Computer News

I think it’s Wednesday?!

Browser Stuff
Adobe Flash Player 28.0.0.161
for Firefox, Opera
for Internet Explorer
—
Firefox 58.0.2

Ultimate Windows Tweaker for Windows 10
Version 4.4.1 is out. An adblocker warning? Really? Hurting your Geek cred there guys.

Off Topic

Craft Beer > Wine
Well at least is is better for you.
“We all know that a glass of red wine is good for you, but it turns outs a pint of craft beer is better, it has got more good things in it”

Turn Up The lights
Dim lights make you stupid. So say the Science Geeks at Michigan State University.
“In other words, dim lights are producing dimwits.”

No Surprise
U.S. consumer protection official puts Equifax probe on ice
We lose again.

80’s Metal Tours
Def Leppard & Journey
Poison & Cheap Trick

Software Updates
7-Zip 18.0.1
Nvidia GeForce Drivers 390.77 WHQL

Firefox 58.0.1
Firefox 32-bit
Firefox 64-bit
All downloads
Release Notes (not up yet)

Not Intel-ligent
“In initial disclosures about critical security flaws discovered in its processors, Intel Corp. notified a small group of customers, including Chinese technology companies, but left out the U.S. government, according to people familiar with the matter and some of the companies involved.”
My first thought was the word “treasonous”. Yeah I know, but that is what came to mind. Probably doesn’t rise to that but it sure is stupid. Amazing that a company full of some of the brightest among us has failed so miserably recently.

About That Windows Unpatch Patch
Over the weekend several sites have reported that “Microsoft issues emergency Windows update” that unpatched the Spectre patch.
AFAIK they haven’t put anything on Window Update and there is no “out-of-band update”, at least not on any of my 7 running PCs. Frankly I think they all got the news from AskWoody who is the only site I’ve seen get it right:
“The patch is only available from the Update Catalog, and it’s the same patch for all versions of Windows.”
and
“It’s highly likely that when Intel gives the all-clear for Spectre variant 2, it’ll be part of yet another patch.”
and most importantly
“Moral of the story: Wait.”

Pai In Your Face
How does this embarrassment still have a job?

Big Brother
iVerge – Exclusive: ICE is about to start tracking license plates across the US
They are tracking everyone plates not just illegals. I don’t have much to complain about as I have an E-ZPass but that is an opt-in thing.

Ars Pro
Ars Technica is turning to a premium subscription model. I’ve only tried one and that was over at Paul Thurrott’s site. I let that expire as I didn’t feel the value was worth the cost. Is this where the web is headed?

Logic
Non sequitur. Some folks really need to understand this before they make comments.
 
RIP Mort Walker

Chrome 64
53 security fixes including Meltdown and Spectre protection.
HDR suppport.
Mute annoying sites. You can do this by right-clicking on a tab.
Download

Polaris
Windows Central says “Polaris” is a Win10 version “for traditional PC form factors”.
I want my PC to act like a PC. Not a phone. Not a tablet. But when it comes to Microsoft getting things right, I’ll believe it when I see it.

Coincidence
“Intel quietly warned computer manufacturers at the end of November that its chips were insecure due to design flaws, according to an internal Chipzilla document…The date of the disclosure to OEMs is likely to raise eyebrows as it happened on the same day Intel chief exec Brian Krzanich sold shares in his company worth $25m before tax.”
They always get away with it.

Inside The Fight For The Soul Of Kaspersky Lab
Semi-long article and worth the read.
“Kaspersky Lab is under fire in the US over concerns that it could provide its clients’ private — and at times secret — information to the Russian government. A new investigation by Russian news site Meduza, published here exclusively in English, goes inside the battle for control of the company — a battle sources say was won by the side allied with Russian security services.”

Firefox 58
Not officially out but you can download it:
Firefox 32-bit
Firefox 64-bit
All downloads (58 not available as of this post)
Release Notes (when available)

Social Media Sucks
Apple CEO Tim Cook when speaking about his nephew, “There are some things that I won’t allow; I don’t want them on a social network”

iGen
“the clearer it became that theirs is a generation shaped by the smartphone and by the concomitant rise of social media. I call them iGen. Born between 1995 and 2012, members of this generation are growing up with smartphones, have an Instagram account before they start high school, and do not remember a time before the internet…It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones…But only about 56 percent of high-school seniors in 2015 went out on dates; for Boomers and Gen Xers, the number was about 85 percent…But iGen teens aren’t working (or managing their own money) as much. In the late 1970s, 77 percent of high-school seniors worked for pay during the school year; by the mid-2010s, only 55 percent did…when she does spend time with her friends in person, they are often looking at their device instead of at her. “I’m trying to talk to them about something, and they don’t actually look at my face,” she said. “They’re looking at their phone, or they’re looking at their Apple Watch.” “What does that feel like, when you’re trying to talk to somebody face-to-face and they’re not looking at you?,” I asked. “It kind of hurts,” she said. “It hurts. I know my parents’ generation didn’t do that. I could be talking about something super important to me, and they wouldn’t even be listening.”

GET OFF OF FACEBOOK
Facebook is asking users to rank the trustworthiness of news sources.
This is not high school. News isn’t a popularity contest. It is factually correct or it isn’t. It is unbiased or it isn’t. Allowing the masses to rank news only allows people to down-vote sources of news they don’t like or that don’t promote their own personal biases.
Then again, if you get your news from social media you are part of the problem.

*Sigh*
“What people don’t know about or see about Facebook is that polarization is built in to the business model,” Harris told NBC News. “Polarization is profitable.”

Unless you are a masochist you shouldn’t be updating any Windows machine today. The only updates seems to be the typically Window Defender stuff, .Net updates and a Flash update for IE and Edge. Y’all are too smart to be using that garbage anyway 😉
Office Updates are available. See here to update from within Office:
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Install-Office-updates-2ab296f3-7f03-43a2-8e50-46de917611c5

Speaking Of Flash
Adobe Flash Player 28.0.0.137 is out.
Download for Firefox, Opera
Release notes

Speaking Of Windows Update
Microsoft Says No More Windows Security Updates Unless AVs Set a Registry Key
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\QualityCompat]
“cadca5fe-87d3-4b96-b7fb-a231484277cc”=dword:00000000
from command line (admin)
reg add HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\QualityCompat /v cadca5fe-87d3-4b96-b7fb-a231484277cc /t reg_dword /d 0

Stupid, antisocial, and unhealthy
“A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have – but not by making us smarter…The lesson we’re slowly beginning to learn, though, is that they’re not a harmless vice. Used the way we currently use them, smartphones keep us from being our best selves.”
I am amazed at the ubiquity of constant cell phone use. I watch people on the road texting, speed fluctuating, drifting into to other lanes. I watch groups of young people at a table, all on their phones, no one talking. I watch children on phones and tablets, oblivious to the world around them.
Sad. Truly sad.

Off Topic
Jaromir Jagr done?
Dang. One my all time favs and a cool dude.
ESPN is opining on his future.

Net Neutrality
Oh no, we ain’t done with this yet. Not by a long shot. A NN vote has been forced.

Why I Do Not Use A NAS Device
Well, this kinda stuff is one reason at least. Western Digital My Cloud had over 80 security vulnerabilities exposed last year alone. Another one has been found and it is far reaching.

New Nvidia Drivers
Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver 390.65 WHQL
Provides the optimal gaming experience for Fortnite, including support for ShadowPlay Highlights in Battle Royale mode.
Security Update – This driver add security updates to driver components.
Download
Release Notes
Latest Linux driver is 384.11 Release Date: 2018.1.4

Macrium Reflect Updated
Version 7.1.2817 is out. There has pretty much been an update a week. If you haven’t created a boot disk lately you may want to do it now.
Download
Release Notes

Good Luck To All My Apple Using Friends
They’ve got an update for Spectre. Hope your experience goes better than my AMD using Windows bros. At least they have an update. I wonder how long us Android users will be waiting?

List Of CES News I Care About
1 – Booth babes
2 –

Class
We the people are ticked off and that means lawsuits. There are three class action lawsuits aimed at Intel right now. Hopefully there are many more to follow. I’ve inquired about joining one.

Nightmare On Elm Street
The FCC is trying to say the lame internet speeds we had years ago are more than adequate and is trying to label them “broadband”. Some folks think they are trying to “Hide the Digital Divide“.
See also: #MobileOnly Challenge (frack I hate hashtags)

Breakfast Club
Wanna know the answer to Why Raspberry Pi isn’t vulnerable to Spectre or Meltdown? My guess: Cause it uses a crappy little CPU?
Tip: Sometimes bragging only serves to highlight your shortcomings.
Me, I’m in the math club, uh, the Latin, and the physics club… physics club.

RoboCop
ISP threatens to turn off heat off of those who are infringing on copyright. Apparently they have assumed to role of Barney Fife. Let us just hope Andy didn’t let him take his bullet out of his pocket.

Back To The Future
After being on the cover 10 times, Bill Gates will be the first guest editor at Time Magazine. I had to pop over to their website that I didn’t even know existed. I haven’t picked up an issue of Time in 20+ years and didn’t think much of it back then. In fact I haven’t picked up an issue of any print magazine in that long except the one with the bunny logo. Contrary to popular excuse making, it was only for the pictures.
Source

What do the above headlines have in common?
First correct guesser gets…um… the thanks and awestruck congratulations of me!

Intel CPU Design Flaw
Over the last 24 hours most tech sites are reporting a doom and gloom scenario invloving Intel CPUs. The gist of it is there is a security flaw in Intel CPUs that requires patching at the OS level. This patch may impact performance. Clickbaiters are using 30% as a number. IMHO we have no reliable info on the scale or impact of this issue yet. I would take everything you read with a grain of salt.
‘Kernel memory leaking’ Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign
Good breakdown: Serious Intel CPU design flaw may require a Windows patch, but probably won’t affect gaming performance
Technical breakdown: The mysterious case of the Linux Page Table Isolation patches
Original paper on this issue: KASLR is Dead: Long Live KASLR

Fakespot
I’ve been looking for an action camera for a while now. Go Pros are out of my price range. I saw a deal for the DBPower EX7000 4K Sports Action Camera. 4K, touchscreen, blah, blah, blah. Seemed like a great deal. I start Googling. Red flag number one, this thing seems to always be on “sale”. Red flag number two, I can’t find a reliable review. Gut feeling says stay away from this thing. I keep Googling. In the comment section at one deal site I see a comment about fake reviews for this product on Amazon. It mentions a site called Fakespot. Never heard of it.
You copy/paste a url from Amazon. Fakespot then “looks for patterns to filter out reviews we think are unreliable”.
Depending on whether you look up the camera or camera kit, Fakespot says the reviews for the aforementioned camera are 74% or 100% “low quality”. Gut feeling reinforced, I skip this camera.
Very cool. Fakespot is now on my bookmarks list.
https://www.fakespot.com/about

Asinine
I just ran into this: KDE Dropping “Run As Root” Feature Stumbles Backlash From The Community

 
3 Computers, 1 Mouse, 20% Off
“Meet the next generation of Logitech’s flagship mouse, re-designed to provide the ultimate experience for power users and masters of their craft. MX Master 2S works seamlessly across three computers, including navigating and copy-pasting between them. The stunning design is packed with advanced features to help you get more done, more efficiently and comfortably than ever.”
Logitech MX Master 2S Wireless Mouse

Happy New Year!

Software Updates
Firefox 57.0.3 (fixes a single issue) Thanks Scott!
Intel Graphics Driver for Windows 10, version 15.60.1.1.4901 (28DEC2017)
Macrium Reflect 7.1.2801
Wise Disk Cleaner 9.6.2.685 (improved Microsoft Edge Session cleaning)

Use An Ad Blocker
Online ad companies are using “browsers’ built-in login managers (also called password managers) to retrieve and exfiltrate user identifiers without user awareness.”
Most adblockers block this behavior.
Original paper: No boundaries for user identities: Web trackers exploit browser login managers

Off Topic
2 Supermoons this month!

Corsair Hydro Series, H100i v2 CPU Water Cooler $85
That is $45 / 35% off!