TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Software

More Browser Stuff…

By

Vivaldi – Developer is ex-Opera founder. Love the idea. Performance is sub-par, even tweaked.
Cent – Best as I can tell this is from some random dudes in China. No documentation on this at all. No thanks.

Opera – I want to like it but I cannot get over the China connection. I fired up some network tools and as near as I can tell it isn’t doing anything nefarious. One super annoying thing is that I watched it contact the Opera servers every single time it is launched. A far as I can see this seems to be their update servers. You should take this with a grain of salt because not only am I not a network monitor guru, I am very out of practice with what I do know. As for the VPN. I like it but IMHO it isn’t a VPN, it is a proxy (Google opera vpn). Ironically, VPNs are illegal in China.
The China connection…
Opera is owned by Chinese companies. I’m having a hard time with this. China, while not openly hostile to the U.S. certainly is covertly hostile. I am not very knowledgeable about China but I am under the impression that everything is under some form of control by the government. The “Chicoms” as they used to be called. Anyhow, I just can’t shake my wariness.
Any thoughts?

Browser Stuff…

By

I’ve never been a browser Geek. I like Firefox with my extensions for browsing. I like Chrome for business and shopping use. I can’t stand Microsoft browsers. I posted that I was trying Opera yesterday. Someone mentioned who Opera was owned by and I found it a little unsettling. I’ve done a little digging and found some interesting info. Most info below comes from Wikipedia or Netmarketshare.com. It is the most recent info I could gather.
FWIW – I am now trying Vivaldi
About the info below. I’m aware you can argue the market share stats all day but this is what I am going with.

Computer Browsers
(Browser – Company – Country – Market share)
Chromium (and Chrome) – Google – U.S.A – Market share 58.91%.
Firefox – Mozilla Foundation – U.S.A. – Market share 11.91%
Internet Explorer – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share 18.91%
Microsoft Edge – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share 5.6%
Opera – Opera Software ASA – Headquarters in Norwary, owned by (“a consortium of Chinese investors”) – Market share 1.22%
Safari – Apple – U.S.A. (Mac only) – Market share 3.52%
Vivaldi – Vivaldi Technologies – Headquarters in U.S.A. – Market share 3.66%

Mobile Browsers
(Browser – Company – Country – Market share)
Chrome – Google – U.S.A. – Market share 54.45%
Dolphin – MoboTap – U.S.A. – – Market share unknown
Firefox – Mozilla Foundation – U.S.A. – Market share .56%
Internet Explorer – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share .94%
Opera (Mini and Mobile) – Opera Software ASA – Headquarters in Norwary, owned by (“a consortium of Chinese investors”) – Market share 4%
Safari – Apple – U.S.A. (iOS only) – Market share 32.45%
Samsung Internet for Android – Samsung – Korea – Market share unknown. Probably part of Chrome market share.

Weekend News

By

Software Updates
Firefox 55.0.3
Mp3tag 2.84
Start10 1.56

Reason #4,857,354 To Get Off Of Social Media
Facebook Figured Out My Family Secrets, And It Won’t Tell Me How

Reason #4,857,355 To Get Off Of Social Media
New multi platform malware/adware spreading via Facebook Messenger
(article ironically brought to you by Kaspersky)

Reason #4,857,356 To Get Off Of Social Media
‘Data is the new oil’: Your personal information is now the world’s most valuable commodity

Tuesday Random Stuff…

By

From Russia With Love
Back in May I linked to an article where DHS and the FBI were questioning Kaspersky’s relationship to the Russian government. Now they are warning businesses that Kaspersky products are an “unacceptable threat to national security“.

The World Is Not Enough
A German site called Born’s Tech and Windows World is reporting that Microsoft “signed a waiver (cease and desist) not to download install files for a new operating system without user’s consensus. This was the consequence of Microsoft’s attempt, to force Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 7/8.1 systems from July 2015 up to July 2016.“.

Tomorrow Never Dies
Acronis True Image 2018 has been released. Bunch of new features I’m not interested in. I’ll be skipping this one.

Spectre
I had mentioned I wanted to see the movie Logan Lucky because it had both James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This past weekend I did go see it. I thought it was hysterical. Both guys played parts that were absolutely nothing like their most popular characters. This may have been my favorite Daniel Craig performance.

Quantum of Solace
Good grief, not you too Firefox. Neowin is reporting that “Mozilla has announced that it would like to collect anonymous user data in order to “better understand how people use” Firefox. The proposed move is quite contentious for many users because Mozilla is making it opt-out; many users feel betrayed by the move given that Mozilla touts Firefox as a privacy-oriented browser.”

Skyfall
I generally don’t like to rain on person’s parade, at least publically, but…
I’m a Geek. I love space news, space movies, NASA, etc. But I just didn’t get the whole eclipse thing. Yes, I watched it for a few minutes. Yes, I had the glasses on. I didn’t go out of my way for it, I pulled into a parking lot. It was about as unexciting and uneventful as I expected.
One of my favorite reporters was equally unimpressed:

Monday Morning News

By

Classic Shell 4.3.1
I mainly use Classic Shell for Classic Start Menu.
“Here’s what’s new:
– Official support for the Creators Update version of Windows 10
– Added a setting to clear icon cache
– Multiple minor improvements and bugfixes
Download
Release Info

Wise Disk Cleaner 9.52
– Improved cleaning for Windows Winsxs Backup.
– Updated various translations.
Download

New CPUs

AMD Threadripper vs. Intel Core i9: The best CPU for enthusiasts
“We pitted both chips against each other in a grudge match… and each walked away claiming victory. If you’re obsessed with single-threaded performance (including games), back the Core i9 and its higher clock speeds. Threadripper 1950X’s outsized core count punches way higher in multithreaded performance, though, and it’s the people’s champion in everyday tasks and price.”

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X CPU Review
“These High End Desktop (HEDT) systems are certainly not meant for everyone. Many folks simply do not have a need for this many cores/threads and certainly the expense of the CPU itself and subsequent motherboard and RAM are going to put it out of reach for many. That said, if you do actually have the need for a 1950X or 1920X, you can certainly put these work. Content creation professionals and hobbyists are going to love having these CPUs on their desktops.”

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X Review: CPUs on Steroids
“If I were to turn around and say that Threadripper CPUs were not pure gaming CPUs, it would annoy a fair lick of the tech audience. The data is there – it’s not the best gaming CPU… You need a lot to do in order to fill 16 cores to the max, and for those that do, it’s a potential winner. For anyone that needs hardcore throughput such as transcode, decode, rendering such as Blender, Cinema 4D or ray-tracing, it’s a great CPU to have. For multi-GPUs or multi-storage aficionados or the part of the crowd that wants to cram a bunch of six PCIe 3.0 x8 FPGAs into a system, AMD has you covered.”

Etc
Is Alexa spying on us? We’re too busy to care — and we might regret that
No, the Google manifesto isn’t sexist or anti-diversity. It’s science

Wednesday Morning Random Stuff…

By

Adobe Updates
APSB17-23 Security Updates Available for Adobe Flash Player
Download for Firefox
Download for Internet Explorer
Google Chrome and IE for Win10 do their own updates. Flash for IE Win10 was part of yesterdays updates (KB4034662).
APSB17-24 Security Updates Available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader

Tor Browser 7.0.4
Download
Release Announcement

Etc.
Best practices for passwords updated after original author regrets his advice

Off Topic
Struggling for inspiration? A pint of beer could release creative block, say scientists