Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound)

Well, it is Wednesday and there is some news. No guarantees after that…

Linux Malware
Well frack. There is a Linux Trojan that takes screenshots every 30 seconds and apparently Android 2-factor authentication has been pwned.

Et tu, Intel?
Intel’s Driver Update Utility has a security flaw. It has been fixed. Download it here.

Software Updates
Audacity 2.1.2 (download)
VirtualBox 5.0.14

Planet Nine
The stargazers at Caltech say they found a ninth planet. I’m still pissed they took Pluto away. That’s just wrong. Once you have a Disney character named after you there should be no take-backs.

Etc…
Star Wars: Episode VIII delayed until December 2017
How to seal a bag of chips without a clip

More Privacy News
Pew research has a rather lengthy discussion on privacy. The topic and discussion are very interesting and worth the read. I question the results of the survey as it was an online survey of “461 U.S. adults and nine online focus groups of 80 people”. Very small group of people and I don’t particularly trust online surveys. For instance, does anyone think the polls on this TweakHound.com are an accurate representation of anything other than the way readers of this site feel? I certainly don’t. I put them up because it’s fun and it gives me some insight to my readership.

Speaking Of Online Surveys
Lots of sites copied info from a Computerworld article quoting a survey that nobody can read. Well, you can read it but it’ll cost you $500.00.
The survey “Fielded online through Survata in late September 2015, the survey asked 1,009 U.S. adults about their attitudes toward Microsoft’s latest operating system:“.
The gist of the Computerworld article is that 60% of Win10 users had a favorable opinion of the OS. Interestingly, 37% of those were Windows Insiders.
Personally I question the usefulness of an online survey of only 1009 people that is over 3 months old.

No Old Windows On New Hardware
ARSTechnica – Skylake users given 18 months to upgrade to Windows 10
Neowin – Microsoft will not support older Windows versions on upcoming PC hardware
Paul Thurrott – Microsoft Finds Another Way to Force Windows 10 Upgrade on Businesses
The above posts are based on Terry Myerson’s Windows 10 Embracing Silicon Innovation blog post. He said in part,
“Going forward, as new silicon generations are introduced, they will require the latest Windows platform at that time for support. This enables us to focus on deep integration between Windows and the silicon, while maintaining maximum reliability and compatibility with previous generations of platform and silicon. For example, Windows 10 will be the only supported Windows platform on Intel’s upcoming “Kaby Lake” silicon, Qualcomm’s upcoming “8996” silicon, and AMD’s upcoming “Bristol Ridge” silicon.”
In a nutshell, new hardware will need new Windows. Some folks are pissed about it. I understand their feelings but I’m not sure how much care about this issue. I’ll run the OS I desire and virtualize the rest.

Site News
Thank you all for hanging in with me this last week and coming back here. I’m still trying to tweak the best settings for the speed of this site.

Flash Updated
APSB16-01 Security Updates Available for Adobe Flash Player
Flash for IE
Flash for other browsers
Main download page
Windows 8/8.1/10 users check Windows Update. Microsoft will get around to updating it…eventually.
Google Chrome users, ditto.

Firefox 43.0.3
Fixed:
On some Windows configurations, improve the decoding of some videos on YouTube
Fix network issue when using Nvidia’s Network Access Manager
Download 32-bit (en-US)
Download 64-bit (en-US)
Download other systems and languages
Release Notes

Interesting Reads
Recently Bought a Windows Computer? Microsoft Probably Has Your Encryption Key
In Defense of the Server GUI
Techno-skeptics’ objection growing louder

Lemmy – Born To Lose, Lived To Win
Meadowlark Lemon, Harlem Globetrotters’ Dazzling Court Jester, Dies at 83 (If you aren’t familiar with his work, check YouTube)