Computer News

I’m still musing about my next smart phone (past comments here and here). The Pixel 6 seems to have a number of issues including slow charging and and slow fingerprint reader. Perhaps if they get this stuff sorted out?
I’m hesitant on Samsung devices because of all the bloatware installed on them.
I’m not interested in Apple devices.
See some consumer reviews:
https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/google-pixel-6/
https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/google-pixel-6-pro/

Win10 21H2
Installed on 2 devices (busy with work) and no major issues. You’ll want to check any disabled network connections and O&O ShutUp10 settings.

7-Zip 21.05
File archiver/extractor. There hasn’t been a non-beta release since v19 in February, 2019.
Download | Release History

Audacity 3.1.2
4 hotfixes.
Download | Release Info

DuckDuckGo
Introducing App Tracking Protection for Android: The easiest way to block trackers lurking in your apps
Introducing Email Protection: The easy way to block email trackers and hide your address

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

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
.
.
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”

Harry Potter’ Turns 20: Director Chris Columbus on Working With Young Daniel Radcliffe and Why He Wants to Adapt ‘The Cursed Child’

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

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

Intel Graphics Drivers 30.0.100.9955
Several game related fixes.
Download | Release Notes

VMware Workstation Player 16.2.0
“This release contains security updates and bug fixes.”
Download | Release Notes

Notepad++ 8.1.7
1/2 dozen fixes.
Download & Info