Apologies in advance for my ignorance. I’ve never made it to the U.K. despite 3/4 of my DNA coming from those isles.
I’m redoing/updating a supporters list and I’ve run into something I’ve no answer to….
99% of the addresses I’m given say “United Kingdom”. Now, and again forgive me, I’ve always thought of the U.K. as England, Ireland, and Scotland. Likewise I call the people from there as English (or British), Irish, or Scottish. As an aside, a family member has always insisted we are Welsh not English based on the origin of our surname…
So, when filing out my list and I know “United Kingdom” is right for a mailing/billing address but it doesn’t feel right to me. Thus, I’ve been looking up the towns I don’t know to see which of the 3 aforementioned areas they are from and switch the address accordingly.
Anyway, can someone from the British Isles (or United Kingdom?) please straighten me out?
[Read more…] about Question for folks in the U.K.
My Workout Playlist
By request, my workout playlist.
[Read more…] about My Workout Playlist
WACUP Dual-Screen with Visualizations
An article on the Winamp reviving WACUP will be out at some point.
Until then, check out my workout/game room setup:
[Read more…] about WACUP Dual-Screen with Visualizations
Patch Tuesday
Windows Updated
One Cumulative Update and a 1 or 2 .NET updates depending on which version you’ve installed.
20H2 & 2004: February 9, 2021—KB4601319 (OS Builds 19041.804 and 19042.804)
1909: February 9, 2021—KB4601315 (OS Build 18363.1377)
Firefox 85.0.2
“Fixed a deadlock during startup”
Download | Release Notes
O&O ShutUp10 Updated
“FIX: Determining registry key permissions has resulted in fewer displayed settings on some NT domain systems.”
If you aren’t on a corporate network (domain) then don’t bother with this update.
Download | Changelog
Security update available for Adobe Reader
Download | Security Bulletin
Google Chrome will no longer support dusty old computers from the mid-2000s
“Though admittedly small, the user base for Chrome users on devices dating back to the early to mid-2000s still exists. A new policy document published by the Chromium development team states that they will be dropping support for processors that lack something called SSE3, or Streaming SIMD Extensions 3, in x86 Chrome builds.”
SSE3 from Wikipedia:
“Intel introduced SSE3 in early 2004 with the Prescott revision of their Pentium 4 CPU. In April 2005, AMD introduced a subset of SSE3 in revision E (Venice and San Diego) of their Athlon 64 CPUs.”
From Intel: Products formerly Prescott
Tuesday Morning News
Start10 1.96
“Some tweaks to search to ensure the Start10 search isn’t run ever if you are using Cortana mode and to ensure the search is terminated if you close the menu.”
I don’t use Cortana and I’m not having any issues. Skipping this one.
Download | Release Notes
Barcode Scanner app on Google Play infects 10 million users with one update
“It is hard to tell just how long Barcode Scanner had been in the Google Play store as a legitimate app before it became malicious. Based on the high number of installs and user feedback, we suspect it had been there for years. It is frightening that with one update an app can turn malicious while going under the radar of Google Play Protect. It is baffling to me that an app developer with a popular app would turn it into malware. Was this the scheme all along, to have an app lie dormant, waiting to strike after it reaches popularity? I guess we will never know.”
Google not doing it’s job and Android phone makers failing users by not having a stock barcode scanner.
Internet Wayback page of this app: https://web.archive.org/web/20201108202720/https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.qrcodescanner.barcodescanner
Monday Random Stuff…
New Intel Graphics Drivers
“This release contains security updates.”
Braswell, 4th and 5th generations: version 15.40, Download & Info
6th Gen: version 15.45, Download & Info
If you are on Windows 10 and using Skylake CPUs or newer I would use the DCH drivers instead:
Newest Intel DCH Drivers are v27.20.100.9168
FAQ about Windows DCH Drivers for Intel Graphics
Reader Question
Q – Why did you stop using openSUSE?
A –
1 – For me openSUSE has become less stable and less desirable over time. I’m not alone. While not scientific, IMHO the Distrowatch page hit ranking offers good insight into what people think about each distro:
Distrowatch Page Hit Rankings for openSUSE
2014: #4, corporate merger, BTRFS now default FS
2015: #4, openSUSE Leap 1st released November, 2015
2016: #4
2017: #6
2018: #9, sold to investment company
2019: #11
2020: #14
https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity
2 – IMHO Linux hasn’t lived up to it’s potential: https://www.google.com/search?q=linux+failed
What Are You Streaming?
It’s beginning to get hard for my wife and I to find something to watch. Over the last few months we were so desperate we did a speedy trip through:
Star Trek Enterprise, DS9, and Voyager. LA Law and Dallas too. We only watched the higher rated shows and use the IMDB app (Android) for that.
We watched Cougar Town and enjoyed that. Trying to put off watching Letterkenny on Hulu for a while.
We subscribed to PBS/Masterpiece through Amazon Prime. Both of use like British TV. Currently we are watching Endeavor and might do Inspector Morse after that.
Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 88.0.4324.150 for Windows, Mac and Linux”
2 days ago Chrome was updated to 88.0.4324.146. Between the 2 updates it covers 7 security issues.
Download | Info
Chrome for Android was updated to 88.0.4324.141 on the 1st.
“This release includes stability and performance improvements.”
Tuesday Random Stuff…
PowerToys v0.31.1
Download & Info
Mp3tag v3.05
Download | Release Notes
Ultimate Windows Tweaker 4 for Windows 10
Download | Release Info
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.2.1 Optional
Support For Medium and a handful of fixed issues.
Download | Release Notes
Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:
Seagate – Lies, Damn Lies And SSD Benchmark Test Result
“As will be shown, the SSD benchmark testing “lies” are more ones of omission than of commission. But despite honorable intentions, any result must be considered a “lie” when it provides meaningless or, worse yet, misleading information. The underlying cause of these lies is a familiar one: accurate testing takes time. So short-cuts are taken. Important procedures get skipped. Key considerations are ignored. Results are read before performance stabilizes. Important tests are run without proper preparation—or not run at all.”
Tim Cook May Have Just Ended Facebook
“If a business is built on misleading users on data exploitation, on choices that are no choices at all, then it does not deserve our praise. It deserves reform…Too many are still asking the question ‘How much can we get away with?’ when they need to be asking ‘What are the consequences?’
Amazon’s Ring now reportedly partners with more than 2,000 US police and fire departments
“The FT reports that local law enforcement departments on the platform asked for Ring videos for a total of more than 22,335 incidents in 2020. The disclosure data from Ring also shows that law enforcement made some 1,900 requests — such as subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders— for footage or data from Ring cameras even after the device owner has denied the request. Amazon complied with such requests 57 percent of the time, its figures show, down from 68 percent in 2019.”
Read it again. “subpoenas, search warrants, and court orders” for your doorbell cam. SMH
“Privacy advocates have raised concerns about how Ring data is used by and made available to law enforcement.”
Ya think?
Wheelin’ and Dealin’
A while back I mentioned I wanted to ditch my XP era equipment for more modern stuff. All in all I want to create 3 (maybe 4) more computers. With that in mind…
[Read more…] about Wheelin’ and Dealin’
i7-9700K on sale
i7-9700K on sale for $249.99 at Amazon, and Best Buy. It is $305 at Newegg. Deal gone!
8 actual cores, no hyperthreading. I run the 9700KF (no graphics) on my second rig with all cores locked at 5GHz.
OK, all that expired or whatever.
For those who are lucky enough to be near a MicroCenter the current LGA 1151 CPU sale prices are:
i7-9700K = $219.99
i9-9900K = $319.99 (This is the CPU in my main rig.)
In addition, “Save $20 when bundled with a compatible eligible motherboard“.
These prices are “In Store Only”. Locations: https://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx
Unfortunately for me, MicroCenter is 2+ hours away.
Some folks say Best Buy will price match these.
Again, my default running configuration for these is all cores locked at 5GHz.