TweakHound

Why?
Today virtually every Windows or software download site has posted about a new Windows 11 Media Creation Tool program that allows you to bypass hardware/TPM checks. Yeah that’s cool. But why would anyone want to use this?
Microsoft has set the hardware requirements there for a reason. People who use this will then whine about Windows 11 not working as it should. Windows 10 doesn’t reach End of Life for 4 more years. Even if you don’t mind Windows 11’s horrendous user interface, why the hurry to use an alpha grade OS?

GPU-Z 2.43.0
“GPU-Z is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.”
A few fixes, support for a new Nvidia card, and a new feature.
Download & Info

Say Hello To Astro, Alexa On Wheels
“Amazon’s long-awaited home robot is here”
Yeah, by whom?
And to the ignorant little children at Amazon’s marketing department…
ROSIE was the name of the maid, Astro was the name of the dog.

Notepad++ 8.1.5
14 fixes.
Download & Info

‘Babylon 5’ Reboot in Development at The CW From Original Series Creator J. Michael Straczynski
“The new iteration of the sci-fi series is described as a “from-the-ground-up reboot.” In the series, John Sheridan, an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background, is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race.”

One of my favorite sci-fi series. If you haven’t seen it you owe it to yourself to watch.
It pops up from time to time on streaming services. I have the Babylon 5: The Complete Series with Movies 10pk DVD Set (“Only 20 left in stock – order soon“).

Mp3tag v3.10
“This version comes with an option to choose the color mode (dark, light, default), and other improvements and fixes.”
Download | Changelog

Examining btrfs, Linux’s perpetually half-finished filesystem
“Believe it or not, we’ve still only scratched the surface of btrfs problems. Similar problems and papercuts lurk in the way it manages snapshots, replication, compression, and more. Once we get through that, there’s performance to talk about—which in many cases can be orders of magnitude slower than either ZFS or mdraid in reasonable, common real-world conditions and configurations.”
I’ve gone off on BTRFS for desktops for a while now. Nothing I’ve seen has change my mind.

5 Surprising Effects of Drinking Craft Beer, Says Science

Avoid these 5 phrases that make you sound passive aggressive—here’s how successful people communicate

More Trail Cam Pics…
Pics from the back of my property. The critters looking at the camera crack me up.
[Read more…] about Weekend Random Stuff…

Firefox 92.0.1
2 small fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Sysinternals Tools Updated
Autoruns v14.02, WinObj v3.12, Tcpview v4.15 and Process Monitor v3.85
Download & Info

EU rules to force USB-C chargers for all phones
“Apple has warned such a move would harm innovation.”

The NFL fantasy league I’m in needs one player to pick up a team where the owner never signed in. The league is run by a TH reader and friend. Well, I dunno how much of a friend he is since he kicked my butt 158.67 to 106.66 last week!
Give me a shout if you’re interested.

Chrome 94
19 security fixes
Download | Release Info | Android and iOS too
v94 has a controversial feature that allows website to detect if your browser is sitting there idle.
Here is how to turn it off:
Go to: chrome://settings/content/idleDetection
or
Chrome Settings > Privacy and Security > Site Settings > Permissions > Additional Permissions > Your device use
enable: Don’t allow sites to know when you’re actively using your device

Internet freedom on the decline in US and globally, study finds
“Domestically, the lack of regulation in the tech industry has allowed companies to grow beyond reproach and misinformation to flourish online. Abroad, authoritarian governments have harnessed their tight control of the internet to subdue free expression.”

Apple, Google raise new concerns by yanking Russian app
“Big Tech companies that operate around the globe have long promised to obey local laws and to protect civil rights while doing business. But when Apple and Google capitulated to Russian demands and removed a political-opposition app from their local app stores, it raised worries that two of the world’s most successful companies are more comfortable bowing to undemocratic edicts — and maintaining a steady flow of profits — than upholding the rights of their users.”

No More Apologies: Inside Facebook’s Push To Defend Its Image
Article paywalled: Bypass Paywalls extension: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bypass+paywalls+extension
“Project Amplify punctuated a series of decisions that Facebook has made this year to aggressively reshape its image. Since that January meeting, the company has begun a multipronged effort to change its narrative by distancing Mr. Zuckerberg from scandals, reducing outsiders’ access to internal data, burying a potentially negative report about its content and increasing its own advertising to showcase its brand.”
A+ Slashdot comments!

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.9.1 OPTIONAL Drivers
Support for: World War Z – Aftermath, Diablo II – Resurrected, New World
Download | Release Notes

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 472.12 WHQL
“This new Game Ready Driver provides support for the official launch of Windows 11”
Support for – Diablo II: Resurrected, Far Cry 6, Hot Wheels Unleashed, Industria, New World, and World War Z: Aftermath.
Download | Release Notes

Coleman Battery Guard LED Flashlight
List Price: $39.99
With Deal: $17.19
You Save: $22.80 (57%)

LUMENS: Up to 625
BEAM DISTANCE: Up to 425 meters
RUNTIME: Up to 3 hours (high) and 200 hours (low); 6 AA batteries (sold separately)
STOPS BATTERY DRAIN: BatteryGuard technology automatically disconnects batteries from circuit for up to 25% longer battery life than traditional flashlights
REDUCES CORROSION: Batteries can be stored in flashlight for years (up to their inherent shelf life)
BUILT TO LAST: IPX4 water-resistance rating for reliable use outdoors in the elements; impact-resistant up to 2 meters
LIFETIME LEDS: Never need replacing
3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY

Wise Disk Cleaner 10.6.2
– Fixed 2 bugs in Common Cleaner and Advanced Cleaner.
– Improved the Autoupdate program, supporting high-definition displays.
– Newly supported for cleaning 3D Viewer, Adobe Photoshop CC, Adobe Application Manager, Adobe Acrobat DC.
Download (I use portable) | Release Info

Microsoft announces passwordless future – available across Microsoft Edge and Microsoft 365 apps
“Now you can easily set Microsoft Edge to monitor the passwords you use across the web…1 Password Monitor, password generator and the password health dashboard are available on the latest version of Microsoft Edge. Must be signed into a Microsoft account.”
No and no.

ExpressVPN In The News
ExpressVPN bought for $1bn by Brit biz with an intriguing history in adware
ExpressVPN exec among three facing $1.6 million fine for helping UAE spy
Am I ditching ExpressVPN? No, mainly because I paid $99 for 15 months of service (12+3 free).
You have to ask yourself why you are using a VPN. I’m not doing anything illegal or hiding from the government. I use it away from home to keep my web activity from being intercepted by bad guys. Having said that, I don’t like the…I’ll call it ‘aura’ surrounding ExpressVPN right now. I’ve turned off auto-renew on my account and will be keeping an eye on it.

Facebook aware of Instagram’s harmful effect on teenage girls, leak reveals
“Since at least 2019, staff at the company have been studying the impact of their product on its younger users’ states of mind. Their research has repeatedly found it is harmful for a large proportion, and particularly teenage girls…As recently as March, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, claimed social media was more likely to have positive mental health effects. In May, Adam Mosseri, who is in charge at Instagram, said he had seen research suggesting its effects on teenagers’ mental health was probably “quite small”…“In pursuit of profit these companies are stealing children’s time, self-esteem and mental health, and sometimes tragically their lives … This is an entirely human-made world, largely privately owned, designed to optimise for commercial purposes – it does not have to be like this. It is time to optimise for the safety, rights and wellbeing of kids first – and then, only then – profit.”
[Read more…] about Thursday Random Stuff…

Win10 Updated
“Updates security for your Windows operating system…This update makes quality improvements to the servicing stack”
September 14, 2021—KB5005565 (OS Builds 19041.1237, 19042.1237, and 19043.1237)

Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 93.0.4577.82 for Windows, Mac and Linux…This update includes 11 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info

Kali Linux 2021.3 Released
“Kali Linux is an open-source, Debian-based Linux distribution geared towards various information security tasks, such as Penetration Testing, Security Research, Computer Forensics and Reverse Engineering.”
Download | Release Info