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Thursday Morning Random Stuff…

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Firefox 60.0.1
Download:
en-US 64-bit
All Firefox Versions
Release Notes
***Please see comment from Dan below

CCleaner Updated
As of this writing, no release notes or announcement. Bugfixes? Previous build 5.42.140.6495. New build 5.42.148.6499.
Download (I use the portable version)

Net Neutrality
Dems passed a Net Neutrality bill. Don’t get too excited, it is expected to die in the House.

YouTube Music & YouTube Premium
WooHoo, another music subscription service.
As a teen I modified a TV antenna to pull in radio stations 101 WRIF out of Detroit and 105 WWCK out of Flint. It cost nothing.

Off Topic

Dog saves his buddy
Viral, feel-good video of the week.

Some calories more harmful than others
Short version – Soft drinks are bad for you. There was a time when I drank 2 liters of Coca-Cola a day. No exaggeration. I don’t remember the last time I had one.
On a side note. I find it amusing that we Americans call carbonated soft drinks by different names. I have found that.
– In the Great Lakes and mid-west areas it is called “pop”
– Most places in Northeast megalopolis call it “soda”
– Many place out west call it “soda pop”
– Down South, everything is “co-cola”

43% of milenials plan to leave their jobs within 2 years
“They don’t believe business shares their values, they don’t think business is doing enough to prepare them for the future, and they don’t feel business is sufficiently committed to improving society.”

Who is drinking the most? The drunkest (and driest) cities in America

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 66.0.3359.181 for Windows, Mac, and Linux”
Download

Google One Replacing Google Drive
Includes changes, improvements, more plans, and lower prices.
source: Google Blog

Off Topic

14 Energy-Draining Everyday Habits To Avoid
Short article, good stuff. Bookmark it and pass it on.

10 toast-worthy craft breweries owned by veterans
There are a lot more than 10. I’m working on a list.

36%% Off! – Sandisk Ultra 64GB Micro SDXC UHS-I Card with Adapter
List Price: $24.99
Deal of the Day: ends today
You Save:$9.00 (36%)

I’ve got the 32GB & 64GB models. The 128GB model is on sale at 44% off, only 70 cents more than the 64 gig.
“anodized, aircraft-grade aluminum housing is waterproof to 200 meters, vibration-resistant, and shock-resistant.”
Corsair Flash Survivor Stealth 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
List Price: $61.99
Price: $34.99
You Save: $27.00 (44%)

Samsung’s newest, fastest SSDs are in stores.
Samsung 970 EVO 250GB – NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD $109.99 (My top pick)
Samsung 960 PRO Series – 512GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD $309.45

Recommended Non-NVMe SSDs
Samsung 860 EVO 250GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD $79.99
Samsung 860 PRO 256GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD $124.99 (My top pick)

Monday Random Stuff…

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Adobe Updates
Bunch of vulnerabilities in both these products.
APSB18-17 Security updates available for Adobe Photoshop CC
To update open the app and go to Help > “Updates.”
APSB18-09 Security updates available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader
Download

Off Topic

15 Veteran-Owned Gear Brands You Should Know | HiConsumption

Boob Tube To YouTube
The NYT opines on Why Traditional TV Is in Trouble. They mean traditional broadcasters. Basically they say old farts are watching and youngsters aren’t.
My short list:
– Cable is expensive. The “TV packages” are made to make max money and make no sense.
– Low quality and irrelevant programming.
– Too many commercials. And, most of them range between bad and insulting.
– Binge watching is a far more enjoyable way to enjoy TV.

Single? Smile, But Don’t Be Happy
Some PhD says that smiling will get you la.. um…makes you more attractive. The advice for ladies is stop posing like a model. Not mentioned but I’ll just throw out, stop with the fish lips.
Dudes, apparently a prideful but not happy smile does the trick. All you single swipers out there, you’re welcome and you owe me bros.

Watch Harrison Ford Surprise Young Han Solo Alden Ehrenreich During ET Interview

Weekend Random Stuff…

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This site was down yesterday morning. Something went FUBAR at my webhost. All seems to be good now.

Google Grapples With ‘Horrifying’ Reaction to Uncanny AI Tech
Wednesday I commented at Google screwing with us. Seems I wasn’t the only one commenting.
“Outside the Google technology bubble, critics pounced. The company is placing robots in conversations with humans, without those people realizing”
“Horrifying,” Zeynep Tufekci, a professor and frequent tech company critic, wrote on Twitter about Duplex. “Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing.”

Drinking The Koolaid
Microsoft Build was last week. Developers and the Microsoft press were there.
Premium Paul Thurrott said. “Microsoft, Back on Track” (pay-walled)
iVerge, “But mixed within all of that were some exciting announcements: new Windows features, improvements for voice assistants, and helpful new cloud services.”
Cnet, “It’s all about AI and the web now.”
I don’t like here Windows is headed. I don’t like where Microsoft is headed. I don’t like where AI is headed.

‘Bout Time
IBM is banning removable media use for most employees, most of the time. IMHO most companies and government agencies should have done this a decade or more ago.

Off Topic
Stuff I bookmarked the last few days.

Yes, Pluto is a planet (great comment at Slashdot)

What Sunscreen Numbers Mean? Top-Rated SPF Products For This Summer

Map: The States That Drink The Most Beer In America (2018). I’m very disappointed in my state.

George Dickel Tennessee Whisky Releases New TABASCO® Brand Barrel Finish – A Partnership Made In The South. 2 of my favs, bourbon and Tabasco. Not sure how I feel about te combo but I gotta try it once. Did you know Tabasco is aged in barrels just like bourbon?

Cap2Cap Bike Ride
I’ve mentioned this before but we are fortunate in Virginia to have several great bike trails. The best one nearest me is called the Virginia Capital Trail.

“The Virginia Capital Trail is the product of a successful public-private partnership between the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF).
The Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF) is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization, with a mission to enhance, promote, and advocate for the continued development of the Virginia Capital Trail, a 52-mile dedicated multi-use trail connecting Richmond and Williamsburg along the beautiful and historic Route 5 corridor.“

Yesterday was the annual fundraiser Cap2Cap ride. Distances of 15, 25, 50, and 100 miles are options. I did the 25 miler. Granted it was only about my 6th ride of the year but I don’t know how you guys manage to do 100 miles. My hats off to you!

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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***Patch Now***
Backup your computer with a disk image and run Windows Update.
Critical bugs are being actively exploited. These bugs were patched yesterday.

New Nvidia Drivers
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready 397.64 WHQL Drivers are out.
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Destiny 2: Warmind, Conan Exiles, and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire”
Download | Release Notes

Roger, Over And Out
Some dude asked, “Is Google crossing a line with new AI that pretends to be human?“.
Crossed the line? They cut the line into little shreds and torched it.

You’ve Got To Be Sh**ing Me
Someone is upset because people aren’t talking nice to Amazon Alexa.
“When you’re a child, you should respect a grown-up — even if she’s in a little black cylinder”
It’s not a grown-up, it’s a fracking box.
“Hearing a child boss around a digital assistant could be disconcerting”

Off Topic

KIX Celebrates 30th Anniversary Of ‘Blow My Fuse’ With ‘Fuse 30 Reblown’

He searched for his Japanese birth mother. He found her — and the restaurant she had named after him.

Monday Random Stuff…

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You Can’t Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data, Even If You Didn’t Opt In
“So does that mean that, in addition to locking down our own privacy choices, we need to police the choices of our friends and family? No, said Cohen, Gillmor and Viljoen. In fact, the privacy of the commons means that, in some cases, your data is collected in ways you cannot reasonably prevent, no matter how carefully you or anyone you know behaves.”
Sad fact.

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Said
Lot’s of articles out there quoting (often wrongly) what he said at the MS Build Conference. So I went looking for the transcript.
You can download it here: Satya Nadella: Build 2018
“We ensure that when we use data, it is to benefit the user.”
Look, I don’t know much about the man but he really needs someone to look over his speeches. The “It’s for your own good” excuse is just lame and frankly a little insulting.
Then he said, “We ensure that the user is always in control of their data and its use.”
I’m…uh…hmmm…
I…um…that’s…man o man…

Windows Commands Reference
A PDF containing an overview and alphabetical listing of Windows commands.
Download

You Don’t Say…
A new report says the Chinese government is behind a decade of hacks on software companies.
Is there anyone that is even remotely surprised by this?

Personal privacy vs. public security: fight!
Good read on this topic. Recommended.

Off Topic

AT&T/Verizon lobby asks FCC to help raise prices on smaller ISPs

Android P will finally restrict apps from monitoring your network activity

How Robin Williams was being torn apart and couldn’t fight back
My name is Wil Wheaton. I live with chronic Depression, and I am not ashamed.

Lyme Disease Is On The Rise Again. Here’s How To Prevent It

Friday Random Stuff…

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GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 397.55
– After driver installation, Device Manager may report Code 43 error on a few GTX 1060 cards models.
– Netflix playback may occasionally stutter.
– Added support for Microsoft Surface Book notebooks.
– Windows 10: Driver may get removed after PC has been left idle for an extended period of time.
Download

Spectre Next Generation
“A total of eight new security flaws in Intel CPUs have already been reported to the manufacturer by several teams of researchers. For now, details on the flaws are being kept secret. All eight are essentially caused by the same design problem – you could say that they are Spectre Next Generation.”

[H] Victorious
Nvidia is canceling their GPP Program.
Chalk one up for the good guys!

Macrium Reflect v7.1.3196
“Incremental and Differential images created since 17th April using Macrium Reflect v7.1.3147, 3159 or 3169 could be corrupt if the Changed Block Tracker (CBT) driver was involved in the Image creation. This has been resolved.”
Download

LMAO OMG WTF SMH
If you think the H in IMHO stands for honest you should be banned from the internet and instant messaging for life.

Off Topic

GUNS N’ ROSES: Remastered And Expanded Edition Of ‘Appetite For Destruction’ Due In June

3 White Lions Cubs Born At Metro Richmond Zoo (pics and video, they are awesome)

Ron Howard Gets A New ‘Solo’ Trailer For May The 4th

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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***UPDATED – Windows 10 April Update Benchmark

Samsung NVMe Driver v3.0
“This driver supports Samsung NVMe SSD 970 PRO, 970 EVO, 960 PRO, 960 EVO and 950 PRO.”
Download | Alternative download at MajorGeeks

O&O Shutup10
Version 1.6.1396 – released May 2, 2018
-Adapted for the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update 1804 (Build 17134)
-Fixed issue with finding High Contrast mode on user-defined schemes
-User interface adapted
-Bug Fixes: Various small bug fixes
-Available in English, German, French, Italian and Russian
Download

Win10 April Update Freezing Chrome
Source: Neowin. It happened to me too.

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Win10 Benchmark Continued
I’m no nearer figuring out why my benchmark scores are lower. I thought maybe my NVMe SSD had an even bigger performance hit but my AS SSD Benchmark and CrystalDiskMark scores are similar to the results I had before.

Features removed or planned for replacement starting with Windows 10, version 1803
Thanks JO!

7-Zip 18.05
Download | Release Announcment

Linux Releases
Kali Linux 2018.2
“This Kali release is the first to include the Linux 4.15 kernel, which includes the x86 and x64 fixes for the much-hyped Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. It also includes much better support for AMD GPUs”
Download | Release Announcment
Fedora 28
“For the first time, we’re making it easy for users to enable certain third-party software sources, including proprietary Nvidia drivers.”
Has kernel 4.16.
Download | Release Announcement
Meanwhile at openSUSE…
At the end of May they will release openSUSE Leap 15 which follows version 42.3. Yes you read that right. Oh, and it will use kernel 4.12 that was released last July.

Monday Random Stuff…

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AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition 18.4.1 Optional Drivers
“Initial support for Windows®10 April 2018 Update” plus a few bugfixes.
Download | Release Notes

Firefox 59.0.3
“Fix for compatibility with Windows 10 April 2018 update”
Download | Release Notes
Related: How to Stop Mozilla From Sticking Ads in Your Firefox Browser

Off Topic
Stuff I bookmarked today:

Google boss warns over evil ‘sci-fi style’ robots that could ‘manipulate people’ and steal your job
Danger! Danger Will Robinson!

China is now monitoring employees’ brainwaves and emotions
“The Orwellian-as-all-get-out practice”

Everything coming to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and HBO Now in May
Not real excited about the list.

AP Explains: A look at DNA-sharing services and privacy
No. No way. Uh uh. Not gonna do it.

Multiple fire crews battle blaze at Amazon center
That is my local center…