TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound)

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Finally some time off. On Thursday and Friday I got to watch the Detroit Tigers win 2 in Baltimore. Also we did some biking there including a stop at Fort McHenry and Faidley’s Seafood (best Crab Cakes I’ve ever had). Sunday we rode our bikes from Old Town Alexandria to Mount Vernon. Sunday evening we took a Potomac River cruise to view Washington D.C. from the water. There was beer involved 🙂 Monday I got to watch ex-Tiger Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals get a win against the Miami Marlins. So now, back to work.

Time To Run Windows Update
Updates available for all things Microsoft.
For Win10 see: August 8, 2017—KB4034674 (OS Build 15063.540)
For everything else see the Microsoft Security Update Summary for August 2017 at the end of this post for a full breakdown.

Firefox 55
“Today’s release brings innovative functionality, improvements to core browser performance, and more proof that we’re committed to making Firefox better than ever. New features include support for WebVR, making Firefox the first Windows desktop browser to support VR experiences. Performance changes include significantly faster startup times when restoring lots of tabs and settings that let users take greater control of our new multi-process architecture. We’ve also upgraded the address bar to make finding what you want easier, with search suggestions and the integration of our one-click search feature, and safer, by prioritizing the secure – https – version of sites when possible.”
Download: 32-bit & 64-bit
All Downloads

[Read more…] about Tuesday Random Stuff…

Thursday Random Stuff…

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Win10 KB4032188
This update has been rolling out the last few days.
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”

Google Chrome Updated
Chrome 60.0.3112.90 released. Looks to be bugfixes.
Download: Google Chrome Web 32-bit    Google Chrome 64-bit

Etc.
Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
“Google said it had obtained access to the credit and debit card records of 70 percent of U.S. consumers”

Off Topic
Moderate, Heavy Drinkers More Likely To Reach Age 85 Without Dementia, Study Says

Non-USA Readers

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My security program (firewall) for this site is able to filter access to this site or parts of it by country. I want to be sure folks that do not live in the USA are not getting blocked.
If you are not from the USA please leave a comment to let me know you are seeing this site.

Wow! That was fast. Obviously not having issues.

THANK YOU!

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Chrome 60 Is Out
“The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 60 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux…Chrome 60.0.3112.78 contains a number of fixes and improvements…This update includes 40 security fixes.”
Download: Google Chrome Web 32-bit    Google Chrome 64-bit

Nvidia Drivers 384.94 WHQL Drivers
Download
Release Notes

Firefox Finished?
El Reg – Firefox doesn’t need to be No 1 – and that’s OK, ‘cos it’s falling off a cliff
“Just in case you didn’t believe Firefox was on a trajectory that should have it crash and burn into extinction in the next couple of years, former chief technology officer Andreas Gal has usage stats that confirm it. To use Gal’s words: “Firefox market share is falling off a cliff.” The same could be said of Firefox itself.
What’s most interesting about this data and Gal’s interpretation of it is that at the same time that Firefox is sliding into irrelevancy it’s becoming a better browser.”
Still rockin’ it here.

Etc.
Features that are removed or deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

Friday Random Stuff

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It’s hot!

Not much going on out there. Unless you are a tech reporter that thinks anyone else cares what the next major Windows 10 edition is called.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4.3 Released.
Bunch of new tweaks. Click the [Read more…] link at the bottom of this post for full changelog.
Download

Other Updated Software
– Acronis Disk Director 12 build 3297. Release notes (log into account to download)
– paint.net 4.0.17

[Read more…] about Friday Random Stuff

Patch Tuesday

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Time To Run Windows Update
Among the updates are several critical updates for all Windows versions. Full breakdown of patches at the end of this post.
See also:
Windows 10 July 11, 2017—KB4025342 (OS Build 15063.483)

Flash Updated
Version 26.0.0.13 is out.
APSB17-21 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for IE
Download for Firefox

CCleaner
Monthly update is out. Get 5.32 version here.

After less than a handful of days off over a 6 week period I took a few off and headed to WVA:

Click the read more link below to see the Microsoft Security Update Summary for July 2017
[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

“Brain Hacking”

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“Silicon Valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked, says a former Google product manager.”
Very interesting article. Unfortunately it is about a 60 Minutes TV show that you can only see if you subscribe. Nope.
Bottom line. Tech companies engineer their products to get you addicted, to fool you, to manipulate you.
“Look, never before in history have a handful of people at a handful of technology companies shaped how a billion people think and feel every day with the choices they make about these screens.”
The report is about a guy named Tristan Harris. He wrote a paper called How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind — from a Magician and Google Design Ethicist.
I highly suggest you read it. It took me about 10 minutes to read. I will probably re-read it later.

Patch Tuesday, Part 2

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More updates coming out…

Windows XP Patched Again (Vista Too)
June 2017 security update release
“Microsoft releases additional updates for older platforms to protect against potential nation-state activity” (WannaCry/WannaCrypt)
Microsoft security advisory 4025685: Guidance for older platforms: June 13, 2017
“This section summarizes resources for customers running editions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 8, or Windows Server 2003.”
The above link has links to all the downloads/KB articles.

Firefox 54
“Version 54.0, first offered to Release channel users on June 13, 2017
Today’s release is the first to run Firefox using multiple operating system processes for web page content, making Firefox faster and more stable than ever. Learn more about how multiple processes strike a “just right” balance between performance and memory use on the Mozilla Blog. Dive into the details (including performance benchmarks) on Medium.”

Peek Squad
Ah, Geek Squad. Remember the good old days when they were just searching your electronics for nudes and posting them on the web? You would think an outfit with a 1.1 satisfactory rating would strive to do better, but alas…
EFF – Why We’re Suing the FBI for Records About Best Buy Geek Squad Informants
“Law Enforcement Should Not Be Able to Bypass the Fourth Amendment to Search Your Devices
Sending your computer to Best Buy for repairs shouldn’t require you to surrender your Fourth Amendment rights. But that’s apparently what’s been happening when customers send their computers to a Geek Squad repair facility in Kentucky.“