Computer Hardware

Firefox 68.0.2
A few bugfixes and a security fix.
Download | Release Notes

Good Deal?
I can get this PC for $550. It is 4 years old but is still a really good system. Specs include:
i7-4790k, ASRock z97 Extreme 4 mobo, 16gb G.skill, Nvdiia GTX 1070 8gb, EVO 850 M.2 Sata 500gb SSD, Cooler Master Gold 550w PSU, Silverstone Grandia GD09B HTPC case, Windows 10
I would actually swap the GPU into my system that currently has a GTX 1060 6GB.
I’m tempted. What do y’all think?
Didn’t get it. Decided $500 was all I was gonna do and the guy wouldn’t come down in price.

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

Microsoft warns Windows 10 users to update immediately
“The company said the vulnerabilities are potentially “wormable,” meaning affected computers could spread viruses and malware without any action on the user’s part.
There are “potentially hundreds of millions of vulnerable computers,” Simon Pope, Microsoft’s director of Incident Response, wrote in a blog post Tuesday.”

Amazon’s Rekognition software can now spot fear
“The facial recognition tech is also getting better at estimating a person’s age, the company says”

Huge security flaw exposes biometric data of more than a million users
“The breach… included the fingerprint data of more than 1 million people, facial recognition information, unencrypted usernames and passwords, and other personal information of users of Suprema’s Biostar 2 security platform. The information, which included a total of 27.8 million records totalling 23 gigabytes of data, was found in a publicly accessible database, although it’s unclear whether any malicious actors accessed the data while it was unsecured.”

Ring Told People to Snitch on Their Neighbors in Exchange for Free Stuff
“Ring helped people form private ‘Digital Neighborhood Watches’ where they report ‘suspicious activity’ in exchange for free Ring products and discounts, according to a presentation obtained by Motherboard.”

Manhattan DA Got Innocent People’s Google Phone Data Through A ‘Reverse Location’ Search Warrant
“prosecutors sent Google a warrant for phone records near the conflict…the warrant was a reverse location search warrant…Court records show that this dragnet data request captured the location data of multiple people who were put under law enforcement scrutiny, even though they had nothing to do with the crimes under investigation.”

Facebook Paid Contractors to Transcribe Users’ Audio Chats
“The work has rattled the contract employees, who are not told where the audio was recorded or how it was obtained — only to transcribe it, said the people, who requested anonymity for fear of losing their jobs. They’re hearing Facebook users’ conversations, sometimes with vulgar content, but do not know why Facebook needs them transcribed, the people said.”

Someone Modified A Roomba To Curse When It Bumps Into Things And It’s Hilarious
“Technology YouTuber Michael Reeves, known for his colorful language and clever but ultimately pointless robots, decided to take a different approach, however, by responding to his followers’ requests to make a Roomba that screams and curses when it bumps into stuff.”
Not really a new concept. People used to pay me to have their Garmin swear at them back before smart phones had decent GPS. “Turn left dumb f***”…

Short and sweet folks.
[Read more…] about Blink Cameras “Review”

A got Blink cameras to monitor my Dad ( see My Dad Has Alzheimer’s – Gadgets, Gizmos, Etc.).
A few quick notes:

– It was the 5 camera setup

– The range of the Blinks did not reach across the house and down a floor. Fortunately I had 2 wifi routers and relocated one to the basement.

– Every unit has a friggin’ BRIGHT blue light that comes on when the camera is recording (XTs allow disable). Seriously, WTF? I found a video that shows how to take it apart and disable it. Screw that, I don’t have the time. As noted in the comments for the video you can stick a pin in and break the light. That’s exactly what I did. Very un-Geek of me I know.

– I put the Android app on 2 Samsung Galaxy S7s and an Amazon Fire tablet. They work OK.

– There is no official desktop app but there is an app out there called Bling Desktop. Works fine for viewing.
Home Page | App Download

***Updated 07 August, 2019
I am NOT liking the Blinks.
When I get a chance I will post why.

more later…

You can go here and see how to manually enable Retpoline in Win10:
Mitigating Spectre variant 2 with Retpoline on Windows
I did this and the only change I see is I can no longer complete a PCMark10 benchmark. Could be related to this:
Microsoft confirms latest Windows 10 update causes issues with certain games

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.3.1 Optional (06MAR2019)
Download | Release Notes

New Intel drivers:
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows 7
Intel PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Windows 8.1
Windows 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters
Intel Wireless Bluetooth for Windows 7
Intel Wireless Bluetooth for Windows 8.1

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.3 Optional (25FEB2019)
Support Ryzen mobile and Dirt Rally 2.
Download | Release Notes

Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 10
Version: DCH 25.20.100.6577 (Latest) Date: 2/25/2019
Support for Dirt Rally2, Civ VI, Apex Legends
Download | Release Notes

***UPDATE – AS of 0840hrs EST, 03FEB2019 These items have disappeared from Amazon. Will update when they return.

“This item will be released on February 10, 2019”

Samsung 970 EVO Plus Series – 1TB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V7S1T0B/AM)
Price: $249.99

Samsung 970 EVO Plus Series – 500GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V7S500B/AM)
Price: $129.99

Samsung 970 EVO Plus Series – 250GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V7S250B/AM)
Price: $89.99