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Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Virtual Machine Host Software Updated
VMware Workstation Player 14.1.3 – 1 bugfix, OpenSSL update, Sprectre/Meltdown patch
VirtualBox 5.2.18 – a few bugfixes
Speaking of VMs. Many of you know I do most of my day-to-day web activity in a Linux VM. In the past I’ve used openSUSE. I have switched to Linux Mint 19 “Tara” Cinnamon. About the only thing I had to add after standard install was Chromium, Tor Browser, and HPLIP (HP printer drivers).

Foreshadow
Great. Just fracking great. Another Spectre type CPU vulnerability.
“Foreshadow is a speculative execution attack on Intel processors which allows an attacker to steal sensitive information stored inside personal computers or third party clouds. Foreshadow has two versions, the original attack designed to extract data from SGX enclaves and a Next-Generation version which affects Virtual Machines (VMs), hypervisors (VMM), operating system (OS) kernel memory, and System Management Mode (SMM) memory.”
Wired has a good breakdown.

The Guardian – How to turn off Google’s location tracking
After Monday’s news, I was gonna write up something on this and saw this article. It is well done.

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Ajit Pai grilled by lawmakers on why FCC spread “myth” of DDoS attack
“An FCC Inspector General (IG) investigation found that the FCC lied to members of Congress multiple times in letters that answered questions about DDoS attacks that never happened. Pai’s FCC claimed for more than a year that a May 2017 outage in the public comments system was caused by multiple DDoS attacks. In reality, the FCC system crashed because it was unable to handle an influx of comments triggered by comedian John Oliver asking viewers of his program Last Week Tonight to oppose Pai’s net neutrality repeal.”

Mystery Russian satellite’s behaviour raises alarm in US
“Russian intentions with respect to this satellite are unclear and are obviously a very troubling development,” she added, citing recent comments made by the commander of Russia’s Space Forces, who said adopting “new prototypes of weapons” was a key objective for the force.”

Sacramento welfare investigators track drivers to find fraud. Privacy group raises red flags.
“The EFF has a more skeptical view of the data-collection practice and said it’s “disturbing” that millions of people who are not suspected of a crime can be tracked with license plate photos.”

Suns Out, Guns Out
Remember our hero JJ Watt? Dude is ripped. I’m sure he will be destroying people. Don’t know how much NFL I will be watching this year but that is a topic for another day.
The Internet Reacts To JJ Watt’s Freakishly Large Arms In Latest Instagram Post

Patch Tuesday

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All supported Windows and Office versions have patches.
Windows 10 update history (not updated as of this writing)
Windows 7 and 8 have a few bugfixes and more Spectre/Meldown fixes.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4343900/windows-7-update-kb4343900
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4343898/windows-81-update-kb4343898
See below for full breakdown.

Adobe Reader Updated
Download (EN-US)
All Downloads
APSB18-29 Security updates available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

In post-massacre Vegas, security policies clash with privacy values
&
Caesars Palace not-so-Praetorian guards intimidate DEF CON goers with searches [Updated]
“For safety and security, hotel team members will enter rooms and perform a standard wellness check, even if you have opted out of housekeeping services, posted a sign on your door, or otherwise refused team member entry. You may be asked to leave the hotel, if you do not comply with this company policy,”
Blog Post from Marc Rogers “who leads DEF CON’s security team”.
“I do not support or endorse these room searches or how they are executed. I sympathize with the challenge these hotels are facing but believe they need to take a harder look at the efficiency, impact and long term cost of this strategy.
We MUST NOT let our hotels become like our airports. If we do, then the terrorists win.”
Everything you do outside your room is filmed in Vegas, I get that. But inside your room should be another story. I had money stolen out of my hotel room by the maid 20 plus years ago. I haven’t allowed housekeeping in my room since. You come in my room unannounced and we are going at it.

Blue light from phone screens accelerates blindness, study finds
“Scientists say they have found how blue light from smartphones, laptops and other digital devices damages vision and can speed up blindness. Research by the University of Toledo in the US has revealed that prolonged exposure to blue light triggers poisonous molecules to be generated in the eye’s light-sensitive cells that can cause macular degeneration – an incurable condition that affects the middle part of vision.”
My S7 has a blue light filter and I am experimenting with it. Apple calls their blue light filter Night Shift.

2019 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Driven: Longer, Lighter, More Fuel Efficient, and Extremely Refined
Base price, I repeat BASE PRICE is $30,000, for a fracking Work Truck.
“The crew cab Silverados I drove — a $50,995 LT Trail Boss and top of the line $62,535 High Country”

Back on the shelves: Samuel Adams OctoberFest
My favorite American Oktoberfest.

[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

***This Is A TweakHound News Alert***

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Sorry. I’m just having fun at the expense of every news outlet in the country. Everything is “breaking news” or a “news alert”.
Anyway, I thought the story below deserves it’s own post.
AP Exclusive: Google tracks your movements, like it or not

“An Associated Press investigation found that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used privacy settings that say they will prevent it from doing so…Google’s support page on the subject states: “You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored.”…That isn’t true. Even with Location History paused, some Google apps automatically store time-stamped location data without asking…For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are. And some searches that have nothing to do with location, like “chocolate chip cookies,” or “kids science kits,” pinpoint your precise latitude and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account.“

Lots more info there. Good read. Don’t be evil…

Weekend Random Stuff…

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Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Intel Launches 9th Gen Core 8 Core and 6 Core CPUs on 1st October
No word on if Spectre and Meltdown are still an issue with these.

Here’s why you’re being kept in the dark about how your data is used
“In the wake of the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica scandal, people are more aware than ever of the tenuous nature of data collection, and more concerned about how securely tech and financial institutions catalog this data.And with good reason: according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were 1,579 data breaches in 2017, an alarming 44.7 percent uptick from the year before.”

Hydroelectric Dam Threatens to Wipe Out World’s Rarest Ape
“The world’s rarest great ape, discovered only in 2017, will not survive the building of a $1.6 billion hydroelectric power plant and dam in the middle of its remaining habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia, wildlife experts warn” The project ” is being financed and built by state-controlled Chinese companies under China’s Belt and Road.”
No cool.

Professors allow students to pick their own grade
Crap like this is one of the many reasons I’ve little respect for colleges or college degrees.

The ‘American Pickers’ Find the Aerosmith Van that Started It All
Kinda neat but they paid $25K for it?!

Woman killed by neighborhood dogs
Can you guess what breed of dog???

Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth ‘Star Trek 4’ Future In Doubt as Talks Fall Through
Looks like Paramount tried to renege on previous deals.

There is a Tiger on the prowl in St. Louis. I’m gonna go see how that ends…

Thursday Morning Random Stuff…

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Firefox 61.0.2
– Adds support for automatically restoring your Firefox session after Windows restarts. Currently, this feature is not enabled by default for most users, but will be gradually enabled over the coming weeks.
*To enable this go to Options > General > Startup > Restore previous session
– Bugfixes
Download EN-US 64-bit | All Firefox Versions | Release Notes

Google Chrome
“The stable channel has been updated to 68.0.3440.106 for Windows, Mac, and Linux”
Bugfixes.
Download | Download standalone(full) | Download standalone 64-bit Windows version(full)

Autoruns v13.90
“Autoruns, a comprehensive Windows autostart entry point (ASEP) manager, now includes Runonce\*\Depend keys and GPO logon and logoff locations, as well as fixes a bug in WMI path parsing.”
Download

CCleaner 5.44
– Internet Explorer: Cookies are now cleaned from the INetCache folder in Windows 10
– Firefox: Fixed a cleaning compatibility issue with the Malwarebytes extension
Download ( I only use the portable version. The installed version will phone home.)

Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox 3.5.3
Download

Winaero Tweaker 0.11.2
– The “Show Menu Delay” option is now available again for Windows 10 version 1803+.
– HiDPI fixes for the toolbar, the status bar, and the license agreement window.
Download

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.1 Optional
Download | Release Notes

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 68.0.3440.84 for Windows, Mac, and Linux”
Bugfixes.
Download | Download standalone(full) | Download standalone 64-bit Windows version(full)

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Facebook has detected a coordinated effort to influence US politics ahead of the 2018 midterm elections
“We’re still in the very early stages of our investigation and don’t have all the facts — including who may be behind this,” Facebook said in a blog post. “But we are sharing what we know today given the connection between these bad actors and protests that are planned in Washington next week.”
These are acts of war and need to start being treated as such.

Whistleblower reveals Google’s plans for censored search in China
“The search engine would filter sites like Wikipedia and information about topics like freedom of speech”
Remember that when Google tries to lecture anyone about anything.

Doug Grindstaff, ‘Star Trek’ Sound Effects Maestro, Dies at 87
“A five-Time Emmy winner, he came up with Tribble coos, communicator beeps and the whoosh of Enterprise bridge doors opening and closing.”
Remembering Douglas Grindstaff, 1931-2018 – StarTrek.com
“Over the course of more than half a century, Grindstaff amassed 50-plus film and television credits. Among them were Mission: Impossible, The Brady Bunch, Cross Creek, Max Headroom, Dallas, and Knot’s Landing. He also served in combat as an army sergeant in during the Korean Conflict.”
Thank you for your contributions to the wonderful world of Star Trek and thank you for your service. RIP