Wednesday Random Stuff…
Intel SSD Toolbox Updated
Version: 3.5.4.0 Date: 9/17/2018
Download | Release Notes
CCleaner Update Pulled
As I mentioned yesterday, CCleaner 5.47 was pulled. A single post by the companies rep in their forum says,
“Hey guys there is a bug here and we’re hotfixing it now. v5.46 has been restored in the meantime.”
That’s all I know.
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Hackers stole customer credit cards in Newegg data breach
“Hackers injected 15 lines of card skimming code on the online retailer’s payments page which remained for more than a month between August 14 and September 18”
I haven’t shopped there in almost 2 years.
Police, Fire Recruits Quizzed About Sex Lives In Application
Everyone should have replied, “None of your damn business.”
Homeless Man Shaving on Train Goes Viral Because Humans Are Terrible and Social Media Was a Mistake
We’ve all seen a man at the liquor store beggin’ for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks a man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
“Get a job you f***ing slob, ” is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to sing the blues
Everlast – What it’s Like (Music Video)
50 Years Of Sockin’ It To The PTA
“A single mom who wears miniskirts is the scorn of a small town. Fifty years ago this month, the song “Harper Valley P.T.A.” made singer Jeannie C. Riley the first woman to hit the top spot on both the pop and country charts.”
Fantastic song. Rolling Stone listed it as one of the top 100 country songs (#58) and for once I agree with them (text list here).
They made a movie based on the song too.
Tuesday Morning News
Win10 Updated
Only builds 1709, 1803 have updates as of this writing.
1709 & 1803 Fixes
This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update. Key changes include:
Addresses a Microsoft Intune issue that occurs after installing any of the updates released between July 24, 2018 and September 11, 2018. Windows no longer recognizes the Personal Information exchange (PFX) certificate that’s used for authenticating to a Wi-Fi or VPN connection. As a result, Microsoft Intune takes a long time to deliver user profiles because it doesn’t recognize that the required certificate is on the device.
1709 Fixes
Addresses an issue that may prevent a VPN connection from establishing for some users that are using VPN with IKEv2. The connection fails with the error, “Remote Access Error 809.”
Win10 1803 – September 17, 2018—KB4464218 (OS Build 17134.286)
Win10 1709 – September 17, 2018—KB4464217 (OS Build 16299.666)
Google Chrome Updated
Version 69.0.3497.100 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android released.
Desktop version contains 1 security fix.
Android version contains “bug fixes and improvements.”
Download | Download standalone(full) | Download standalone 64-bit Windows version(full)
Download Google Chrome for Android
CCleaner 5.47
Download (I use the portable version) | Release Announcement
I keep getting questions so…
Yes, I still use CCleaner. Yes, I still recommend CCleaner. But, though many seem not to listen, I keep telling folks NOT TO INSTALL IT. It doesn’t need to be installed and all the issues that have come up have been from the installed versions.
This version has been pulled for some reason. I downloaded 5.47.6701 portable so we will see what happens.
Thanks to James P. for the heads up!
Monday Morning Random Stuff…
Winamp 5.8
This weekend multiple sites posted excitedly about a new beta leak from Winamp. One problem, it is from 2016.
Hot Deals!!!
Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD
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Samsung 860 Evo 500GB 2.5 inch SATA III Internal SSD
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Samsung 970 PRO 512GB – NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD
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Samsung 970 EVO 500GB – NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD
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Samsung 128GB 100MB/s (U3) MicroSD EVO Select Memory Card with Adapter
List Price: $41.99
With Deal: $28.99
You Save: $13.00 (31%)
Logitech G602 Lag-Free Wireless Gaming Mouse – 11 Programmable Buttons, Up to 2500 DPI
List Price: $79.99
Price: $29.99
You Save: $50.00 (63%)
Weekend Random Stuff…
Not much tech news out there.
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Hurricane/Tropical Storm Florence
North Carolina is still getting hammered. South Carolina is getting it now too. I hope you all get through this OK.
The Cajun Navy is out already. Those folks are awesome.
The drama queens over at the Weather Channel could win an Emmy for their Hurricane Florence coverage. I don’t know if it will be Best Drama Series or Best Comedy Series.
I’ve never understood why reporters find it necessary to stand out in that stuff. When I see it all I think is, “Idiot”.
Google China Prototype Links Searches to Phone Numbers
I’m not gonna quote anything because the whole article is quotable, and stunning, and sad.
This after revelation of Google’s political bias.
Exactly How Teachers Came to Be So Underpaid in America
“The decline in education funding is not limited to salaries. Twenty-nine states were still spending less per student in 2015, adjusted for inflation, than they did before the Great Recession, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, leaving many public schools dilapidated, overcrowded and reliant on outdated textbooks and threadbare supplies.”
We say public safety and education is important yet we underpay first responders and teachers.
A solar observatory in New Mexico is evacuated for a week and the FBI is investigating. No one will say why.
Bizarre. The silence is only making the tinfoil hat brigade go nuttier than usual.
It’s Beer Season
The Fall beers are out in force. Oktoberfest, Pumpkin, Maple…
It isn’t making my diet easy. I’ve gone from +237 lbs to 216 in the last few months. Shooting for 200.
Cold Boot Attack
Security flaw in ‘nearly all’ modern PCs and Macs exposes encrypted data
“A firmware bug means existing security measures “aren’t enough to protect data in lost or stolen laptops,” says new security research”
(Thanks Dan!)
Everything you need to know to is in the excellent paper:
F-Secure’s Guide To Evil Maid Attacks
Geeks have always known that once someone has physical access to your PC (or Mac, or phone), given enough time, it will be compromised.
Conduct yourself accordingly, especially on mobile devices. Given that, IMHO it is all about putting hurdles in place to slow an attacker down and frustrate them.
Here is what I tell my friends when they ask about mobile tech device security:
– Use a BIOS/EFI password.
– Use an OS password.
– Use a password manager.
– Encrypt your important docs.
– Cover your webcam. I use these: Laptop Camera Cover Set
– Delete those compromising pics of yourself and/or your significant other (and stop taking them).
– Keep your system up to date. This means both the OS and the firmware.
– Backup, backup, backup
Thursday Morning Random Stuff…
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Optional 18.9.1
Support For: Shadow of the Tomb Raider & Star Control: Origins
Download | Release Notes
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows 10 v20.80.0.5
Key Issues Fixed:
Resolved various BSOD associated to different circumstances
Tray icon appears as if the system is using wired network while system is using WiFi
Apple Announces Large Expensive iPhone
According to Trusted Reviews the 512GB XS Max iPhone will be $1,300. This tops the $960 price that Samsung charges for the 256GB Galaxy S9+ (the 256GB XS Max is $1,150). Like the iPhones before it I’m sure this will be a great seller. All the cool kids will have one.
Patch Tuesday
Sorry I’m a day late with this, yesterday was a long day at work.
Windows Update
Windows 7 and 8.1 get a few security updates.
Windows 10, “This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
Win10 1803 – September 11, 2018—KB4457128 (OS Build 17134.285)
Win10 1709 – September 11, 2018—KB4457142 (OS Build 16299.665)
Win10 1703 – September 11, 2018—KB4457138 (OS Build 15063.1324)
Win10 1607 – September 11, 2018—KB4457131 (OS Build 14393.2485)
Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 69.0.3497.92 for Windows, Mac, and Linux…This update includes 2 security fixes.”
Download | Download standalone(full) | Download standalone 64-bit Windows version(full)
Android too:
“Chrome 69 (69.0.3497.91) for Android has been released and will be available on Google Play over the course of the next few weeks. This release contains bug fixes and improvements.”
Download
Win10 Insider
Installed Win10 Insider Preview on my dual-boot Win7/Win10 machine. Here is what it did to my Win7 install:
Monday Random Stuff…
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready 399.24 WHQL Drivers
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Blackout open beta, and Assetto Corsa Competizione early access.”
Download | Release Notes
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
‘LOW CUT & CHEAP’ Oktoberfest beer festival backlash over ‘porn’ outfits as Germans moan about Brit tourists in ‘cheap’ revealing clothes
“Cultural leaders believe much of what is being worn is becoming more and more like a porno version of the buxom dress called the dirndl.”
Party poopers.
Study: Two-thirds of Millennials sleep nude
People sleep with clothes on?
Don’t call the Alamo’s defenders ‘heroic,’ Texas school curriculum panel urges
“The panel said “heroic” was a “value-charged word.”
Windows 7 Support
Last week Microsoft announced extended support for “Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Enterprise customers in Volume Licensing” through January 2023. “Volume Licensing” means businesses, not home users. Home users will be EOLed on January 14, 2020.
This will leave users with either Windows 8.1 that nearly nobody wants, or Windows 10 that many people don’t want. I’m not all that sure anyone wanted either one to begin with. A Windows 7 Service Pack 2 would have done nicely. Never the less, here we are.
Windows 7 support for home users will end over 10 years after it was released. We whined when they stopped supporting XP, an operating system that they supported for nearly 13 years. But, to be fair to Microsoft lets look at some other operating systems:
(Dates are best I could find, if you have a correction please post it.)
Apple
macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) Oldest supported Mac OS, Released in 2015
iOS – oldest supported phone (iPhone 5S – September 20, 2013) = approx 5 years old
Linux
Linux varies wildly by vendor but here is my best estimate:
Kernel 3.X EOL 2015-16, 3.5 to 4 years after initial release
Kernel 4.X initial release was 12 April 2015 and is current.
There is a kernel branch called LTS that differs from the above. These “”longterm maintenance” releases have varying expiration dates.
Individual vendors set there own schedules and can often range up to 6 years. The latest Linux Mint LTS release is 19/Tara was released June, 2018 and is supported until April 2023, just shy of 5 years.
Android
Android support is an unmitigated disaster. There seem to be no rules at all. As far as I can tell most phones stop getting updates about 3 years in.
Conclusion
You can see that Microsoft supports their operating systems a long time. Longer than anyone else. Still, for us Windows 7 lovers, end of support will truly suck. From Microsoft’s viewpoint maintaining 3 desktop operating systems is difficult, I get that. But the thing is, they are going to keep maintaining it for businesses anyway. Leaving home users out of the loop seems to be a cold blooded money grab. It is, IMHO, a big middle finger to everyone at home using Windows 7.
*notes
Windows lifecycle fact sheet (Applies to: Windows 10 Windows 7 Windows 8.1)