Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon

Well folks, today I’ve got a story I’d rather not tell. I report on a lot of security issues, that have to do with computers and the web, but I haven’t been the subject of a report until now! You say, “Say it ain’t so Dr. Bill!” Sorry, but it’s true, it just goes to show that anybody can be caught up in a security issue if you’re not careful.

Let’s look at what happened, and I’ll explain the situation. I was minding my own business a few days ago checking out things on Facebook, when a friend of mine sent me a Facebook message they told me that they had seen an article in a computer blog that seem to reference one of my websites. I thought to myself, “What’s this about?” I checked out the article, and sure enough, there for all to see was the web address of one of my old websites! The problem with being a webmaster, particularly being one as long as I have been one, is that you can have old sites that are not properly cleaned up, and disposed of.

It’s not enough to decommission a website by simply getting rid of the domain name link and not deleting the old files, the old references, etc. as a webmaster you have to do a more thorough job cleaning up after yourself. And this is where my “mea culpa” comes in. I had a website many years ago and though I cleaned it up to a certain extent, I left the directory, which was actually a subdirectory on another site available to the web. Big mistake!

The article that my friend pointed me to was from a blog called “Bleeping Computer” in which they discussed the hack of the popular VSDC website. Now, VSDC is the video editor that I use for my video programs, and they do a great job of producing the software… which is very popular with a lot of folks around the web. It appears that their site had been hacked such that folks that downloaded the files off of the VSDC website were then infected by means of files that actually came off one of my old websites that had been hacked!

I found myself in the unenviable position of having to own up to the fact that I had allowed one of my old sites to be hacked and used for this exploit. Which I did in a comment on the “Bleeping Computer” article. I have to admit it was hard to swallow my pride and own up to the fact that one of my web old sites had been hacked and used for this exploit.

I’ve since cleaned up the site properly and VSDC has cleaned up their site and they are no longer propagating this exploit from their site downloads as well. The author of the article did point out, and I agree, that VSDC did a great job of just owning up to the fact that they had been hacked, and then took care of the issue quickly. This doesn’t happen very often; most of the time organizations will ignore, or deny, the fact that they been a victim of a hack.

I have much respect for the fact that VSDC did own up to the issue and fixed it. I trust that folks that read the article, and my comment, will also understand that I was a victim as well, and in no way related to any of the knuckleheads that actually perpetrated the attack on VSDC and the folks that downloaded files from that site.

Now, pardon me, as I slink off to lick my wounds and vow to be more careful about the future disposition of all my old websites! By the way, if you are a webmaster, and have old sites that could be commandeered and used as mine was, please take a moment to go clean up your sites as I did mine!

Here’s the article in question: Popular Software Site Hacked to Redirect Users to Keylogger, Infostealer, More

OSNews – By: Thom Holwerda – “‘Google is planning a game platform’ to rival Playstation, Xbox

Over the past few months, the wildest rumors in video game industry circles haven’t involved the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Two. The most interesting chatter has centered on a tech company that’s been quietly making moves to tackle video games in a big way: Google, the conglomerate that operates our email, our internet browsers, and much more.

We haven’t heard many specifics about Google’s video game plans, but what we have heard is that it’s a three-pronged approach: 1) Some sort of streaming platform, 2) some sort of hardware, and 3) an attempt to bring game developers under the Google umbrella, whether through aggressive recruiting or even major acquisitions. That’s the word from five people who have either been briefed on Google’s plans or heard about them secondhand.

Cracking the gaming market is hard. Over the past few decades, only two companies succeeded in entering the gaming market: first Sony, then Microsoft. Virtually all other attempts either flopped hard, or started lukewarm only to quickly peter out. Hence, I have a lot of reservations about Google’s supposed plans here, especially since they seem to involve streaming. Even streaming on my local LAN using PS4 Remote Play, while passable, is clearly not even remotely as good as the “real thing”.

We definitely need more concrete information.”

Linux Mint 19 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2023. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.

Linux Mint 19 “Tara” MATE Release

New features:

This new version of Linux Mint contains many improvements.

Important info:

The release notes provide important information about known issues, as well as explanations, workarounds and solutions.

To read the release notes, please visit:

“Release Notes for Linux Mint 19 MATE”

System requirements:

• 1GB RAM (2GB recommended for a comfortable usage).
• 15GB of disk space (20GB recommended).
• 1024×768 resolution (on lower resolutions, press ALT to drag windows with the mouse if they don’t fit in the screen).

Notes:

The 64-bit ISO can boot with BIOS or UEFI.
The 32-bit ISO can only boot with BIOS.
The 64-bit ISO is recommended for all modern computers (Almost all computers sold since 2007 are equipped with 64-bit processors).

These things rock! They are so light and small, but the sound is awesome! Best little deal I have bought in a while! You gotta get these!

TaoTronics TT-BH07 Wireless Bluetooth Earbuds

Less than $20.00 on Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYX6Y1T

• Built-in magnets let you attach the two headphones together when you are not using them, and you can wear them like a necklace around your neck, a convenient way to carry them around when you aren’t using them.
• Comfortable in-ear design, fits snuggly and securely, makes sure the headset stays put and your music stays smooth when you are running, cycling, exercising and doing other activities.



• CVC Noise Cancellation 6.0 technology reduces outside noises, and enables clearer microphone sound when talking to your family or friends; you get a high quality, hands-free phone conversation even on the street or inside the shopping mall.
• Latest Bluetooth 4.2 technology; for easy and fast pairing with smartphones, tablets and other Bluetooth enabled music devices; the aptX codec provides pure, CD-like high quality sound for compatible devices.
• Works with all smartphones, tablets and other Bluetooth-enabled music players. Up to six hours of continuous talking / music time and up to 175 hours of standby with a single charge, so you have to spend less time charging and more time using it!

Would YOU want a 128 TB SD card? Not 128 GB, or 128 MB, but Terabyte! Dewd! Gimme!

SD cards could soon hold 128TB of storage

The Verge – By: Dani Deahl – “The SD Association has announced a new card specification that should increase maximum storage on SD cards to 128 terabytes and provide much faster data transfer speeds of 985 megabytes per second.

Right now the maximum storage space on an SD card is 2TB, and that limit was promised as far back as 2009, but still hasn’t been reached. In 2016, SanDisk unveiled a prototype 1 terabyte SD card that would make it the biggest in the world, but it’s still not available to purchase. At the time, SanDisk said that the advancement was necessary to match ever-increasing data-heavy formats like 4K video and VR. However, creating SD cards with massive amounts of storage is cost-prohibitive. SanDisk’s 512GB SD card used to cost $800, and though it’s dropped in price, is still priced around $300.

The new faster speeds, called SD Express, will come to all types of cards, but the high storage is a new thing called an SD Ultra Capacity (SDUC) card. Given how slow the progress has been toward 2TB cards, there’s no telling how long it’ll take before manufacturers hit the higher figures that SDUC allows, but perhaps the increased storage capacity and shift to increasingly higher-resolution video will give companies more reason to invest.”

If you are having problems streaming to your Chromecast, here’s the fix.

Google Home and Chromecast outage ends: how to get the fix now

SlashGear – By: Brittany A. Roston – “As we reported earlier today, many Google Home and Chromecast users experienced an outage today that left them unable to use their devices. Google Home smart speakers warned impacted users that ‘there was a glitch,’ advising them to try again. When the user tried again, though, the same issue surfaced. Chromecast devices, meanwhile, failed to stream content to displays.

In the grand scheme of things, a smart speaker outage isn’t the end of the world. That said, many device owners were frustrated this morning to discover their routines disrupted and their connected items useless…without manual interaction, at least.

Users were quick to complain to Google, which had advised users to reboot their devices. That didn’t work, though.

Perhaps more frustrating was the Chromecast outage, which resulted in these streaming devices failing to stream content to displays. That was a problem for businesses and schools that utilize the devices for presentations. Fortunately, Google hasn’t left users hanging; an update is rolling out now.

Google announced the fix on its Made by Google Twitter account this afternoon, where it said that the fix is automatically deploying to devices ‘within the next six hours.’ That was at about 3PM ET, for reference, meaning everyone should have it within the near future. However, Google says owners can get an ‘immediate fix’ by rebooting their devices.

To reboot, device owners should open the Google Home app and head into the ‘Devices’ menu. From there, select your Google Home or Chromecast device, then tap the triple-dot menu button in the upper right-hand corner and choose ‘Settings.’ Once within settings, tap ‘More,’ then ‘Reboot.’ The device will reboot itself without having to be unplugged and should function properly afterward.”

It is officially coming soon! Development has been wrapped up, and it has been submitted to Roku for final approval. It replaces the old “purple” screen themed version, and is much more modern and simple.

Here is a shot of the main screen off my HDTV in the Living Room.