Computer News

New Intel Wi-Fi Drivers
Version: 21.20.0 Date: 7/2/2019
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows 7
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows 8.1
Windows 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters

How to stop your emails from being tracked
“A single tracking pixel is embedded into the email, usually (but not always) hidden within an image or a link. When the email is opened, code within the pixel sends the info back to the company’s server…There is also a simple basic step you can take to avoid trackers: stop your email from automatically loading images since images are where the majority of these pixels hide.”
You should already be doing this.

Midway (2019 Movie) Teaser Trailer

New Intel Network Adapter Drivers
Version: 24.1 Date: 6/27/2019
Windows 7 | Windows 8.1 | Windows 10 | Complete Driver Pack

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

Win10 1909 will be a Service Pack: Good news, but many unanswered questions
“Yesterday, Microsoft promised that its second version of Windows for 1909, code-named 19H2, but more consistently known as version 1909, will be a traditional Win10 1903 Service Pack 1. Hooray! What’s next?”
I’m still concentrating on 1903.

House to vote on $15 minimum wage by August
“The House will vote on the first federal minimum wage increase in over a decade this July, The Hill has confirmed
The legislation to be considered is the Raise the Wage Act backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). It would more than double the $7.25 minimum wage to $15 by 2024. The current minimum wage has been in place since July of 2009.
Congress actually passed that wage hike in 2007.”
“I’m strong to the finish, ’cause I eats me spinach, I’m Popeye the sailor man!”

Spinach chemical should be put on doping ban list, say researchers
“Cartoon character Popeye is known for munching endless cans of spinach to boost his strength, and new scientific research suggests he might have been onto something.”
See also: Popeye and the Great Spinach Myth

THE CULT Announces ‘Sonic Temple’ 30th-Anniversary Reissues With Bonus Tracks
The Cult – Sonic Temple 30th Anniversary 5xCD boxset
Pre-order Price: $37.49
The best album of a really good band. I’ve only got to see them live once (2008 or 2009).
30 Years Ago Today, The Cult Worshipped At The ‘Sonic Temple’
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cult
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_Temple

Sysinternals Freeware Updates
Autoruns, Process Explorer, RAMMap, and Sysmon all updated.

AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.6.3 Optional
Support for F1 2019, 1/2 dozen fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Other Software Updates
FinalCrypt 5.0.2
Mp3tag v2.96

Apple Moves Mac Pro Production to China
The $6,000 desktop computer had been the company’s only major device assembled in the U.S.
Just one more reason not to deal with that company. You suck Apple.

Win10 1903 Updated
Bunch of “Addresses an issue”.
June 27, 2019—KB4501375 (OS Build 18362.207)

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

Google accused of inappropriate access to medical data in potential class-action lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, is the latest example of how tech giants’ forays into the trillion-dollar healthcare industry are being met by concerns over privacy…The company also noted it would use “de-identified medical records” from Chicago that would be “stripped of any personally identifiable information.”…Wednesday’s lawsuit claims that the company failed to do this. “In reality, these records were not sufficiently anonymized and put the patients’ privacy at grave risk”

Hey China, while you’re in all our servers, can you fix these support tickets? IBM, HPE, Tata CS, Fujitsu, NTT and their customers pwned
“Fresh details have emerged revealing just how deeply Chinese government hackers plundered HPE, IBM, DXC, Fujitsu, Tata, and others, stealing corporate secrets and rifling through their customers’ networks…Beijing’s miscreants had not just access to the internal files of HPE, IBM, Tata CS et al, but also their network-connected customers, putting designs, plans, personal information, and more, at their fingertips…Props to China for its deadpan comedy bit in response to today’s revelations: “The Chinese government has never in any form participated in or supported any person to carry out the theft of commercial secrets.”

Desert Storm Memorial is Way Short of $40 Million Fundraising Goal
“This will not stand. This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait.” President George H.W. Bush, August 5, 1990
For more info and to donate: The National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial

CCleaner 5.59
3 small fixes that won’t matter to 99.9% of you. Skip this one.
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement
See also: Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

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

OneDrive Personal Vault
“OneDrive runs on the trusted Microsoft cloud, which has many security measures in place to keep your files safe. But we understand that some people want more protection for their most important and sensitive files, which is why we’re introducing Personal Vault.
Personal Vault is a protected area in OneDrive that you can only access with a strong authentication method or a second step of identity verification, such as your fingerprint, face, PIN, or a code sent to you via email or SMS.1 Your locked files in Personal Vault have an extra layer of security, keeping them more secured in the event that someone gains access to your account or your device.”
I dropped OneDrive a few years ago because the syncing between devices sucked. Has it improved? Right now I just encrypt my sensitive folders.

How To View Someone’s LinkedIn Profile Anonymously Without Account
I wanted to do this recently and found the above guide. Of the first 3 or 4 methods I found Gooogling, this was the only one that produced results. Limited but it works for the basics. I’m not on nor am I interested in being on Linkedin.

‘Dark patterns’ are steering many internet users into making bad decisions
“Even if you’ve never heard the phrase “dark patterns,” you’re almost certainly familiar with them. They’re the sneaky ways online companies trick you into agreeing to stuff you’d normally never assent to.
Classic example: You encounter a prompt asking if you want to sign up for some program or service, and the box is already checked. If you don’t uncheck it — that is, if you do nothing — you’re enrolled.
A bipartisan bill has been introduced in Congress that would prohibit websites and online platforms (hi, Facebook!) from employing such deliberately deceptive tactics, and would empower the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on sites that keep trying to fool people.”

You cannot be ‘too clean’ health experts warn, in bid to debunk myths
“You cannot be “too clean”, millennials are being told, as public health experts attempt to debunk myths around hygiene. The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) said incorrect theories which became popular in the 1990s were fuelling confusion and unhygienic habits among subsequent generations.”
“Millennials”…

Cars.com’s 2019 American-Made Index: What’s the Most American Car?
1. Jeep Cherokee
2. Honda Odyssey
3. Honda Ridgeline
4. Honda Passport
5. Chevrolet Corvette
13. Ford F-150

NJ ‘Least Patriotic’ State In US, Study Says
The above article led to this one: 2019’s Most Patriotic States in America

Winaero Tweaker 0.15
Download | Release Info | Home Page

Goodbye, Chrome: Google’s web browser has become spy software
“In a week of Web surfing on my desktop, I discovered 11,189 requests for tracker “cookies” that Chrome would have ushered right onto my computer but were automatically blocked by Firefox. These little files are the hooks that data firms, including Google itself, use to follow what websites you visit so they can build profiles of your interests, income and personality.”

Dell software designed to protect you from vulnerabilities has another vulnerability
“Dell’s SupportAssist software, a Windows toolkit designed in part to protect your computer from security vulnerabilities, has yet another vulnerability of its own that makes running older versions of the software a risk to your system”
Y’all know to uninstall all that OEM crap right?

Win10 Updated
All supported versions of Win10 have been updated except the newest version, 1903.
30+ “Addresses an issue”.
Windows 10 Release History

Firefox 67.0.4
“Security fix”
Download | Release Notes
This means Tails has been updated and Tor Browser will be.

Intel Graphics Windows 10 DCH Drivers
Highlights:
Launch Driver: Steel Division 2 & The Sinking City
Performance improvements: The Sinking City & Unreal Engine 4
Download | Release Notes

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

Microsoft’s Chromium Edge browser now available on Windows 7 and Windows 8

The sky is falling for fast food, but not for Chick-fil-A. Here’s why.
“Where total restaurant traffic increased less than 1 percent, Chick-fil-A saw double-digit growth…“The level of customer satisfaction is highly differentiated from many of their fast-food peers.”…Chick-fil-A’s customer service is legendary…“Half of all meals are now eaten in restaurants, half of those as fast food, and half of those are just 10 companies. Chick-fil-A is now one of them”
My fav fast food chain. I’ve got the app on my phone. I usually get:
Spicy Chicken Sandwich, Fruit Cup, and a large diet Lemonade. If I’m really hungry I will get 2 sandwiches and eat them without the bun. I wish they had spicy nuggets or strips.

Wise Disk Cleaner 10.2.2
“Improved the function of Common Cleaner, Updated various translations, GUI and usability improvements, Minor bug fixes.”
Download (I use portable) | Release Notes

Update Your Firefox Browser, Hackers Are Abusing a Serious Bug
“Firefox users need to patch their browsers. Hackers have been exploiting a serious bug in the software, which can be used to take over the entire computer…Mozilla has patched the flaw with Firefox 67.0.3”
Thanks to reader Allen for the heads up.

Samsung SSD 970 PRO 512GB – NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD
List Price: $199.99
Price: $140.97
You Save: $59.02 (30%)
This is the SSD that runs Win10 on my main rig.

AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.6.2 Optional
Download | Release Notes

Firefox 67.0.3
Download | Release Notes

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

BANG FOR YOUR ZUCK? Facebook unveils ‘its most invasive and dangerous form of surveillance yet’ with launch of Libra cryptocurrency
“If you’re concerned with Facebook knowing too much or having too much access to your private data or social graph, the GlobalCoin will give Facebook even more direct access to your financial information,” he told The Sun. “It’s not just access to the information of your transactions, it’s direct access to your wealth and capital”

New law enforcement hacking tool can unlock most iPhone, Android handsets
“Israeli forensics firm Cellebrite is responsible for creating such a tool – the Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED), and the security company now claims it can unlock almost of all of the latest Apple and Android smart devices thanks to its latest update.”
There is absolutely nothing on my phone anyone would want to see.

Woman knocked down while on phone wins payout from cyclist
“Judge Shanti Mauger, at Central London county court, said the cyclist was “a calm and reasonable road user” and that Brushett was looking at her phone when she walked into the road in front of him.
However, she ruled that Hazeldean was liable to pay damages, saying: “Cyclists must be prepared at all times for people to behave in unexpected ways.”
I see some judges in the U.K. are as moronic as some of ours.

Does Whiskey Age In The Bottle? Here’s Why You Might Want To Drink It Sooner Rather Than Later
“If you’re looking for a simple answer to the question that brought you here: no, whiskey doesn’t age in the bottle and you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you hold onto one longer than you need to, so if you’re looking for an excuse to have a dram or two, you just found one.”
Hmmm… dunno. Lemme Google it…
Damn. The Scotch Whisky Association backs that up,
“Unlike wine, whisky does not mature in the bottle. So even if you keep a 12 year old bottle for 100 years, it will always remain a 12 year old whisky. As long as the bottle is kept out of direct sunlight, the Scotch Whisky will not deteriorate, even if it is opened.”
That sucks. I’ve got 2 special edition bottles of 2008 Jack Daniel’s signed by the master distiller. What do you think, drink it or save it?

Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 75.0.3770.90 for Windows, Mac, and Linux, which will roll out over the coming days/weeks.”
Download: 32-bit | 64-bit

Sysinternals Freeware Updates
Process Explorer and Sysmon have updates.
Download & Info

Amazon’s new Echo Dot Kids Edition comes in blue or rainbow colors
If you allow Amazon to use this or any device track your kid in any way then you’re not a good parent.