Ramblings of an old Doc
DrJBHL's Articles In Personal Computing » Page 86
July 15, 2018 by DrJBHL
Was cruising the net and found this unhappy piece of news...Chrome's always been a RAM pig, but this? Ridiculous. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2018/07/14/google-chrome-ram-memory-consumption-spectre-security-upgrade-windows-mac-linux-chromeos/#3cb8f1e17777
July 7, 2018 by DrJBHL
Was going through my ridiculous email and came across this...which is not so ridiculous.     The second tool is portable...a definite plus for those of us with computer illiterate family...the ones who call at 9 p.m. with "HELP! My computer doesn't work!" So enjoy...hope this helps.   Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-tools-fix-problem-windows-10/    
May 5, 2018 by DrJBHL
I don't know this from personal experience, but Martin Brinkmann tends to know what he's talking about, and he did the update... You should read the article linked and, if possible, defer this update. He describes a method for W10 Home, as well, using the metered charge option. Source: https://www.ghacks.net/2018/05/05/here-is-why-you-may-want-to-skip-this-months-windows-updates/  
May 4, 2018 by DrJBHL
A friend and contributor on WC asked me to clear up a question for him: "If possible please do a post about the difference between UHD and 4K resolutions. We are few here a little confused about this subject and no one is better than you making clear the things." I'll do my best to clear things up...but I don't generally succeed in doing that (lol).   From the linked article: "The term “4K” originally derives from the Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI), a consort...
December 5, 2017 by DrJBHL
  If you're getting error 80248015 when updating Windows 7, and if you're seeing: "A check for updates returns the error message "Windows Update cannot currently check for updates, because the service is not running. You may need to restart your computer".  The error 80248015 is displayed, but anything you try to resolve the issue on your end fails... Woody  on Computerworld suggests that Microsoft broke updating on Windows 7. He suggests, based on a user report o...
October 8, 2017 by DrJBHL
  Where have we gotten? Seriously. Bravo HP Enterprise. Darwin Award of the century goes to you, hands down. " Last year, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) allowed a Russian defense agency to analyze the source code of a cybersecurity software used by the  Pentagon ,  Reuters  reports. The software, a product called ArcSight, is an important piece of cyber defense for the Army, Air Force and Navy and works by alerting users to suspicious activity -- such as a high num...
October 7, 2017 by DrJBHL
  Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy. "Who's on first?"...one's tempted to ask. How did it all get started? This incendiary piece . Summary: "The unnamed contractor removed the material from the NSA and stored it on a home computer that ran a version of Kaspersky AV. The material, according to the unnamed sources, included "details about how the NSA penetrates foreign computer networks, the computer code it uses for such spying, and how it defends networks inside the US." Sometime in 20...
September 18, 2017 by DrJBHL
  "A version of CCleaner downloaded in August included remote administration tools that tried to connect to several unregistered web pages, presumably to download additional unauthorized programs, security researchers at Cisco’s Talos unit said. Talos researcher Craig Williams said it was a sophisticated attack because it penetrated an established and trusted supplier in a manner similar to June’s “NotPetya” attack on companies that downloaded infected Ukr...
September 16, 2017 by DrJBHL
  More on the saga of Equifax, or, "How not to do IT". So, more has come out on how the debacle that is Equifax IT came about. First, what went wrong, and then the who. The chronology can be read here . In addition to that, the basic problem is noted: "The software problem was detected in March and a recommended software patch was released shortly afterward. Equifax said the database intrusion began in May and continued until July. Security experts said Equifax had more tha...
September 8, 2017 by DrJBHL
  Not good news, folks. Equifax was breached...and potentially, the financial data of 143 million folks... "While the  massive breach that Yahoo revealed last year  involved more accounts, topping 1 billion, that intrusion exposed people's phone numbers and passwords. Equifax said its breach includes “names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers.”  The company added that credit card ...
September 2, 2017 by DrJBHL
  No, Gordon [Gekko]: Greed is not good. Google really should learn this...and be responsible as to just who and what come up as valid search results, especially when they get first place result because of advertising dollars. "Darknetmarkets.org, for all intents and purposes, is a "real" website. Its logo looks to be made of chopped-up cocaine, and the site is filled with legitimate-seeming resources for anybody  looking to buy drugs on the darknet . News articles populate its...
August 24, 2017 by DrJBHL
  The first sentence in Ben Tarnoff's article pretty much says it all... " What if a cold drink cost more on a hot day?". So, Amazon's purchase of Whole Foods has gone through. I promise you, Amazon will be a disruptor there, too. It's called "surge pricing". In other words, instant supply and demand determining pricing of what you eat and drink...even better, you have to believe them and trust they all aren't colluding. Because they're just so honest. and it&#...
August 19, 2017 by DrJBHL
  Well, this important because there are a couple of graphics extensions and we all love graphics, right? According to recent Proofpoint research, eight extensions for the Google Chrome web browser have been compromised by attackers, sending malicious ads to the affected users. In  a report , Proofpoint explained that the authors of these extensions had their credentials stolen, allowing the attacker to take over... The attacks occurred primarily in July and August 2017, with...
August 5, 2017 by DrJBHL
  I don't know if you've seen this, but since there are LastPass users here, thought I'd update you. "In November,  LastPass made a big change to its service , allowing users to keep track of their passwords across all their internet-enabled mobile and desktop devices, free of charge. In addition to the free tier, the cross-platform password manager - available on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 - also offered a Premium plan with additional features, priced at $12 per ...
July 23, 2017 by DrJBHL
  When MS decided not to update W10 on computers having "Clover Trail" processors, I don't think they realized they were screwing (potentially) close to 10 million computer owners by rendering their computers insecure. By anyone's thinking, that's a lot of angry people, especially when we're speaking of computers which are at most 4 years old...and hybrid 2 in 1 devices using the Atom chip starting roughly in 2012. These folks had W 8/8.1 and were assured continued ser...