When you use security software it is important to understand how it flags certain files. Symantec uses a ridiculous scoring system based on such diverse data as the traffic received by the containing website. This they do to fulfill their promise to protect users from everything, which they can't and which they don't. So if pretty much everything is flagged as potentially dangerous they have themselves covered if you then choose to install a real rogue. The better course of action is to use a multiple scanning service before installing and hey-ho Symantec here say it's fine. :D MC - Site Manager. https://www.virustotal.com/sv/file/96e70e3a2f91f87301418c69011b5b2e102e9...
Clicked to install the downloaded file...got Microsoft.NET 2015 Framework installing now...along side the Ulterius Server Setup...is this normal? Hint: still tech challenged novice here.
@Geekomatic:
Thank you for your comment. I could have found a gem - if AeroAdmin holds up to the promises; I will try it.
I gained the following by cursory reading on the respective web sites:
AeroAdmin is NOT "totally free for business use" as you state (see: https://www.aeroadmin.com/en/buy.html ).
AeroAdmin is made to enable admin(s) to access/control other computer(s).
Ulterius is made to enable one computer to be accessed from multiple locations via web browser without needing software installed on the remote machine(s).
Maybe you want to look up the meaning of "ulterior"?
Since July, 1995 the radio has been tuned by Internet visitors 346,000 times and 475,000 audio samples have been sent to thousands of listeners in 85+ countries.
Greetings,
As a former Ham Radio, and unfortunately out of the airwaves for more than 20 years, I fell almost speechless at your Hot Tip. It is simply fantastic ! Terrific, actually !! I thank you dearly for this tip.
Google Chrome by default will add a website to its "Orher Search Engline" list automatically when you go to a website and use it's Search box to search for anything. For example go to bleepingcomputer.com [a well known computer help website] search for anything using the website search box on their web page. Then look under Chrome's Search Engine page udner "Other Search Engines". You will see a Bleeping Computer" entry in Chrome.
I discovered that Chrome here had over 100 such entries added automatically. Some of these entries even had the search terms that I was looking for on that particular website! People have complained to Chrome Devs that this behaviour is a privacy issue and that there should be a way of disabling this option. There is no way of disabling this behaviour on Chrome
If I seen this type of behaviour on some one's computer I would normally think a malware infection like a browser hijacking. This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers.
I have hit another insidious behavior on the Chrome based OPERA. I am getting a Google message that it can't find the DNS for the site and I am not sure why Google is controlling that. Often the site will come up, blink off with the message and might reapppear. I know Google is inserting their URL in front of every site you go to but this is getting weird
Thanks for your elaborate comment; interesting, interesting - to say the least.
Right at the end of your comment you write "This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers".
My reply to this: CONGRATULATIONS! One more person who saw the light!
@all others:
What I just don't understand is that mad dash of "[Google] Chrome is the best browser" out there. Nobody ever defines what their interpretation of "best browser" actually means.
I'm not sure what the fuss is over and above everything else that Google does or does not do.
To clarify:
Google Chrome doesn't do this for every site search. It only does it where the website uses Google Custom Search. You can usually tell if Google Custom Search is being used because the search results will follow a selection of Google-supplied ads that say "Ads by Google related to: " your search term. In such a case, Google already have access to "private" information that you want to protect. I guess that Google will almost certainly have enough information to identify your computer and your user account as well.
Google does provide an opt out feature. If you don't want this sort of information on your computer then you should be using Incognito mode which disables both browsing history and other search engines.
Unless you use Incognito mode then the information will be in your browsing history anyway.
If I was a user of Google Chrome and Google already had that info then I would prefer the benefit of some automation of searches over not having that feature.
Sorry but have to use incognito mode for all sites is not an opt out option. Its a work around. That option hinders my browsing on all websites since Chrome would have to be always using incognito mode. I have got fed up with Google's attitude over the years of either doing it their way or take the high road. I decided the later and ditch Chrome as my browser.
I can search these same websites just fine in Firefox which does not have to save all of this search engines in my browser. I use UBlock Origin on my browsers to block annoying ads as well as malware that in the past have been served up intentionally and unintentionally on websites. I only unblock a select few websites.
Google Chrome's incognito modeis Google's opt out option if you have concerns about the privacy of your local browsing history. We may not like their attitude and the option may not be adequate - it is probably still the case that Chrome doesn't delete all your temporary browsing data - but it is the option that they provide.
A work around is something like having to suspend tracking after you have logged into a google account while in incognito mode. See How secret is Google Chrome's 'incognito' mode? for more info on this issue.
I'm not clear on what you mean "mine data from all type of Google sources". Could you be more specific about your concerns and what kind of data you see them mining?
I'm asking because I read the whole Privacy Policy before I wrote up the article and if I missed something I would like to know so I can amend the article.
There's a mention in this article that they do ask for permission for some services. I didn't check all the services because I don't use most of them, so if they are asking for permission to mine personal data or doing something else that violates personal privacy in another service I would very much like to know about it so I can warn people.
The add-on does ask for permissions so it can access some Google services - if it didn't have those permissions it wouldn't be able to function. As far as I can tell, it doesn't collect more data than is needed for the correct functioning of the website and extensions. If I'm in error, I would appreciate knowing about it.
I use Google as my home page and it has a nine dot button that accesses all the Google services that I use. I can see where this extension might be useful for those that might use a different home page though.
The browser button sits on the toolbar, so you can access services when you're on any web page. It also allows access to almost all the Google services from one spot - if you use Google services extensively or want to check your Gmail from the toolbar apps menu it's a great tool.
You have to sacrifice a bit of browser speed with every add on addition so I have become very selective. "I don't care about cookies" was an excellent recommendation by Rhiannon some months ago but I think a quick click to the Google home page makes this one unnecessary.
I'm probably not as selective. I have a few add-ons that are staples, others come and go. At the moment I'm liking add-ons that get rid of overlays.
I consider the large overlays that pop up when you move the mouse and block much of the screen offensive (I don't mind small ones) and it's not always clear how to close it, which makes it more offensive.
Ctrl + W (close window) has become one of my most used keyboard shortcuts since they started proliferating.
If a large overlay pops up, I have to really want to view the page content to get rid of it and stay on the page, otherwise that window gets closed in heartbeat with the keyboard shortcut. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I also find overlays and elements such as "We notice your using an ad blocker" annoying. I've discovered the STYLEBOT addon is pretty useful for hiding many of these types of distractions and showing only what I want to see on the page.
Thanks for the info spaarks. I've updated the article with links to the third party websites where older versions are still available and run well in Windows 10.
"Copy something to your Dropbox folder on your PC, and it instantly gets synced to the cloud, and also copied to any other computers which are linked to your account and on which you've installed the Dropbox client app."
Will it preserve a directory tree?
I am doing some study and find it very frustrating that professors pass files to students via "Blackboard". Some build directory trees with multiple files in "Blackboard". I am pretty sure that they have to build them piecewise and can not copy from their local drive. Then, the files have to be downloaded one-by-one, and the directory tree is not preserved. These are not tech professors, but they get little to no technical help from other departments or the uni in general (go figure). If someone at the uni (many unis) would make a procedural instruction sheet for a good service, it might save instructors and students all kinds of time and frustration (misplaced files). I'll try this where I am; though, I think it would ultimately require some IT help staff to back it up with some live instruction from time to time.
If the directory tree is a standard Windows folder, then Dropbox will work just fine. However, the structure of a directory tree in Bb only exists within Bb itself. So unless Dropbox makes a special add-on to integrate with Bb, I think the answer is unfortunately no.
There is discussion that these patches may actually lead to processor slowing and a slowed computer.
It will be interesting to hear just what is the impact these patches have on computer speed, particularly for those who are still using older computers, such as 3-5 years old
For some people, a slowed computer is practically much worse, than a potential vulnerability
Most computers over the last 10 years with Intel and other processors are apparently affected
There should be international class actions against these manufacturers, until they offer recalls and replacement of these processors
These faulty processors were sold not fit for purpose
Obviously industry cant just shut down their computer networks, but they should be offered refunds or replacement fault-free processors, when these are eventually manufactured
Since when did we accept 'software patches' as being a suitable compromise to full replacement of faulty hardware ?
No need to worry too much about speed. Home users are hardly affected. Some large data centers with a lot of (small chunks of data) writing to fast media (SSD) will be hit the worst.
For a malicious software to use these bugs, it first needs to be installed on the computer.
I would like to believe that my computer is not infected, so would have preferred not to install these updates. Alas, this is impossible.
I would much prefer having a potential bug rather than having the spectre of a slow-down hovering over my computer, or the meltdown of its performance rating,
As an older computer user, I am finding that i just dont trust anyone anymore. one day coffee is good for you, the next its a killer. give to this charity, its a scam. give to this go fund me...liars, all of them...use this ap, its a hoax. use this one and it steals from you. So now most of the time its a wait and see for me. trust no one, run sandboxed, make backups, shut off all updates until enough time has gone by to really find out if they actually do what they claim. a sad thing but the internet and scammers have eroded all trust in humanity for me. good luck to all.
Thanks for the explanation. A good supplement here:
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/01/scary-chip-flaws-raise-spectre-of-meltdown/
where you can find a link to a list of AV programs etc that are ready to receive the Windows Update with the patch.
Good article, thanks Gizmo. For me at least the most interesting reading here are the comments.
There is everything represented that I find generally in dealing with humanity.
From the doomsday prophet that sees his world completely out of any order,
via the complainer (oh see how bad it's gotten - but I am going to lean back and do nothing, better don't update),
via the adequately reacting realist
to the frightened mouse who still is on XP and stays there because this world is oh so dangerous and anything new is oh so frightening.
Truly a panopticon of the world around me. What did I expect?
Of course you must be oh so right. What might be even more interesting is what's behind the words, which we have no way of knowing, but concerning which making assumptions, we make asses ... you know the idiom I'm sure.
The world's press is having a ball with this as they always do when some bug or insecurity is found. I have seen articles where they say the fix will reduce your computer's speed by 30% and others by 1.5%.
I have looked at the problem, it would require some extremely clever code to get at and make use of the design fault, probably take much longer to create an effective virus than to produce the fix.
Just keep updating your anti-virus and operating system. If you are worried stay off 'dirty' sites.
It isn't just Intel. AMD, Qualcomm, and ARM are also vulnerable to at least one of the three bugs. And that Intel processor would be vulnerable to at least one of the 3 as well, and probably 2 of them.
Home users, including Gamers and serious gaming machines won't see any appreciable performance hit. 99.9% of games will see no more than a 1 or 2% hit, if that much. Some games actually slightly perform better with the patch. It's server type workloads that see the big hits. That's been proven by a number of different trusted sources. Most testers say the difference is within the margin of error.
Yes, humanity also includes processor manufacturers who have been selling a defective product over 10 years,
and not offering a replacement product that works
And humanity includes phone manufacturers being caught with their updates deliberately slowing older Iphones
- this occurred without the permission of owners
- the public were only informed by Apple when they were caught, the policy was instituted more than one year ago
- the updates were documented to slow older model Iphones by up to 50%, often rendering them unusable
- Apple only informed its customers after it was caught
- the manufacturing policy whereby a phone should be disposed of once the battery wears out has been the accepted status quo,
with unestimable impact on the environment
- Apple, only in the last month, provided official phone batteries that were affordable, so finally the environment has been respected
Ah, humanity
With this international precedent, of manufacturer firmware drastically slowing hardware usability, it is no wonder a lot of computer users are a little cynical
- what should really be offered is a replacement fault free computer processor (CPU), when they are finally available, but dont hold your breath
Im not willing to sacrifice my computer to potential unusability, until I have heard the feedback from Windows users who have used the patch
I also wont install a patch, unless I am certain of the method of uninstalling the patch - although I bet uninstallation is difficult with firmware updates
We have allowed both the internet and smartphones to compromise our data security, without protest
I was late to the smartphone era, and use TechSupportAlert to guide my choice of software
I was staggered at just how many phone apps need to invade your privacy
- many apps demand access to your contact list, some apps need to push advertising to you
- many apps demand to be able to send data back to the software company
I will never put mine nor my family's personal photos on social media, including Facebook, as Im sure their policies insist that they have lifelong permission to upload and save and to use this precious personal data
Thank you.
Do you have the same advice for my old Iphone, that is, just accept Apple updates?
Apple admitted its update slowed older Iphones (by up to 50%, leading many to have to buy a new phone)
Every day our computers most likely have vulnerabilities, with patches only available after the vulnerability is finally recognised
The media continue not to deal with the elephant in the room:
**No patch, and no antivirus software, will protect you when hackers find the next vulnerability before the good guys do**
--So.. what everyday computer habits do we need to change once and for all, given that there will be vulnerabilities today we just don’t know about.--
Is the Microsoft Windows operating system doing enough to protect the average computer user from themselves ?
1)Does Microsoft need to implement standard keystroke scrambling software on all Windows versions, so keystrokes cant be analysed easily by malware ?
2)Do we need to stop saving our passwords (bank, work, email) with cookies that are saved on our computer. Cookies may save our time and help avoid typing the same thing, but maybe we need to type out bank passwords each and every time
3)What information does computer memory need to store, and are there ways to quarantine security sensitive information from RAM ?
4)Can Microsoft finally create a separate Windows Security Module, that can be regularly updated, without updates jeopardising the rest of the OS, its hardware and software configurations ?
5)How safe are our Windows logon passwords / screen lock passwords (they are stored on the computer). Can malware ever harvest these, and lock down our computers ransomware style ?
Your reassurance is not reassuring Rev_Don.
Intels list of affected processors is long, and a lot of older computers may well take a performance hit
I predict its is too early to be offering reassurances
There is a wide range of computer processors that are affected, and many computer users have older computers with older processors
According to some tech sources, the flaws were discovered by a hacker hacking his own machine, which implies that direct access is needed, and I have read on a tech site (don't remember which one) that to get infected, a user needs to already have malware running. If those are the cases i (and I have not been able to confirm it yet) then using best security practices should be an effective way to mitigate these vulnerabilities. Another point is that I found no indication that these are Zero-Day vulnerabilities, i.e.,no one has exploited them prior to patches being available.
The tests I've seen so far go back as far as 1st gen Core i series. I don't know very many Serious Gamers using anything older than 2nd gen Core i series. The C2Ds and C2Qs I've tested are on the edge of margin of error as well. Anyone using anything older than that aren't going to be doing anything that cpu intensive to notice the difference.
And a lot of the people who claim to have noticed the so called 30% performance hit on a home system are using flawed techniques. A lot are doing a single run instead of averaging multiple runs. They are also making the post patch run immediately after rebooting instead of verifying that all of the patches have finished installing. A lot of systems are getting a Net Framework Security Update and/or AV Update upon reboot after applying the patch. Users who run the tests right after the Patch Update are testing DURING these updates which skews the results.
Now I do agree that there is a lot we don't know yet, but all of this Doom and Gloom that the bug patches will render our processors nearly unusable is just a bunch of FUD. The initial patches might have a SLIGHT noticeable impact on SOME applications on a home computer, but the overwhelming majority of that will be mitigated with further testing, updates, and microcode and bios updates.
I have to wonder if in view of the long history of this same "bug" being installed in the CPU's of so many manufacturers if this isn't a back-door or keyhole that was intentionally installed for security (as in NATIONAL) or counter-intelligence purposes. I'm not a "conspiracy theory" freak, in fact, if this is the case, I'd be very upset that this "bug" is outed and in such a way as to make the CPU makers look bad for doing something to help keep our nation safe.
Rev_Don, Yeah, I'm not so worried about Big Brother, or the Big Sisters (AMD, Intel, ect), or even Uncle Google, although I gripe about him some. I would gladly surrender some of my "rights" and privacy to those that work so hard for the security of our Nation. I don't think 911 was a "theory". Yet. Nor do I think it's over. Yet.
Perfectly put! After one of my tablets got completely hosed by the last win10 update, I said the hell with it and disabled automatic updates. Updates break more than they fix imo. I'll take my chances and be careful where I go.
The free VPN is only available on Developer version 38 of Opera. It is not quite a VPN but a proxy that only protect your browsing not other apps.
I tried it out and discovered that after working initially, it left me out to dry while streaming online watching the Star Trek Enterprise series.
It reverted without warning to my IP addresses, and despite giving the green light (it is actually blue) on the browser bar.
I've been running it on a win7 machine for a couple of weeks now with no problems at all (in fact it's so good I am seriously considering making Opera my default browser). It was interesting that when I tried to access the Pirate Bay via Chrome it gave me a dns fault and Opera did exactly the same until I enabled the VPN when it loaded quite happily. It's amazing how many sites are blocked to UK users!
Extreme left of the address box - it's usually greyed out if it's not being used. Just click on the "VPN" letters and it will offer you a choice of 3, USA, Canada or Germany.
I tried this and all except one ip address/location site correctly identified me and weren't fooled by the "VPN" for one moment. Also the browser has been designed for fat fingers on a mobile device with large fonts and a huge amount of white space. This is fine for a phone but it's hardly anything I would want to use on a pc at work.
Yes, I'd endorse the portable version too. At first I had the installed version, but it was buggy. Hovering over its system tray icon was like molasses sometimes. Ever since I switched to the portable version it's been fine.
I have been using Ditto for many months before now. I do not understand the problems others are having. I use Win 7 home version and it works fine and I now could not bear to be without it now. I mark a URL link, Control C and it's there for when I need it 30 minutes later.
I cannot tell it's loaded until I want something and it's there for me. Get it.
I've been using Ditto for ages myself, but Arsclip is indeed quite good too. :) Ditto uses less RAM (14MB 42MB... Every MB counts if you want performance!), but Arsclip is much more user-friendly in config and usage (human-readable and well-structured config, easier image handling)... I'm gonna try Arsclip for a while now!
Edit: after another investigation into Ditto, I'd say Ditto wins again. :) You just gotta figure out the names of the types (CF_DIB and such is not very informative) and disable/ignore the tons of features you don't use (network sharing and such). The killer feature that made me go back was search-as-you-type, which Arsclip doesn't have.
I used to use ArsClip -- which IS excellent (and the name is from ArsTechnica) but for some reason I ran into issues with it and my workflow a few years back and started looking for alternatives.
The one that won my personal battle and became my clipboard manager of choice is Clipboard Help and Spell (from DonationCoder, at http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/clipboardhelpandspell/index... )
It lets me sort various categories of stored clips into subsets and supports images too.
I agree with "oblivion" that Clipboard Help and Spell is the best! I explored a very large number of clipboard utilities and was amazed at the capabilities of Clipboard Help and Spell.
It's especially great if you copy or cut some text and open a MS Office program to paste the text into. Microsoft arrogantly clears the clipboard upon opening. This utility allows you to get it back. One improvement might be to put the contents back into the clipboard upon opening the Office document.
This is a list of the most recently posted comments on the site sorted so that the most recent comments appear first.
You can however sort the list on Article title by clicking on the column heading. To see actual comments click the + sign.
Nice. Do we know, what's the license of this one? Free for all or free for personal use?
I downloaded this, but it was flagged by Symantec Antivirus as potentially dangerous. Not sure if I should load it, but it could be helpful.
When you use security software it is important to understand how it flags certain files. Symantec uses a ridiculous scoring system based on such diverse data as the traffic received by the containing website. This they do to fulfill their promise to protect users from everything, which they can't and which they don't. So if pretty much everything is flagged as potentially dangerous they have themselves covered if you then choose to install a real rogue. The better course of action is to use a multiple scanning service before installing and hey-ho Symantec here say it's fine. :D MC - Site Manager.
https://www.virustotal.com/sv/file/96e70e3a2f91f87301418c69011b5b2e102e9...
Is this any better than Aero Admin (totally free, even for business?):
https://www.aeroadmin.com/en/unattended_access.html
Cheers
I wasn't able to download it?
I'm using Firefox & nothing happens when I click on the link. i tried it in IE & succeeded but the install failed
failed also
Clicked to install the downloaded file...got Microsoft.NET 2015 Framework installing now...along side the Ulterius Server Setup...is this normal? Hint: still tech challenged novice here.
@Geekomatic:
Thank you for your comment. I could have found a gem - if AeroAdmin holds up to the promises; I will try it.
I gained the following by cursory reading on the respective web sites:
AeroAdmin is NOT "totally free for business use" as you state (see: https://www.aeroadmin.com/en/buy.html ).
AeroAdmin is made to enable admin(s) to access/control other computer(s).
Ulterius is made to enable one computer to be accessed from multiple locations via web browser without needing software installed on the remote machine(s).
Maybe you want to look up the meaning of "ulterior"?
Does the remote computer need a static IP address for unattended access?
use ammyy admin, u can login to your remote computer even behind your NAT using standard windows RDP protocol
http://www.ammyy.com/en/buy.html
or go with https://vpnstaticip.com to get a static IP with open ports on ur router and use port forwarding to ur PC
VPN any time is a better option, but both work perfectly.
use ammyy admin, u can login to your remote computer even behind your NAT using standard windows RDP protocol
http://www.ammyy.com/en/buy.html
or go with https://vpnstaticip.com to get a static IP with open ports on ur router and use port forwarding to ur PC
VPN any time is a better option, but both work perfectly.
Just to make sure is this now supposed to be (game site)?
Is this any better than Deskroll? Free for all?
How can I listen to AM radio from Southern India?
I knew of this one from a long time ago. http://www.chilton.com/scripts/radio/R8-receiver
About The Station
Since July, 1995 the radio has been tuned by Internet visitors 346,000 times and 475,000 audio samples have been sent to thousands of listeners in 85+ countries.
Always good to find another source. Thanks
Greetings,
As a former Ham Radio, and unfortunately out of the airwaves for more than 20 years, I fell almost speechless at your Hot Tip. It is simply fantastic ! Terrific, actually !! I thank you dearly for this tip.
Google Chrome by default will add a website to its "Orher Search Engline" list automatically when you go to a website and use it's Search box to search for anything. For example go to bleepingcomputer.com [a well known computer help website] search for anything using the website search box on their web page. Then look under Chrome's Search Engine page udner "Other Search Engines". You will see a Bleeping Computer" entry in Chrome.
I discovered that Chrome here had over 100 such entries added automatically. Some of these entries even had the search terms that I was looking for on that particular website! People have complained to Chrome Devs that this behaviour is a privacy issue and that there should be a way of disabling this option. There is no way of disabling this behaviour on Chrome
If I seen this type of behaviour on some one's computer I would normally think a malware infection like a browser hijacking. This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers.
I have hit another insidious behavior on the Chrome based OPERA. I am getting a Google message that it can't find the DNS for the site and I am not sure why Google is controlling that. Often the site will come up, blink off with the message and might reapppear. I know Google is inserting their URL in front of every site you go to but this is getting weird
@snowbound999:
Thanks for your elaborate comment; interesting, interesting - to say the least.
Right at the end of your comment you write "This type of behaviour by Chrome made me go back to using Firefox on all my computers".
My reply to this: CONGRATULATIONS! One more person who saw the light!
@all others:
What I just don't understand is that mad dash of "[Google] Chrome is the best browser" out there. Nobody ever defines what their interpretation of "best browser" actually means.
I'm not sure what the fuss is over and above everything else that Google does or does not do.
To clarify:
If I was a user of Google Chrome and Google already had that info then I would prefer the benefit of some automation of searches over not having that feature.
Sorry but have to use incognito mode for all sites is not an opt out option. Its a work around. That option hinders my browsing on all websites since Chrome would have to be always using incognito mode. I have got fed up with Google's attitude over the years of either doing it their way or take the high road. I decided the later and ditch Chrome as my browser.
I can search these same websites just fine in Firefox which does not have to save all of this search engines in my browser. I use UBlock Origin on my browsers to block annoying ads as well as malware that in the past have been served up intentionally and unintentionally on websites. I only unblock a select few websites.
Google Chrome's incognito mode is Google's opt out option if you have concerns about the privacy of your local browsing history. We may not like their attitude and the option may not be adequate - it is probably still the case that Chrome doesn't delete all your temporary browsing data - but it is the option that they provide.
A work around is something like having to suspend tracking after you have logged into a google account while in incognito mode. See How secret is Google Chrome's 'incognito' mode? for more info on this issue.
Beware -- the add on in Firefox at least asked for permissson to mine data from all type of Google sources.
I'm not clear on what you mean "mine data from all type of Google sources". Could you be more specific about your concerns and what kind of data you see them mining?
I'm asking because I read the whole Privacy Policy before I wrote up the article and if I missed something I would like to know so I can amend the article.
There's a mention in this article that they do ask for permission for some services. I didn't check all the services because I don't use most of them, so if they are asking for permission to mine personal data or doing something else that violates personal privacy in another service I would very much like to know about it so I can warn people.
The add-on does ask for permissions so it can access some Google services - if it didn't have those permissions it wouldn't be able to function. As far as I can tell, it doesn't collect more data than is needed for the correct functioning of the website and extensions. If I'm in error, I would appreciate knowing about it.
Specifics can be found in the Privacy Policy.
You can find the Privacy Policy here:
https://apps.jeurissen.co/privacy-policy
I use Google as my home page and it has a nine dot button that accesses all the Google services that I use. I can see where this extension might be useful for those that might use a different home page though.
Using Google as home page works great. :)
The browser button sits on the toolbar, so you can access services when you're on any web page. It also allows access to almost all the Google services from one spot - if you use Google services extensively or want to check your Gmail from the toolbar apps menu it's a great tool.
You have to sacrifice a bit of browser speed with every add on addition so I have become very selective. "I don't care about cookies" was an excellent recommendation by Rhiannon some months ago but I think a quick click to the Google home page makes this one unnecessary.
I'm probably not as selective. I have a few add-ons that are staples, others come and go. At the moment I'm liking add-ons that get rid of overlays.
I consider the large overlays that pop up when you move the mouse and block much of the screen offensive (I don't mind small ones) and it's not always clear how to close it, which makes it more offensive.
Ctrl + W (close window) has become one of my most used keyboard shortcuts since they started proliferating.
If a large overlay pops up, I have to really want to view the page content to get rid of it and stay on the page, otherwise that window gets closed in heartbeat with the keyboard shortcut. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I also find overlays and elements such as "We notice your using an ad blocker" annoying. I've discovered the STYLEBOT addon is pretty useful for hiding many of these types of distractions and showing only what I want to see on the page.
Looks interesting, thanks!
Excellent program, but no longer available for Windows.
Tip:
If you login to your free Box account via their app for iPhone or iPad before Feb 15 2014, you get 50GB (in total) for life!
"Copy something to your Dropbox folder on your PC, and it instantly gets synced to the cloud, and also copied to any other computers which are linked to your account and on which you've installed the Dropbox client app."
Will it preserve a directory tree?
I am doing some study and find it very frustrating that professors pass files to students via "Blackboard". Some build directory trees with multiple files in "Blackboard". I am pretty sure that they have to build them piecewise and can not copy from their local drive. Then, the files have to be downloaded one-by-one, and the directory tree is not preserved. These are not tech professors, but they get little to no technical help from other departments or the uni in general (go figure). If someone at the uni (many unis) would make a procedural instruction sheet for a good service, it might save instructors and students all kinds of time and frustration (misplaced files). I'll try this where I am; though, I think it would ultimately require some IT help staff to back it up with some live instruction from time to time.
There is discussion that these patches may actually lead to processor slowing and a slowed computer.
It will be interesting to hear just what is the impact these patches have on computer speed, particularly for those who are still using older computers, such as 3-5 years old
For some people, a slowed computer is practically much worse, than a potential vulnerability
Most computers over the last 10 years with Intel and other processors are apparently affected
There should be international class actions against these manufacturers, until they offer recalls and replacement of these processors
These faulty processors were sold not fit for purpose
Obviously industry cant just shut down their computer networks, but they should be offered refunds or replacement fault-free processors, when these are eventually manufactured
Since when did we accept 'software patches' as being a suitable compromise to full replacement of faulty hardware ?
No need to worry too much about speed. Home users are hardly affected. Some large data centers with a lot of (small chunks of data) writing to fast media (SSD) will be hit the worst.
Just apply the patch (patches) MS has posted.
Thx for the simple explanation. Was wondering what the panic was all about.
For a malicious software to use these bugs, it first needs to be installed on the computer.
I would like to believe that my computer is not infected, so would have preferred not to install these updates. Alas, this is impossible.
I would much prefer having a potential bug rather than having the spectre of a slow-down hovering over my computer, or the meltdown of its performance rating,
As an older computer user, I am finding that i just dont trust anyone anymore. one day coffee is good for you, the next its a killer. give to this charity, its a scam. give to this go fund me...liars, all of them...use this ap, its a hoax. use this one and it steals from you. So now most of the time its a wait and see for me. trust no one, run sandboxed, make backups, shut off all updates until enough time has gone by to really find out if they actually do what they claim. a sad thing but the internet and scammers have eroded all trust in humanity for me. good luck to all.
Thanks for the explanation. A good supplement here:
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/01/scary-chip-flaws-raise-spectre-of-meltdown/
where you can find a link to a list of AV programs etc that are ready to receive the Windows Update with the patch.
Boy is that picture of a CPU old! Intel, the processor with the problem hasn't used PGA chips for a decade.
Good article, thanks Gizmo. For me at least the most interesting reading here are the comments.
There is everything represented that I find generally in dealing with humanity.
From the doomsday prophet that sees his world completely out of any order,
via the complainer (oh see how bad it's gotten - but I am going to lean back and do nothing, better don't update),
via the adequately reacting realist
to the frightened mouse who still is on XP and stays there because this world is oh so dangerous and anything new is oh so frightening.
Truly a panopticon of the world around me. What did I expect?
Great article......thank you!
Of course you must be oh so right. What might be even more interesting is what's behind the words, which we have no way of knowing, but concerning which making assumptions, we make asses ... you know the idiom I'm sure.
Apple and Linux have also released updates.
Good article Rob - lots of common sense.
The world's press is having a ball with this as they always do when some bug or insecurity is found. I have seen articles where they say the fix will reduce your computer's speed by 30% and others by 1.5%.
I have looked at the problem, it would require some extremely clever code to get at and make use of the design fault, probably take much longer to create an effective virus than to produce the fix.
Just keep updating your anti-virus and operating system. If you are worried stay off 'dirty' sites.
Roger
It isn't just Intel. AMD, Qualcomm, and ARM are also vulnerable to at least one of the three bugs. And that Intel processor would be vulnerable to at least one of the 3 as well, and probably 2 of them.
According to security experts who have studied the problem, at least one of the vulnerabilities can be triggered by a maliciously-coded page.
Also, the "up to 30%" performance hit varies depending on workload.
I would expect serious gaming machines to take a pretty good hit, if that's true.
Home users, including Gamers and serious gaming machines won't see any appreciable performance hit. 99.9% of games will see no more than a 1 or 2% hit, if that much. Some games actually slightly perform better with the patch. It's server type workloads that see the big hits. That's been proven by a number of different trusted sources. Most testers say the difference is within the margin of error.
I'm an 80yo
yeah, I agree
this beautiful thing the Internet
what are they doing with it?
Yes, humanity also includes processor manufacturers who have been selling a defective product over 10 years,
and not offering a replacement product that works
And humanity includes phone manufacturers being caught with their updates deliberately slowing older Iphones
- this occurred without the permission of owners
- the public were only informed by Apple when they were caught, the policy was instituted more than one year ago
- the updates were documented to slow older model Iphones by up to 50%, often rendering them unusable
- Apple only informed its customers after it was caught
- the manufacturing policy whereby a phone should be disposed of once the battery wears out has been the accepted status quo,
with unestimable impact on the environment
- Apple, only in the last month, provided official phone batteries that were affordable, so finally the environment has been respected
Ah, humanity
With this international precedent, of manufacturer firmware drastically slowing hardware usability, it is no wonder a lot of computer users are a little cynical
- what should really be offered is a replacement fault free computer processor (CPU), when they are finally available, but dont hold your breath
Im not willing to sacrifice my computer to potential unusability, until I have heard the feedback from Windows users who have used the patch
I also wont install a patch, unless I am certain of the method of uninstalling the patch - although I bet uninstallation is difficult with firmware updates
We have allowed both the internet and smartphones to compromise our data security, without protest
I was late to the smartphone era, and use TechSupportAlert to guide my choice of software
I was staggered at just how many phone apps need to invade your privacy
- many apps demand access to your contact list, some apps need to push advertising to you
- many apps demand to be able to send data back to the software company
I will never put mine nor my family's personal photos on social media, including Facebook, as Im sure their policies insist that they have lifelong permission to upload and save and to use this precious personal data
Thank you.
Do you have the same advice for my old Iphone, that is, just accept Apple updates?
Apple admitted its update slowed older Iphones (by up to 50%, leading many to have to buy a new phone)
Every day our computers most likely have vulnerabilities, with patches only available after the vulnerability is finally recognised
The media continue not to deal with the elephant in the room:
**No patch, and no antivirus software, will protect you when hackers find the next vulnerability before the good guys do**
--So.. what everyday computer habits do we need to change once and for all, given that there will be vulnerabilities today we just don’t know about.--
Is the Microsoft Windows operating system doing enough to protect the average computer user from themselves ?
1)Does Microsoft need to implement standard keystroke scrambling software on all Windows versions, so keystrokes cant be analysed easily by malware ?
2)Do we need to stop saving our passwords (bank, work, email) with cookies that are saved on our computer. Cookies may save our time and help avoid typing the same thing, but maybe we need to type out bank passwords each and every time
3)What information does computer memory need to store, and are there ways to quarantine security sensitive information from RAM ?
4)Can Microsoft finally create a separate Windows Security Module, that can be regularly updated, without updates jeopardising the rest of the OS, its hardware and software configurations ?
5)How safe are our Windows logon passwords / screen lock passwords (they are stored on the computer). Can malware ever harvest these, and lock down our computers ransomware style ?
Your reassurance is not reassuring Rev_Don.
Intels list of affected processors is long, and a lot of older computers may well take a performance hit
I predict its is too early to be offering reassurances
There is a wide range of computer processors that are affected, and many computer users have older computers with older processors
According to some tech sources, the flaws were discovered by a hacker hacking his own machine, which implies that direct access is needed, and I have read on a tech site (don't remember which one) that to get infected, a user needs to already have malware running. If those are the cases i (and I have not been able to confirm it yet) then using best security practices should be an effective way to mitigate these vulnerabilities. Another point is that I found no indication that these are Zero-Day vulnerabilities, i.e.,no one has exploited them prior to patches being available.
The tests I've seen so far go back as far as 1st gen Core i series. I don't know very many Serious Gamers using anything older than 2nd gen Core i series. The C2Ds and C2Qs I've tested are on the edge of margin of error as well. Anyone using anything older than that aren't going to be doing anything that cpu intensive to notice the difference.
And a lot of the people who claim to have noticed the so called 30% performance hit on a home system are using flawed techniques. A lot are doing a single run instead of averaging multiple runs. They are also making the post patch run immediately after rebooting instead of verifying that all of the patches have finished installing. A lot of systems are getting a Net Framework Security Update and/or AV Update upon reboot after applying the patch. Users who run the tests right after the Patch Update are testing DURING these updates which skews the results.
Now I do agree that there is a lot we don't know yet, but all of this Doom and Gloom that the bug patches will render our processors nearly unusable is just a bunch of FUD. The initial patches might have a SLIGHT noticeable impact on SOME applications on a home computer, but the overwhelming majority of that will be mitigated with further testing, updates, and microcode and bios updates.
I have to wonder if in view of the long history of this same "bug" being installed in the CPU's of so many manufacturers if this isn't a back-door or keyhole that was intentionally installed for security (as in NATIONAL) or counter-intelligence purposes. I'm not a "conspiracy theory" freak, in fact, if this is the case, I'd be very upset that this "bug" is outed and in such a way as to make the CPU makers look bad for doing something to help keep our nation safe.
Could this be a possibility??
Only to the Tin Foil Hat Brigade.
Rev_Don, Yeah, I'm not so worried about Big Brother, or the Big Sisters (AMD, Intel, ect), or even Uncle Google, although I gripe about him some. I would gladly surrender some of my "rights" and privacy to those that work so hard for the security of our Nation. I don't think 911 was a "theory". Yet. Nor do I think it's over. Yet.
Perfectly put! After one of my tablets got completely hosed by the last win10 update, I said the hell with it and disabled automatic updates. Updates break more than they fix imo. I'll take my chances and be careful where I go.
One word: Android. Customize it, hack it, root it to your heart's content at 1/3 the price. Apple is for rich kids.
I must be blind because I don't see the VPN button. Where is it?
The free VPN is only available on Developer version 38 of Opera. It is not quite a VPN but a proxy that only protect your browsing not other apps.
I tried it out and discovered that after working initially, it left me out to dry while streaming online watching the Star Trek Enterprise series.
It reverted without warning to my IP addresses, and despite giving the green light (it is actually blue) on the browser bar.
I've been running it on a win7 machine for a couple of weeks now with no problems at all (in fact it's so good I am seriously considering making Opera my default browser). It was interesting that when I tried to access the Pirate Bay via Chrome it gave me a dns fault and Opera did exactly the same until I enabled the VPN when it loaded quite happily. It's amazing how many sites are blocked to UK users!
Extreme left of the address box - it's usually greyed out if it's not being used. Just click on the "VPN" letters and it will offer you a choice of 3, USA, Canada or Germany.
I didn't see any "VPN" letters to the extreme left of the address box.
I tried this and all except one ip address/location site correctly identified me and weren't fooled by the "VPN" for one moment. Also the browser has been designed for fat fingers on a mobile device with large fonts and a huge amount of white space. This is fine for a phone but it's hardly anything I would want to use on a pc at work.
You can get the surfeasy vpn as an extension on the regular Opera now, but it only gives 500MB a month, for free.
Yes, I'd endorse the portable version too. At first I had the installed version, but it was buggy. Hovering over its system tray icon was like molasses sometimes. Ever since I switched to the portable version it's been fine.
I have been using Ditto for many months before now. I do not understand the problems others are having. I use Win 7 home version and it works fine and I now could not bear to be without it now. I mark a URL link, Control C and it's there for when I need it 30 minutes later.
I cannot tell it's loaded until I want something and it's there for me. Get it.
Thanks rob!
In the past, using windows 95/98 I used a clipboard manager.
Very useful but it was not updated for newer OS.
I am going to dowload portable version because I'am trying to limit my installed applicatios.
Peter
The perhaps unfortunately named Arsclip is well worth a look in this category of app.
http://www.joejoesoft.com/vcms/97/
Ditto is the top pick here at Gizmo's freeware. (http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-clipboard-replacement-utility.htm) So, what's new?
Also mentioned in the list of Best Free Clipboard Replacement Utility (http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-clipboard-replacement-utility.htm) and definitely a good AND actively developed program (which can't be said from Ditto; but maybe Ditto is so good that it does need little improvement)
PS. I use Ditto on my work PC and ArsClip at home. And I'm happy with both of them
Been using Ditto for years. Does the job and for free.
I agree with "oblivion" that Clipboard Help and Spell is the best! I explored a very large number of clipboard utilities and was amazed at the capabilities of Clipboard Help and Spell.
It's available at:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Software/Mouser/clipboardhelpandspell/index...
You can:
Configure the number of previous clips to see in the pop-up menu
See a much larger listing of all of the clips used recently
Capture both words and images for pasting
Delete any clip copied (great for passwords)
Set up a set of favorites for re-pasting
and much, much more.
It is by far the most powerful clipboard manager I've ever encountered, and surprisingly easy to use, too.
It's especially great if you copy or cut some text and open a MS Office program to paste the text into. Microsoft arrogantly clears the clipboard upon opening. This utility allows you to get it back. One improvement might be to put the contents back into the clipboard upon opening the Office document.
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