TweakHound

Software Updates
7-Zip 18.0.1
Nvidia GeForce Drivers 390.77 WHQL

Firefox 58.0.1
Firefox 32-bit
Firefox 64-bit
All downloads
Release Notes (not up yet)

Not Intel-ligent
“In initial disclosures about critical security flaws discovered in its processors, Intel Corp. notified a small group of customers, including Chinese technology companies, but left out the U.S. government, according to people familiar with the matter and some of the companies involved.”
My first thought was the word “treasonous”. Yeah I know, but that is what came to mind. Probably doesn’t rise to that but it sure is stupid. Amazing that a company full of some of the brightest among us has failed so miserably recently.

About That Windows Unpatch Patch
Over the weekend several sites have reported that “Microsoft issues emergency Windows update” that unpatched the Spectre patch.
AFAIK they haven’t put anything on Window Update and there is no “out-of-band update”, at least not on any of my 7 running PCs. Frankly I think they all got the news from AskWoody who is the only site I’ve seen get it right:
“The patch is only available from the Update Catalog, and it’s the same patch for all versions of Windows.”
and
“It’s highly likely that when Intel gives the all-clear for Spectre variant 2, it’ll be part of yet another patch.”
and most importantly
“Moral of the story: Wait.”

Pai In Your Face
How does this embarrassment still have a job?

Big Brother
iVerge – Exclusive: ICE is about to start tracking license plates across the US
They are tracking everyone plates not just illegals. I don’t have much to complain about as I have an E-ZPass but that is an opt-in thing.

Ars Pro
Ars Technica is turning to a premium subscription model. I’ve only tried one and that was over at Paul Thurrott’s site. I let that expire as I didn’t feel the value was worth the cost. Is this where the web is headed?

Logic
Non sequitur. Some folks really need to understand this before they make comments.
 
RIP Mort Walker

Chrome 64
53 security fixes including Meltdown and Spectre protection.
HDR suppport.
Mute annoying sites. You can do this by right-clicking on a tab.
Download

Polaris
Windows Central says “Polaris” is a Win10 version “for traditional PC form factors”.
I want my PC to act like a PC. Not a phone. Not a tablet. But when it comes to Microsoft getting things right, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Coincidence
“Intel quietly warned computer manufacturers at the end of November that its chips were insecure due to design flaws, according to an internal Chipzilla document…The date of the disclosure to OEMs is likely to raise eyebrows as it happened on the same day Intel chief exec Brian Krzanich sold shares in his company worth $25m before tax.”
They always get away with it.

Inside The Fight For The Soul Of Kaspersky Lab
Semi-long article and worth the read.
“Kaspersky Lab is under fire in the US over concerns that it could provide its clients’ private — and at times secret — information to the Russian government. A new investigation by Russian news site Meduza, published here exclusively in English, goes inside the battle for control of the company — a battle sources say was won by the side allied with Russian security services.”

Firefox 58
Not officially out but you can download it:
Firefox 32-bit
Firefox 64-bit
All downloads (58 not available as of this post)
Release Notes (when available)

Social Media Sucks
Apple CEO Tim Cook when speaking about his nephew, “There are some things that I won’t allow; I don’t want them on a social network”

iGen
“the clearer it became that theirs is a generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media. I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet…It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones…But only about 56 percent of high-school seniors in 2015 went out on dates; for Boomers and Gen Xers, the number was about 85 percent…But iGen teens aren’t working (or managing their own money) as much. In the late 1970s, 77 percent of high-school seniors worked for pay during the school year; by the mid-2010s, only 55 percent did…when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device instead of at her. “I’m trying to talk to them about something, and they don’t actually look at my face,” she said. “They’re looking at their phone, or they’re looking at their Apple Watch.” “What does that feel like, when you’re trying to talk to somebody face-to-face and they’re not looking at you?,” I asked. “It kind of hurts,” she said. “It hurts. I know my parents’ generation didn’t do that. I could be talking about something super important to me, and they wouldn’t even be listening.”

GET OFF OF FACEBOOK
Facebook is asking users to rank the trustworthiness of news sources.
This is not high school. News isn’t a popularity contest. It is factually correct or it isn’t. It is unbiased or it isn’t. Allowing the masses to rank news only allows people to down-vote sources of news they don’t like or that don’t promote their own personal biases.
Then again, if you get your news from social media you are part of the problem.

*Sigh*
“What people don’t know about or see about Facebook is that polarization is built in to the business model,” Harris told NBC News. “Polarization is profitable.”