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Thursday Random Stuff…

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Software Updates
AxCrypt 2.1.1534
Google Chrome 60.0.3112.113 Google Chrome Web 32-bit  or  Google Chrome 64-bit
Kodi 17.4

New Nvidia Drivers
Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 385.41 WHQL
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Destiny 2 PC Open Beta, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, ARK: Survival Evolved, F1 2017, Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, and Quake Champions Early Access.”

FCC Refusing To Release Net Neutrality Complaints
Stop hiding 47,000 net neutrality complaints, advocates tell FCC chair
“The FCC has refused to release the text of most neutrality complaints despite a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request that asked for all complaints filed since June 2015. The FCC has provided 1,000 complaints to the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), which filed the public records request but said last month that it’s too “burdensome” to redact personally identifiable information from all 47,000.”

HaPpY BiRtHdAy WiNdOwS 95!
Apparently there are only 7 Windows 95 machines still connected to the internet.
Here is my Windows 95 virtual machine (network disabled).

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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From Russia With Love
Back in May I linked to an article where DHS and the FBI were questioning Kaspersky’s relationship to the Russian government. Now they are warning businesses that Kaspersky products are an “unacceptable threat to national security“.

The World Is Not Enough
A German site called Born’s Tech and Windows World is reporting that Microsoft “signed a waiver (cease and desist) not to download install files for a new operating system without user’s consensus. This was the consequence of Microsoft’s attempt, to force Windows 10 upgrades to Windows 7/8.1 systems from July 2015 up to July 2016.“.

Tomorrow Never Dies
Acronis True Image 2018 has been released. Bunch of new features I’m not interested in. I’ll be skipping this one.

Spectre
I had mentioned I wanted to see the movie Logan Lucky because it had both James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This past weekend I did go see it. I thought it was hysterical. Both guys played parts that were absolutely nothing like their most popular characters. This may have been my favorite Daniel Craig performance.

Quantum of Solace
Good grief, not you too Firefox. Neowin is reporting that “Mozilla has announced that it would like to collect anonymous user data in order to “better understand how people use” Firefox. The proposed move is quite contentious for many users because Mozilla is making it opt-out; many users feel betrayed by the move given that Mozilla touts Firefox as a privacy-oriented browser.”

Skyfall
I generally don’t like to rain on person’s parade, at least publically, but…
I’m a Geek. I love space news, space movies, NASA, etc. But I just didn’t get the whole eclipse thing. Yes, I watched it for a few minutes. Yes, I had the glasses on. I didn’t go out of my way for it, I pulled into a parking lot. It was about as unexciting and uneventful as I expected.
One of my favorite reporters was equally unimpressed:

Sunday Random Stuff…

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Firefox 55.0.2 Released
4 bugfixes
Download

Bing
Like many other tech news site, ARS Technica passed along Microsoft’s tweet that 1/3 of all U.S. searches is conducted via Bing.
I cannot verify or refute those stats but as far as TweakHound.com is concerned those stats are bull caca.
In the last year page view referrers to this site Google outnumbers Bing at over a 8.7 to 1 ratio. To put it another way, Bing accounted for just 9.85% of traffic from search engines.

Monday Morning News

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Classic Shell 4.3.1
I mainly use Classic Shell for Classic Start Menu.
“Here’s what’s new:
– Official support for the Creators Update version of Windows 10
– Added a setting to clear icon cache
– Multiple minor improvements and bugfixes
Download
Release Info

Wise Disk Cleaner 9.52
– Improved cleaning for Windows Winsxs Backup.
– Updated various translations.
Download

New CPUs

AMD Threadripper vs. Intel Core i9: The best CPU for enthusiasts
“We pitted both chips against each other in a grudge match… and each walked away claiming victory. If you’re obsessed with single-threaded performance (including games), back the Core i9 and its higher clock speeds. Threadripper 1950X’s outsized core count punches way higher in multithreaded performance, though, and it’s the people’s champion in everyday tasks and price.”

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X CPU Review
“These High End Desktop (HEDT) systems are certainly not meant for everyone. Many folks simply do not have a need for this many cores/threads and certainly the expense of the CPU itself and subsequent motherboard and RAM are going to put it out of reach for many. That said, if you do actually have the need for a 1950X or 1920X, you can certainly put these work. Content creation professionals and hobbyists are going to love having these CPUs on their desktops.”

The AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and 1920X Review: CPUs on Steroids
“If I were to turn around and say that Threadripper CPUs were not pure gaming CPUs, it would annoy a fair lick of the tech audience. The data is there – it’s not the best gaming CPU… You need a lot to do in order to fill 16 cores to the max, and for those that do, it’s a potential winner. For anyone that needs hardcore throughput such as transcode, decode, rendering such as Blender, Cinema 4D or ray-tracing, it’s a great CPU to have. For multi-GPUs or multi-storage aficionados or the part of the crowd that wants to cram a bunch of six PCIe 3.0 x8 FPGAs into a system, AMD has you covered.”

Etc
Is Alexa spying on us? We’re too busy to care — and we might regret that
No, the Google manifesto isn’t sexist or anti-diversity. It’s science

Thursday Random Stuff…

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Win10 KB4032188
This update has been rolling out the last few days.
“This update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”

Google Chrome Updated
Chrome 60.0.3112.90 released. Looks to be bugfixes.
Download: Google Chrome Web 32-bit    Google Chrome 64-bit

Etc.
Google’s new program to track shoppers sparks a federal privacy complaint
“Google said it had obtained access to the credit and debit card records of 70 percent of U.S. consumers”

Off Topic
Moderate, Heavy Drinkers More Likely To Reach Age 85 Without Dementia, Study Says

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Chrome 60 Is Out
“The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 60 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux…Chrome 60.0.3112.78 contains a number of fixes and improvements…This update includes 40 security fixes.”
Download: Google Chrome Web 32-bit    Google Chrome 64-bit

Nvidia Drivers 384.94 WHQL Drivers
Download
Release Notes

Firefox Finished?
El Reg – Firefox doesn’t need to be No 1 – and that’s OK, ‘cos it’s falling off a cliff
“Just in case you didn’t believe Firefox was on a trajectory that should have it crash and burn into extinction in the next couple of years, former chief technology officer Andreas Gal has usage stats that confirm it. To use Gal’s words: “Firefox market share is falling off a cliff.” The same could be said of Firefox itself.
What’s most interesting about this data and Gal’s interpretation of it is that at the same time that Firefox is sliding into irrelevancy it’s becoming a better browser.”
Still rockin’ it here.

Etc.
Features that are removed or deprecated in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

“Brain Hacking”

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“Silicon Valley is engineering your phone, apps and social media to get you hooked, says a former Google product manager.”
Very interesting article. Unfortunately it is about a 60 Minutes TV show that you can only see if you subscribe. Nope.
Bottom line. Tech companies engineer their products to get you addicted, to fool you, to manipulate you.
“Look, never before in history have a handful of people at a handful of technology companies shaped how a billion people think and feel every day with the choices they make about these screens.”
The report is about a guy named Tristan Harris. He wrote a paper called How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind — from a Magician and Google Design Ethicist.
I highly suggest you read it. It took me about 10 minutes to read. I will probably re-read it later.

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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CCleaner Updated
v5.30.6065 (23 May 2017)
– Improved Edge Cookie cleaning
– Updated Internet Explorer 10 and 11 History cleaning
– Updated Thunderbird 52 History cleaning
– Updated Windows Explorer MRU Cache cleaning
– Improved SSD detection algorithm
– Optimized Update Checking process
– Minor GUI improvements
– Minor bug fixes
Download

VMware Player 12.5.6
– Day 0 support of the Windows 10 Creators Update (version 1703).
– Bug fixes and security updates.
Download

Latest Video Drivers
AMD Crimson ReLive Edition 17.5.2 (5/18/2017)
Nvidia Ceforce Game Ready Driver 382.33 WHQL (5/22/2017)

MediaMonkey 4.1.16.1836
“It’s a significant update with over 30 fixes and improvements to music syncing, tagging, UPnP, podcasting, playback and more.”
Download & Info

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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New Win10 Update
April 25, 2017—KB4016240 (OS Build 15063.250)
“This non-security update includes quality improvements. No new operating system features are being introduced in this update.”
As always keep an eye on AskWoody for advice on the latest Windows Updates.

I Have No Words
Speed Up Windows by Disabling and Removing HomeGroup

Tweak Guide Worthy?
I experimented with this new feature: Lock your Windows 10 PC automatically when you step away from it
Kinda neat. Would be better if it worked like a USB key (can’t login without it).
Not sure if this is worth putting in the Tweak Guide. What do y’all think?

Does This Make Me Look Fat?
Rafael Rivera says “Yes”. Windows is Bloated, Thanks to Adobe’s Extensible Metadata Platform
Basically Windows images contain a lot of useless data that can be stripped away.
“Windows Explorer, for example, is a critical Shell component in the startup hot path. But despite its importance, it’s comprised of ~20% pure garbage. ApplicationFrame.dll, responsible for Windows app title bars and frame gizmos, is ~41% garbage. Twinui, imageres, and other related components scored with much lower numbers but couldn’t fully escape Adobe XMP.”

Cool Story Bro!
Video at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBG03A49-0Y
“Tom Sitter won The Moth in Madison StorySLAM at the High Noon Saloon February 13, 2017. Tom scored our first ever 10 with his winning story tonight. The memory of the girls he carefully selected to give his five valentines to in 1933 was strong enough that 84 years later he still knew their names.”