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Wednesday Random Stuff…

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Google Chrome Updated
” The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 63 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux. This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.
Chrome 63.0.3239.84 contains a number of fixes and improvements — a list of changes is available in the log. Watch out for upcoming Chrome and Chromium blog posts about new features and big efforts delivered in 63.
This update includes 37 security fixes.”
Download

Battle For The Net
https://www.battleforthenet.com/
“The new chairman of the FCC was a top lawyer at Verizon. Now he’s calling for a vote to kill net neutrality. We’re protesting at retail stores across the U.S. to demand that Congress stop Verizon’s puppet FCC from destroying the Internet as we know it.”
Join The Protest

TTFN AIM

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AOL Instant Messenger will be shutting down in December. AIM was for many the first way to chat online. I haven’t used it since, heck I dunno, the early Windows XP days? I do have fond memories of it though. It was so very cool and easy to converse via the internet with folks from far away.

Wednesday News

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Up to 30% off Logitech Stuff – Today Only
I just ordered the Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse, High-precision Sensor – $57.50
All Logitech deals HERE.

Win10 Updated
September 25, 2017—KB4040724 (OS Build 15063.632). Not much to it.

VMware Workstation 14
Out today, downloaded, installed, launched my openSUSE VM, error – would not launch. Uninstalled and reinstalled old version.
Pfft!

Good Reads
Additional information regarding the recent CCleaner APT security incident
“It is worth noting that, despite there being a large number of tech / telco companies in China, Russia and India, there are no companies from these countries on the list of companies targeted by this attack.”

No Mercy / No Malice: The Worm Has Turned
“Curing, rocketing, leaning in — no more. The worm has turned against big tech, and it’s overdue. The tipping point was the recent revelation that Mark Zuckerberg had unwittingly become Vladimir Putin’s b***h. However, each firm has its own links to the dark side and is about to face the same scrutiny and standards the rest of business endures.”

– – – – –
Etc.

Star Trek: Discovery, Online Only
It launched the 1st and 2nd episodes. Didn’t see them. Not paying for the totally lame CBS All Access.

More Browser Stuff…

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Vivaldi – Developer is ex-Opera founder. Love the idea. Performance is sub-par, even tweaked.
Cent – Best as I can tell this is from some random dudes in China. No documentation on this at all. No thanks.

Opera – I want to like it but I cannot get over the China connection. I fired up some network tools and as near as I can tell it isn’t doing anything nefarious. One super annoying thing is that I watched it contact the Opera servers every single time it is launched. A far as I can see this seems to be their update servers. You should take this with a grain of salt because not only am I not a network monitor guru, I am very out of practice with what I do know. As for the VPN. I like it but IMHO it isn’t a VPN, it is a proxy (Google opera vpn). Ironically, VPNs are illegal in China.
The China connection…
Opera is owned by Chinese companies. I’m having a hard time with this. China, while not openly hostile to the U.S. certainly is covertly hostile. I am not very knowledgeable about China but I am under the impression that everything is under some form of control by the government. The “Chicoms” as they used to be called. Anyhow, I just can’t shake my wariness.
Any thoughts?

Browser Stuff…

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I’ve never been a browser Geek. I like Firefox with my extensions for browsing. I like Chrome for business and shopping use. I can’t stand Microsoft browsers. I posted that I was trying Opera yesterday. Someone mentioned who Opera was owned by and I found it a little unsettling. I’ve done a little digging and found some interesting info. Most info below comes from Wikipedia or Netmarketshare.com. It is the most recent info I could gather.
FWIW – I am now trying Vivaldi
About the info below. I’m aware you can argue the market share stats all day but this is what I am going with.

Computer Browsers
(Browser – Company – Country – Market share)
Chromium (and Chrome) – Google – U.S.A – Market share 58.91%.
Firefox – Mozilla Foundation – U.S.A. – Market share 11.91%
Internet Explorer – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share 18.91%
Microsoft Edge – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share 5.6%
Opera – Opera Software ASA – Headquarters in Norwary, owned by (“a consortium of Chinese investors”) – Market share 1.22%
Safari – Apple – U.S.A. (Mac only) – Market share 3.52%
Vivaldi – Vivaldi Technologies – Headquarters in U.S.A. – Market share 3.66%

Mobile Browsers
(Browser – Company – Country – Market share)
Chrome – Google – U.S.A. – Market share 54.45%
Dolphin – MoboTap – U.S.A. – – Market share unknown
Firefox – Mozilla Foundation – U.S.A. – Market share .56%
Internet Explorer – Microsoft – U.S.A. (Windows only) – Market share .94%
Opera (Mini and Mobile) – Opera Software ASA – Headquarters in Norwary, owned by (“a consortium of Chinese investors”) – Market share 4%
Safari – Apple – U.S.A. (iOS only) – Market share 32.45%
Samsung Internet for Android – Samsung – Korea – Market share unknown. Probably part of Chrome market share.