IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888
Alternate IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8844
OPENDNS
Primary: 208.67.222.222
Secondary: 208.67.220.220
Preferred IPv6: 2620:0:ccc::2
Alternate IPv6: 2620:0:ccd::2
DNS.WATCH
Primary: 84.200.69.80
Secondary: 84.200.70.40
LEVEL3
Primary: 209.244.0.3
Secondary: 209.244.0.4
NORTON
Primary: 199.85.126.10
Secondary: 199.85.127.10
COMMODO
Primary: 8.26.56.26
Secondary: 8.20.247.20
VERISIGN
Primary: 64.6.64.6
Secondary: 64.6.65.6
MORE SERVERS…
See: Free and Public DNS Servers
See: Public DNS Server List (extensive)

Watch the video above or follow the text guide below.

Set custom DNS servers on Linux with Network Manager

Click on Network icon top-right of your screen, then click the Edit Connections
Select your connection (either wired or wireless), then click Edit button
Click on IPv4 Settings tab, if Method is set to Automatic (DHCP) change it to Automatic (DHCP) addresses only, if Method is set to anything else, leave as is. Next enter your primary and secondary DNS server IP addresses separated by a comma, then click Save button
(Optional) Click on IPv6 Settings tab, if Method is set to Automatic change it to Automatic, addresses only, if Method is set to anything else, leave as is. Next enter your primary and secondary DNS server IP addresses separated by a comma, then click Save button
Finally click Close button to exit
Ubuntu doesn’t cache DNS so we don’t need to flush it, but other distributions might. Just search for "[distro_name] flush DNS cache" to find instructions on how to do it
All done!

Set custom DNS servers on Linux using resolv.conf

Click the Search icon, type in "Terminal" then click the Terminal application
Now type in the following command: sudo nano /etc/resolvconf/resolv.conf.d/head and hit Enter
Just after the comments, type nameserver 8.8.8.8 (or your desired primary DNS server IP address) then on the next line, type nameserver 8.8.4.4 (or your desired secondary DNS server IP address). Now press Ctrl + O to save, then Ctrl + X to exit.
At the command prompt, type sudo resolvconf --enable-updates and hit Enter
Now type sudo resolvconf -u and hit Enter then close the Terminal application
Ubuntu doesn’t cache DNS so we don’t need to flush it, but other distributions might. Just search for "[distro_name] flush DNS cache" to find instructions on how to do it
All done!

The Ultimate Facebook Privacy Guide

Introduction

Nowadays, you can’t be too careful with your Facebook privacy settings, especially those of you with families. Today I want to show you how to secure your Facebook privacy while still enjoying a good degree of social contact.

Introduction, Video guide, General privacy settings
Facebook apps privacy & privileges
Blocking users & turning off Facebook Chat

General Facebook privacy settings

Facebook has four settings for most of their privacy options: Friends, Friends of friends, Everyone/Public or Custom. Let’s go through each option along with the privacy level of each.

Everyone/Public = Anyone on the Internet can see your stuff, contact you or send a friend request, low privacy
Friends of Friends = Your good friend Kate is friends with Tom, he can see your stuff, contact you or send a friend request, moderate privacy
Friends = Only people you have already added and confirmed as friends can see your stuff or contact you, high privacy
Custom = Choose which users or groups who can see your stuff, privacy depends on who you choose

So now we know how the different levels of privacy work, let’s go through each setting and change it to the privacy level you want. Do this by going to Settings Arrow ▼ top-right of your screen, then choose the Settings menu item, then on the navigation panel to your left, click on Privacy. You will now be on the Privacy Settings & Tools page where all your privacy settings are. I will explain further each setting and include a recommended setting for each.

Who can see my stuff?
- Who can see your future posts?
- Means: Who can, from this moment on-wards, see anything you post? Includes images, text, video and other activity, doesn’t affect earlier activity/posts. Recommend Friends
- Review all your posts and things you’re tagged in
- Means: Go through all your posts and set custom visibility for each
- Limit the audience for posts you’ve shared with friends of friends or Public?
- Means: Make all your previous activity limited to friends only, nothing in Public or Friends of Friends view. Anything you previously posted with Public, Friends of Friends or Custom visibility will no longer be visible to those people or groups except Friends. Recommend Yes
Who can contact me?
- Who can send you friend requests?
- Means: Who has permission to click the Add Friend button on your profile page, the Add Friend button will not be shown to those not in your chosen privacy level. Recommend Friends of Friends
Who can look me up?
- Who can look you up using the email address you provided?
- Means: If someone searches your email address you@youremail.com they will find your profile in Facebook search results. Recommend Friends of Friends
- Who can look you up using the phone number you provided?
- Means: If someone enters your phone number (555) 555 5555 they will find your profile in Facebook search results. Recommend Friends of Friends
- Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your Profile?
- Means: If someone searches anything that matches anything you’ve posted, your profile page may show up in search results (depends entirely on search engine). Recommend No

Recommended Facebook privacy settings example

Per Post Privacy Settings

There might be a time when you actually want to post something Public and Facebook allows you to do just this. When you post anything (image, text, video or link) just to the right of the Post button, you will see a drop-down button that says either Public or Friends, click on it and you can choose exactly which group of people can see this individual post (click on the More Options ▼ item to choose Custom visibility or Only Me).

Choose the visibility level when you post anything on Facebook

You can also go through and individually change the visibility level for anything you have previously posted. Just go to the post and just under your name you will see a little World icon or Friends icon with a down arrow ▼, click on it and change the visibility level to Friends, Public, Custom or Only Me.

Change the visibility level of an older post on Facebook

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Connect VPN using SoftEther SSL-VPN on Windows (all versions)

[youtube=https://youtu.be/ywwqnffd1d4]

In this guide I will show you how to connect your Windows (all versions) PC/laptop to any VPN service that’s using the SoftEther SSL-VPN protocol. SoftEther SSL-VPN is a very safe and easy VPN protocol to set up and can easily traverse firewalls making it a good choice for those of you who live in oppressive regimens.

Before we start the connection setup process, you will need to find out the following details (best have them written or printed). If you are connecting to a paid VPN service, just login and your details and settings will be there. If you are connecting via a workplace, please contact your Network Administrator and ask them for the following details:

Required Info

Your VPN username
Your VPN password
Server host name or IP address (ie. contoso.com or 192.101.23.309)
Desirable to know the Authentication type (RADIUS or standard)

Once you have this info you can then watch the video above or follow the text guide below.

Connect via SoftEther SSL-VPN on Windows

Download the SoftEther Windows Client from http://www.softether-download.com/en.aspx?product=softether and choose (1) SoftEther VPN Client (2) Windows (3) Intel (x86 and x64)
Once downloaded, find and right-click on it, choose Run as Administrator then click Yes to the security alert to allow the program to run
Follow the installation instructions leaving everything at defaults
Click on the Start icon bottom-left of your screen and navigate to the SoftEther app and start it up
Double click on Add VPN Connection, click Yes to add a new Virtual Network Adapter, leave the name at VPN and click OK (be patient as it can take a while to complete)
Double click Add VPN Connection again, the New VPN Connection window will open
For Setting Name: give it a descriptive name (ie. HomeVPN or WorkVPN)
For Host Name: enter the server name or IP address (ie contoso.com or 182.167.23.101)
Now click on Hub Name: and the app should automatically detect and display the name, if it doesn’t just enter VPN for this option
Leave everything else at defaults (unless you have been given specific instructions to enter custom values)
In the right hand side section, choose either Standard Password Authetication or RADIUS Authentication, if you’re unsure, try Standard first, if it doesn’t work try RADIUS
Enter your VPN Username and Password into the respective fields
Finally click OK to save and close the window
You should now see your new connection, to connect, simply right-click on it and choose Connect, to disconnect, right-click on it and choose Disconnect
SoftEther VPN Client will recommend you if the connection was successful or not. If unsuccessful, double-check all settings again or contact your VPN service provider or Network Administrator
All done!

Resize & Optimize Images in Photoshop for Websites

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hQ7jc4JAyw]

Today I will show you 2 ways to resize and optimize images in Photoshop so they’re suitable for publishing on a website. Images taken from most cameras today are far too large to publish directly to a website, so you need to firstly reduce the total image size/DPI, then optimize to a point that does not reduce the image quality.

The first way is the quickest and easiest and is suitable for when you do not need to edit the image using filters, layers, cropping etc. The second way is a little more involved and is suitable for when you do need to use filters, layers, adjustments and cropping.

Important Note: When editing images, it’s important to never ever edit the original image. Always make a copy of the image or save it in another format like Photoshop PSD. Keep all your original images in a separate folder system, then copy to a working folder to edit.