Newsletter Archives

• A single Registry line enables Windows 11 without TPM 2.0

  Posted on October 18th, 2021 at 02:45 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.40 • 2021-10-18

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Microsoft has published a new support document revealing a one-line entry anyone can add to the Registry allowing Windows 11 to install on devices that do not have the so-called TPM 2.0 chip installed on the motherboard.

  The Trusted Platform Module, as I explained in the September 6 AskWoody Newsletter, is a small hardware component that generates and stores cryptographic keys, among other things. Until the release of the recent support document, Microsoft had repeatedly stated that the 2.0 version of TPM would be a requirement before Windows 11 would install. In addition, Win11 has CPU and other hardware requirements above those of Win10, as set forth in Microsoft’s Win11 specifications.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.40.0 (2021-10-18).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.40.F (2021-10-18).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft, TPM, Windows 11, Windows registry

• The first Google search result often leads to a virus

  Posted on October 11th, 2021 at 02:45 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.39 • 2021-10-11

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The top search result in Google is all too often a link to a website that’s been hacked to infect visitors’ devices with a virus.

  The culprit behind these infections is called “Gootloader,” a descendant of years-old malware that just keeps getting worse on Google — the only search engine that’s being targeted.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.39.0 (2021-10-11).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.39.F (2021-10-11).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Google, Google Search, security

• Kape Technologies, formerly Crossrider, now owns 4 top VPNs

  Posted on September 27th, 2021 at 02:43 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A holding company with a controversial history — Kape Technologies — announced this month that it had purchased a leading virtual private network, ExpressVPN, adding it to a collection of three other major VPN companies that Kape acquired in 2017 through 2019.

  This concentration of VPN services has raised concerns.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.37.0 (2021-09-27).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender, Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, privacy, Public Defender, security, VPN

• Sanas makes emerging-market English sound American or British

  Posted on September 20th, 2021 at 02:41 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A tiny tech startup says its software can almost instantly convert the accent of an ESL (English as a Second Language) speaker into a stream of audio that sounds almost exactly like an American or a British native speaker.

  Sanas — whose domain name is Sanas.ai — is based in Palo Alto, California, and has used artificial intelligence to analyze thousands of ESL speakers in India, Latin America, the Philippines, and elsewhere. The AI system picks up differences in their speech patterns compared with Western speakers who learned English in childhood. The software’s output is like a 3-D printer for sound.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.36.0 (2021-09-20).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender, Speech

• Judge halts over-the-air TV streaming by Locast

  Posted on September 13th, 2021 at 02:45 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.35 • 2021-09-13

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A nonprofit organization that uses the Internet to stream live, over-the-air television signals to digital devices has suspended its service throughout the United States after a federal district-court judge ruled that the offering didn’t fully comply with an exception Congress wrote into the US Copyright Act.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.35.0 (2021-09-13).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.35.F (2021-09-13).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Jud, Public Defender, streaming media

• How you might install Win 11 on older PCs lacking TPM 2.0

  Posted on September 6th, 2021 at 02:44 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Microsoft officially announced last week that it will offer Windows 11 in a phased release between October 5, 2021, and “mid-2022” — but techies are already finding ways to install the new OS on older PCs that don’t implement TPM 2.0, a chip the Redmond company says is required.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.34.0 (2021-09-06).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, hardware, security, Windows 11

• Apple plans to break its end-to-end encryption

  Posted on August 30th, 2021 at 02:42 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Apple Computer shocked computer-security experts when the Cupertino company announced on August 5 that it plans to circumvent end-to-end encryption in Mac and iOS software, reporting US users if more than a few photos in their iCloud account match a national database of child pornography.

  “We want to help protect children from predators who use communication tools to recruit and exploit them, and limit the spread of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM),” Apple said in its announcement. But people with experience in the subject said the technology would be used for everything other than that.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.33.0 (2021-08-30).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender Apple, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, encryption, privacy, Public Defender, security, Surveillance

• The Internet passport is coming — are you ready?

  Posted on August 23rd, 2021 at 02:43 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  If you’re tired of inventing new passwords to suit every different system, while hackers keep finding ever more clever ways to steal your identity, you’ll love being able to ditch passwords entirely yet still avoid hacks — if websites and services can get enough users to buy in.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.32.0 (2021-08-23).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Biometrics, Public Defender, security

• Where’s our ‘National Strategy for Cyberspace’?

  Posted on August 16th, 2021 at 02:45 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  ISSUE 18.31 • 2021-08-16

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  Crime on the Internet has gotten ridiculous.

  In 2020, the Federal Trade Commission received 4.8 million complaints of identity theft (and many others go unreported). At least 37% of businesses around the globe experienced a ransomware attack last year, according to security firm Sophos. And for six days in May, hackers were even able to shut down a pipeline that supplies 45% of the US East Coast’s fuel.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.31.0 (2021-08-16).
  This story also appears in the AskWoody Free Newsletter 18.31.F (2021-08-16).

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, cybersecurity, cyberspace

• Is your smartphone giving you brain cancer?

  Posted on August 9th, 2021 at 02:43 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  A group of scientists and researchers is actively promoting findings that the use of smartphones is associated with an increase in brain cancer and related tumors.

  Joel Moskowitz, director of the Center for Family and Community Health at the University of California, Berkeley, told the Berkeley News on July 1: “More than 250 scientists … have signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for health warnings and stronger exposure limits.” He added that the new 5G standard, which is replacing the old 4G network, “is an even bigger reason for concern.”

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.30.0 (2021-08-09).

  AskWoody Plus membership, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, health, Public Defender, smartphones

• Revolutionary battery tech changes the way we charge

  Posted on August 2nd, 2021 at 02:43 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  The dream of renewable-energy advocates everywhere may finally have been realized. The goal is a battery technology that stores solar and wind energy and releases it for days on end. Now, a new tech allows companies to meet demand at peak times with no need to fire up any spare fossil-fuel generators.

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.29.0 (2021-08-02).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Batteries, Public Defender

• What’s up with Firefox 90? Should you go back to version 88?

  Posted on July 26th, 2021 at 02:42 Brian Livingston Comment on the AskWoody Lounge

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  In rapid succession, the Mozilla Foundation recently released versions 89 and 90 of its Firefox browser. Cries of pain immediately arose from users seeking a way to roll back to Firefox 88.

  What’s the problem?

  Read the full story in the AskWoody Plus Newsletter 18.28.0 (2021-07-26).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Public Defender AskWoody Plus Newsletter, browsers, Firefox, Public Defender
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