TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound)

Patch Tuesday

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Time To Run Windows Update
5 – Critical Security Updates
73 – Important Security Updates
1 – Moderate Security Update
(See end of this post for full info.)

Windows 10 – November 14, 2017—KB4048954 (OS Build 15063.726 and 15063.728)
Addresess 19 fixes and several security issues (See end of this post for full info on security issues.)

Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Player Security Updates
APSB17-33 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for IE
Download for Firefox, Opera
APSB17-40 Security update available for Adobe Shockwave Player
Download

Firefox 57
The all-new Firefox Quantum I mentioned this morning is now available to download.
Those having issues with the new FF and old add-ons can use the Firefox Extended Support Release.
Like it or no? New poll up in the right sidebar.

Fedora 27 Is Out
“The Workstation edition of Fedora 27 features GNOME 3.26. In the new release, both the Display and Network configuration panels have been updated, along with the overall Settings panel appearance improvement. The system search now shows more results at once, including the system actions…GNOME 3.26 also features color emoji support”
I stopped reading right there. If anything invloving a fracking emoji is one of your main features you have failed. It’s like they are taking cues from Apple.

CompuServe Forums Calling It Quits
Yeah, I didn’t know they still existed either.
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

Firefox Quantum

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Firefox 57, a.k.a Firefox Quantum will be released today. It’s a big deal. Completely redesigned, the folks at Mozilla say it’s twice as fast and uses 30% less memory. In addition, the interface will be cleaner and is designed for high-resolution displays
If you want to know the hows see here: Entering the Quantum Era—How Firefox got fast again and where it’s going to get faster
One of the downsides of an all new browser is that many old add-ons will not work. It is up to the add-on creators to update their stuff. The hysterical, chicken-littles over at Zdnet call this “add-on armageddon“.
I’m pretty pumped about Firefox Quantum. I hope it returns Firefox to its former glory.

Thursday Random Stuff…

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Polls Widget
Thanks for the votes and feedback on the polls widget. The issues with these widgets is that they need to update every time someone votes. This goes against the page caching that many sites like mine use. The purpose of page caching is to make your page loads quicker and use less of your bandwidth. I think I will try this one for now. I will throw the first real poll up tomorrow. Remember, it’s just for fun.

GET OFF OF FACEBOOK
Sean Parker unloads on Facebook “exploiting” human psychology
Sean Parker was the founding president of Facebook. Here are some quotes from the article:
“God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”
“How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?”
“you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.”

The Rich And The Rest Of Us
“The three richest people in the US – Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffett – own as much wealth as the bottom half of the US population, or 160 million people…Our wealthiest 400 now have more wealth combined than the bottom 64% of the US population, an estimated 80m households or 204 million people,” the report says. “That’s more people than the population of Canada and Mexico combined…The report says the “billionaire class” continues to “pull apart from the rest of us” at the fastest rate ever recorded. “We have not witnessed such extreme levels of concentrated wealth and power since the first gilded age a century ago.”

Ivy Leaguers, LMAO
The Geeks at Dartmouth Collage found out that cantennas actually work. Made one of those back in the day when I was trying to get into wardriving. This “discovery” has been all over the web this week.

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Oops
Missed the new AMD drivers. Thanks Kelly!
Crimson ReLive Edition 17.11.1. Fixes for Mass Effect, WattMan, video playback…

You Know It’s Just A Movie? Right?
Some Geek is trying to figure out The Physics of When, Exactly, Star Wars Takes Place.
“Altogether, this means that Star Wars needs to be at least 9 billion years after the big bang. This leaves plenty of years before the current time (about 4.7 billion to be precise), so it could still count as “a long time ago,” but it is certainly closer to now than to the big bang.”

Linux Has a USB Driver Security Problem
“USB drivers included in the Linux kernel are rife with security flaws that in some cases can be exploited to run untrusted code and take over users’ computers.”
Ruh Roh Shaggy!

Insert Obvious Joke Here
Microsoft has a new document: Getting the most out of Microsoft Edge
Reports that the paper simply says “Install Chrome” are inaccuirate.

Sneaky, Sneaky
“unlocked her sleeping husband’s mobile phone by putting his finger on its scanner.”
Y’all know where this is going!!!
“She then realised he was cheating on her.”

44% Off!
Roku Premiere+ – HD and 4K UHD Streaming Media Player with HDR $49.99

Microsoft Security Advisory 4053440

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Securely opening Microsoft Office documents that contain Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) fields
The title says it all.
There is a vulnerability in MS Office and it is being actively exploited. Though you can edit the registry to block attacks as a temporary fix I don’t recommend it. Why? Because I actually read what Microsoft had to say, “The attacker would have to convince the user to disable Protected Mode and click through one or more additional prompts.” That means you have to download a malicious document, open it, and accept the “Enable editing” prompt. I don’t believe y’all are that stupid. Microsoft will fix this by and by.