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Reader question about a Linux Mint VM

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“But what I want to do is have shortcut on my Win10 desktop to open VMW in full-screen mode, open Linux in full-screen mode, and then autostart Firefox maximized. I’ve been messing around with it for awhile and can get VMW to open full-screen and I can get Firefox to autostart. I can’t get Linux to start full-screen even though I’ve checked the box on the Virtual Machine Settings-Options page.”
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UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it.

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Original article: Windows 7 UAC – Quick notes on why I disable it. circa 2009

***31 December, 2020
As of today my original article is over eleven years old. Links to sources have disappeared. I updated the links today, mostly to the Internet Wayback Machine archive. I’ve also backed up these sources to PDF and have linked to those where appropriate.

Microsoft introduced User Account Control (UAC) with Windows Vista. Windows 7 has an “improved” version of UAC. The purpose of this short note is to explain why I do not like or use UAC on my own machines (because I get asked so much), it is not to start an argument or to try to convince others to disable UAC.
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Recording an online video as a sound file

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Recording an online video as a sound file (Recording video as mp3)
I’m gonna first start off by saying this:
In general I do not believe in stealing other peoples work. I’m the guy that still buys CD’s and rips them. Yeah I know, “Ok Boomer“. I’ll take that even thought I’m not technically a “boomer”.
A couple of days ago I posted a video by The Offspring that is a cover of a band called the Clinton Johnson band (I looked high and low and I can’t find the original outside of the Tiger King Youtube version). Anyway, I’m pretty sure The Offspring don’t have publishing rights to it and if they do they haven’t released a single. I wanna listen to it on my phone so I’m gonna convert it. If they release a quality mp3 I will buy it (flac would be better). Yes, I know there are apps that will do this. I don’t trust them and I want control over the process.
So all that out of the way here is, IMHO, the best way to record online video as a sound file. As usual I’m gonna do this short and sweet…

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Bad Win10 1903 Update

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There are reports around the web that the latest update for Win10 1903 is causing Cortana to have abnormally high CPU usage:
August 30, 2019—KB4512941 (OS Build 18362.329) is the update in question.
Solutions and “workarounds” include registry editing and deleting of files. IMHO this is utter folly. The solution is this:
1 – Uninstall KB4512941.
2 – Pause updates for a month or so.
(Settings > Windows Update > Advanced Options > Pause Updates > Pause until > max time)
3 – Wait for Microsoft to fix it.
If you’ve not installed KB4512941 yet then just do steps 2 & 3.
If you are using Windows 10 Home. I’ve repeatedly said to upgrade to Pro. IT IS CHEAP

My New Network

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I’ve completely redone my network.
I had problems with my old router. I considered replacing the firmware with DD-WRT but I decided against that. After reanalyzing things I decided the old router just couldn’t handle the number of devices and traffic on my network (despite its specs). It simply didn’t have the horsepower. I’ve replaced it with the one below.
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Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

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Many programs on your computer access the internet even though they don’t need to. They phone home for a variety of reason including telemetry and checking for updates.
I don’t need or want most programs phoning home for any reason. Still, they try.
With programs getting more invasive I thought it would be appropriate to show you how to block their access to the net.
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