Computer News

As I site here my bracket is all but a goner thanks to Michigan State. Still is has been exciting to watch thus far. I love watching those “little guys” like Middle Tennessee State, Hawaii, Wichita State, Stephen F. Austin, Gonzaga, and Northern Iowa remind us all what “heart” is. After I write this I’m gonna settle in to watch #11 VCU try to take down #2 Oklahoma. I’m rooting for ’em even though I didn’t pick ’em.

“I think you have to be 8 different kinds of stupid to put your house or car on a network.” – TweakHound
PSA from the FBI & NHTSA – MOTOR VEHICLES INCREASINGLY VULNERABLE TO REMOTE EXPLOITS
I maintain there is no valid reason for your car to EVER be connected to the internet.

Hey Ed. You Shoulda Followed My Guide
Ed Bott has found that updating Windows 7 has become a PITA. If you check out my guide Installing Windows 7 you will see I recommend downloading and installing KB3102810 before running any Windows Updates. He has come to this conclusion now too.

Off Topic
Mysterious new dwarf human species probed after scientists find 3 million year old skull in cave
Longer inter-set rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men

Flash
Flash a-ah, Savior of the Universe!
APSB16-08 Security updates available for Adobe Flash Player
Download:
Flash for IE
Flash for other browsers
Main download page
Flash a-ah, He’ll save every one of us!
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for March 2016 Issued: March 10, 2016 (Critical Security Bulletin (added to summary on March 10))
Flash for IE updated for Windows 8.1 and Win10.

Nvidia 364.51 WHQL’s
“Optimal experience for Tom Clancy’s The Division, Hitman, Need for Speed, Ashes of the Singularity, and Rise of the Tomb Raider”

Shhh!
Tails 2.2 released.
Tails is a live operating system, that you can start on almost any computer from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card. It aims at preserving your privacy and anonymity, and helps you to:
– use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship;
– all connections to the Internet are forced to go through the Tor network;
– leave no trace on the computer you are using unless you ask it explicitly;
– use state-of-the-art cryptographic tools to encrypt your files, emails and instant messaging.

Updates Galore!
Updates available for all supported OSs and MS Office editions.
Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for March 2016

Read This
Adobe Reader updated: APSB16-09 Security updates available for Adobe Acrobat and Reader
Download Adobe Reader or update from within the program (Help > Check for updates).

Firefoxy 45
Download (en-US)
Download other systems and languages
Release Notes

Back In The Saddle
AnyDVD is back! “A little more than a week after the closure of owner SlySoft, controversial ripping tool AnyDVD is back. Now operating under the RedFox banner, AnyDVD and friends have skipped to Belize while offering a brand new release.”

Abbott Labs Sucks
“Abbott Labs, a global healthcare company, is laying off about 180 IT employees after signing an agreement with Wipro, a major India-based IT services firm, to take over some IT services… The workers are expecting to train their replacements, possibly workers on H-1B and other temporary visas.”

Mac Bashing. Fun For Everyone!
When asked if there would ever be Mac support for the Rift, Palmer responds by saying “That is up to Apple. If they ever release a good computer, we will do it.”

Configure telemetry and other settings in your organization
Updated on February 25th, 2016. “Learn about the telemetry that Microsoft gathers, the network connections that Windows components make to Microsoft, and also the privacy settings that affect data that is shared with either Microsoft or apps and how they can be managed by an IT Pro.”

SSD Reliability
A new study says age is a bigger factor in SSD reliability than usage. This “means that over-provisioning for fear of flash wearout is not needed.” Full study here: Flash Reliability in Production: The Expected and the Unexpected

“Where’s my phone?”
Got Android? Got help!

Horrible Bosses
“Your jobs have been given over to a foreign workforce,” Perrero recalled the executive saying. “In the meantime you will be training your replacements until your jobs are 100 percent transferred over to them and if you don’t cooperate you will not receive any severance pay.”

Don’t Go In The Water
Wireshark 2.0.2 is out there. Bugfixes.

Headed To The NHL?
This high school kid scored a sweet goal for an overtime win! I say sign him now.

Site News
I had to switch to a new caching plugin because W3 Total Cache is causing issues and seems all but abandoned. Now trying WP Fastest Cache. Please let me know if you are having issues.

Who’da Thunk It?
Advertising companies don’t like ad blockers? Really? I can’t imagine why not?
:rolleyes:

FWIW
I don’t think polls are the way to judge the righteousness of something. That said Reuters has polled the public over the Apple v. FBI issue:
46% side with Apple
35% side with the FBI
I know a lot of you have made up your mind on this but I’ll be damned if I can see through all the B.S. on both sides.
When asked if the government should be able to look at smart phones “to protect against terror threats”:
46% agree
42% disagree
I’m curious what will happen to those numbers when the next attack happens?

NoDVD
Blu-ray ripper AnyDVD has been shut down. Check the comments for alternatives.

Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
A buddy of mine suggested a program called Zipware as an alternative to 7-Zip. It seems to be an OK program but I would really like to find out more about the individual behind it before I recommend it. Near as I can tell he/she/they/it are in Australia?
Have a wonderful day!

O&O ShutUp10 Updated
This is the popular Win10 privacy tool featured in the Windows 10 Tweak Guide. Version 1.3.1355 contains a couple of new features and fixes.
Download & Info

Dumb Phones
When it comes to smart phones I almost feel un-Geeky. I don’t get the fuss about new phones. I’m proud that I’ve held my phone together for over 3 years and I can almost relate to folks going back to dumb phones.

I Didn’t Hear Him Pick A Side
Reporters claimed Bill Gates sided with the FBI over Apple in their dispute. Bill said nothing of the kind. This issue is very complex. I still haven’t made up my mind and frankly I don’t know if I ever will.

Crap Cleaner
CCleaner v 5.15 released.
Download
Release Notes
***Pay attention during install. May attempt to install unwanted programs.

New Intel Chipset Device Software
It always baffles me when Intel puts new stuff in their download center. The date on their download page says 2/4/216 yet I was there a couple of days ago and this version was NOT there.
Anywho, version 10.1.1.14 is out.

Think You’re Having A Bad Day?
Linux Mint has been hacked. Their site, their forums, even their ISO’s.
Not good. Not good at all.

I’ve Been Telling You…
I could almost see the eyes rolling when I said “I think you have to be 8 different kinds of stupid to put your house or car on a network.”
More proof: Major security flaw could let hackers take control of smart homes: Bug could leave thousands of devices vulnerable

Spam-It All
The top 15 corporate spammers include Groupon, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of clothing stores. They’ve listed the top unsubscribed too. Gmail has gotten good at just putting that stuff in the spam or trash folder.

Kodi 16
The free and cross platform home theater program Kodi has been updated. I use and recommend Kodi.
Unfortunately their site doesn’t seem to be able to handle all the attention this release is getting and is down at the moment.

Jaded Heart
I’ve stayed out of the Apple v. FBI fight because I believe both side are playing fast and loose with the truth. Given what’s at stake I’m not going to form an opinion until I am reasonably sure I know all the facts. Every article I read seems to have some kind of anti-government or anti-apple agenda rather than trying to just give facts. Reporters used to actually do that. I trust ALL government agencies and ALL corporations to look after their own interests with CYA being their first consideration. It’s the world we live in.

Wiresharking Win10
Another person weighed in on the issue. I’m really not seeing much new info but it is an interesting read.
“Based on my tests, Windows 10 certainly is receiving telemetry data from my PC, but we knew that already. It’s also easy to counter the FUD in some reports. In one hour there were only 751 packets sent to any Microsoft address (including any Azure, Skype or Akamai CDN edge server), for around 222KB of data. Of those packets only 182 contained data, with 134KB transferred to Microsoft. In two hours there were only 1586 packets, with 382 containing data, and 262KB of data transferred…”
He makes references to the amount of data being small which I find odd. Compressed data…
I will use my motherboard manual as an example. It is 79 pages. Below I compressed the file. I also copied the text into notepad. Then I compressed it. All the text data in that file came out to 28kb compressed. Point being, small files can contain a TON of data.

“Without unencrypting the telemetry packets Microsoft receives, we’re not going to know exactly what data it receives. But they’re small and relatively infrequent, so are unlikely to be packed with your personal data.”
Why is it “unlikely”?

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Default Apps Reset?
4 days ago reader Don H. said his defualt app preferences got reset. Apparently he isn’t the only one with that issue:
Updategate: Windows 10 is resetting default apps back to Microsoft stock

New Nvidia Drivers
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready 361.91 WHQL Driver released. Download
“Learn more about how to get the optimal experience for ARMA 3, Street Fighter V, Monster Hunter Online, and HITMAN (Beta)”

Backup Your Backups
Reader Paul pointed me to an article that discusses where an Adobe Creative Cloud update deleted folks backups. Y’all might find the cloud convenient but don’t trust your data to someone else. Backup your backups!

Now I gotta sign off while I still have an internet connection!

Brrr! It’s getting cold here in Virginia.

Firefox 44.0.2
Fixed – Firefox hangs or crashes on startup
Various security fixes
Download 32-bit (en-US)
Download 64-bit (en-US)
Download other systems and languages
Release Notes

Handbrake Updated
HandBrake 0.10.5 is out. Fixes and performance improvements.
“HandBrake is a tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.”
Download
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Amazon has up to 60% off Corsair products including: keyboards, mice, water cooling, PC cases, powers supplies, etc.