Computer News

Mozilla has a new… I don’t know what to call it: Information, research, opinion, propaganda.
Anyway, they are going to cover a variety of topics from their perspective. IMHO worth reading and keeping track of.
“The Internet Health Report is about the human experience of the Internet. It is an independent, open source compilation of data, research and stories that show how the Internet is evolving across five issues…Privacy and security, Openness, Digital inclusion, Web literacy and Decentralization…We also cast a spotlight on three of the biggest Internet health issues of the past year: Securing the Internet of Things, Understanding ‘fake news’, and Too big tech?”
The Internet Health Report v.0.1
https://internethealthreport.org/2018/introduction/readme/
https://internethealthreport.org/2018/introduction/how-healthy-is-the-internet/

It’s Patch Tuesday. I thought I would post some stuff early to clear the board as this Patch Tuesday should be a big one. Windows 7 is said to have 10 critical patches and Win10 SCU comes out today.
If you want to install SCU today please backup.
If you do not want to upgrade to SCU today, please follow my instructions here.

Wise Disk Cleaner 9.7.3
Improved Mozilla Firefox cleaning – Minor GUI improvements – Updated various translations.
Download (I use the portable version)

HandBrake 1.1.0
Multi-platform video converter.
“This major release includes new features, as well as bug fixes and improvements for issues affecting previous HandBrake releases.”
Download

Flash Updated
Version 29.0.0.140 is out.
for Firefox, Opera
for Internet Explorer
Flash for Edge, IE 11, and Chrome update automatically with the browser.

Stuff I’ve Bookmarked Lately
How to keep your ISP’s nose out of your browser history with encrypted DNS
Richest 1% on target to own two-thirds of all wealth by 2030
Demolition of silo in Denmark goes wrong.

≥ EVO?
Western Digital has a new SSD that reviewers are raving over. Anandtech says the “EVO Meets Its Match“.
“The MSRPs for the WD Black roughly match current street prices for the Samsung 960 EVO, which is exactly what the WD Black should be competing against. Neither drive has a clear overall performance advantage in the 1TB capacity we’ve analyzed with this review, though the WD Black has a modest power efficiency advantage (our idle power problems notwithstanding).”
Good to see competition but with no clear advantage and similar price points, why should I switch?

Cellphone Spying
Someone is intercepting cellphone communications around DC. Homeland Security “said it had not determined the type of devices in use or who might have been operating them. Nor did it say how many it detected or where…DHS official Christopher Krebs noted that DHS had observed “anomalous activity” consistent with Stingrays in the Washington area.”

That Thing I Said I Wasn’t Gonna Talk About
Kinda hard to keep my yap shut. So much news, and the CEO is gonna get grilled by Congress. Well, unless he threatens to show their IMs to their significant others.

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery
RPG for your phone coming April 25th.
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

New DNS Service
This story is all over the WWW as are the opinions of the service. Don’t skip this one y’all. IMHO essential reading.
“Cloudflare’s mission is to help build a better Internet. We’re excited today to take another step toward that mission with the launch of 1.1.1.1 — the Internet’s fastest, privacy-first consumer DNS service. This post will talk a little about what that is and a lot about why we decided to do it.”
I tried it for a little bit. Didn’t notices a bit of difference in speed. Don’t know if I will use it or not so I’m in wait-and-see mode.
iVerge – Cloudflare launches 1.1.1.1 DNS service that will speed up your internet

The Naughty List
Ranked – Tech Companies That Won’t Delete Your Information
Anyone out there use LinkedIn?

Thurrrott On Win10 SCU
“it was only a matter of time before Microsoft stopped pummeling users with so much change. And Windows 10 version 1803, thankfully, is that release…
There’s only one major new feature to speak of, called Timeline…it’s unlikely that most users will even find it…
new look and feel is more prevalent throughout the system now, giving Windows a more modern look…
Windows 10 version 1803 should begin deploying to end-user PCs on Tuesday, April 10, 2018. Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”
Th-th-th-that’s all, folks!

Woody On Windows Crappy Week
“I can recall lots of bad Windows patches over the past couple of decades, but I’d be hard-pressed to come up with any that approach this year’s phalanx of Windows 7 screw-ups. It’s as if Microsoft doesn’t care about old multi-billion-dollar businesses.
For now, I continue to recommend that individuals stay put and don’t install any of the March patches.”
I’m not entirely sure Woody and I aren’t related.

Facebook News
I’m sure we are all tired of it. I’m out (at least for the time being). If you haven’t gotten the message by now then you never will.

Off Topic

Han Solo Sneakers?
Han Solo Sneakers!
Cool but at over $100 shipped it is little too much money for me. Drop it to about $70 delivered and I would jump on it.

Do You Watch Professional Sports?
A new poll entitled Interest in Baseball Declines says, “The proportion of Americans who say they are baseball fans matches its lowest in nearly ten years.” The results of the entire poll are interesting.
Other sports:
NFL viewership down by as much as 18%
(I didn’t watch much because my teams suck.)
NBA viewership up by as much as 18%
(I haven’t watched an NBA game since Jordan retired the 1st time.)
NHL viewership seems to be down by as much as 20%
(2016-2017. I can’t seem to find current stats.)
NASCAR down
(For me the sport died February 18, 2001.)
Soccer down too.
(I don’t watch it.)
Related article: Sports media year in review: a troubling trend for ratings