Computer News

Start10 1.96
“Some tweaks to search to ensure the Start10 search isn’t run ever if you are using Cortana mode and to ensure the search is terminated if you close the menu.”
I don’t use Cortana and I’m not having any issues. Skipping this one.
Download | Release Notes

Barcode Scanner app on Google Play infects 10 million users with one update
“It is hard to tell just how long Barcode Scanner had been in the Google Play store as a legitimate app before it became malicious. Based on the high number of installs and user feedback, we suspect it had been there for years. It is frightening that with one update an app can turn malicious while going under the radar of Google Play Protect. It is baffling to me that an app developer with a popular app would turn it into malware. Was this the scheme all along, to have an app lie dormant, waiting to strike after it reaches popularity? I guess we will never know.”
Google not doing it’s job and Android phone makers failing users by not having a stock barcode scanner.
Internet Wayback page of this app: https://web.archive.org/web/20201108202720/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qrcodescanner.barcodescanner

New Intel Graphics Drivers
“This release contains security updates.”
Braswell, 4th and 5th generations: version 15.40, Download & Info
6th Gen: version 15.45, Download & Info
If you are on Windows 10 and using Skylake CPUs or newer I would use the DCH drivers instead:
Newest Intel DCH Drivers are v27.20.100.9168
FAQ about Windows DCH Drivers for Intel Graphics

Reader Question
Q – Why did you stop using openSUSE?
A –
1 – For me openSUSE has become less stable and less desirable over time. I’m not alone. While not scientific, IMHO the Distrowatch page hit ranking offers good insight into what people think about each distro:
Distrowatch Page Hit Rankings for openSUSE
2014: #4, corporate merger, BTRFS now default FS
2015: #4, openSUSE Leap 1st released November, 2015
2016: #4
2017: #6
2018: #9, sold to investment company
2019: #11
2020: #14
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
2 – IMHO Linux hasn’t lived up to it’s potential: https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+failed

What Are You Streaming?
It’s beginning to get hard for my wife and I to find something to watch. Over the last few months we were so desperate we did a speedy trip through:
Star Trek Enterprise, DS9, and Voyager. LA Law and Dallas too. We only watched the higher rated shows and use the IMDB app (Android) for that.
We watched Cougar Town and enjoyed that. Trying to put off watching Letterkenny on Hulu for a while.
We subscribed to PBS/Masterpiece through Amazon Prime. Both of use like British TV. Currently we are watching Endeavor and might do Inspector Morse after that.

PowerToys v0.31.1
Download & Info

Mp3tag v3.05
Download | Release Notes

Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 for Windows 10
Download | Release Info

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.2.1 Optional
Support For Medium and a handful of fixed issues.
Download | Release Notes

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

Seagate – Lies, Damn Lies And SSD Benchmark Test Result
“As will be shown, the SSD benchmark testing “lies” are more ones of omission than of commission. But despite honorable intentions, any result must be considered a “lie” when it provides meaningless or, worse yet, misleading information. The underlying cause of these lies is a familiar one: accurate testing takes time. So short-cuts are taken. Important procedures get skipped. Key considerations are ignored. Results are read before performance stabilizes. Important tests are run without proper preparation—or not run at all.”

Tim Cook May Have Just Ended Facebook
“If a business is built on misleading users on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform…Too many are still asking the question ‘How much can we get away with?’ when they need to be asking ‘What are the consequences?’

Amazon’s Ring now reportedly partners with more than 2,000 US police and fire departments
“The FT reports that local law enforcement departments on the platform asked for Ring videos for a total of more than 22,335 incidents in 2020. The disclosure data from Ring also shows that law enforcement made some 1,900 requests — such as subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders— for footage or data from Ring cameras even after the device owner has denied the request. Amazon complied with such requests 57 percent of the time, its figures show, down from 68 percent in 2019.”
Read it again. “subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders” for your doorbell cam. SMH
“Privacy advocates have raised concerns about how Ring data is used by and made available to law enforcement.”
Ya think?

Firefox 85
“Firefox now protects you from supercookies…Various security fixes…Firefox no longer supports Adobe Flash.” Thanks AG
Download | Release Notes

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 461.40 WHQL
“support for The Medium…support for GeForce RTX 30 Series laptops” Plus a dozen other fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Tails 4.15
Download | Release Info
Running Tails in a virtual machine (if you want the full security of Tails, only run it from an iso or usb stick)

Have a good weekend and “Stay thirsty my friends”.

Winaero Tweaker 0.19.1
“A small update…added the ability to turn on the new Windows 10X boot animation…You must be running Windows 10 build 19587 or greater to use it”
If you updated to 0.19 earlier this week and are aren’t a Windows Insider then skip this.
Download & Info

Thought I’d pass this along
I was going through one of my boxes of old, miscellaneous computer cables. Some of the cables I had were branded SATA 2. “Hmmm…” I wondered, “Are these still good for SATA 3? Are they as fast?” I’d honestly never considered it. I mean I’ve dozens. My search quickly came up with an article from 2015 that actually benchmarked it:
GamersNexus – Bogus Branding – “SATA III” Cables vs. “SATA II” Cables
“The results are effectively identical. There is no measurable difference between differently-branded SATA cables as we tested…There is exactly one reason that manufacturers sell SATA cables with “6Gbps” and “SATA III” branding in the product name: Buyers don’t know there’s no performance difference and think it is a requirement to use the SATA III interface.”

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

DuckDuckGo search engine increased its traffic by 62% in 2020 as users seek privacy
“DuckDuckGo does not track user searches or share personal data with third-party companies.
“People are coming to us because they want more privacy, and it’s generally spreading through word of mouth,” Kamyl Bazbaz, DuckDuckGo vice president of communications, told USA TODAY. “People are looking for alternatives to the surveillance-tech business model.”
Google search is still tops IMHO. But, I don’t have much good to say about Google/Alphabet the company. From Wikipedia:
“Google was the most valuable brand in the world in 2017 (surpassed by Amazon),[15] but has received significant criticism involving issues such as privacy concerns, tax avoidance, antitrust, censorship, and search neutrality.”

Longtime MLB home run king Hank Aaron dies at 86
“Henry Louis “Hank” Aaron, the Hall of Fame slugger whose 755 career home runs long stood as baseball’s golden mark, has died. He was 86.”
IMHO he is the all-time home run leader.

Why Do We Assume Extraterrestrials Might Want to Visit Us?
“The idea presumes we’re inherently fascinating, but that’s not necessarily the case…It is presumptuous to assume that we are worthy of special attention from advanced species in the Milky Way. We may be a phenomenon as uninteresting to them as ants are to us…Fermi’s paradox is pretentious in that it assumes we humans have some sort of cosmic significance. The reality may be that we are ordinary and doomed to perish, just like the dinosaurs, consequent to some catastrophe. Why would our galactic neighbors care about how green our grass is?”
I find his opinion to be based on a lot of presumptions to be be calling out someone else’s presumptions. He obviously hasn’t met this guy:

The Current Graphics Card Market Has Gone From Stupid To Insane
You can’t get cards in a standard store. On Ebay and Craigslist an OVER FOUR YEAR OLD video card like the 1080ti is going for $600 and up. The card I have in my main rig is the XFX Radeon RX 580 8G GTS Black Edition is going for around $380 and up some places and $700 at Newegg. This card is closing in on 4 years old.
Are y’all waiting or paying the prices?

Google Chrome 88
“Chrome 88.0.4324.96 contains a number of fixes and improvements…This update includes 36 security fixes.”
FTP and Flash are gone.
Download | Release Info

Winaero Tweaker 0.19
“new features and bugfixes, it also includes a number of useful user interface improvements.”
Recommended. Just make sure you back up first
Download & Info

Related, somebody needs to hear this:
A large collection of registry files are not “tweaks”, it’s just a bunch of registry files. And, it’s a recipe for disaster.

Macrium Reflect v7.3.5550
Download | Release Notes (Thanks AG)
To download click the Home Use button > In the pop-up windows, you DO NOT have to enter your email addy in the next screen just click the Continue button

VLC 3.0.12
Download 32-bit | Download 64-bit | Release Notes

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

30th Anniversary of Desert Storm
This is just a shout-out to my fellow DS vets. It was a honor to serve with you brothers and sisters.

Lonnie Dillard Obituary (1945 – 2021)
“9. Happiness is not the result of what does or does not happen to you in your life as much as your attitude about what does or does not happen. It’s a decision you make. Every day. They say that it is always better to have ten items on a list than only nine. I say trying to do everything “they” say can snuff out whatever genius you have in you, as well as make you miserable in the process. There is no one more you than you. You do have something unique to offer your piece of the world. Damn convention or the critics. Take a chance! Unfortunately, I did not know all these lessons all my life; some I paid very dearly to learn. Or re-learn.”
I did not know nor had I ever heard about him until today and his obit went viral. I wish I had. Rest in peace kind sir.

Behind a Secret Deal Between Google and Facebook
“This idea that the major tech platforms are robustly competing against each other is very much overstated,” said Sally Hubbard, a former assistant attorney general in New York’s antitrust bureau who now works at Open Markets Institute, a think tank. “In many ways, they reinforce each other’s monopoly power.”
LOL, ya think?! I got $20 that says when all is said and done big tech:
– Gets a slap on the wrist to make it look like the politicians are doing something. During the “hearings” every politician there will rail against them and pontificate about a free internet. Then, come next election they will take their *ahem* “donations”.
– Other than that, completely gets way with everything and not only keeps but expands their monopiles.

theChive – Life was better when things WEREN’T connected to the internet (36 Photos)

I do not understand the need or desire for smart homes and/or smart devices everywhere.

It’s a lazy, foggy, chilly Saturday here. I’ve been rearranging The Hole. I moved my turntable and the preamp had a humming sound. I took it apart, tightened 2 screws and poof the hum was gone. Currently listening to Dire Straits – Making Movies. You can see my equipment in my article here. The speakers are M-Audio AV-40 which are no longer produced.
After my old Gigabyte mobo died I decided to rid myself of some XP/Vista era equipment. These are systems based off of Yorkfield/Kentsfield CPUs. I’ve got some new-to-me old stuff and more on the way. I’ll let you in on that later.

Software updates:
IrfanView 4.57
Tor Browser 10.0.8

An old friend of this site asked:
Friend: Curious: How many of us follow you? Millions?
Me: Ha. There was a time back in the XP days when I would get 35,000 visitors in one day on the update of a Tweak Guide. I averaged 3,500 a day.
Times change and Google hates small sites like mine, they’ve gone out of their way to disappear us. Stats are hard to measure anymore but I reckon I average about 1000 a day now.
The old sites are disappearing, or selling out. Much of the old guard are “retiring” because there is no money in this stuff for a single site. Sites used to carry news of other websites’ new content but that has all changed now. They are only interested in promoting themselves at the expense of their users.
I’m one of the few left and I’ll be around as long as there are PCs.

A reader asked:
Reader: How come you haven’t addressed xyz political issue?
Me (paraphrased): Folks don’t come here for that…crap. I try to (mostly) only address political issues that are tech related, and, if politics has seeped into the argument too much I will avoid it. We are in a place where Every. Single. Thing. is polarized and anything anyone says has half the people pissed off. I blame much of it on social media and the trolls (especially those who are…”state actors”). -end-
Most visitors know of my absolute disdain for social media so I’ll leave you with #DeleteFacebook.
 

Good way to start a season!

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 461.09 WHQL
Security Bulletin: NVIDIA GPU Display Driver – January 2021
Download | Release Notes

Cleanmgr+ 1.37.1170
4 minor changes.
Download & Info

Sysinternals Freeware Tools Updated
Process Monitor v3.61 | Sysmon v13.00