Security

Important information regarding the Windows security updates released on January 3, 2018 and anti-virus software
Microsoft has identified a compatibility issue with a small number of anti-virus software products.
The compatibility issue is caused when anti-virus applications make unsupported calls into Windows kernel memory. These calls may cause stop errors (also known as blue screen errors) that make the device unable to boot. To help prevent stop errors caused by incompatible anti-virus applications, Microsoft is only offering the Windows security updates released on January 3, 2018 to devices running anti-virus software from partners who have confirmed their software is compatible with the January 2018 Windows operating system security update.
If you have not been offered the security update, you may be running incompatible anti-virus software and you should follow up with your software vendor.

Many of the computing worlds pioneers and best and brightest took the FCC chairman to school. In a letter to four Congressmen and an attached document they laid out the case for Net Neutrality and why repealing it is wrong. I’ve read both the letter and the attached document (53-page document, 43 plus credits). They are works of art. IMHO all Computer Science majors should be required to read them. If you are remotely interested in your internet freedom you should read them. If you want to understand anything about this issue you should read them.
The basic premise is that the argument that Ajit Pai is making is… well, here are some key phrases:
“appears to lack a fundamental understanding”
“fundamental misunderstanding”
“fundamentally misunderstands”
“analysis is fundamentally flawed”
“inaccurately portraying”
“This analysis is fundamentally flawed and again shows a basic misunderstanding of how the Internet works.”
“displays a stunning lack of technical knowledge”
and my favorite:
“This interpretation of the role ISPs play in a customer’s online experience is so fundamentally alien to the standard conception of how the Internet works that a well-known April Fools’ joke addresses precisely this question.”

The signers of the letter are a Who’s Who of the internet and computing world including the inventor of the World Wide Web, and the co-founder of Apple Computer.
The folks that put the document together is darn near as impressive.

Letter: Internet Pioneers and Leaders Tell the FCC: You Don’t Understand How the Internet Works
PDF: Joint Comments of Internet Engineers, Pioneers, and Technologists on the Technical Flaws in the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rule-making and the Need for the Light-Touch, Bright-Line Rules from the Open Internet Order

I’m trying a new add-on called uMatrix. It is from the same guy that brought you uBlock Origin.
“uMatrix: A point-and-click matrix-based firewall, with many privacy-enhancing tools.
*For advanced users.*
uMatrix put you in full control of where your browser is allowed to connect, what type of data it is allowed to download, and what it is allowed to execute. Nobody else decides for you: You choose. You are in full control of your privacy.”
As stated above, this is for advanced users. Like Noscript it can make using the web difficult at first until you train it.
If you are using uMatrix, or you try it please let me know what you think.
In the pic below I have disabled my usual extensions of Noscript and uBlock Origin so I can get a true picture of what is going on.

***I’ve said this before and I will say it again.
Do not whitelist 3rd party ad servers on any site, including this one. I know other website operators beg you to whitelist for their site. Ads track you, ads often get caught serving malware. I have Google Ads because I average enough per month to help keep this site going. I hope you are smart enough to never see them. How I finance my site is my problem not yours. You do not need 3rd party connections to have an ad on your site. I reference the Torguard ad in the right sidebar. I created it. Readers see the unintrusive ad and can click on it if they are interested. There is no connection to a 3rd party.

I’m going to post a picture of his email to me. It will be followed by the text of his letter as well as my response.
[Read more…] about One Of My Congressmen Responded To My Pro-Net Neutrality Email