Computer News

Nvidia Geforce Game Ready Drivers 466.63 WHQL
“including the latest patch for No Man’s Sky which introduces NVIDIA DLSS technology. Additionally, this release also provides optimal support for Chivalry 2, Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts 2, and the new NVIDIA Reflex integrations in War Thunder and Escape from Tarkov.”
Download | Release Notes

Intel Wireless Driver Updates
Windows 10 Wi-Fi Drivers for Intel Wireless Adapters
Intel Wireless Bluetooth for Windows 10

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Amazon devices will soon automatically share your Internet with neighbors
“If you use Alexa, Echo, or many other Amazon devices, you have only 10 days until you’re opted in to an experiment that leaves your personal privacy and security hanging in the balance.”
I’ve no desire for a smart home and I won’t allow devices like these in my house. The only run-in I’ve had with these things was an Airbnb rental. We took our luggage in the bedroom and there sat an Amazon Echo Dot. Not the kitchen, not the living area, in the BEDROOM. I unplugged it. Now I don’t trust the place. Looking around for the Wi-Fi I discovered it was in a locked closet. I used a credit card to open the lock and unplugged it too. Then I used the Wi-Fi Analyzer Android app to make sure I got everything.

Video: I Took 5 DNA Tests and Compared Them | Which One Is Best?
I’ve always wanted to do one but the privacy issues hold me back.
Have any of you done this? Are you concerned about the privacy issues?
Consumer Reports – Your Genetic Data Isn’t Safe

i added a How To Disable The News and Interests Widget: section to my Microsoft Microsoft News And Interests Widget article.

Sysinternals Freeware Updated
Process Explorer, Process Monitor, Sysmon, and TCPView all updated.
Download & Info

IrfanView 4.58
Be sure to download and install the plugins too.
Download | History of changes | Home Page

EMDB 4.05
Freeware movie database organizer.
Beware the change: “Changed the base database location to User\AppData\Roaming following Microsoft guidelines.”
Kinda pissed me off. I moved it back to the My Documents folder (Options > Database). There is a reason you shouldn’t have data on your OS partition.
Download | What’s New

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

The 15 Most-Scenic Bike Trails in America
I’m looking for some trails to do this summer. NORTH of where I live in Central, Virginia. I’m not looking to battle the heat.
I may do a section of #12 of 15 from the article, The Great Allegheny Passage trail. Anyone got some good ones where they live?

Cardinals’ J.J. Watt, Reebok Unveil ‘JJ IV Valor’ Sneaker Honoring Pat Tillman
“The latest of J.J. Watt’s signature shoe releases recognizes the late Pat Tillman, the former Arizona Cardinals safety who left the NFL to enlist in the United States Army and was killed in action in 2004…Watt is donating all of his proceeds from the sale of the shoe—named the JJ IV Valor—to the Pat Tillman Foundation, and Reebok is donating $10 for every pair sold (up to $10,000).”

It was a true privilege to work with Marie Tillman and @pattillmanfnd over the last year to design these and make sure we honored Pat Tillman properly.

All of my proceeds will be donated directly to @pattillmanfnd

Available tonight at midnight:https://t.co/FfXs88Apfq#PT40 pic.twitter.com/e4bY0mScof

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) May 26, 2021

Mp3tag 3.07
2 fixes, support for for formats.
Download | Release Info

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Google Chrome 90 is crashing for some Windows users; temporary fix available
“Some Windows users are seeing Chrome 90 crash on their machines, though, now that it’s rolling out widely. It appears the issue has mainly been noticed by users in the past 24 hours. When Chrome 90 crashes, the browser as a whole doesn’t close. Instead, individual tabs stop working, and extensions can also crash at random. In some cases, the browser just refuses to launch.”

NirSoft – New “Manage Wireless Networks” tool
“alternative tool to the standard ‘Manage Wireless Networks’ of Windows”
NirSoft creates some of the best Windows utilities on the web. Password recovery, network and system info, and more. I’ve been using Nir Sofer’s programs for years.
Download & Info

Tim Cook plays innocent in Epic v Apple’s culminating testimony
“Apple CEO Tim Cook took his first turn in the witness chair this morning in what is probably the most anticipated testimony of the Epic v. Apple antitrust case. But rather than a fiery condemnation of Epic’s shenanigans and allegations, Cook offered a mild, carefully tended ignorance that left many of the lawsuit’s key questions unanswered, or unanswerable.”
I expect corporate CEOs to lie, but why can’t the press call that out instead of saying “carefully tended ignorance”?

How to install Multimedia Codecs in Linux
“In this brief tutorial, we’ll show you how to install Media Codes on Ubuntu, Fedora and openSUSE systems.”
Or, you can just use Linux Mint and be done with it.

$649 Dyson Fan vs. $15 Walmart Fan: The Hard Truth

600 Lumens 90 Degree Waterproof Led Tactical Flashlight
Was: $16.99
With Deal: $9.99
You Save: $7.00 (41%)
Coupon shows for some people: Save an extra 5% when you apply coupon.
Deal expired.

Macrium Reflect 8
“We’re excited to announce the official release of Macrium Reflect v8.0.
Macrium Reflect v8.0 has been comprehensively overhauled to provide a better user experience, and we’ve added some great new functionality as well…
Resilient File System (ReFS) and exFAT support
Dark Theme
Intra-Daily scheduled backups
Removable media Imaging and Cloning support
Automatic partiton resizing when restoring or cloning to different sized disks
New ‘Existing Backups’ view
Improved File and Folder backup wizard
Improved backup file name functionality
New tbFAT driver for mounting File and Folder backups
Redesigned and Improved ‘Log’ view
OAuth 2.0 email authentication for Gmail and Outlook 365
viBoot now includes Oracle VirtualBox support
Please visit our knowledgebase for more information: New in Macrium Reflect 8.0”
Download | Release Notes

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.5.2 OPTIONAL Drivers
1/2 dozen fixes. Support for Days Gone, Microsoft DirectX 12 Agility SDK & Microsoft Shader Model 6.6.
Download | Release Notes

VMware Workstation 16.1.2
“This release contains security updates and updates VMware Tools to version 11.2.6.”
Download & Info

HWiNFO 7.04
“HWiNFO is an all-in-one solution for hardware analysis and monitoring”
Fixes, improvements, new hardware support.
Download (I use portable) | Release Info

O&O Lanytix 1.0.1339
“portable application that enables quick and easy analysis of the local network”
Minor update.
Download | Changelog

Wise Disk Cleaner v10.4.4
1. Fix the problem that Advanced Cleaner failed to delete files when using Safe deletion.
2. Optimize the scanning speed of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
3. Added for cleaning Sogou Explorer.
4. GUI and usability improvements.
Download (I use portable) | Release Info

Intel Graphics – Windows 10 DCH Drivers
Version: 27.20.100.9466, Date: 5/14/2021
HIGHLIGHTS
Supports 11th Generation Intel Core H-Series mobile Processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics (Codename Tiger Lake – H)
GAMING HIGHLIGHTS
Fix for crash and graphic anomalies seen in Cyberpunk 2077(DX12).
Download & Info

EVGA 600 Ba, 80 Plus Bronze 600w, Power Supply
List Price: $74.99, Price: $39.99, You Save:$35.00 (47%)

[Read more…] about Weekend Random Stuff…

Intel Killer Performance Suite Updated
Version: 2.4.1549, Date: 5/11/2021
Includes wi-fi drivers for several cards and the Killer Networking Software. See release info.
Download & Info

Microsoft Office Updated
Security and other fixes.
How to Install Office Updates.

VIDEOS: ‘Panic buying’ means long lines at gas pumps in Virginia and North Carolina
I had posted a pic of my nearest gas station being out of gas yesterday. I got it at Wawa a few miles away. Now look at what’s happening. There are pics out there of folks hoarding gas in multiple portable containers, fights, and worse. Many places have gas but the lines are ridiculously long. Some are calling it a “panic”. I guess there is some of that but hell, people still gotta get to work.

Backup Today
Time to make a system image. Tomorrow is Patch Tuesday and it may or may not have the 21H1 / May Update. I’m thinking not but I’ve no info back that up.

Google Chrome Updated
“The Stable channel has been updated to 90.0.4430.212 for Windows, Mac and Linux…This update includes 19 security fixes.”
Download | Release Info

GPU-Z 2.39.0
“GPU-Z is a lightweight utility designed to give you all information about your video card and GPU.”
TechPowerUp added several fixes and support for new hardware in this version.
Download & Info

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans say social media platforms are tearing us apart
“Sixty-four percent of Americans think social media does more to divide than unite us, a majority that cuts across party lines.”
The other 36% clearly has their head up their six. #DeleteFacebook

Bartender Destroys Military Member’s ID Card And Puts On A Full Karen Display
White trash dude serving drinks harassed military guys.
Follow-up article by the local paper. The bar claimed on Facebook that the peckerwood wasn’t an employee, “is not a bartender at LOTO Lounge; he is a local musician who has personal ties to the venue.” Then why is he checking ID’s? He got kicked out of the band he WAS in. The bar is getting wrecked on Yelp. Karma…

Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver 18.1.6.1039
Applies to: 10th & 11th generation plus several 400 & 500 series chipsets.
New features/platforms for this release: Support added for 11th Gen Intel Core S-series platform, PCIe* Gen4 Drive Support, Displaying Error Messages under Windows notification center, Adding Error Code and EventID to Windows Event Log + nearly 2 dozen fixes.
Download & Info

Tawny Kitaen, ’80s Music Video Vixen and ‘Bachelor Party’ Star, Dies at 59
[Read more…] about Weekend Random Stuff…

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.4.1 OPTIONAL Drivers
Support for Resident Evil Village, Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition, and 8 fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Stuff I bookmarked recently. Some off topic, some not:

Google: A simpler and safer future — without passwords
“You may not realize it, but passwords are the single biggest threat to your online security…Soon we’ll start automatically enrolling users in 2SV if their accounts are appropriately configured…One day, we hope stolen passwords will be a thing of the past, because passwords will be a thing of the past”

NY: Broadband cos paid for 8.5M fake net neutrality comments
“A broadband industry group, called Broadband for America, spent $4.2 million generating more than 8.5 million of the fake FCC comments. Half a million fake letters were also sent to Congress.”

[Read more…] about Thursday Random Stuff…

Firefox 88.0.1
A few fixes and 2 security fixes.
Download | Release Notes

Macrium Reflect v7.3.5854
“Various minor fixes and changes to improve Macrium Reflect.” and a few other odd fixes.
Download | Release Notes | Thanks AG!