TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Thursday Random Stuff…

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Firefox Quantum 57.0.1
Download
Release notes
Thanks Scott!

New GPU Drivers
AMD Radeon Crimson ReLive Edition 17.11.4 Drivers. Release notes here.
Related: Coming December 2017: Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition
Nvidia GeForce Game Ready 388.43 WHQL Drivers. “Provides the optimal gaming experience for DOOM VFR”
Nvidia Linux users may want to look at this: NVIDIA has confirmed a driver bug resulting in a loss of performance on Linux

Android Tracking
Yalies analyzed 300 Andoid apps. 75% of them “contain the signatures of trackers“. I put the blame right on Googles doorstep. Of course if they spoke up about it it would be met with “pot meet kettle” analogies.

It’s Called Reddit, Not Read It
Some Fighting Irish researchers found, “73 percent of posts on Reddit are voted on by users that haven’t actually clicked through to view the content being rated.” Surprised? Nah, me either.

Wednesday Morning News

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We The People Call for The Resignation of FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai
“We the people have identified FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai as a threat to our freedoms due to his call to repeal Net Neutrality. We passionately call upon the white house for the immediate removal of FCC Chairman Ajit Varadaraj Pai from office for his actions.”

Not Cute, Just Sad
Article entitled, When your kid tries to say ‘Alexa’ before ‘Mama’. Some parents think it’s cute. These are probably the same parents who let their kids haul around tablets and phones with them all day.
[Read more…] about Wednesday Morning News

Random Weekend Stuff…

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I hope everyone survived Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Went to a movie yesterday. The theater is next to a mall. I don’t understand why anyone would subject themselves to the insanity that is Black Friday.

Software Updates
dBpowerAMP R16.3 (release notes)

Say It Ain’t So
“phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet”
I’m stunned. Stunned I tell you.

Responsible Encryption, LOL
The government (all of them) wants to be able to decrypt your data whenever they feel like it. Although too many people don’t care, many of us think that is a load of… well, you know.
“If strong crypto is outlawed, only outlaws will have strong crypto”
If you are interested in this topic, be sure to click on the links in this article. Lots of good info on this complicated issue.

For Sale: Ocean Front Property In Arizona
Wired – What Amazon Echo and Google Home Do With Your Voice Data
So much naivety. About the only thing I liked in this article was the reference to Dokken.
Apologies to Mr. Strait.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to repair my tinfoil hat.

OFF TOPIC

Top 20 Whiskies Of 2017
I haven’t had anything on that list. Wouldn’t mind having a nip or 2 of each one!

Coffee Good For You
A new study says so. There should be another study any day now saying coffee is bad for you.

The Movie I Saw Yesterday
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I enjoyed it. Interesting tale with a fantastic cast.
Peter Dinklage – my favs: Game Of Thrones, The Chronicles of Narnia
Woody Harrelson – my favs: One of my favorite actors. Far too many to list.
Frances McDormand – my favs: Moonrise Kingdom, Almost Famous
Sam Rockwell – my favs: The Way Way Back, The Green Mile

Ditch Social Media

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No, I am not going to let up on this topic. Save the planet! Save yourself! Get off of InstaSnapTwitFace+.
That well known tech publication Vanity Fair has a great article called The End of the Social Era Can’t Come Soon Enough. I kid about the tech thing. While I certainly wouldn’t take tech advice form VF they definately have insight into culture that I definitely lack.
“Will a future generation look back in 10, 20, or maybe 100 years from now and wonder, mystifyingly, why a generation of humans believed in these platforms despite mounting evidence that they were tearing society apart—being used as terrorist recruitment tools, facilitating bullying, driving up anxiety, and undermining our elections—despite the obvious benefits and facilitations they provide?”

uMatrix Firefox Add-on

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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.

Happy Thanksgiving

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I wish a happy and safe Thanksgiving to everyone today.
Among many other things, I am grateful I am still able to have this website and that you keep coming here. This is a most humbling and rewarding experience and I appreciate the wonderful people I’ve come in contact with through the years.
cb_thanksgiving