Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound)

*Important – Win10 Privacy Issue article updated.

Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) v16.8.0.1000
Win10 only – Download & Info

Intel Ethernet Drivers v23.5
Win 7 | Win 8.1 | Win10 | Complete Driver Pack

CCleaner v5.51
Download (I use portable.) | Release Announcement
See also: Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall
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Amazon’s Disturbing Plan to Add Face Surveillance to Your Front Door
Recently, a patent application from Amazon became public that would pair face surveillance — like Rekognition, the product that the company is aggressively marketing to police and Immigration and Customs Enforcement — with Ring, a doorbell camera company that Amazon bought earlier this year.
While the details are sketchy, the application describes a system that the police can use to match the faces of people walking by a doorbell camera with a photo database of persons they deem “suspicious.” Likewise, homeowners can also add photos of “suspicious” people into the system and then the doorbell’s facial recognition program will scan anyone passing their home. In either case, if a match occurs, the person’s face can be automatically sent to law enforcement, and the police could arrive in minutes…Amazon is dreaming of a dangerous future, with its technology at the center of a massive decentralized surveillance network, running real-time facial recognition on members of the public using cameras installed in people’s doorbells.
I was actually considering buying a Ring doorbell. Should’ve known they would f*** it up.

Backup if you have the time.

Firefox 64
Download (all) | Download 32-bit EN-US | Download 64-bit EN-US | Release Notes

Sysinternals Freeware Updates
Autoruns v13.93, Handle v4.21, Process Explorer v16.22, SDelete v2.02, Sigcheck v2.71, Sysmon v8.02 and VMMap v3.25

Adobe Reader Updated
Download (en-US) | Download (all) | Security Bulletin

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

Digital Divide Is Wider Than We Think, Study Says
A new study by Microsoft researchers casts a light on the actual use of high-speed internet across the country, and the picture it presents is very different from the F.C.C. numbers. Their analysis, presented at a Microsoft event on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., suggests that the speedy access is much more limited than the F.C.C. data shows.
Over all, Microsoft concluded that 162.8 million people do not use the internet at broadband speeds, while the F.C.C. says broadband is not available to 24.7 million Americans…Fast internet service is crucial to the modern economy, and closing the digital divide is seen as a step toward shrinking the persistent gaps in economic opportunity, educational achievement and health outcomes in America.
It is a problem in the county I live in and across this country. There are teachers in my county that have to drive to their school parking lots to use broadband for school related activities during their off hours.

Facial recognition: It’s time for action
We believe it’s important for governments in 2019 to start adopting laws to regulate this technology…We also believe that while it’s better to address these issues broadly, we should not wait for governments to act. We and other tech companies need to start creating safeguards to address facial recognition technology.
A good blog post with sound ideas. IMHO it will be largely ignored.

Facebook’s fall: From the friendliest face of tech to perceived enemy of democracy
Today, Zuckerberg is seen by many as a wincing megalomaniacal multibillionaire, and the personal data-mining company he created is viewed by some as an existential threat to democracy itself.
#DeleteFacebook

NIH Study Probes Impact of Heavy Screen Time on Young Brains
Brain scans of adolescents who are heavy users of smartphones, tablets and video games look different from those of less active screen users, preliminary results from an ongoing study funded by the National Institutes of Health show, according to a report on Sunday by “60 Minutes.”
I dislike seeing kids in public on phones and tablets. These devices have become babysitters, a way to shut kids up. Sad.