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TGIF News

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margarita_rocks_saltPaul Thurrott – Update on Windows 10 Field Guide
In his post Paul describes the problems of trying to deliver his Windows books to the public.
Among his issues are (my take):
– People want everything for free. Only a tiny fraction of people are willing to pay…anything.
– Related to above, people steal his guides.
– 99% of people do not give feedback.
– Finding the perfect payment / delivery system is near impossible.
– Life happens and messes with your schedule.

All I can say to all that Paul is, “Ditto”. icon_sad
smilie_beer_smiley_clink

Ghacks – Comparison of Windows 10 Privacy tools
Earlier this week I made mention of programs (and scripts) that help you tweak Win10 privacy settings.
Ghacks has a comparison of such programs.
Please note it is a “comparison” and not a “review”. This means he shows what they do, not the effects, and not recommendations.

Program Updates
Firefox 40.0.2
iTunes 12.2.2
VirtualBox 5.0.2

Hope y’all have a great weekend!

Random Thursday Stuff…

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www_newsArs Technica – Even when told not to, Windows 10 just can’t stop talking to Microsoft

Windows 10 uses the Internet a lot to support many of its features. The operating system also sports numerous knobs to twiddle that are supposed to disable most of these features and the potentially privacy-compromising connections that go with them.
Unfortunately for privacy advocates, these controls don’t appear to be sufficient to completely prevent the operating system from going online and communicating with Microsoft’s servers.

Ed Bott – Microsoft quietly rewrites its activation rules for Windows 10

Windows activation is alive and well in Windows 10. Microsoft doesn’t like to talk about the inner workings of its anti-piracy software, but it’s clear from testing that Windows 10 included a major change in the way activation works.

New Nvidia Drivers
Download

Just in time for the preview of Ashes of the Singularity, this new GeForce Game Ready driver ensures you’ll have the best possible gaming experience.
Windows 10 Fixed Issues
There were no fixed issues reported for this release.
Windows 8.1/Windows 8/Windows 7/Windows Vista Fixed Issues
There were no fixed issues reported for this release.

Patch Tuesday

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win10_up_icon_sTime To Run Windows Update
Updates available for all supported Windows versions as well as Office 2007-13 and Flash for IE in Win 8/8.1/10.
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for August 2015

Flash
“Adobe has released security updates for Adobe Flash Player.
These updates address critical vulnerabilities that could potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.”
Flash vulnerable? Nooooooooooooowaaaaaaay 🙄
APSB15-19 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download Flash
Flash for IE in Win 8/8.1/10 via Windows Update.
Latest version of Chrome has it too (see below)

Google Chrome
“The stable channel has been updated to 44.0.2403.155 for Windows, Mac, and Linux.”
Includes above Flash update.
Download or update from within the program.

VeraCrypt Updated
Version 1.13 released. Missed this one, got update on Sunday (Thanks Mike!).
This is a TrueCrypt replacement.
Download

Random Wednesday Stuff…

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intelcorei7Skylake, Meh?
The NDA on Intel’s new Skylake processors has been lifted and the reviews are pouring out.
The gist I’m getting:
– If you are on Sandy Bridge then upgrade.
– If you are on Ivy Bridge, Haswell, or Broadwell then it probably isn’t worth it.
Anandtech – The Intel 6th Gen Skylake Review: Core i7-6700K and i5-6600K Tested
[H]ardOCP – Intel Skylake Core i7-6700K IPC & Overclocking Review

Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 44.0.2403.130 for Windows, Mac, and Linux.”
Download or update from within the program.

More Win10 Wallpapers I Made
[Read more…] about Random Wednesday Stuff…

Forums, Comments, etc.

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thSeveral folks have asked about the comments being disabled or why I don’t have forums.
The simple reason is they take up a lot of time (and in truth is more than I can handle). Folks on the internet seem to lose all sense of decorum and decency behind the veil of the anonymity of the internet. Fanbois, trolls, spammers, and personal attacks tend to be the rule, not the exception. I’ve just lost my taste for that garbage. It’s one of the many reasons I left social media. In an attempt to keep trolls and spammers away I tried to use the Disqus comment system but it wasn’t what I was looking for. I really wanted something where people had to truly be responsible for what they say. Possibly something where the user had to provide, at some level, their real identity. I realize that may seem naive and unrealistic but there it is.
I’ve got some great folks that come by here regularly and I would love to provide y’all something. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.
Eric

Random Wendesday Stuff…

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www_newsNvidia Geforce Game Ready 353.62 WHQL Drivers
“NVIDIA has been working closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows 10 and DirectX 12. Coinciding with the arrival of Windows 10, this Game Ready driver includes the latest tweaks, bug fixes, and optimizations to ensure you have the best possible gaming experience.”

AMD Catalyst 15.7.1 Drivers
-Windows 10 Support -​Virtual Super Resolution ​-Frame Rate Target Control​​ -AMD FreeSync and AMD CrossFire Support -Performance Optimizations​

Google Chrome Updated (supposedly)
“The stable channel has been updated to 44.0.2403.125 for Windows, Mac and Linux.”
Download or update from within the program.
It isn’t showing up for me.
If you check the comments at the above link, others have the same issue.
*edit 1510hrs – Now showing up.