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Patch Tuesday

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Win10 Updated
April 13, 2021—KB5001330 (OS Builds 19041.928 and 19042.928)
– Updates to improve security when Windows performs basic operations.
– Updates to improve security when using input devices such as a mouse, keyboard, or pen.

Intel Memory and Storage Tool (GUI)
Version: 1.7 Date: 4/8/2021
Download & Info

The FCC wants you to test your internet speeds with its new app
“To close the gap between digital haves and have nots, we are working to build a comprehensive, user-friendly dataset on broadband availability,” Acting Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement Monday. “Expanding the base of consumers who use the FCC Speed Test app will enable us to provide improved coverage information to the public and add to the measurement tools we’re developing to show where broadband is truly available throughout the United States.”

Frozen Steak Brand Steak-umm Is Fed Up With Neil deGrasse Tyson, Goes To War With Astrophysicist Over Clout Chasing ‘Science’ Tweet
Love me some Steak-umm!

The Social Dilemma

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The Social Dilemma
“We tweet, we like, and we share— but what are the consequences of our growing dependence on social media? This documentary-drama hybrid reveals how social media is reprogramming civilization with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations…The Social Dilemma features the voices of technologists, researchers and activists working to align technology with the interests of humanity.”
I finally got around to watching this last night. My favorite quotes from the movie:

“I like to say that algorithms are opinions embedded in code.” Cathy O’Neil, data scientist‍

“The way to think about it is as 2.5 billion Truman Shows. Each person has their own reality with their own facts. Over time you have the false sense that everyone agrees with you because everyone in your news feed sounds just like you. Once you’re in that state, it turns out you’re easily manipulated.” – Roger McNamee, Early investor venture capitalist in Facebook‍

“It’s the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behavior and perception that is the product.” – Jaron Lainer, founding father of Virtual Reality Computer Scientist‍

“There’s only a handful of people at these companies who understand how these [algorithm] systems work, and even they don’t necessarily fully understand what’s going to happen with a particular piece of content. So as humans we’ve almost lost control over these systems. Because they’re controlling the information that we see, they’re controlling us more than we’re controlling them.” – Sandy Parakilas, former operations manager at Facebook, former product manager at Uber‍

More quotes: The most hair-raising quotes from Netflix doco The Social Dilemma
More reading: References from Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma”

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Updated
One Cumulative Update and a 1 or 2 .NET updates depending on which version you’ve installed.
20H2 & 2004: February 9, 2021—KB4601319 (OS Builds 19041.804 and 19042.804)
1909: February 9, 2021—KB4601315 (OS Build 18363.1377)

Firefox 85.0.2
“Fixed a deadlock during startup”
Download | Release Notes

O&O ShutUp10 Updated
“FIX: Determining registry key permissions has resulted in fewer displayed settings on some NT domain systems.”
If you aren’t on a corporate network (domain) then don’t bother with this update.
Download | Changelog

Security update available for Adobe Reader
Download | Security Bulletin

Google Chrome will no longer support dusty old computers from the mid-2000s
“Though admittedly small, the user base for Chrome users on devices dating back to the early to mid-2000s still exists. A new policy document published by the Chromium development team states that they will be dropping support for processors that lack something called SSE3, or Streaming SIMD Extensions 3, in x86 Chrome builds.”
SSE3 from Wikipedia:
“Intel introduced SSE3 in early 2004 with the Prescott revision of their Pentium 4 CPU. In April 2005, AMD introduced a subset of SSE3 in revision E (Venice and San Diego) of their Athlon 64 CPUs.”
From Intel: Products formerly Prescott

Antivirus In Your Linux Mint VM

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I use my Linux Mint VM for most of my internet activity. Because of this I like to install an antivirus on that VM so that I can scan files before I transfer them to the Windows host.
To be clear, I do this to protect Windows, not Linux Mint.
I use ClamAV:
“Clam AntiVirus (ClamAV) is a free software, cross-platform and open-source antivirus software toolkit able to detect many types of malicious software, including viruses.”
ClamAV Manuals

Let’s Install It
We are going to install ClamTk:
“ClamTk is a graphical front-end for ClamAV using Perl and Gtk libraries. It is designed to be an easy-to-use, lightweight, on-demand antivirus scanner for Linux systems.”
[Read more…] about Antivirus In Your Linux Mint VM

Patch Tuesday

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Win10 Updated
2004 & 20H2 – January 12, 2021—KB4598242 (OS Builds 19041.746 and 19042.746)
– Updates to improve security when using external devices, such as game controllers, printers, and web cameras.
– Updates to improve security when Windows performs basic operations.

1909 – January 12, 2021—KB4598229 (OS Build 18363.1316)
– Updates to improve security when using external devices, such as game controllers, printers, and web cameras.
– Updates to improve security when using Microsoft Office products.
– Updates to improve security when Windows performs basic operations.

My O&O ShutUp10 Settings – 03DEC2020 – Win10 20H2

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Download O&O ShutUp10
This is meant to be a starting point. You must use your head.
I don’t use the Microsoft Store and I only use the basic default apps like camera, calculator, video, etc.
This program can break things if you don’t pay attention.
All these settings are available somewhere within the Charlie Foxtrot that is Windows Settings. The advantage of this program is it puts everything in one place.
My settings (right-click > save link as). You can use this for reference if you like: https://www.tweakhound.com/win10/ooshutup10_TH_mainrig_03DEC2020.cfg
Pretty much “Recommended” settings plus or minus a few things.
[Read more…] about My O&O ShutUp10 Settings – 03DEC2020 – Win10 20H2