Computer News

Win10 Updated
KB4023057: Update for Windows 10 Update Service components
“This update includes files and resources that address issues that affect the update processes in Windows 10 that may prevent important Windows updates from being installed.”
Flash got force removed a few days back.

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

New version of Microsoft Office won’t require you to pay for a subscription
This article refers to a Microsoft blog post that they didn’t bother linking to. I don’t know if this was incompetence or obfuscation but I had to go hunting for it:
Upcoming commercial preview of Microsoft Office LTSC, By Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365
“We also plan to release Office 2021 for personal and small business use later this year. Office 2021 will also be supported for five years with the traditional “one-time purchase” model. We do not plan to change the price for these products at the time of the release. We will announce more details about new features included in Office 2021 closer to general availability.”

New browser-tracking hack works even when you flush caches or go incognito
“The technique leverages the use of favicons..The attack works against Chrome, Safari, Edge, and until recently Brave, which developed an effective countermeasure after receiving a private report from the researchers. Firefox would also be susceptible to the technique, but a bug prevents the attack from working at the moment.”
I can’t find anything saying this exploit is being used ATM.

CEO Breaks Down How Remote Work Is Going To Change This Decade
“HQ’s are finished: companies will cut their commercial office space by 50-70%…Fully distributed: ~30% of the companies we talk to are getting rid of the office entirely and going remote-first…Companies doing this have seen their workers decentralize rapidly, leaving expensive cities to be closer to family”

About the password managers. Leaning toward Bitwarden. The feature I was interested in in 1Password isn’t there:
“The WLAN server can’t sync two or more computers.
The WLAN server isn’t available in 1Password 6 or later on Windows.”

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

Why did I leave Google or, why did I stay so long?
“It’s been two weeks since I left Google and I keep getting asked “why did I leave now”? I think the better question is “why did I stay for so long”? When Waze was acquired by Google, most of the people who know me did not believe I would last 7 weeks, let alone 7 years…”
Very interesting article.

‘A Disaster Within A Disaster’: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Cases Are Surging In Texas
“Texas is seeing a surge in carbon monoxide poisonings this week, as plunging temperatures and persistent power outages send residents searching for warmth increasingly from dangerous sources…State and local officials attribute most of the cases to the use of improper home heating sources, from devices like barbecue pits, charcoal grills and campfire stoves to practices like running portable generators and car engines indoors.”

Bill Gates: Rich nations should shift entirely to synthetic beef
“I do think all rich countries should move to 100% synthetic beef.”
Kiss my…

Radio Garden
Tune in to live radio around the world. This has been around for quite a while and I just found out about it! There are Android and iOS apps too.

About 3/4 of an inch of ice today.
[Read more…] about Thursday Random Stuff…

Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 88.0.4324.182 for Windows, Mac and Linux…This update includes 10 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info
Chrome for Android updated too.

EMDB 3.72
Movie database freeware. My movies here: TweakHound’s Movie Database
Download | What’s New

Facebook blocks all news in and from Australia
“The change comes as Australia prepares to pass a law that would require companies like Facebook and Google to pay news publishers to carry their stories.”
#DeleteFacebook

New reports indicate AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors may be failing at a high rate
“It’s unclear how many incidents of Ryzen 5000 failures have been reported in real-world usage, but the controversy sparked when PC builder PowerGPU reported seeing very high failure rates with AMD’s CPU and motherboard, according to a report on Wccftech, with a number of units that were reported as DOA, or dead on arrival.”
The article links to an article that links to a tweet that has been deleted…
At any rate, it gives me a chance to use one of my old favorite, self-made, paraphrased quotes, “Friends don’t let friends drive AMD.”

Great Covers & The Originals
Fats Domino – Ain’t That A Shame (1955)

“Cheap Trick’s version charted at #35 after being released on their 1978 live album Cheap Trick at Budokan. Reportedly, this was Fats Domino’s favorite cover. Domino also gave Cheap Trick his gold record for his 1955 single, which is held by guitarist Rick Nielsen.”
The video below is listed as “Cheap Trick’s official live video for ‘Ain’t That A Shame’.” It may be “official” but it isn’t the version that is on the Cheap Trick at Budokan LP. Now, they played 2 nights at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan arena, April 28th & 30th. I’m guessing the video is from one night and the song on the LP is from the other.
Here is the song as I have it from the album and then the “official video” below. Anyway, this is from one of my favorite albums.
see also:
https://www.cheaptrick.com/
Cheap Trick’s Rise: The Inside Story

 
My pics of Cheap Trick at Virginia Beach in 2008
[Read more…] about Wednesday Random Stuff…

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: