Computer News

Happy New Year!

Software Updates
Firefox 57.0.3 (fixes a single issue) Thanks Scott!
Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 10, version 15.60.1.1.4901 (28DEC2017)
Macrium Reflect 7.1.2801
Wise Disk Cleaner 9.6.2.685 (improved Microsoft Edge Session cleaning)

Use An Ad Blocker
Online ad companies are using “browsers’ built-in login managers (also called password managers) to retrieve and exfiltrate user identifiers without user awareness.”
Most adblockers block this behavior.
Original paper: No boundaries for user identities: Web trackers exploit browser login managers

Off Topic
2 Supermoons this month!

Corsair Hydro Series, H100i v2 CPU Water Cooler $85
That is $45 / 35% off!

Bye Bye HomeGroup
“with today’s build you’ll start to see us retire the HomeGroup service.”
As an ex-network guy I never used the HomeGroup and disabling the HomeGroup Provider service is one thing I’ve always done.

Exposed, Again
“a California-based data analytics firm, was left publicly exposed, revealing massive amounts of sensitive personal information for 123 million American households. Exposed within the repository are massive data sets belonging to Alteryx partner Experian, the consumer credit reporting agency, as well as the US Census Bureau, providing data sets from both Experian and the 2010 US Census. While the Census data consists entirely of publicly accessible statistics and information,”
Jail. People need to start going to jail.

GET OFF OF FACEBOOK
In 2017, key Facebook builders disowned their creation – iVerge
“We have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works.”
“It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways. God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains.”
“Facebook did not set out to increase political polarization and empower bad actors to undermine democracy, but this outcome was inevitable,”

Facebook Aiding Discrimination
Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads
“Among the companies we found doing it: Amazon, Verizon, UPS and Facebook itself. “It’s blatantly unlawful,” said one employment law expert.”
GET OFF OF FACEBOOK

Package Thieves – Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

Still trying to get everything installed and tweaked on my new rig. Thanks for the comments. More articles to follow.

Software Updates
Autoruns v13.81
EMDB 3.09
Google Chrome 63.0.3239.108

Firefox Idiots
I’ve obviously been busy this last week but I did read about the Firefox Looking Glass saga. Apparently Mozilla delivered an extension without any user knowledge or consent. I say apparently because I have FF on multiple machines and VMs and I never saw it. Anyway, folks were rightfully pissed off and now Mozilla is apologizing. Stupid move bros.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Many Star Wars fans seem to hate The Last Jedi:
The Last Jedi Is the Most Divisive Star Wars Movie Between Fans & Critics
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/star_wars_the_last_jedi/
I enjoyed the show very much. Aside from the ridiculous Leia space flight I thought the movie was damn good. It closed the door on much of the past and opened new doors for the future. I’ll be going to see it again.

Off Topic
Really, really off topic.

Grisly Scene
I live in a rural area. I was coming home last Thursday night. About a mile from my house I round a corner and see a dozen police cars. The next morning this story is on the local news site. Within days the story is world wide. The gnarly details follow. If you are squeamish stop reading here…
Official story a couple of days out:
Two giant pit bulls turned on their master and killed her. Scene described as “grisly”.
Actual story:
When she was in elementary school, this woman attended the school where my wife works. Goochland, Virginia is a small county population wise. I once heard someone say, “They ain’t no secrets here.” Double negative aside it is pretty much true. I’ve known this info for days. It is official now so…
Remember my warning above. I’m serious. If you are squeamish stop reading here…
The dogs turned on her. Puncture wounds all over her body including neck and face. She was torn up bad. Really, really bad. She had been dead for a while when the police showed up. The deputies actually watched the dogs eating her. Yes. Eating her. Why they didn’t drop those animals on site I don’t understand.
FYI: Google news search for pit bull attacks.
More reading:
Goochland sheriff described ‘grisly’ scene after woman mauled to death by her pit bulls
Goochland sheriff reiterates belief that pit bulls killed woman, says foul play ‘narrative doesn’t fit’

Net Neutrality Gone For Now
Not a surprise. I expect multiple lawsuits to follow.
The FCC just voted to repeal its net neutrality rules, in a sweeping act of deregulation
Regulators abolish ‘net neutrality’ rules in heated hearing that was stopped because of a BOMB threat as protesters rallied outside

It’s Time!
I’ll be leaving in an hour or so to pregame before the 6 p.m. STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI OPENING NIGHT FAN EVENT
May the force be with you.

Here in Central Virginia we are getting our first snow!

Protection Patch
Windows Defender has been patched. The issue is critical. You should be patched automagically at some point. You can hurry things along by checking Windows Update.
You need to be on: Microsoft Malware Protection Engine version 1.1.14405.2 or higher.
To check your Windows Defender you can open it by searching “defender” or by pressing the Windows + R keys and copy/paste: C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\msascui.exe

Software Updates
Audacity 2.2.1
Nvdia Geforce 388.59 WHQL Game Ready Driver – “Provides the optimal gaming experience for Fallout 4 VR”

Amazon Key Sucks
Amazon Key is a program that gives access to your house to the delivery guy and who knows who else. This dude had a host of problems. First off I ain’t doing a smart lock unless it is biometric. Secondly, anyone that gives a key to their house to a stranger is an idiot.

Higgins Passed Away?
I didn’t know actor John Hillerman passed away. He was famous for sicking “The Lads” on Thomas Magnum. RIP Higgy Baby.

It’s The Weekend!
https://vimeo.com/245857321

We The People Call for The Resignation of FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai
“We the people have identified FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai as a threat to our freedoms due to his call to repeal Net Neutrality. We passionately call upon the white house for the immediate removal of FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai from office for his actions.”

Not Cute, Just Sad
Article entitled, When your kid tries to say ‘Alexa’ before ‘Mama’. Some parents think it’s cute. These are probably the same parents who let their kids haul around tablets and phones with them all day.
[Read more…] about Wednesday Morning News

I hope everyone survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Went to a movie yesterday. The theater is next to a mall. I don’t understand why anyone would subject themselves to the insanity that is Black Friday.

Software Updates
dBpowerAMP R16.3 (release notes)

Say It Ain’t So
“phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet”
I’m stunned. Stunned I tell you.

Responsible Encryption, LOL
The government (all of them) wants to be able to decrypt your data whenever they feel like it. Although too many people don’t care, many of us think that is a load of… well, you know.
“If strong crypto is outlawed, only outlaws will have strong crypto”
If you are interested in this topic, be sure to click on the links in this article. Lots of good info on this complicated issue.

For Sale: Ocean Front Property In Arizona
Wired – What Amazon Echo and Google Home Do With Your Voice Data
So much naivety. About the only thing I liked in this article was the reference to Dokken.
Apologies to Mr. Strait.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to repair my tinfoil hat.

OFF TOPIC

Top 20 Whiskies Of 2017
I haven’t had anything on that list. Wouldn’t mind having a nip or 2 of each one!

Coffee Good For You
A new study says so. There should be another study any day now saying coffee is bad for you.

The Movie I Saw Yesterday
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I enjoyed it. Interesting tale with a fantastic cast.
Peter Dinklage – my favs: Game Of Thrones, The Chronicles of Narnia
Woody Harrelson – my favs: One of my favorite actors. Far too many to list.
Frances McDormand – my favs: Moonrise Kingdom, Almost Famous
Sam Rockwell – my favs: The Way Way Back, The Green Mile

NoScript Updated
Noscript is a security/privacy plugin. Firefox 57 left the old plugins behind. New plugins are now “Webextensions“. Bottom line is all plugins need to be rewritten for FF 57 and Noscript has been updated accordingly.
Noscript install page
Noscript home

Not So Hidden
Surprise! Google Chrome’s incognito mode doesn’t hide your web activity.
“When you launch the incognito tab there’s this disclaimer there where we really try to help make it really clear to people that your activity is certainly still visible to the websites you visit and could be visible to your employer, to your school, and to your [internet service provide] of course”

Not So Random
“Windows 8 and later fail to properly randomize every application if system-wide mandatory ASLR is enabled via EMET or Windows Defender Exploit Guard”
I would say this would be patched quickly, at least I hope it would. Regedit workaround in article.

Not So Private
“You may know that most websites have third-party analytics scripts that record which pages you visit and the searches you make. But lately, more and more sites use “session replay” scripts. These scripts record your keystrokes, mouse movements, and scrolling behavior, along with the entire contents of the pages you visit, and send them to third-party servers. Unlike typical analytics services that provide aggregate statistics, these scripts are intended for the recording and playback of individual browsing sessions, as if someone is looking over your shoulder.”
Firefox: Noscript + uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger
Chrome: uBlock Origin + Privacy Badger