TweakHound

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 425.31
Download | Release Notes

Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers v21
Windows 7 | Windows 8.1 | Windows 10

Client NVMe Microsoft Windows Drivers for Intel SSDs
This Windows driver can be used to enable your system to recognize the Intel SSD 660p Series, Intel Optane SSD 900P Series, Intel Optane SSD 905P Series, Intel SSD 750 Series, and Intel SSD Pro 7600p/760p/E 6100p Series.
Download & Info

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Amazon Workers Are Listening to What You Tell Alexa
Amazon.com Inc. employs thousands of people around the world to help improve the Alexa digital assistant powering its line of Echo speakers. The team listens to voice recordings captured in Echo owners’ homes and offices. The recordings are transcribed, annotated and then fed back into the software as part of an effort to eliminate gaps in Alexa’s understanding of human speech and help it better respond to commands.
And that is one of the reasons I will never have one of those type of devices.

Apple Music Censors Songs in China Referencing 1989 Tiananmen Massacre and Democracy, Watchdog Says
While other big American tech firms have limited their operations in China at least in part to avoid complying with the country’s strict censorship laws, Apple has fought to stay inside and has reaped the financial rewards…Chinese journalists and netizens recently found that Apple Music’s Chinese streaming service censored a song by Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung that references the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, an extremely politically sensitive topic for the Chinese Communist Party. The incident’s 30th anniversary is coming up in June.
kar·ma
/ˈkärmə/
noun
(in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

Biologist Exposes Sushi Restaurants For False Labels For Their Ingredients
Biology professor Dr.Jennifer McDonald asked her college senior class to go out to various sushi restaurants and bring back a sample for their lab assignment, so they could extract the DNA and find out if the fish name on the menu was in fact what it said it was. Not only did the class expose some serious fish fraud they uncovered some other seriously stomach-churning “ingredients.”
Gross

What’s the significance of black hole photo? (Dr. Michio Kaku) – CBSN Live Video – CBS News

Most Popular Jelly Beans by State [Interactive Map]
Popcorn flavor? Yuck! Shout out to Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Tennessee.

* Be sure to check out my latest article: Bad Tweak – Optimize USB Storage

Got Windows? You got updates.
This may or may not be the last update before the May 2018 feature update.

Windows 7
April 9, 2019—KB4493448 (Security-only update)
April 9, 2019—KB4493472 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 8.1
April 9, 2019—KB4493467 (Security-only update)
April 9, 2019—KB4493446 (Monthly Rollup)

Windows 10
1809 – April 9, 2019—KB4493509 (OS Build 17763.437)
1803 – April 9, 2019—KB4493464 (OS Build 17134.706)
1709 – April 9, 2019—KB4493441 (OS Build 16299.1087)
Reminder: Windows 10, version 1709, will reach end of service on April 9, 2019 for devices running Windows 10 Home, Pro, Pro for Workstation, and IoT Core editions.

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CCleaner v5.56.7144
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement
See also: Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

Adobe Reader Updated
Download en-US | All Downloads | Security Bulletin | Release Notes

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Microsoft says FCC data on improved broadband coverage is misleading
It’s a well-known fact that large swathes of the US remain without broadband connectivity — indeed, some $22 billion has been poured into closing this gap over the past five years. However, exactly how many Americans are going without is up for debate. As a new blog post by Microsoft explains, “official” data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can’t be trusted.
No?! Government data can’t be trusted? Surely you jest?

Stone sells its Berlin brewery to Scotland’s BrewDog
Greg Koch, the Stone co-founder who had advocated the Berlin experiment, noted slower-than-expected sales and German contractors who were unable to quickly respond to “unexpected challenges.”
He flat out said it was the Germans fault. SMH. Check out the comments…

Do Real Men Wear Scrunchies?
Paywalled: Try the Bypass Paywalls extension for Firefox
As more guys jump on the long hair trend, they’re also embracing a wider range of hair accessories, like the pink Fendi hair tie worn by Aquaman Jason Momoa
I’m gonna shut my yap on this one. That huge Hawaian dude might kick my ass…

Samsung SSD Magician Software 5.3.1
Download | Alternative Download

Intel Graphics Driver for Windows [15.45]
This is a security release and only supports Windows 7* & 8.1* for 6th Generation processors.
Download & Info

New Win10 Update Settings
Yes, I know about it because every Windows tech site/blog jumped on it. They do every time something sponge-worthy newsworthy pops up on the Windows blog and they act like they have an exclusive scoop. I’ve no comment because:
– It applies to the next major update and it ain’t out yet.
– You shouldn’t be upgrading to the next Win10 update when it comes out, and it ain’t out yet.
– It ain’t out yet, and it ain’t out yet.

Maglite Heavy-Duty Incandescent 6-Cell D Flashlight, Black – S6D016
BTW – I keep mine next to the front door. It’s like a mini baseball bat…
List Price: $42.98
Price: $30.81
You Save: $12.17 (28%)

I’ve been sick for almost a month. A sinus infection turned into acute bronchitis because the inept doctors at my local urgent care center wouldn’t prescribe an antibiotic when it was obvious I needed it. I’ve been on doxycycline hyclate (antibiotic) and prednisone (steroid to help breathing) for several days now. I haven’t been focusing well. Here at TweakHound.com some misspelling and general rambling have ensued and I apologize. I’m gonna take a few days off. I might head up towards the mountains and hit a few breweries.

Macrium Reflect v7.2.4156
Bugfixes, support large cluster size (NTFS)
Download | Release Notes

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Office Depot And Partner Ordered To Pay $35 Million For Tricking Consumers Into Thinking They Had Malware
“Consumers have a hard enough time protecting their computers from malware, viruses, and other threats,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons. “This case should send a strong message to companies that they will face stiff consequences if they use deception to trick consumers into buying costly services they may not need.”
LOL. The ENTIRE industry uses those tactics.

Hundreds of millions of Facebook records exposed on Amazon cloud servers
One of the companies stored 146 gigabytes of data containing more than 540 million records, including comments, likes, reactions and account names, on the Amazon servers, according to UpGuard. The number of users whose data was included is not yet clear.
#DeleteFacebook

‘Beyond Sketchy’: Facebook Demanding Some New Users’ Email Passwords
I don’t know what’s worse. The ignorance of asking for the password or the ignorance of giving it. #DeleteFacebook

25 Years Later: Interview with Linus Torvalds
I didn’t find the interview interesting until this:
But, I absolutely detest modern “social media”—Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. It’s a disease. It seems to encourage bad behavior.
I think part of it is something that email shares too, and that I’ve said before: “On the internet, nobody can hear you being subtle”. When you’re not talking to somebody face to face, and you miss all the normal social cues, it’s easy to miss humor and sarcasm, but it’s also very easy to overlook the reaction of the recipient, so you get things like flame wars, etc., that might not happen as easily with face-to-face interaction…
Add in anonymity, and it’s just disgusting. When you don’t even put your real name on your garbage (or the garbage you share or like), it really doesn’t help.
I’m actually one of those people who thinks that anonymity is overrated. Some people confuse privacy and anonymity and think they go hand in hand, and that protecting privacy means that you need to protect anonymity. I think that’s wrong. Anonymity is important if you’re a whistle-blower, but if you cannot prove your identity, your crazy rant on some social-media platform shouldn’t be visible, and you shouldn’t be able to share it or like it.

People need to wake up to dangers of AI, warns Google ethics adviser
“AI is the single most disruptive force that humanity has ever encountered and my concern is that so much of the discussion that we hear about now is very incremental,” said De Kai, a professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, in an interview this week. “We are near an era when people can easily produce weapons such as fleets of armed AI drones … the cat is out of the bag.”
I would put the odds at better than even AI will be our undoing. I dunno, maybe I’m just in a mood.

Ex-Mozilla CTO: US border cops demanded I unlock my phone, laptop at SF airport – and I’m an American citizen
“On this trip, the kiosk directed me to a Customs and Border Patrol agent who kept my passport and sent me to secondary inspection,” Gal said. “There I quickly found myself surrounded by three armed agents wearing bullet proof vests. They started to question me aggressively regarding my trip, my current employment, and my past work for Mozilla, a non-profit organization dedicated to open technology and online privacy.”
I don’t fly much. Don’t care if I ever do again. Folks making comments on this article talk about burner phones and laptops for travel…

Luigi that ordered a Tweak Guide:
I need a legit email addy bro!

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.4.1 Optional
Bugfixes
Download | Release Notes

Microsoft Office 365 Updated
Non-Security update Version 1903 (Build 11425.20202)
How to check for Office updates.

O&O AppBuster Updated
Win10 app uninstaller from the same folks who make O&O ShutUp10.
Download & Info | Changelog

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

IT and security professionals think normal people are just the worst
Two surveys of IT and security experts suggest they put most of the blame for data insecurity at the feet of ignorant, careless employees.
I’ve been out of IT for quite some time. The biggest issue I saw back then was organizations not willing to spend what it takes to secure their network and data. As for “ignorant, careless employees”, always has been, always will be the case.

Google’s constant product shutdowns are damaging its brand
We are 91 days into the year, and so far, Google is racking up an unprecedented body count. If we just take the official shutdown dates that have already occurred in 2019, a Google-branded product, feature, or service has died, on average, about every nine days.
Google is till copying Microsoft I see.

A Mystery Religion Pre-Dated The Incas by 500 Years, Stunning Lake Discovery Reveals
For long before the Incas held dominion over the sweeping lands stretching from Colombia to Chile, an even more mysterious and ancient society inhabited this elevated Andean region.
This older empire was called the Tiwanaku state, whom we know even less about.

Dear Tickmaster,
I’ve never bought tickets for a soccer match on your site. I’ve never even looked for tickets for a soccer match on your site. I wouldn’t go to a soccer match unless you paid me, a lot, a whole lot. Oh, and beer, I’ll need a lot of that too. Stop sending me emails to buy tickets for a soccer match on your site.
Thanks