Computer News

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.10.1 OPTIONAL Drivers
Support for Windows 11, Far Cry 6, Battlefield 2042, Naraka: Bladepoint, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Download | Release Notes

Windows 11 Performance Variation in Certain Applications on Compatible AMD Processors
“AMD and Microsoft have determined that compatible AMD processors may exhibit reduced performance in certain applications when running Windows 11…AMD and Microsoft are actively investigating these known issues for resolution via software updates. This knowledge base article will be updated to include version numbers and delivery vehicle(s) when they are available. In the interim, customers using compatible AMD processors affected by these issues may continue to use a supported version of Windows 10.”

Benchmarked: Do Windows 11’s Security Features Really Hobble Gaming Performance?
“However, our tests show that you will still see an impact in both gaming and application performance due to the heightened security, and that’s even with the newer chips. Now, the performance hit we’ve seen surely isn’t as profound as the ~28% numbers we’ve seen bandied about, but losing 5% of your gaming performance isn’t acceptable if you don’t need the added security — especially when that represents a full CPU generation’s worth of performance improvement.”
Uses actual benchmarks unlike some sites.

Google Maps Adding 3 Cool New Features
“Make greener choices when getting from A to B with new eco-friendly routes, updates to biking directions and bike and scooter share information in Google Maps.”

Google – Making sign-in safer and more convenient
“we have started to automatically configure our users’ accounts into a more secure state. By the end of 2021, we plan to auto-enroll an additional 150 million Google users in 2SV and require 2 million YouTube creators to turn it on.”

iVerge Tech Survey 2021
“The Verge has conducted periodic surveys gauging Americans’ attitudes toward the major tech industry”
[Read more…] about Wednesday News

More Win11 Links
Microsoft – Ways to install Windows 11( Includes official registry hack to bypass TPM check.)
Microsoft’s Windows 11 Articles
The Register – Windows 11 in detail: Incremental upgrade spoilt by onerous system requirements and usability mis-steps
PC Gamer readers choose to wait on installing Windows 11 and we don’t blame them

“We’re pumped to be launching Windows 11; the entire user experience brings you closer to what you love, empowers you to produce and inspires you to create. Windows 11 provides a sense of calm and openness. It gives you a place that feels like home. It’s secure and everything is designed to be centered around you.”
Panos Panay, Chief Product Officer, Windows + Devices

Firefox 93
A few new features, fixes, and improvements.
Download | Release Notes

Intel Killer Performance Suite
Installs Wi-Fi, Ethernet drivers and Killer Software for the Intel Killer products.
Support for Windows 11
Updated Wi-Fi driver to version 22.80.1.1
Updated Killer Networking Software to version 3.1121.927.5
Download & Info
[Read more…] about Tuesday Random Stuff…

O&O ShutUp10 Updated
A few GUI improvements, several new settings, “Support for Windows 11…Change of application name to “O&O ShutUp10++”
Download | Changelog

HWiNFO 7.12
Some GUI improvements, some fixes and enhancements. (see screenshot below)
Download (I use portable) | Version Info

Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp go DOWN worldwide for FOUR hours and counting in catastrophic outage – as experts suggest internal error is to blame and staff ‘are locked out of offices’
Every news outlet is reporting on this. From what I can tell it’s a DNS issue. There are reports of Twitter and Gmail being down for some. I can reach both fine. My webhost seems to be having issues too.
#DeleteFacebook was trending on Twitter today. You know, because Twitter is such a positive benefit to society.

HWiNFO v7.12 screenshot from my main computer:
[Read more…] about Monday News

Winaero Tweaker 1.33
“allows you to restore the classic search in File Explorer”
Download & Info

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

Over 40? Stop Doing These Things Immediately, Say Experts
#7 You Can Think You’re Young. But Don’t Exercise That Way.
Tell me about it.

[Read more…] about Friday Random Stuff…

Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 94.0.4606.71 for Windows, Mac and Linux…This update includes 4 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info

Autoruns 14.03
“This update for Autoruns restores entries previously shown in v13.100, improves Wow64 redirection handling and entry name resolution.”
Download | Release Info

Microsoft Office Updated
Version 2109 (Build 14430.20234). A bunch of “fixes an issue” updates.
Release Notes
See also: From expanded live captioning and transcripts to prepare for Windows 11—here’s what’s new in Microsoft 365
How to Install Office Updates.

PowerToys 0.47.0
“primarily centered around stability updates and optimizations, installer updates, general bug fixes, and accessibility improvements.”
Download & Info

OBS Studio 27.1.1
“Free and open source software for video recording and live streaming.”
Lots of new features, tweaks, and bug fixes.
Download & Info

Intel Rapid Storage Technology Drivers 18.6.1.1016
For Intel 10th and 11th generation only. A few dozen fixes and support for Windows 11.
Download & Info

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.