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Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Unreal Gold Free
If you want it better grab it quick.
https://www.gog.com/game/unreal_gold 48 Hours only
https://store.steampowered.com/app/13250/Unreal_Gold/ “limited time”
Unreal (1998 video game) at Wikipedia

Tired Of This
Another Spectre-like vulnerability. More patches coming with more performance hits.
INTEL-SA-00115 – Q2 2018 Speculative Execution Side Channel Update

Wireshark Updated
Version 2.6.1 brings a bunch of bugfixes.
Download | Release Notes

Off Topic

Amazon urged not to sell facial recognition tool to police
“People should be free to walk down the street without being watched by the government,” the groups wrote in a letter to Amazon on Tuesday. “Facial recognition in American communities threatens this freedom.”

This is America’s favorite burger brand
“Five Guys is America’s favorite burger chain, according to Harris Poll’s 30th annual EquiTrend study.
Harris surveyed a total of 77,031 people to determine the “brand equity” of 17 different burger chains — Jack in the Box, Hardee’s, White Castle, Carl’s Jr., Checkers/Rally’s, DQ Grill & Chill, Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, SONIC America’s Drive-In, Five Guys, In-N-Out Burger, Culver’s, Steak ‘n Shake, Whataburger, Shake Shack, Smashburger.”
NO. No to every single one of them. Agreed, some of these burgers will do in the absence of a non-chain alternative and almost any burger is better than a salad.
#1 burger. Grilled. Grilled on the back deck. Grilled over the fire at the campsite. Bonus points for bacon.

Monday Morning Random Stuff…

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Monopoly
“Oh, yes, of course Google’s a monopoly. In fact they’re a monopoly in several markets. They’re a monopoly in search. They’re a monopoly in search advertising…People tell their search engines things they wouldn’t even tell their wives. I mean, it’s a very powerful and yet very intimate technology. And that gives the company that controls it a mind-boggling degree of control over our entire society.”
Report on 60 Minutes
Video HERE. The section on Google starts at 2:09.

A bug in cell phone tracking firm’s website leaked millions of Americans’ real-time locations
“It represents a clear and present danger, not just to privacy but to the financial and personal security of every American family. Because they value profits above the privacy and safety of the Americans whose locations they traffic in, the wireless carriers and LocationSmart appear to have allowed nearly any hacker with a basic knowledge of websites to track the location of any American with a cell phone”

Secunia PSI Dead
“Thank you for your interest in PSI. PSI is Flexera’s free computer security solution that identifies missing security patches on user’s private PC, and automatically installs them when possible. This product has reached End-of-life on April 20, 2018, and therefore, no longer available. Existing installations of PSI will no longer function and should be uninstalled.”
Apparently this is old news. Thanks Mike.

***New poll up in the right sidebar: Google – Evil or Not Evil?

Off Topic

People who live in small towns and rural areas are happier than everyone else, researchers say
Not surprising. John Cougar would be proud.

Cheap Trick’s New Single “The Summer Looks Good On You”
Stream it here: https://cheaptrick.lnk.to/Summer
Video here: https://youtu.be/2DeSdkz4dmo

New Magnum P.I.
Not sure how I feel about this. Still like the old series. Tom Selleck was the man. The new “Higgy baby” is kinda hot.

Thursday Random Stuff…

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Start10 Updated
Start10 is a Windows 10 start menu alternative. It is $5 and is my preferred start menu replacement.
Start10 v1.60
– Updated for Windows 1803 to fix searching in start menu
– Added new blur option for Windows 1803 (on by default)
– Links to the Games and Homegroup folders on Windows 1803 will not work(Microsoft deprecated those locations)
Download | Changelog

Off Topic
‘Solo’ is the worst ‘Star Wars’ movie since ‘Attack of the Clones,’ according to critics
“You will find only what you bring in.” – Yoda

Tuesday Random Stuff…

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Google Chrome Updated
“The stable channel has been updated to 66.0.3359.181 for Windows, Mac, and Linux”
Download

Google One Replacing Google Drive
Includes changes, improvements, more plans, and lower prices.
source: Google Blog

Off Topic

14 Energy-Draining Everyday Habits To Avoid
Short article, good stuff. Bookmark it and pass it on.

10 toast-worthy craft breweries owned by veterans
There are a lot more than 10. I’m working on a list.

36%% Off! – Sandisk Ultra 64GB Micro SDXC UHS-I Card with Adapter
List Price: $24.99
Deal of the Day: ends today
You Save:$9.00 (36%)

I’ve got the 32GB & 64GB models. The 128GB model is on sale at 44% off, only 70 cents more than the 64 gig.
“anodized, aircraft-grade aluminum housing is waterproof to 200 meters, vibration-resistant, and shock-resistant.”
Corsair Flash Survivor Stealth 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
List Price: $61.99
Price: $34.99
You Save: $27.00 (44%)

Samsung’s newest, fastest SSDs are in stores.
Samsung 970 EVO 250GB – NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD $109.99 (My top pick)
Samsung 960 PRO Series – 512GB PCIe NVMe – M.2 Internal SSD $309.45

Recommended Non-NVMe SSDs
Samsung 860 EVO 250GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD $79.99
Samsung 860 PRO 256GB 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal SSD $124.99 (My top pick)

Weekend Random Stuff…

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This site was down yesterday morning. Something went FUBAR at my webhost. All seems to be good now.

Google Grapples With ‘Horrifying’ Reaction to Uncanny AI Tech
Wednesday I commented at Google screwing with us. Seems I wasn’t the only one commenting.
“Outside the Google technology bubble, critics pounced. The company is placing robots in conversations with humans, without those people realizing”
“Horrifying,” Zeynep Tufekci, a professor and frequent tech company critic, wrote on Twitter about Duplex. “Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless and has not learned a thing.”

Drinking The Koolaid
Microsoft Build was last week. Developers and the Microsoft press were there.
Premium Paul Thurrott said. “Microsoft, Back on Track” (pay-walled)
iVerge, “But mixed within all of that were some exciting announcements: new Windows features, improvements for voice assistants, and helpful new cloud services.”
Cnet, “It’s all about AI and the web now.”
I don’t like here Windows is headed. I don’t like where Microsoft is headed. I don’t like where AI is headed.

‘Bout Time
IBM is banning removable media use for most employees, most of the time. IMHO most companies and government agencies should have done this a decade or more ago.

Off Topic
Stuff I bookmarked the last few days.

Yes, Pluto is a planet (great comment at Slashdot)

What Sunscreen Numbers Mean? Top-Rated SPF Products For This Summer

Map: The States That Drink The Most Beer In America (2018). I’m very disappointed in my state.

George Dickel Tennessee Whisky Releases New TABASCO® Brand Barrel Finish – A Partnership Made In The South. 2 of my favs, bourbon and Tabasco. Not sure how I feel about te combo but I gotta try it once. Did you know Tabasco is aged in barrels just like bourbon?

Cap2Cap Bike Ride
I’ve mentioned this before but we are fortunate in Virginia to have several great bike trails. The best one nearest me is called the Virginia Capital Trail.

“The Virginia Capital Trail is the product of a successful public-private partnership between the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF).
The Virginia Capital Trail Foundation (VCTF) is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) organization, with a mission to enhance, promote, and advocate for the continued development of the Virginia Capital Trail, a 52-mile dedicated multi-use trail connecting Richmond and Williamsburg along the beautiful and historic Route 5 corridor.“

Yesterday was the annual fundraiser Cap2Cap ride. Distances of 15, 25, 50, and 100 miles are options. I did the 25 miler. Granted it was only about my 6th ride of the year but I don’t know how you guys manage to do 100 miles. My hats off to you!

Patch Tuesday

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Windows Updates Available
You got Windows, you got updates. (Microsoft Security Update Summary for May 8, 2018) below)
May 8, 2018—KB4103721 (OS Build 17134.48)
*Until further notice my advice is to wait a week or so to see what the fallout is over the latest updates. It seems every single update breaks something anymore.

Of Course
What would Patch Tuesday be without Adobe patching another flaw in Flash Player?
APSB18-16 Security update available for Adobe Flash Player
Version 29.0.0.171 is out.
for Firefox, Opera
for Internet Explorer
Flash for Edge, IE 11, and Chrome update automatically with the browser.

Off Topic

Equifax confirms data breach included driver’s licenses and passports
Jail. Someone needs to go to jail.

The average American works more hours than a medieval peasant
I wonder if it is all worth it? Some synonyms for peasant: boor, bumpkin, hayseed, hick, oaf, peon, rube, serf.

[Read more…] about Patch Tuesday

Monday Random Stuff…

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You Can’t Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data, Even If You Didn’t Opt In
“So does that mean that, in addition to locking down our own privacy choices, we need to police the choices of our friends and family? No, said Cohen, Gillmor and Viljoen. In fact, the privacy of the commons means that, in some cases, your data is collected in ways you cannot reasonably prevent, no matter how carefully you or anyone you know behaves.”
Sad fact.

Microsoft’s Satya Nadella Said
Lot’s of articles out there quoting (often wrongly) what he said at the MS Build Conference. So I went looking for the transcript.
You can download it here: Satya Nadella: Build 2018
“We ensure that when we use data, it is to benefit the user.”
Look, I don’t know much about the man but he really needs someone to look over his speeches. The “It’s for your own good” excuse is just lame and frankly a little insulting.
Then he said, “We ensure that the user is always in control of their data and its use.”
I’m…uh…hmmm…
I…um…that’s…man o man…

Windows Commands Reference
A PDF containing an overview and alphabetical listing of Windows commands.
Download

You Don’t Say…
A new report says the Chinese government is behind a decade of hacks on software companies.
Is there anyone that is even remotely surprised by this?

Personal privacy vs. public security: fight!
Good read on this topic. Recommended.

Off Topic

AT&T/Verizon lobby asks FCC to help raise prices on smaller ISPs

Android P will finally restrict apps from monitoring your network activity

How Robin Williams was being torn apart and couldn’t fight back
My name is Wil Wheaton. I live with chronic Depression, and I am not ashamed.

Lyme Disease Is On The Rise Again. Here’s How To Prevent It

TweakHound.com Is 16 Years Old

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Yep, I started this site 16 years ago. Whois says Creation Date: 2002-05-13T18:12:23Z but I think “May 2002” is close enough.
The average life span of a website is 2.7 years so this site is ancient by internet standards.
The purpose of this site was and is to inform and help in matters computer related. You know, “computer stuff…”
I hope I can still be doing this in another 16 years. I don’t know though. Will we still be using PC’s then?
There was a time when this site sometimes saw +35k unique hits a day. Today it is a fraction of that. I’ve have heard from every one of the world regions except maybe the 2 poles. You’ve no idea how humbling and special that is to me.
To the millions who have stopped by through the years, Thank You!
I hope I was able to help you in some small way.
About TweakHound.com | About Me
(original logo)
TweakHound's 1st Logo, circa 2002!
You can browse through this sites past at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/*/tweakhound.com
https://web.archive.org/web/20021127182517/http://www.tweakhound.com:80/
Years ago sites used “affiliates” to pass on their news. The use of affiliates was twofold: 1 to bring visitors directly to your site, and 2 to increase your Google page rank. AFAIK Google stopped using such things and sadly few website operators are friendly anymore.
At any rate, here is a list of affiliates from TweakHound.com’s past. Most of them are no longer around or have been bought out and changed:
3dXtreme
BlargOC
BlynkNet
DarksidePC
Dark][Tweaker
Flickerdown
Furioustech
HardCoreMods
[H]ardOCP
HardwareGeeks
OCIA
OverclockerCafe
PCeXtremist
PChardware UK
PCReviewSpot
PcTechTalk
SubZeroTech
TechSeekers
XtReMoDs
Warp2Search

Friday Random Stuff…

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GeForce Hotfix Driver Version 397.55
– After driver installation, Device Manager may report Code 43 error on a few GTX 1060 cards models.
– Netflix playback may occasionally stutter.
– Added support for Microsoft Surface Book notebooks.
– Windows 10: Driver may get removed after PC has been left idle for an extended period of time.
Download

Spectre Next Generation
“A total of eight new security flaws in Intel CPUs have already been reported to the manufacturer by several teams of researchers. For now, details on the flaws are being kept secret. All eight are essentially caused by the same design problem – you could say that they are Spectre Next Generation.”

[H] Victorious
Nvidia is canceling their GPP Program.
Chalk one up for the good guys!

Macrium Reflect v7.1.3196
“Incremental and Differential images created since 17th April using Macrium Reflect v7.1.3147, 3159 or 3169 could be corrupt if the Changed Block Tracker (CBT) driver was involved in the Image creation. This has been resolved.”
Download

LMAO OMG WTF SMH
If you think the H in IMHO stands for honest you should be banned from the internet and instant messaging for life.

Off Topic

GUNS N’ ROSES: Remastered And Expanded Edition Of ‘Appetite For Destruction’ Due In June

3 White Lions Cubs Born At Metro Richmond Zoo (pics and video, they are awesome)

Ron Howard Gets A New ‘Solo’ Trailer For May The 4th

Wednesday Random Stuff…

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***UPDATED – Windows 10 April Update Benchmark

Samsung NVMe Driver v3.0
“This driver supports Samsung NVMe SSD 970 PRO, 970 EVO, 960 PRO, 960 EVO and 950 PRO.”
Download | Alternative download at MajorGeeks

O&O Shutup10
Version 1.6.1396 – released May 2, 2018
-Adapted for the Windows 10 Spring Creators Update 1804 (Build 17134)
-Fixed issue with finding High Contrast mode on user-defined schemes
-User interface adapted
-Bug Fixes: Various small bug fixes
-Available in English, German, French, Italian and Russian
Download

Win10 April Update Freezing Chrome
Source: Neowin. It happened to me too.