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Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Macrium Reflect 7.2.4063
Download | Release Notes

CCleaner 5.53
Download (I use portable) | Release Notes
See also: Blocking A Programs Internet Access Via The Windows Firewall

GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 418.99
This is GeForce Hotfix driver version 418.99 that addresses the following:
Windows 7×64/8.1×64: Fixes random application crash or TDR introduced in previous GeForce display driver 418.81
Download

Linux Releases
Kali Linux 2019.1
Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS (Bionic Beaver)

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

Windows 7 users: You need SHA-2 support or no Windows updates after July 2019
Microsoft will begin rolling out SHA-2 standalone updates for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 in March in preparation for its July 16 implementation deadline.

18,000 Android apps found violating ad tracking rules
Getting online advertisers to stop tracking you over Android may not be as easy it seems. New research has found that over 18,000 Android apps can create permanent records on their users, even when they try to stop the tracking.

Facebook Has Behaved Like ‘Digital Gangsters,’ U.K. Parliament Report Says
“The guiding principle of the ‘move fast and break things’ culture often seems to be that it is better to apologise than ask permission,” said Damian Collins, chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee that drafted the report. “We need a radical shift in the balance of power between the platforms and the people. The age of inadequate self regulation must come to an end.”…”Companies like Facebook should not be allowed to behave like ‘digital gangsters’ in the online world, considering themselves to be ahead of and beyond the law,”

Chinese and Iranian Hackers Renew Their Attacks on U.S. Companies
Russia is still considered America’s foremost hacking adversary. In addition to meddling widely and spreading disinformation during United States elections, Russian hackers are believed to have launched attacks on nuclear plants, the electrical grid and other targets.
Threats from China and Iran never stopped entirely, but Iranian hackers became much less active after the nuclear deal was signed in 2015. And for about 18 months, intelligence officials concluded, Beijing backed off its 10-year online effort to steal trade secrets.
But Chinese hackers have resumed carrying out commercially motivated attacks, security researchers and data-protection lawyers said. A priority for the hackers, researchers said, is supporting Beijing’s five-year economic plan, which is meant to make China a leader in artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies.

The Weather Service prepares to launch prediction model that many forecasters don’t trust
Numerous meteorologists who have experience using the FV3 worry it’s not ready for prime time and have been underwhelmed by its performance.

Friday Morning Random Stuff…

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Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 10
Version: 25.20.100.6471  Date: 12/20/2018
Performance improvements, quality improvements, bugfixes.
Download | Release Notes

Macrium Reflect v7.2.3957
Download | Release Notes

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

Apple confirms some iPad Pros ship slightly bent, but says it’s normal
according to the company, this is a side effect of the device’s manufacturing process and shouldn’t worsen over time or negatively affect the flagship iPad’s performance in any practical way. Apple does not consider it to be a defect.
LOL. Apple fanboys will just accept this lame ass statement.

Friday’s winter solstice 2018 features a full moon and meteor shower
This astronomical event officially arrives Friday at 5:23 p.m. EST. At this time of year, each day is about 24 hours, 30 seconds long. It’s because Earth is nearing its closest point to the sun in its elliptical orbit.
Why winter solstice 2018 is unique: December full moon, Ursid meteor shower, Mercury/Jupiter conjunction.

Millennials Strike Again: This Time We Are Killing Cash And ‘Merry Christmas’
A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that adults under 30 — so, mostly millennials — are the only age group among holiday shoppers with a clear preference for paying with plastic rather than cash. They’re also the only group to strongly prefer the non-Christmas-specific greeting “Happy Holidays.”

Stuff I Don’t Understand…
Dudes who wear hats or hoodies in the gym.
BTW. Show some class and take your hat off when indoors.
Manners & Civility – Should You Remove Your Hat When Indoors?

Tuesday Morning Random Stuff…

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Rollout Status as of December 17, 2018:
Windows 10, version 1809, is now fully available for advanced users who manually select “Check for updates” via Windows Update.

O&O ShutUp10 v1.6.1400
Download | Changelog

Wise Disk Cleaner v10.1.4.760
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement

Macrium Reflect v7.2.3954
Download | Release Notes

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

Google CEO Sundar Pichai: Fears about artificial intelligence are ‘very legitimate,’ he says in Post interview
“but the tech industry should be trusted to responsibly regulate its use.”
The fox in charge of the hen house analogy was never more apt than here.

Apple Warns iPhones Have A Serious Problem
What Apple is changing is how users will be able to resize pictures and manage applications on their iPhones. How will these functions be altered? Apple hasn’t said, other than to confirm the update and describe this functionality as “minor” when it is clearly anything but.
So what is going on? In short: Apple is trying to win favour with judges and iPhone users are the test subjects for this.
Those “judges” are in China.

Google isn’t the company that we should have handed the Web over to
Microsoft adopting Chromium puts the Web in a perilous place.
Agreed but it may be too late.

Former Edge intern says Google sabotaged Microsoft’s browser
LOL at a Microsoftie whining about web standards.

Social media is turning a generation of children into liars, leading headmistress warns
teenagers tend to “curate” a certain image of themselves on their social media accounts, such as the photograph sharing platforms, Instagram and Snapchat.
They become used to covering up any perceived imperfections, and there is a danger is when this attitude trespasses into other aspects of their life too.
“If you get used to showing one image of yourself on social media, you may begin to believe that is completely aligned to reality,”
Just how is this different than adult social media users? #DeleteFacebook

Polar vortex could unleash winter wallop by January
“Confidence is growing in a significant #PolarVortex disruption in the coming weeks. This could be the single most important determinant of the weather this #winter across the Northern Hemisphere.”
I’m gonna need thicker socks.

Best Christmas Yard Display Ever (Image credit Instagram via Brobible)

Saturday Morning News

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Macrium Reflect 7.2.3906
Download | Release Notes

Mp3tag v2.91
Download | Release Notes

BlackArch Linux 2018.12.01
BlackArch Linux is an Arch Linux-based penetration testing distribution for penetration testers and security researchers. The repository contains 2081 tools. You can install tools individually or in groups. BlackArch Linux is compatible with existing Arch installs.
Download
This is a Kali-like distro. Has anyone used it?

About Those Amazon Links
I want to thank you guys that use the Amazon links I post manually. I try to keep them relevant and they are often something I own (or want to). I get a tiny commission on those and that goes to help keep this site going. The costs for running this site includes hosting and software among other things.
As to the other ads…They help too but I hope you regulars are smart enough not to see them. I block all 3rd party ads on all sites, including my own.
uBlock Origin – Chrome | Privacy Badger – Chrome
uBlock Origin – Firefox | Privacy Badger – Firefox

Deal expired
Speaking of which…
Big sale, TODAY ONLY
Save on Star Trek collections on DVD and Blu-ray

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Win10 Updates
Many “Addresses an issue” fixes.
Build 1809 – None
Build 1803 – November 27, 2018—KB4467682 (OS Build 17134.441)
Build 1709 – November 27, 2018—KB4467681 (OS Build 16299.820)

Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 417.01 WHQL
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Darksiders III”
Download | Release Notes

Macrium Reflect 7.2.3897
Download | Release Notes

FinalCrypt 2.6.3
Free, open source encryption software.
Download & Info

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

Instagram Rich List 2018

Samsung 860 EVO 500GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD
List Price: $109.99
With Deal: $72.99
You Save: $37.00 (34%)

Samsung 860 EVO 1TB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD
List Price: $199.99
Price: $127.98
You Save: $72.01 (36%)

DEF LEPPARD – The Stories So Far Episode 1 with Joe Elliott
Joe tells all about the making of Pour Some Sugar On Me.

Def Leppard – The Story So Far CD comes out Friday
Track Listings
Disc: 1
1. Animal
2. Photograph
3. Pour Some Sugar On Me
4. Love Bites
5. Let’s Get Rocked
6. Armageddon It
7. Foolin’
8. Two Steps Behind
9. Heaven Is
10. Rocket
11. Hysteria
12. Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
13. Make Love Like A Man
14. Action
15. When Love And Hate Collide
16. Rock Of Ages
17. Personal Jesus

Disc: 2
1. Let’s Go
2. Promises
3. Slang
4. Bringin’ On The Heartbreak
5. Rock On
6. Nine Lives
7. Work It Out
8. Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion)
9. Dangerous
10. Now
11. Undefeated
12. Tonight
13. C’mon C’mon
14. Man Enough
15. No Matter What
16. All I Want Is Everything
17. It’s All About Believin’
18. Kings Of The World

Friday Random Stuff…

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Macrium Reflect 7.2.3825
Update to fix a couple of issues.
Download

jv16 PowerTools 4.2.0.1920
Bugfixes and improvements.
Download | Blog announcement

Time To Patch
Woody says, It’s time to install the October Windows and Office patches — and maybe tweak your settings
“Yesterday, Microsoft suddenly stopped playing Three Card Monte with the Win7 Monthly Rollup. The Win10 1809 ‘up’grade remains under wraps. For the first time in a long time, the coast’s clear. Now’s an excellent time to get your October patches installed and, if you’re using a Win10 Pro version, consider changing some Windows Update advanced options.”

Amazon Early Black Friday Deals are live.
Amazon Early Black Friday Deals: Computer & Accessories

Have a great weekend!

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Macrium Reflect 7.2
Download | Release Notes

Wise Disk Cleaner 10.1.2.757
Download (I use portable) | Release Announcement

New Linux Releases
Fedora 29 – IMB is buying their “sponsor” Red Hat. It will be interesting to see what happens to Fedora.
Kali 2018.4 – “penetration testing platform”
Manjaro – This is a rolling release distro. I’m generally not a fan of rolling releases but this one is at the top of the board at Distrowatch so what do I know.

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

What is FLAC? The high-def MP3 explained
“CNET explains what FLAC is, where to buy music in the format, and how to play it on your phone, computer or hi-fi.”
I’m ripping exclusively to FLAC now. I haven’t found a single Windows or Linux software audio player that doesn’t play it. AFAIK Android phones have always played it and Apple finally supported it with iOS 11.

Walmart is selling its own line of gaming PCs and the specs don’t suck
No thanks. I can’t stand that place.

Bars in downtown Reykjavík ran out of beer serving thirsty US sailors and marines
Well done!

Avery Tweak Beer
Picked up a bottle of Avery Tweak beer today. Those guys make some seriously delicious beer.
Now if they would just make one called TweakHound…

Lessons Learned

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This week Microsoft pulled the Windows 10 October 2018 Update because peoples personal files were being deleted. The Windows 10 April Update was delayed by almost 3 weeks due to a “blocking bug”. These are just 2 examples of Win10’s broken update model. With Win10, software quality is as bad as it has ever been. This despite the extensive Insider Program that was supposed to alleviate this problem. I’ve never been bitten by these updates and much of the advice I pass out on this site is designed to help you to not get bitten either. I will try and put that in a convenient list:

– Keep current system image backups.
I use Macrium Reflect Free. Other programs include Clonezilla (free) and Acronis True Image (not free).
I store recent copies on the same computer and older copies on an external hard drive.
You MUST create a boot disc or flash drive.
Use this before EVERY patch Tuesday and Feature Update.

– Keep current personal files backups (docs, pics, etc.).
I either use copy/paste or Microsoft’s free SyncToy.
I store them on an external hard drive, an old laptop hard drive, and burn to DVD.
I also store my music and pics on Google Drive.
I have a copy everything off site too.

– Separate your personal files from your OS (move your pics, docs, etc. folders).
Guides in every Tweak Guide.

– Delay Windows Updates. With Win10, consider skipping release altogether.
If you are using Windows 10 Home consider switching to Windows 10 Pro so that you can control your updates. You can by a legit key very cheap. Contact me if you cannot find one and I will point you in the right direction.
Security Updates for each release are provided for approximately 18 months so there is no rush to update to the latest release.
Win10’s changes and new features have come along at a pitifully slow rate. The only welcome change for me since Win10’s initial release is the Dark Theme.

– Advanced, Make a rescue flash drive.
Multiple tools to save yourself, friends, and family from disaster.

External Hard Drives at Amazon. Prices current as of 07OCT18

WD 4TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive – USB 3.0
List Price: $159.99 – Price: $99.99 – You Save: $60.00 (38%)

Seagate Expansion 8TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0
Was: $149.99 Price: $139.00 You Save: $10.99 (7%)