Computer News

VLC 3.0.8
Download | 64-bit | Release Page

CCleaner 5.61
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement
See also: Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

Macrium Reflect 7.2.4433???
Was released and pulled I guess. Watch here: https://forum.macrium.com/Topic30606.aspx

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

Black hole shock: Astronomers spy black hole SWALLOWING neuton star
“Scientists scouring the cosmos for faint ripples in space-time have spied a black hole devouring a neutron star for the very first time.”

Pumpkin Spice Is Back
Yeah, I’m one of those people. I’ve already had 7 different Pumpkin beers. Dunkin’ Donuts pumpkin stuff hits the shelves tomorrow. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice coffee comes out the 27th.
Pumpkin beers I’ve had so far this year: Avery Rumpkin, Schlafly Pumpkin Ale, Alewerks Pumpkin, Blue Mountain Spooky, South Street Twisted Gourd, Southern Tier Pumpking, Southern Tier Warlock.

Study: People Who Use Emojis Have More Sex (Kinda)

Old School Country
The band is called Midland. No “Hick-Hop” here, just “90s-influenced” country. You can read about it and stream it here:
NPR: Midland, Connoisseurs Of Country Craft, Evolves Its Vintage Sound
I liked it enough I pre-ordered it at Amazon.

Some Win10 Versions Updated
1903 – no release
1809 – August 17, 2019—KB4512534 (OS Build 17763.720) A whole bunch of “Addresses an issue” fixes.
1803 – no release
1709 – August 16, 2019—KB4512494 (OS Build 16299.1365) 7 “Addresses an issue” fixes

New Intel Drivers
Intel Processor Identification Utility 6.1.0731 – ***Patches vulnerability
Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) Driver 17.5.2.1024
Intel Wireless Bluetooth for Windows 10 21.30.0
Windows 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters 21.30.3

Wise Disk Cleaner 10.2.4
“Minor bug fixes, Updated various translations, GUI and usability improvements”
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement

Etc.
Avidemux 2.7.4 – “Tons of bugfixes”

Another Question For You, DD-WRT?
At any given time I have 2 dozen or more devices on my home network including 11 video cameras, a home server, 2 Amazon Fire devices, Roku, 6 PCs, 2 phones, a tablet, 5 switches, and 2 wireless APs. The weak spot in my network seems to be my router, a Netgear R6400v2. My network will get wonky (collisions, timeouts…) and a reboot fixes it for a few days or so. I’m considering flashing the router to DD-WRT mainly because it supposedly allows timed reboots. Have any of you used this? If so any thoughts?
My other solution is a new router which of course is $$$ that I would rather not spend ATM.

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

LAST A-10 Warthog Brrrrrrt EVER to be built – theCHIVE
Despite the efforts of some morons over the years they aren’t going out of service yet: A-10 re-winging completed, will keep Warthog in the air until late 2030s
Repost from a few months back:
A-10 Brrrrrrrt Warthog Thunderbolt II Photos Gun Firing : theCHIVE
Cool pics of one of the worlds greatest ground combat weapons. True story…
I was stationed at Kriegsfeld Army Depot in Germany. It was a “special weapons” facility. We MPs that guarded the weapons were called “Towers Rats” (pic below). Every so often the A-10s from Sembach Air Base would come buzzing around the site. One day I climbed on top of my tower and as the A10 approached I dropped my BDU pants and mooned the pilot. He did a quick loop and buzzed my tower so close it shook for 30 seconds. Still makes me chuckle…
Kregsfeld Army Depot pics

Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD
One of the fastest most reliable SSDs out there. This is even cheaper than the 250GB version!
List Price: $149.99
Price: $89.99
You Save: $60.00 (40%)

Windows 10
“Security updates to Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Cryptography, Windows Datacenter Networking, Windows Virtualization, Windows Storage and Filesystems, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Linux, Windows Kernel, Windows Server, Windows MSXML, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge.”
1903 – August 13, 2019—KB4512508 (OS Build 18362.295)
1809 – August 13, 2019—KB4511553 (OS Build 17763.678)
1803 – August 13, 2019—KB4512501 (OS Build 17134.950)
1709 – August 13, 2019—KB4512516 (OS Build 16299.1331)

Windows 8
“Security updates to Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Virtualization, Windows Datacenter Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows MSXML, and Windows Server.”
August 13, 2019—KB4512489 (Security-only update)
August 13, 2019—KB4512488 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 7
“Security updates to Windows App Platform and Frameworks, Windows Wireless Networking, Windows Storage and Filesystems, Windows Virtualization, Windows Datacenter Networking, the Microsoft JET Database Engine, Windows Input and Composition, Windows MSXML, and Windows Server.”
August 13, 2019—KB4512486 (Security-only update)
August 13, 2019—KB4512506 (Monthly Rollup)

Adobe Acrobat Reader DC
Version 2019.012.20036 releases.
Download (EN-US) | All Downloads | Security Bulletin

Start10 1.75
“adds support for Windows 10’s Dark Mode UI”
Release Announcement
Download from within program or from here.

I am NOT liking the Blink cameras…

Chrome Updated
Desktop version 76.0.3809.100 has 4 security fixes.
Download: 32-bit or 64-bit | Blog Post

Intel Graphics – Windows 10 DCH Drivers
Version: 26.20.100.7000 (wth is with all the numbers?)
“Performance optimizations”
Download & Info

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

Revealed: Microsoft Contractors Are Listening to Some Skype Calls
“The Skype audio obtained by Motherboard includes conversations from people talking intimately to loved ones, some chatting about personal issues such as their weight loss, and others seemingly discussing relationship problems. Other files obtained by Motherboard show that Microsoft contractors are also listening to voice commands that users speak to Cortana, the company’s voice assistant.”
Ahem…”talking intimately”… LMAO

Package Delivery! Cybercriminals at Your Doorstep
“What most people don’t realize is that some packages they receive may be looking to steal personal or confidential information. And the proliferation of e-commerce-related package deliveries is exactly what cybercriminals can exploit with a tactic IBM X-Force Red is calling “warshipping.” Warshipping counters these limitations in many ways by using disposable, low-cost and low-power computers to remotely perform close-proximity attacks, regardless of a cybercriminal’s location. Adding to that, warshipping increases target accuracy dramatically. An attacker could control the device from the comfort of their home anywhere in the world.”
Interesting. Ingenious actually. Diabolically so.

Hey Noob
System cleaners are about privacy, not speed.
&
“Speed up your computer by getting an SSD“. It’s 2019, we all know that now.

Insecure Nvidia Drivers
It was widely reported today that drivers older than the current Nvidia drivers have several known security vulnerabilities.
The latest secure ones are version 431.60 from July 23rd.
Download | Release Notes

CVE-2019-1125 | Windows Kernel Information Disclosure Vulnerability
“An information disclosure vulnerability exists when certain central processing units (CPU) speculatively access memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could read privileged data across trust boundaries.
To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would have to log on to an affected system and run a specially crafted application. The vulnerability would not allow an attacker to elevate user rights directly, but it could be used to obtain information that could be used to try to compromise the affected system further.
On January 3, 2018, Microsoft released an advisory and security updates related to a newly-discovered class of hardware vulnerabilities (known as Spectre) involving speculative execution side channels that affect AMD, ARM, and Intel CPUs to varying degrees. This vulnerability, released on August 6, 2019, is a variant of the Spectre Variant 1 speculative execution side channel vulnerability and has been assigned CVE-2019-1125.
Microsoft released a security update on July 9, 2019 that addresses the vulnerability through a software change that mitigates how the CPU speculatively accesses memory. Note that this vulnerability does not require a microcode update from your device OEM.”
This is an update on the Spectre mitigation issues.

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

How the smartphone affects Mobile Network Experience Report
“Samsung users experienced faster download speeds than Apple and Huawei users in 35% of countries, across 40 countries analyzed…In the U.S., Samsung users experienced download speeds 8.2 Mbps faster than iPhone users.”

Amazon Is Coaching Cops on How to Obtain Surveillance Footage Without a Warrant
“When police partner with Ring, Amazon’s home surveillance camera company, they get access to the “Law Enforcement Neighborhood Portal,” an interactive map that allows officers to request footage directly from camera owners. Police don’t need a warrant to request this footage, but they do need permission from camera owners.
Emails and documents obtained by Motherboard reveal that people aren’t always willing to provide police with their Ring camera footage. However, Ring works with law enforcement and gives them advice on how to persuade people to give them footage.”

My “everyday carry knife” is on sale: Gerber Paraframe Mini Knife, Fine Edge, Stainless Steel
2 1/4 inch blade, pocket clip
List Price: $13.00 | Price:$8.94 | You Save: $4.06 (31%)

Fitness Experts Debunk 17 Exercise Myths
“Crunches will give you abs. Cardio is the key to weight loss. These are two of more than a dozen exercise myths that do more harm than good. Business Insider brought in three professional athletic trainers to debunk them.”

Linux Mint 19.2 Released
“Linux Mint 19.2 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2023. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.”
I upgraded my VM and it went well.
Release Announcement | How to upgrade

Macrium Reflect Updated Pulled?
v7.2.4398 was momentarily released last week. Not there anymore. No statement from the company on this.
Release notes still there: http://updates.macrium.com/reflect/v7/v7.2.4398/details7.2.4398.htm

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

CafePress Hacked, 23M Accounts Compromised. Is Yours One Of Them?
“According to that HIBP notification, the breach itself took place on Feb 20 and compromised a total of 23,205,290 accounts. The exposed data included 23 million unique email addresses; some of the compromised records also included names, physical addresses and phone numbers…Why has it taken so long to find out about the CafePress breach? Good question. An equally good one might be “why have I heard about this breach from HIBP and not CafePress itself?” of course…There have been no notification emails from CafePress as far as I can ascertain.”

Amazon now lets you stop human review of your Alexa recordings
Apple and Google temporarily stop listening to Siri and OK Google queries
***Here’s How to Stop ‘Human Review’ of Your Alexa Interactions. (Apple and Google Too)***

81 of the Best Barrel aged Imperial Stouts, Blind-Tasted and Ranked
IMHO missing a bunch. Isn’t that the case with all such lists?

Good for Google, Bad for America
“At its core, artificial intelligence is a military technology. Why is the company sharing it with a rival?
“A.I.’s military power is the simple reason that the recent behavior of America’s leading software company, Google — starting an A.I. lab in China while ending an A.I. contract with the Pentagon — is shocking. As President Barack Obama’s defense secretary Ash Carter pointed out last month, “If you’re working in China, you don’t know whether you’re working on a project for the military or not.”
No intensive investigation is required to confirm this. All one need do is glance at the Communist Party of China’s own constitution: Xi Jinping added the principle of “civil-military fusion,” which mandates that all research done in China be shared with the People’s Liberation Army, in 2017.”

These scientists may have solved MLB’s ‘juiced’ baseball problem
“Within a matter of weeks, according to Smith and Nathan, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred could be ready to present the research findings and explain what has caused the baseballs to drive up the home run totals — not to mention fuel conspiracy theorists who have accused the league of juicing up the balls.”
This should make my home boy Justin Verlander happy.: Justin Verlander Says MLB Is Juicing Baseballs To Goose Up Offense
“It’s a f—-ing joke. Major League Baseball’s turning this game into a joke. They own Rawlings, and you’ve got Manfred up here saying it might be the way they center the pill. They own the f—-ing company. If any other $40 billion company bought out a $400 million company and the product changed dramatically, it’s not a guess as to what happened. We all know what happened. Manfred the first time he came in, what’d he say? He said we want more offense. All of a sudden he comes in, the balls are juiced? It’s not coincidence. We’re not idiots.”
Asked if he believed the balls were intentionally juiced by the league, Verlander said: “Yes. 100 percent. They’ve been using juiced balls in the Home Run Derby forever. They know how to do it. It’s not coincidence. I find it really hard to believe that Major League Baseball owns Rawlings and just coincidentally the balls become juiced.”

Backlash at barefoot Prince Harry and ‘hypocrite Greenerati’: Eco-warrior elite who turned up at secret climate change Google camp in 114 private jets, helicopters and mega yachts are mocked for leaving their own carbon footprint

Instagram yourdadsamerica

Chrome 76 Released
“Chrome 76.0.3809.87 contains a number of fixes and improvements…This update includes 43 security fixes.”
Download for Desktop: 32- bit or 64-bit | Blog Post
Chrome 76 arrives with Flash blocked by default, detecting Incognito mode disabled, and PWA improvements

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

Amazon’s Free Doorbell Cameras Only Cost Law Enforcement Agencies Their Dignity And Autonomy
“There’s no such thing as a free surveillance camera. Amazon gives these to local cops with the understanding they will proselytize on behalf of its doorbell cameras. Police give these cameras to residents with the understanding (albeit one without the legally-binding language) that they’ll hand over footage from these cameras whenever officers ask for it.
The set-up is sustainable and scales well. The more residents who download Amazon’s surveillance/snitch app Neighbors, the more credits cops can apply towards the purchase of more Ring cameras. It’s a new spin on pyramid schemes, with Amazon gaining market share with each deployment, allowing government employees to do the legwork.
The police become middlemen and advertisers.”
Amazon is just being Amazon I reckon but the police departments should be ashamed of themselves.

OpenSUSE Leap 15.1 – A dream come untrue
“The installer is no longer as awesome as it used to be, the package management is quite broken, and the system wasn’t stable enough to be fun and enjoyable, before or after my tweaks. The Plasma desktop is sweet, and while SUSE does have tricks most other distros don’t have, like YaST, BTRFS, Snapper and such, it feels raw and jumbled and hastily put together. There were too many rough edges and errors and application crashes for me to consider this for serious work. Alas, my dream of using openSUSE in my production setup was dashed once again. All in all, Leap 15.1 deserves something like 4/10, a far cry from the legend it used to be.”
I came to that conclusion 3 1/2 yaers ago: Not Happy With openSUSE Leap and KDE5 (December 19, 2015)

Congressman Calls Out METALLICA After Ticket Scam Is Revealed
“According to The Pulse Of Radio, a congressman has called out METALLICA after it was revealed that representatives for the band allegedly partnered with concert promoter Live Nation to sell portions of their tickets directly to resellers, denying fans the chance to buy tickets first at face value.”
Concert ticketing in this country is an absolute farce. It is corrupt from top to bottom and any band that denies knowledge of this are Lars liars.

Capital One’s breach was inevitable, because we did nothing after Equifax
“Why should we be surprised? Equifax faced zero fallout until its eventual fine. All talk, much bluster, but otherwise little action.
Equifax’s chief executive Richard Smith “retired” before he was fired, allowing him to keep his substantial pension packet. Lawmakers grilled the company but nothing happened. An investigation launched by the former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the governmental body responsible for protecting consumers from fraud, declined to pursue the company. The FTC took its sweet time to issue its fine — which amounted to about 20% of the company’s annual revenue for 2018. For one of the most damaging breaches to the U.S. population since the breach of classified vetting files at the Office of Personnel Management in 2015, Equifax got off lightly.”
Every damn one of us saw that coming. The rich rarely get punished as they should.

Startling Study Reveals Majority Of U.S. Packaged Food Is Ultra-Processed
“Now, a new study out of Northwestern University has identified another contributing factor: the overwhelming majority of packaged foods available in the U.S. in 2018 were ultra-processed and unhealthy…American food goods were found to be significantly more processed and contain larger amounts of sugar and sodium, on average.”
I don’t think any sane person thinks our affordable food choices are very healthy. Adults are fatter and sicker and more disturbing is the nations children are too.

AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.7.3 Optional
Support for Wolfenstein: Youngblood, added Vulkan support, other fixes
Download | Release Notes

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

Older drivers are more likely to be distracted by tech while driving, AAA report says
“Older drivers are more likely to be distracted while driving when using in-vehicle technology than their younger counterparts, according to a report released Thursday by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and the University of Utah.
When performing simple tasks like programming navigation or tuning the radio, drivers between 55 to 75 took their eyes off the road an average of eight seconds longer than those age 21 to 36, the study showed.”
Not surprising. You got the generation that grew up without tech and built it, then you have the generation that was born in to it.

‘PETA Tears’ lager released by Maryland seafood joint to celebrate crab battle with activists
“Jimmy’s Famous Seafood in Baltimore is selling a limited run of “PETA Tears” lager to celebrate last year’s “go vegan” billboards targeting the crab industry.
“One year ago, PETA launched an unprovoked attack on the crab industry here in Maryland,” the restaurant recently wrote on its Facebook page. “Fresh off the perceived success of their asinine tussle with Barnum’s Animal Crackers, the millionaires expected an easy victory in The Old Line State. Boy, were they wrong!”
“To celebrate the one year anniversary of this historic moment, we’ve crafted a refreshing new locally brewed lager — PETA Tears,” the statement continued. “This golden masterpiece (4.9% ABV) is a limited-time release, and is perfectly paired with steamed crabs — and all other seafood! Turns out that their tears are in fact quite delicious!”
Well played!

Zombieland is one of my favs. Looking forward to this:

Win10 1809 Updated
“This update includes quality improvements”
July 22, 2019—KB4505658 (OS Build 17763.652)

Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) Driver
Version: 17.5.1.1021
Download | Release Notes

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 431.60
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Wolfenstein: Youngblood, Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot, and Madden NFL 20
Adds support for GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GPUs
Adds support for new G-SYNC compatible monitors”
Download | Release Notes
Related: AMD exec: Nvidia fell for our double bluff
“According to Herkelman, this whole thing was a chess match, and Nvidia fell into his clever trap as planned. AMD initially bid the card high, Nvidia undercut it with the lowest price it could afford, and AMD then dropped the hammer on Nvidia with its own lowest price.”

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

Internet Explorer and Edge send the full URL of every page you visit to MS, plus your unique account ID
“It all has to do with the “SmartScreen Filter,” designed to keep you away from malicious sites.”
You three guys using those browsers should be very upset.

Never-Googlers: Web users take the ultimate step to guard their data
“Kelly is one of a hearty few who are taking the ultimate step to keep their files and online life safe from prying eyes: turning off Google entirely. That means eschewing some of the most popular services on the Web, including Gmail, Google search, Google Maps, the Chrome browser, Android mobile operating software and even YouTube…As a result, more consumers are taking measures to wrest greater control of their personal data, like deleting Facebook and its photo-sharing app Instagram. About 15 percent of U.S. households’ primary shoppers never shop on Amazon, according to Kantar ShopperScape data. Some Amazon Echo and Google voice-activated speakers have landed in the trash. And some consumers are saving photos and other personal documents to external hard drives, rather than on Google or Apple’s clouds.”
Fight the power brothers and sisters.

US attorney general William Barr says Americans should accept security risks of encryption backdoors
“The U.S. is far from alone in calling on tech companies to give law enforcement access.
Earlier this year U.K. authorities proposed a new backdoor mechanism, the so-called “ghost protocol,” which would give law enforcement access to encrypted communications as though they were part of a private conversation. Apple, Google, Microsoft and WhatsApp rejected the proposal.”
That’s a rather motley crew banding together there. They happen to be right too.

New Law Requires Children at Breweries to Remain on Leash at All Times
“Yes, your son or daughter is a superstar. He or she is indeed the king or queen of the universe,” Fredericks admitted. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t wreak havoc either. Leash laws help protect the public, the parents, and a lot of beer. It’s something we all need.”
Would it were true.

Firefox 68.0.1
Bugfixes
Download | Release Notes

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

note – My Dad Has Alzheimer’s updated on 21 July with More posts at the bottom of this article.

Microsoft warns 10,000 customers they’re targeted by nation-sponsored hackers
“According to a post from Microsoft Corporate Vice President of Customer Security & Trust Tom Burt, about 84% of the attacks targeted customers that were large “enterprise” organizations such as corporations. The remaining 16% of attacks targeted consumer email accounts. Burt said some of the 10,000 customers were successfully compromised while others were only targeted, but he didn’t provide figures.
“This data demonstrates the significant extent to which nation-states continue to rely on cyberattacks as a tool to gain intelligence, influence geopolitics, or achieve other objectives,” Burt wrote.”
Gee, I wonder what “nation-states” they might be talking about?

Facebook and Google Trackers Are Showing Up on Porn Sites
“Silicon Valley’s biggest companies are always watching you — even when you’re browsing pornography websites in incognito mode.
Trackers from tech companies like Google and Facebook are logging your most personal browsing details, according to a forthcoming New Media & Society paper, which scanned 22,484 pornography websites. Where that data ultimately goes is not always clear.”
Don’t worry, they won’t tell your wife. Or will they?

Netflix subscriber drop hints at streaming service fatigue
“While people are willing to shell out for several services to meet their streaming needs, he said, they’re also willing to cancel if they’re not using it enough, just as they would with a gym membership or a subscription to the New Yorker magazine.”
Yup, whaddya do when you’ve watched all that’s worth watching?

Dropping F-Bomb Increases Pain Tolerance By A Third, Study Finds
“Can’t help but shout an expletive every time you stub your toe? Don’t feel too bad, you may actually be doing yourself a favor. A new study finds that swearing when injured has a measurable effect on pain tolerance. In fact, dropping the F-bomb specifically when in pain increases tolerance by up to 33%.”
Frackin’ A right it does.

Gym, eat, repeat: the shocking rise of muscle dysmorphia
“The idealised male body has become bigger, bulkier and harder to achieve. So what drives a generation of young men to the all-consuming, often dangerous pursuit of perfection?”
Women complain about unrealistic beauty standards and they often have a point. Guys don’t have it any easier. From the muscled up, no body fat having, hairless movie stars and athletes, to the freakishly sized, uber-muscled heroes in books, comics, and video games… First world problems I reckon.

Half of all men are ashamed of their body hair, survey suggests
“For example, nearly one-third of men surveyed (31 percent) said they’ve avoided swimming before out of embarrassment of their body hair, while another one in four (27 percent) said they’ve avoided the gym.
Startlingly, men are so unconfident in their body hair, nearly one in five feel it has had a negative impact on their sex life.”
See comment above.

Jon Stewart Ripped Into Rand Paul For Blocking A Bill To Compensate 9/11 First Responders For Their Sacrifice

Top Gun: Maverick – Official Trailer (2020)
Related: ‘Top Gun’ sequel, co-produced by China’s Tencent, appears to remove Japanese, Taiwanese flags

Star Trek: Picard | SDCC Trailer – Sir Patrick Stewart Returns