Computer stuff...
BleachBit 4.4.2
Over a dozen fixes.
Download | Release Info
Audacity 3.1.1
“This is a hotfix release.”
Download | Release Notes
Notepad++ 8.1.9.1
1/2 dozen fixes.
Download & Info
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.11.2 Optional Drivers
Support for Battlefield 2042.
Download | Release Notes
Intel Graphics Windows DCH Drivers
v30.0.101.1069. Support for Alder Lake. Improved game loading times for a few games.
Download & Info
Over 20 security updates. Win10 has several important fixes.
Win11 – November 9, 2021—KB5007215 (OS Build 22000.318)
Win10 – November 9, 2021—KB5007186 (OS Builds 19041.1348, 19042.1348, and 19043.1348)
Macrium Reflect 8.0.6353
They have a blog post dated yesterday exclaiming Reflect 8 Free is out now!
I find this to be rather odd since I’ve been using version 8 (free) since May and provided the links here.
Anywho… There’s a bunch of fixes and Win11 support.
Download | Release Notes
For those new here, I use Macrium Reflect to create disk images on all my computers. I use a bootable USB drive via the Create Rescue Media menu option. I only do backups offline. Old habits die hard.
https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW80/Macrium+Reflect+User+Guide
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Amazon Fire TV 50″ 4-Series 4K UHD smart TV
List Price: $469.99
With Deal: $329.99
You Save: $140.00 (30%)
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.11.1 Optional Drivers
Support for Call of Duty: Vanguard and Forza Horizon 5, 2 fixes.
Download | Release Notes
Start11 Released
“Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11”
I’ve been a Start10 advocate for years. I don’t use Win11 so if anyone is using this let me know what you think.
Download & Info
Intel UHD Graphics Driver for 12th Gen Intel Core Processors
Download & Info
Intel’s Alder Lake big.little CPU design, tested: It’s a barn burner
“Intel’s Alder Lake CPUs are an enormous improvement over their 11th-generation predecessors in every way—they offer both higher raw performance and higher performance-per-watt. They also handily trounce the AMD competition in both the Core i9/Ryzen 9 and Core i5/Ryzen 5 brackets—single-threaded, multithreaded, and just about any way you care to slice it.”
Intel 12th Gen Core Alder Lake Performance Review: Chipzilla Is Back
“These new chips put Intel back into the fight up and down its desktop CPU stack, regardless of workload. New 12th Gen Core CPUs are also priced competitively (at least in terms of MSRP), and the technology offered by this new Intel desktop PC platform is currently unmatched.”
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Is Facebook Bad for You? It Is for About 360 Million Users, Company Surveys Suggest
“The app hurts sleep, work, relationships or parenting for about 12.5% of users, who reported they felt Facebook was more of a problem than other social media”
The Scorpions new song Peacemaker:
Phil Lynott – Songs For While I’m Away official trailer
Available at Amazon, Google Play, an iTunes Store.
Phil Lynott at Wikipedia
Thin Lizzy at Wikipedia
Thin Lizzy official web site.
Quickie today. Gotta go vote.
Firefox 94
New colorful themes, site Isolation, several fixes, over a dozen security fixes.
Download | Release Notes
To update, go to Settings > Help > About.
The following settings have been added to/changed/reset you may want to check them:
Settings > Privacy & Security > sections: Address Bar — Firefox Suggest and Firefox Data Collection and Use
I have everything in the sections unchecked.
O&O ShutUp10++ 1.9.1426
Support for Windows 10 21H2, a few small fixes.
Download | Changelog
Pet Monkey Belonging To College Coach’s Stripper Girlfriend Allegedly Bit Trick-Or-Treater On Halloween
“On Monday night, rumors of Texas Longhorns special Teams Coach Jeff Banks’ pet monkey allegedly attacking a young Trick-or-Treater on Halloween made its way on the Internet…Apparently, Banks is dating a stripper named “Pole Assassin” who owns a pet monkey that is part of her stripper act.”
Much Ado About Nothing?
This past week much ado was made about Microsoft installing the PC Health Check App on Win10 computers without permission. Reader Allen kept me apprised of the situation as I’ve been working a lot. Thank you Allen! Anyway, The main purpose of this app is to check whether or not your PC can run Windows 11.
After giving it some thought I’m gonna say, “Meh” to this. Microsoft force installing stuff isn’t remotely surprising, I can find no claims of privacy issues, and you can easily uninstall it:
“You can uninstall PC Health Check by going to Apps > Apps & Features > App list (Windows PC Health Check) > Uninstall.“
EV Phone Home?
My phones getting wonky so last week I asked for some feedback on the Pixel 6. Since then my phone actually crashed for the first time. I was driving and as usual had Car Home, Waze, and Neutron going and the phone crashed and rebooted. I’ve never had a smart phone crash.
I haven’t made up my mind on if/when I’ll get a new phone. FYI, I’m on Verizon and have no desire to switch as they have great coverage + Veteran’s discount. Any thoughts?
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.10.4 Optional Drivers
“Fixed Issues – Visual corruption may be observed while playing Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy™ on some AMD Graphics products such as Radeon™ RX 6800 Graphics.”
Download | Release Notes
Mp3tag 3.11
5 new features and a dozen fixes.
Download | Release Announcement
PowerToys 49.1
4 fixes.
Download & Info
Realtek Ethernet Drivers
New version based on OS
Download
Stalkerware
Experts Sound Alarm On ‘Stalkerware,’ Which Can Easily Be Downloaded On Your Phone Without You Knowing
PCMag – Protect Yourself From Abuse: How to Find and Remove Stalkerware on Your Phone and PC
New York Times – ‘Stalkerware’ Apps Are Proliferating. Protect Yourself. (paywalled)
https://www.google.com/search?q=stalkerware&source=lnms&tbm=nws
Wikipedia – Stalkerware
[Read more…] about Weekend Random Stuff…
Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 95.0.4638.69 for Windows, Mac and Linux…This update includes 8 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info
To update go to Menu (the the dots in upper-right corner > Help > About Google Chrome
or
type this in the URL bar: chrome://settings/help
PowerToys 49
New mouse utility added. Several fixes and improvements.
Download & Info
Audacity 3.1.0
A few new features and fixes.
Download | Release Announcement | Release Notes
HWiNFO 7.14
New hardware support & bugfixes.
Download ( I use portable) | Version history
FileZilla Client & Server Updated
Minor update for client. Important security update for server.
Download Client | Download Server
[Read more…] about Friday Morning News
Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 496.49 WHQL
Support for many games, a few fixes, and multiple security updates.
Download | Release Notes
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.10.2 Recommended WHQL Drivers
Support for Back 4 Blood, The Riftbreaker, and 3 fixes.
Download | Release Notes
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.10.3 Optional Drivers
Support or improvements for 4 games. 5 Fixes.
Download | Release Notes
Autoruns 14.06
“This Autoruns release fixes a crash happening for scheduled tasks containing spaces.”
You’ll note that it does not say it fixed the startup crash from the previous version nor does it even acknowledge it. Comment #2 on the download page says it’s still broken. It is not broken for everyone.
Download & Info
CPU-Z
Support for new hardware.
Download ( I use portable) | Home Page
Views for the Windows 7 Tweak Guide have spiked. Don’t know what that’s about.
Google Pixel 6, Yay or Nay?
My 5 1/2 year old Samsung Galaxy S7 is becoming harder to use. In the last few weeks at least 3 apps have become unstable/unusable. I’m not spending 1K x 2 on phones. You guys have any thoughts?
https://store.google.com/us/category/phones?hl=en-US
https://www.google.com/search?q=Google+pixel+6&source=lnms&tbm=nws
Wise Disk Cleaner 10.7.2
A few small fixes.
Download (I use portable) | Release Info
AMD Ryzen Chipset Driver 3.10.08.506
Apparently fixes the Win11 performance issue.
Download | Release Notes
[Read more…] about Weekend Random Stuff…
Google Chrome 95
“Chrome 95.0.4638.54 contains a number of fixes and improvements…This update includes 19 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info
To update go to Menu (the the dots in upper-right corner > Help > About Google Chrome
or
type this in the URL bar: chrome://settings/help
VirtualBox 6.1.28
Several fixes, support for Linux Kernel 5.14/5.15 and Win11 guest support.
Download | Changelog
