Here is my “review” of the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 250GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD.
No bravo sierra, no fluff, just some numbers and my not so humble opinion…
[Read more…] about 970 EVO Plus – A Whole Lot Of ‘Meh’
Thursday Morning Random Stuff…
Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 72.0.3626.109 for Windows, Mac, and Linux”
Download
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.2 Optional (13FEB2019)
Download | Release Notes
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Equifax mystery: Where is the data?
On Sept. 7, 2017, the world heard an alarming announcement from credit ratings giant Equifax: In a brazen cyberattack, somebody had stolen sensitive personal information from more than 140 million people, nearly half the population of the U.S…Then, something unusual happened. The data disappeared. Completely.
‘I’ve paid $10bn in tax but it should have been more!’: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 63, says he and the rest of the world’s richest ‘don’t deserve’ their fortunes
‘I don’t deserve my fortune,’ Mr Gates added. ‘Nobody does. It has come through timing, luck, and through people I worked with. I certainly worked hard and I think software has been a beneficial thing, but I benefited from a structure too.
Amazon will pay $0 in federal income taxes for the second year in a row
Amazon, which doubled its profits and made more than $11 billion in 2018, won’t pay any federal income taxes for the second year in a row…he company will not be required to pay the standard 21 percent income tax rate on its 2018 profits, and is claiming a tax rebate of $129 million, which ITEP describes as a “a tax rate of negative 1 percent.
Pet Shop Boys – On social media (lyric video)
Pick a season dammit!
Switches
deals gone
Wednesday Random Stuff…
Tor & Tails
As usual these have been updated with a new Firefox release.
Download Tor 8.0.6 | Download Tails 3.12.1
(Not this) Eric’s Movie Database 3.35 Released
EMDB is an application to keep track of your movie and TV Series collection. Both physical discs and media files are fully supported. With an automatic import from the database of IMDB, export to csv, text or HTML, thumbnail cover preview, a loan tracker, advanced search and filter functions and multi-language user interface. EMDB doesn’t need a .NET framework or any other external libraries and is therefore fully portable. And best of all… it’s free!
Download & Info
The Hunt For The USS Hornet
One of the most important aircraft carriers in WWII history has been located thanks to efforts from the crew of Paul Allen’s R/V Petrel.
From Wikipedia:
USS Hornet (CV-8), the seventh ship to carry the name Hornet, was a Yorktown-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she launched the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo and participated in the Battle of Midway and the Buin-Faisi-Tonolai Raid. In the Solomon Islands campaign, she was involved in the capture and defense of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands where she was irreparably damaged by enemy torpedo and dive bombers. Faced with an approaching Japanese surface force, Hornet was abandoned and later torpedoed and sunk by approaching Japanese destroyers. Hornet was in service for a year and six days and was the last US fleet carrier ever sunk by enemy fire. For these actions, she was awarded four service stars, a citation for the Doolittle Raid in 1942, and her Torpedo Squadron 8 received a Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism for the Battle of Midway. Her wreck was located in late January 2019.
If you want to see some movies that feature her:
The Life and Death of the USS Hornet 1943 U.S. Navy propaganda film. Run time 16:13
30 Seconds Over Tokyo
Midway
One of my all-time favorite movies. Me and a friend rode our bikes to watch this movie at Green Acres Cinema in Saginaw, Michigan. It featured Sensurround.
They are making another Midway movie:
Midway is an upcoming American historical action drama film directed by Roland Emmerich and written by Wes Tooke. The film will star Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, Mandy Moore, Patrick Wilson, Ed Skrein, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, and Dennis Quaid. The film will be released on November 8.
Don’t know why this needs to be redone but it’s got Woody Harrelson so I’ll give it a shot. Seems a far cry from the absolutely star-studded cast of 1976.
Wednesday Morning Random Stuff…
Firefox 65.0.1
Bugfixes, stability fixes, 3 security updates.
Download (all) | Download 32-bit EN-US | Download 64-bit EN-US | Release Notes
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 418.91
Provides the optimal gaming experience when using DLSS and Ray Tracing in Battlefield V and Metro Exodus.
Download | Release Notes
Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Updated
Download EN-US | Download All | Security Bulletin
Intel Ethernet Drivers
See the Readme.txt file on the download page. There are a ton of adapters no longer supported. You’ll want to see the “Other Versions” drivers earlier than 23.5.
Intel Ethernet Adapter Complete Driver Pack 23.5.2 (all Windows, Linux, or FreeBSD)
Intel Network Adapter Driver for Windows 7, 23.5.2
Intel Network Adapter Driver for Windows 8.1, 23.5.2
Intel Network Adapter Driver for Windows 10, 23.5.2
Google Chrome Themes
Colors for Chrome. I’m using my usual Black (Just Black).
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Your Smart Light Can Tell Amazon and Google When You Go to Bed
For several years, Amazon and Google have collected data every time someone used a smart speaker to turn on a light or lock a door. Now they’re asking smart-home gadget makers such as Logitech and Hunter Fan Co. to send a continuous stream of information. In other words, after you connect a light fixture to Alexa, Amazon wants to know every time the light is turned on or off, regardless of whether you asked Alexa to toggle the switch. Televisions must report the channel they’re set to. Smart locks must keep the company apprised whether or not the front door bolt is engaged.
Those devices will never see the inside of my home.
Android phones can be hacked remotely by viewing malicious PNG image
Android users are being told to patch their Android OS Nougat (7.0), Oreo (8.0) and Pie (9.0) as soon as updates are available after a bug related to PNG images was found.
“as soon as updates are available” Yeah, that’s the thing isn’t it.
FREE Android App – App lock & gallery vault pro (nornally $4.49)
Apps locker & vaults is one of the best Android lock app with privacy guard, the best app locker with password & pattern lock screen, an amazing apps lock that provide high secure features.
This is the super aap locks that will protects your apps, hide picture, all features of app lock for apps & vaulty in a same lock box. Privacy your photo, note, call, sms, email, settings…, all the privacy guard functions for you to ensure your phone security and keep your privacy safe. With this app loxk security protection, your privacy is well protected with password lock screen & pattern lock screen.
Just passing this along and don’t know how long this deal will last. I don’t know anything about this app but the developer has a 3 dozen apps with good ratings. You’ll have to excuse the bad grammar and spelling as the developer seems to be from Vietnam.
Tudder
Tinder for livestock. Sheer genius (ba dum dum tss). And, so many jokes untold…
Franklin County moonshine legend Amos Law dies at 83
Officers kicked down the door of his Rocky Mount home. They dragged him outside, stuffed him into a police car and drove him to jail.
Over and over again.
Patch Tuesday
Updates available for all supported versions of Windows.
Office updates available too. (how to check for Office updates)
Win10 1809 – February 12, 2019—KB4487044 (OS Build 17763.316)
Win10 1803 – February 12, 2019—KB4487017 (OS Build 17134.590)
Win10 1709 – February 12, 2019—KB4486996 (OS Build 16299.967)
Windows 8.1 – February 12, 2019—KB4487028 (Security-only update)
Windows 7 – Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 update history
Office 365 11231.20174 and other versions
Note from Microsoft:
February 11, 2019 12:45 PM PST
Windows Update customers were recently affected by a network infrastructure event caused by an external DNS service provider’s global outage. A software update to the external provider’s DNS servers resulted in the distribution of corrupted DNS records that affected connectivity to the Windows Update service. The DNS records were restored by January 30, 2019 (00:10 UTC), but downstream effects continued. We believe the issue to be fully mitigated because the majority of local Internet Service Providers (ISP) have refreshed their DNS servers and customer services have been restored. If you are still encountering download failures, please contact your local ISP.
While this was not an issue with Microsoft’s services, we take any service disruption for our customers seriously. We will work with partners to better understand this so we can provide higher quality service in the future even across diverse global network providers.
Patch Tuesday Morning
Patches come out at 1300hrs EST. Well, they used to. With Win10 who knows when they will show up.
Backup if you have the time.
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Mozilla – Open letter to Facebook
Political actors use disinformation campaigns that prey on our emotions and values to manipulate our behaviour. We have a right to know who is paying to influence our vote, and Facebook is responsible for making sure that happens on their platform. They have made many promises to European lawmakers and users to make political ads more transparent, but so far we’ve seen little action. So we decided to pen an open letter telling them to implement what they’ve promised in enough time to protect users during the European elections.
Only 17% Of Consumers Believe Personalized Ads Are Ethical, Survey Says
A massive majority of consumers believe that using their data to personalize ads is unethical. And a further 59% believe that personalization to create tailored newsfeeds — precisely what Facebook, Twitter, and other social applications do every day — is unethical.
Reports: Russian authorities make deal with Google
The daily Vedomosti reported Thursday that Google has reached an agreement with the Russian state media oversight agency, Roskomnadzor, to regularly receive updated lists of banned sites and delete links to them upon review. The newspaper says Google has already removed about 70 percent of the banned websites from its search results.
Calling people ‘users’ is unethical and outdated
But labeling people as users strips them of complexity. It reduces humans to a single behavior, effectively supporting a view of people as more like robots whose sole function is to use a product or feature. This is a poor ethos for building ethical technology.
Wealth concentration near ‘levels last seen during the Roaring Twenties,’ study finds
The 400 richest Americans – the top 0.00025 percent of the population – have tripled their share of the nation’s wealth since the early 1980s…Those 400 Americans own more of the country’s riches than the 150 million adults in the bottom 60 percent of the wealth distribution, who saw their share of the nation’s wealth fall from 5.7 percent in 1987 to 2.1 percent in 2014
Apple and Google accused of helping ‘enforce gender apartheid’ by hosting Saudi government app that tracks women and stops them leaving the country
Both Google Play and iTunes host Absher, a government web service which allows men to specify when and how women can cross Saudi borders, and to get close to real-time SMS updates when they travel.
HEART Returns To The Road In 2019 For Massive ‘Love Alive’ Summer Tour
HEART will be joined by JOAN JETT & THE BLACKHEARTS, Sheryl Crow and Brandi Carlile on the road this summer.
I will be trying to go to this.
Friday Random Stuff…
I can see by the number of clicks in Monday’s news that folks are interested using other DNS servers. I’m working on an article. Look for it next week.
Windows 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters
Download & Info
Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 7 – 32-bit only
Purpose:
This is a security release and only supports Windows 7 32-bit for 6th Generation processors. 64-bit will not be made available.
On 6th Generation Intel Core and Intel Mobile Xeon processors and related Pentium/Celeron:
Microsoft Windows 7, 32-bit
Download & Info
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Microsoft – Keep your devices and data safe using these simple security best practices
Beware of phishing scams – Always have a backup – Be careful when using insecure Wi-Fi networks – Don’t rely on passwords alone – Keep software current – Use privacy screens to stop “shoulder surfing.”
No arguments here.
Here’s the most common mistake people make that compromises their online security
The most common poor security practice was reusing the same password for multiple websites: 82% of people admitted to doing exactly that.
Fortunately passwords are dying.
US Senators ask DHS to look into US government workers using foreign VPNs
Two US senators have asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to look into the possible dangers of US government workers using VPN apps that are owned by foreign companies and which redirect sensitive government-related traffic through servers located in other countries –namely China and Russia.
Here’s a thought. A VPN for the government run by the government…
Google Researchers Say Hackers Exploited Two Zero-Day Vulnerabilities Patched in Apple’s iOS 12.1.4 Update
Two vulnerabilities that Apple patched in its latest iOS 12.1.4 update were successfully exploited by hackers before they were known to Apple, according to a top Google security engineer.
That isn’t possible. Everyone knows everything Apple is secure.
Netflix paid NOTHING in federal or state taxes in 2018 despite posting record profits of $845million – and even got a $22million rebate
‘With a record number of subscribers, the company’s profit last year equaled its haul in the previous four years put together. When hugely profitable corporations avoid tax, that means smaller businesses and working families must make up the difference.’
Flat tax on everyone and everything. No deductions.
AMD, Nvidia Have Launched the Least-Appealing GPU Upgrades in History
Yesterday, AMD launched the Radeon VII, the first 7nm GPU. The card is intended to compete with Nvidia’s RTX family of Turing-class GPUs, and it does, broadly matching the RTX 2080. It also matches the RTX 2080 on price, at $700…But as things stand today, the consumer GPU market feels stuck in an unwelcome position where the only generational performance improvements available are reserved to those who can afford to jump at least a price bracket for their next GPU. Historically, there’s never been a need to do that. Hopefully, there still isn’t.
Yup. Overpriced and underwhelming.
Jeff Bezos just confirmed what we all knew: Nudes are no big deal
That headline (and article) is ignorant. It is a big deal. If you don’t think so there is something wrong with you.
I don’t understand the whole nude selfie thing. I mean, you understand that those things never stay private right? And dudes, most women don’t want to see pics of your junk anyway.
Thursday Random Stuff…
Google Chrome Updated
Chrome 72.0.3626.96 for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux is out. Bugfixes.
Download for PC
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Why the future of life insurance may depend on your online presence – iVerge
In reality, it has long been the case that what you pay for life insurance could at least be affected by your next Instagram post. It is already legal, and increasingly common, for life insurers to use so-called “nontraditional” sources of public data — including credit scores, court documents, and motor vehicle records — to inform insurance underwriting decisions, though few use actual social media data.
You can’t look at what doesn’t exist…
New Gun Bill Would Require Buyers To Reveal Social Media History
That’s why Didech is proposing gun buyers reveal their public social media accounts to Illinois police before they’re approved for a firearm license.
Really? You want to sanction the government spying on your InstaTwitMyFaceTgram posts?
As Magnetic North Pole Zooms Toward Siberia, Scientists Update World Magnetic Model
North is on the move, and that’s a problem for your smartphone’s maps.
Earth’s geographic north pole is fixed. But the planet’s magnetic north pole — the north that your compass points toward — wanders in the direction of Siberia at a rate of more than 34 miles per year.
Charges Against Chinese Hackers Are Now Common. Why Don’t They Deter Cyberattacks?
the Justice Department has unveiled one China-related hacking indictment after another, including cases against at least a dozen individuals and companies last year alone…”It does not seem to have stopped the Chinese and it certainly doesn’t seem to have imposed any cost on them to get them to the point where they think it’s not worth the attacks,” said Adam Segal, the director of the digital and cyberspace policy program at the Council on Foreign Relations.
American officials say China’s relentless effort to steal American business secrets is part of what they describe as Beijing’s drive to leapfrog the United States as the world’s preeminent economic and military power.
U.S. officials say China’s targets include the fields of aerospace, biotechnology, telecommunications, medical equipment and oil and gas exploration. Those match the business sectors tabbed for strategic development in China’s official government policy called “Made in China 2025.”
A-10 Brrrrrrrt Warthog Thunderbolt II Photos Gun Firing : theCHIVE
Cool pics of one of the worlds greatest ground combat weapons. True story…
I was stationed at Kriegsfeld Army Depot in Germany. It was a “special weapons” facility. We MPs that guarded the weapons were called “Towers Rats” (pic below). Every so often the A-10s from Sembach Air Base would come buzzing around the site. One day I climbed on top of my tower and as the A10 approached I dropped my BDU pants and mooned the pilot. He did a quick loop and buzzed my tower so close it shook for 30 seconds. Still makes me chuckle…
Kregsfeld Army Depot pics
Monday Randon Stuff…
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition 19.2.1 Optional (04FEB2019)
Support For: APEX Legend, The Division 2 Private Beta, Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey
Download | Release Notes
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready WHQL Driver 418.81
Includes support for new GeForce RTX laptops, and delivers the optimum performance in Futuremark’s 3DMark Port Royal benchmark, which has just added a new feature test for NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS).
Download | Release Notes
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Super Bore
Didn’t care about it much, didn’t watch it much. What I did see was boring. I did manage to win a betting pool. I had Rams 3 Pats 0 and it hit in the 2nd quarter.
Super Bowl Ratings Hit 10-Year Low In Historic NFL Game & Patriots’ Win
Fitness Watches
I give up. All I wanted was a watch that accurately measures cardio and calories burned across all my activities. Especially and including weightlifting. I don’t need a coach, or workout advice. I don’t want to input my reps. I could live with a external monitor of some kind tied to the watch but not an arm or chest band. AFAIK the device I want doesn’t exist.
DNS Issues
News spread of Windows users being unable to access Windows Update. Apparently it was a DNS issue. I don’t use my ISPs DNS (Comcast).
I use OpenDNS (208.67.222.222 208.67.220.220) at my router. Google DNS is another popular option. Good guide here:
https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using
New study: Google manipulates users into constant tracking
Today, the Norwegian Consumer Council has filed a complaint against Google. Based on new research Google is accused of using deceptive design and misleading information, which results in users accepting to be constantly tracked.
Not news to most of us.
Are There Fake Chickens Out There?
I went to Arby’s yesterday because, you know, “They have the meats.” I saw the sign below. Apparently Arby’s thinks there are fake chickens running wild and ending up in stores. I went Googling as I’m wont to do when I smell BS. I came up with this from Consumer Reports:
Natural: CR dubbed this one “the most misleading label” of the bunch, as more than half of the survey respondents said they believed “natural” meant the chickens didn’t receive antibiotics or chow down on feed containing GMOs. 42% of respondents said they thought the term meant the chickens were raised outdoors, while 1-in-3 said they thought it meant the same as “organic.” The only substantial requirement for “natural” chicken breasts is that they contain no artificial ingredients, but even then there is no process to verify this claim.