TweakHound

Computer stuff...

Computer News

Weekend Random Stuff…

By

Browser Updates
Chrome 62.0.3202.75 (32-bit here.)
Firefox 56.0.2
Tor Browser 7.0.8

Software Updates
Adobe Flash Player 27.0.0.183. Download for Firefox, Opera or Internet Explorer
CrystalDiskMark 5.5.0
EMDB 3.05
Mp3tag 2.85

Twankers
The Twits at Twitter overstated the number of users for many years. They claim their users number around 330 million. No word on how many of those are fake accounts and bots. Although I’ve run into few accounts there that weren’t too bad, most seem to be filled with self-serving, lying twaddle. Maybe that’s why A third of America wouldn’t care if Twitter disappeared.

A KeyGen? Really?
I didn’t even know these things were still floating around! Anywho…
Some dude at the NSA disabled his AV (Kaspersky), tried to use a fake key generator, got pawned, NSA stuff exposed.
So says Kaspersky anyway. Source: El Reg

Off Topic

MegaRipoff
Already at ridiculous odds, Megamillions odds just got worse and more expensive to play.
“Starting on Saturday, tickets will cost $2…the odds of winning the jackpot will get worse jumping from 1 in 258.9 million in this week’s drawings to 1 in 302.6 million.

Monday Random Stuff…

By


Nvidia Drivers
388.00 WHQL released.
“Provides the optimal gaming experience for Destiny 2 and Assassin’s Creed Origins”

Win10 Controlled Folder Access
Today sites are linking to an article at Bleepingcomputer about a new Win10 feature called “Controlled Folder Access”. iVerge discussed this back on June 29th: “The new controlled folder feature is designed to protect against viruses and ransomware from locking machines out of certain folders.”

Wise Disk Cleaner Updated
Version 9.5.7.681: “Improved Mozilla Firefox Cookies cleaning. Minor GUI improvements. Updated various translations.”
Download (I use the portable version.)

Another O&O ShutUp10 Update
Version 1.6.1393​ brings a few fixes.
Download

My new favorite beer!
This ones for you Kelly!

Weekend Random Stuff…

By

[H]ardMobo’s
Kyle and crew take a look at 2 Gigabyte AMD Threadripper motherboards:
Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 3 (Silver Award)
“The Gigabyte X299 Aorus Gaming 3 motherboard does what it is made for, but do not expect much else if overclocking is your goal. We were actually very impressed with this inexpensive X299 motherboard in that it held stable in most of the abuse we heaped on it.”
& the
Gigabyte X399 Aorus Gaming 7 TR4 (Gold Award)
“If you are looking to overclock the Threadripper, we can highly suggest the Gaming 7. The Gaming 7 has the power components and UEFI tweaks needed to push your Threadripper, if you have the cooling.”

Tor Browser 7.0.7
“This release updates Firefox to 52.4.1esr, HTTPS-Everywhere to 2017.10.4 and NoScript to 5.1.2.”
Download

VirtualBox 5.2
“This is a major update.”
Download

Off Topic
Chris Long to donate final 10 Eagles game checks, play for free
This season, Long had a base salary of $1 million. All of that money is now going to fund the education of others…”I’ve been lucky,” Long said after donating his first six game checks earlier this year. “I’ve made a lot of money in my career, so it’s not like I’m scrapping check to check. This isn’t a hero thing. It’s nothing like that. It’s honestly just that I want to put my money where my mouth is.”
Outstanding

L.A. Guns – “The Flood’s The Fault Of The Rain” (Official Video)

Wednesday Random Stuff…

By

Win10 Update BSOD
Neowin is reporting that yesterday’s Win10 update is crashing systems with “USB Type-C Connector System Software Interface (UCSI)“.
I have heard unconfirmed reports from unnamed sources that are quoting a friend of a friend who knows someone in Redmond that said he heard someone in a Starbucks line say, “Oops.”

Kapersky, “Oy vey”
Israel hacked the Russians who hacked Kaspersky.
“The Russian operation, described by multiple people who have been briefed on the matter, is known to have stolen classified documents from a National Security Agency employee who had improperly stored them on his home computer, on which Kaspersky’s antivirus software was installed. What additional American secrets the Russian hackers may have gleaned from multiple agencies, by turning the Kaspersky software into a sort of Google search for sensitive information, is not yet publicly known.”
I don’t see how Kaspersky Labs survives this.

It Keeps Getting Worse
Equifax Breach Fallout: Your Salary History
“In May, KrebsOnSecurity broke a story about lax security at a payroll division of big-three credit bureau Equifax that let identity thieves access personal and financial data on an unknown number of Americans. Incredibly, this same division makes it simple to access detailed salary and employment history on a large portion of Americans using little more than someone’s Social Security number and date of birth — both data elements that were stolen in the recent breach at Equifax.”
There are a number of people involved in this who should have all their assets seized and spend a long time in jail. We all know they won’t.

– – – OFF TOPIC – – –

Smokeless Fire Pit
There is a Kiskstarter project called BioLite FirePit. The BioLite FirePit is “a smokeless wood-burning device that cooks your meals and gives you a front-row seat to everything going on inside your fire.”
Looks pretty cool. What do y’all think?

I Want It
Outta my price range but hey, a man can dream!

Delicious Whiskey
I was at Repeal Bourbon & Burgers in Virginia Beach this weekend. I managed to get the last pour of A. Smith Bowman Limited Edition Gingerbread Cocoa Finished Bourbon. It is the spawn of two Virginia products, Bowman Bourbon obviously and 2 beers from Hardywood Brewery. The two beers are Gingerbread Stout and Foolery Imperial Milk Stout. Both these beers are fantastic. Hardywood’s Gingerbread has been called “Christmas in a bottle.” It held a 100% rating at Ratebeer for several years (99 now). It is one of my favorite beers (Foolery is up there too). The Hardywood Bourbon Barrel GBS variant is outstanding. Anyway, back to the aforementioned bourbon. I was excited and tried to find it. AFAIK the only bottles left are in private hands and they are going for well north of $100 for a 375ml bottle.. It is a shame because it was one of the most unique and tasty bourbons I have ever had.
Hardywood GBS variants and release dates 2017:

Monday Random Stuff…

By

Not So Pure After All
PureVPN is being mocked around the web for releasing client info to the authorities. Seems they keep logs which leaves a permanent record of when and by what IP addy you accessed their servers. This is a big deal because VPN providers product is anonymity.
There is a debate going on as to whether of not any VPN provider is log-less.
I use TorGuard and they state, “We don’t log, period. In addition to a strict no logging policy, TorGuard features a shared VPN setup for increased anonymity.”

Nvidia Drivers
387.92 WHQL released.
Game Ready
Provides the optimal gaming experience for Middle-earth: Shadow of War, The Evil Within 2, and Forza Motorsport 7
Game Ready VR
Provides the optimal gaming experience for ARKTIKA.1

Dear Microsoft,
Now that Windows Mobile is dead, can you get that useless code off my PC?
Thanks,
Every Windows 10 user
p.s. Mobile first indeed!

Weekend Random Stuff…

By

It’s been a bad week folks.
It started with the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas. Then one of my all-time favs Tom Petty passed away. And all week we saw news about this hack and that breach.
When you add in all the bickering and hatred, fueled in large part by social media it is just one more reason to ditch GoogTwitFaceTagramChat. Even the people at the core of creating these online entities are swearing off using it.
For your highly recommended weekend reading I suggest, ‘Our minds can be hijacked’: the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia.
“Google, Twitter and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. Paul Lewis reports on the Silicon Valley refuseniks alarmed by a race for human attention”

Me, I’m headed for the beach to ride my bicycle, eat oysters and BBQ, and drink copious amounts of alcohol.
Hope you all have a great weekend.

Wednesday News

By

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.

Tuesday News

By

Protest To Protect Net Neutrality
Sept 26-27: The Internet descends on Washington
“On September 26-27 Internet users from across the country will converge on Washington, DC to meet directly with their members of Congress, which is by far the most effective way to influence their positions and counter the power of telecom lobbyists and campaign contributions. First you can attend a training hosted by Public Knowledge who will share years of experience on how to be effective in these meetings. Participants will be paired with a guide to show you where to go on Capitol Hill to participate in meetings with key lawmakers.”

Chrome Vs. Edge and IE
This “Browser Security White Paper” that “has been sponsored by Google” claims Google Chrome is more secure than Microsoft Edge or Internet Explorer.

Screw You Guys I’m Going Home
The EFF doesn’t like the W3C supporting DRM so they quit. Well played guys!

CCleaner
Nothing new to report.

Off Topic
Forget getting rich – sex and sleep are the real keys to happiness (and beer, they forgot beer!)