Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound)

Firefox 59.0.1
Firefox 32-bit | Firefox 64-bit | All downloads | Release Notes

Intel Will Release New CPUs
“These changes will begin with our next-generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors (code-named Cascade Lake) as well as 8th Generation Intel® Core™ processors expected to ship in the second half of 2018.”
and
“First, we have now released microcode updates for 100 percent of Intel products launched in the past five years that require protection against the side-channel method vulnerabilities discovered by Google.”

Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places
“At CuriosityStream, we will always be grateful that Professor Hawking passionately shared his enthusiasm for the wonders of the Universe with his fellow humans. In tribute, please enjoy the complete series of Stephen Hawking’s Favorite Places through Friday, March 23rd.”

“Widespread contamination”
“Researchers tested 250 bottles of water in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Thailand and the United States.
Plastic was identified in 93 percent of the samples, which included major name brands such as Aqua, Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure Life and San Pellegrino.”

The Retail Big Brother
“Major retailers, including Best Buy, JCPenny, Victoria’s Secret and a variety of others, have been tracking the return habits of shoppers and secretly punishing those who are suspected it be abusing return policies.”

Chinese Social Credit System
I saw this article: China will ban people with poor ‘social credit’ from planes and trains
Huh. WTF is “social credit?”
Read the link to this article: Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens
Coming to a college campus near you.

UVA Basketball Makes History
Virginia Ends Historic Season by Suffering Biggest Upset in College Basketball History
“This was a sports version of David and Goliath in a true sense. Virginia entered the game as 20.5-point favorites and would lose by 20. David felled Goliath with a rock to the forehead, but he also cut off the giant’s head.”
My bracket is a disaster and I don’t care. I love that UVA got taken down. Way to go UMBC!

Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 65.0.3325.162 for Windows, Mac and Linux.”
Download
This does NOT have the flash update. From the comments:
“to download the updated Flash Player, go to chrome://components , and under the entry for Adobe Flash Player click on “Check for update”. ”

Sacrificial Lamb?
An executive at Equifax has been charged with insider trading. It isn’t the big guy.
Thanks Chris!

Big Little Brother
Mobile license pilot study to allow police to ‘ping’ cellphone for a license
Why don’t you just mandate we all have a chip implanted in us?

The Not-So-Friendly Skies
Puppy dies after flight attendant insists it be stored in an overhead bin
United Airlines Just Admitted It’s Now Charging $9 for Overhead Bin Space (It Could Cost More)
United Airlines mistakenly flies family’s Kansas-bound dog to Japan
I hate flying. Cramped seats, rude staff, dirty environment, TSA, the waiting…

Lots of Windows and other software updates today. Full roundup later once they are all out. Until then…

More Win10 Forced Upgrades
Woody is on the case again:
“For the third time in the past four months, Microsoft ‘accidentally’ upgraded Win10 1703 machines to version 1709 in spite of explicit, correctly applied, deferral settings.”
The constant Win10 shenanigans from GWX until now almost gets me nostalgic for Windows Vista. Almost…

[H]ard On Nvdia
Klye at [H]ardOCP takes Nvidia to task for, let us call it anti-competitive behavior:
“I think it [GPP] is going to greatly, and negatively, impact consumer choice in the AIB and OEM computer market. Consumer choice is going to be decimated. Looking at the program guidelines, I truly think that is what will happen and is where my concern lies.”

TSA Illegal Searches?
The ACLU of Northern California is suing the TSA to get access to info as to why the TSA is searching domestic passengers electronic devices:
“TSA is searching the electronic devices of domestic passengers, but without offering any reason for the search,” Talla added. “We don’t know why the government is singling out some passengers, and we don’t know what exactly TSA is searching on the devices. Our phones and laptops contain very personal information, and the federal government should not be digging through our digital data without a warrant.”
I applaud the ACLU here. Perhaps next they could defend the Oakland Police against the discrimination happening across the bay.

ETC. Other stuff I’ve bookmarked this week.
The ability to feel empathy—or not—is shaped by your genes
Bono’s anti-poverty campaign faces claims of harassment
Mom has nearly all her limbs cut off after docs failed to spot deadly disease

I’m a tad under the weather so I hope my semi-coherent ramblings aren’t worse than usual.

Windows 10 S Mode
Years ago I advocated dual booting the same OS with a “daily driver” version and a game only version. Operating systems have changed quite a bit since then, especially memory management. Once you get an operating system system setup properly with a few performance tweaks here and there you are good to go. The old tweaks that had such a dramatic change in performance either make little change or don’t work at all. But this Windows 10 S Mode has me thinking about the possibilities…

That Name S*%#+
People are whining about the next Win10 version maybe being called “Spring Creators Update“.
In the words of my millennial friends, “DGAF.” My generation would say, “Get a life.”
Whatever it is called, I would not be in a hurry to update. The next version of a bloated OS isn’t gonna change your life. Let someone else beta test it.
On a personal level I would appreciate MS going to a once yearly update cycle. We all have enough to do without worrying about our PCs being hosed twice a year.

Speaking Of Millenials
They are beginning to understand social media sucks:
– > 50% are “seeking relief from social media”
– 34% say they have deleted social-media accounts entirely.
– The most popular apps to quit permanently are Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as the dating app Tinder. Snapchat, on the other hand, escaped most teens’ wrath.(didn’t know 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 are teens)
(FYI – The survey looks at 18-24 year olds. The creators of the term define millennials as being born between 1982 and 2002 which would make them 16-36. The Pew Research center has recently defined them as “Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 22-37 in 2018)”)

Reader Emails
Q – The motive from my contact is that lately I’m having a few troubles with Bit Defender 2018, I searched in TH about AV’s but I only found a 2013 article, which helped me a lot btw, but I was wondering if you can bring an fresh update about that matter. An AV recommendation, maybe what AV do you use, etc…
A – I don’t have an AV recommendation. I use Windows Defender + Virtual Machines + Common Sense + Backups.
I should have added: I have dabbled with Norton in the last couple of years. Dunno, I guess it is OK. I will not even consider AV from companies in countries that are openly hostile to my own.

ETC. Other stuff I’ve bookmarked this week.
Lawmakers Continue Fighting For Net Neutrality in the US Senate, Courts, and States
China’s Long Arm Reaches Into American Campuses
DC Veterans Affairs hit by scathing report citing ‘failed leadership at multiple levels’
Galveston teen receives sweet surprise after helping elderly customer at Waffle House
Harry Potter: A History of Magic – Explore the wonders of the British Library exhibition

Chrome 65
“This update includes 45 security fixes.”
Download

New AMD Drivers
Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.3.1 Optional
Support for Final Fantasy XV, Warhammer, Vermintide II, DOTA2

“We know all about you”
MoviePass CEO, “We get an enormous amount of information…We watch how you drive from home to the movies. We watch where you go afterwards.”

Peek Squad At It Again
“EFF filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit last year to learn more about how the FBI uses Geek Squad employees to flag illegal material when people pay Best Buy to repair their computers. The relationship potentially circumvents computer owners’ Fourth Amendment rights.”