Windows 11 - 15 July

 Finally getting around to post this.

Topics:

• Richard Branson & Virgin Galactic flies on his SpaceShipTwo 'rocket ship' to Space
• Jeff Bezos' & Blue Origin flies on his New Shepard to 'rocket and capsule' Space
• Funny ad, but Tilt shades are expensive:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiT1A8euYZo
• You can dictate text to your PC with <Win>-H
• A clever spam using a Google address, so report it!
• Windows 11 announcement, June 24 at 11am.  I was not impressed.
• Your computer probably can't run Win11, it needs: UEFI, Secure Boot, a TPM, and be an arbitrary less than 3 years old.  Everything but that last point makes sense.
• Free upgrade for Windows 10 users that meet the requirements.  None of my ~8 PCs or any of the NSC lab computer meet those requirements. Microsoft wants you to buy a new PC.
  
• Windows versions have followed a good/bad/good/bad cycle.  Windows 10 was 'good' - hmmm.
• I definitely don't like the Win11 menu changes, it's a giant step backward.
• Looks like an iPhone with a Mac dock.
  

Favorite Websites - 17 June

This was a quickie-prepared presentation, our scheduled presenter backed out.  Posting this very late, sorry about that.

Notable points:

• If you Google "Project Hail Mary" you can get a preview, a couple of chapters to read.
• Amazon "Smile" allows one to designate a charity, they get a portion of your Amazon purchases without increasing any prices.  It's free!
• Microsoft is dropping support for Windows 10 on Oct 14, 2025.  Boo!
• Use the browser extension 'uBlock Origin' to speed up web page loading.
• My Favorite YouTube Channels, subscribe to those you like to get notifications when new videos get posted.
• Racing Reference: all stats for motor racing.
• Bored Panda: One can spend a lot of time here chasing rabbits.  I love it!

 

Bob"s Bytes for June 10th - Ransomware & More

 Topics of the Day:

• News & Comment
• Project Hail Mary
• Patch Tuesday – something new 
• Free Games & Club Freebies
• SpaceX Award & Progress
• Hacked Comcast account
• Amazon Sidewalk
• Telephone Spam
• Ransomware
• A deep dive into the DarkSide
• SG’s rant on current security

It was a link-heavy presentation, here they are:

• A Book Recommendation:  <link> (or just Google it for a preview)
• Something new in Windows 10, a Weather Widget <link>
• Free Casual Games:  <link>
• I'm stuck on Homescapes <link> I'm at level 2058!
• SpaceX's Starship (video explainer) <link>
• Check your email and passwords for 'pwnage' <link>
• What to do if your email account is 'hacked' <link>
• President Trump's new website <link> (seriously)
  
• About Porn Spam <link> Made you look!
• Fix Dell Drive Vulnerability <link> I'd call it important, but not critical
  
• Amazon Sidewalk: Explainer <link> It's ok says Steve Gibson <link>
• What to do with Text message Spam: <link

A deep dive into the Continental ransomware attack, all from Steve Gibson's Security Now! podcast.  These links are to his notes, check out <link> for downloads and transcripts.  Twit.tv even has video, that's where the original of the rant came from.  <link>

I found Steve's rant, "The Great CyberSecurity Awaking of 2021," spot on.  You can hear the whole thing on the link above, I shortened it to 7:45 which you can watch <here>.