Kloudkicker's Tech Tools, News and More

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

Hello everyone,

This thread is for everyone to post anything related to computer technology and "technology" in general. This is a place to share our news, thoughts and idea's, discoveries, experiments, interests, habits.... Whatever it may be and you feel like sharing about tech stuff, this is the place. 

*Many post will be "time sensitive", so please, keep that in mind when reading.*

~I'm going to start with a recent find of mine. It is a website with current computer news articles, in house product reviews, free tools and much more. It's a very informative web site. Check it out. 

https://www.techpowerup.com/ 

~Hers some news for GOG members and Epic Games. They are joining together, creating a new game launcher that will connect tons of game and you can launch them all in one place. 😮 You can sign up for the trial run going on now.: https://www.techpowerup.com/272855/gog-partners-with-epic-games-to-expand-into-a-universal-storefront

While your there, go to the "Our software" tab and download some of the useful and FREE diagnostic tools for your computer. This tool is worth investigating,   https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-gpu-z/. It is a low resource tool, providing vital info about your video card and graphics processor. It supports Intel graphic's, AMD, ATI and NVidia. Here's a screenshot of my GPU. It also can take a screenshot of only its self and store it in your desired location. Only one file to download and run. And that goes for many of their other tools.

All the different tabs have a lot of good info.

~Here is a tool that lets you custom tweak your NVidia driver pakage. Beyond what NVidia lets you. Remove what you don't need. https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-nvcleanstall/

~Here is a worth reading article about RAM speeds. https://www.pcgamer.com/au/amp/does-ram-speed-matter-gaming-amd-intel/

~New and Fast Monitors! https://www.tomshardware.com/news/acer-predator-x34-s-a-34-inch-200hz-nano-ips-curved-monitor-w-05ms-response-time   What, 0.5ms 😎

                                              https://www.tomshardware.com/news/lg-ultragear-nano-ips-gaming-monitors-38gl950g-27gl850,39635.html 

~Sad news if you looking to buy a 3080 and 3090: https://www-tomshardware-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.tomshardware.com/amp/news/nvidia-ceo-geforce-rtx-3080-and-3090-shortages-to-last-until-2021?usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D&amp_js_v=0.1#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomshardware.com%2Fnews%2Fnvidia-ceo-geforce-rtx-3080-and-3090-shortages-to-last-until-2021

~The NVidia performance war. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidias-geforce-rtx-3070-beats-2080-ti-in-first-performance-results

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

~Power Toys is making a come back, with a all in one package.  https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases v0.23.0 https://www.computerworld.com/article/3584919/an-introduction-to-windows-10-s-new-powertoys.amp.html. It is downloadable but still is in development.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Starlink Mission on Tuesday 👀 

 

This YouTube link below is really cool, if you like this sort of thing.

~Why SpaceX is Making Starlink by Real Engineering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giQ8xEWjnBs&t=782s

News Articles

~What is System Latency from NVIDIA’s Tony Tamasi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h69JR51pZbU&feature=emb_logo

~Don't waste money chasing RAM speed for gaming on AMD or Intel by Chris Szewczyk:  https://www.pcgamer.com/au/amp/does-ram-speed-matter-gaming-amd-intel/

~5 Graphics Settings Worth Tweaking in Every PC Game by Whitson Gordon: https://www.wired.com/story/five-graphics-settings-to-change-every-pc-game/amp

~Google Wifi: https://9to5google.com/2020/10/06/new-google-wifi-launch/amp/

~Western Digital Launches New WD Black NVMe SSDs And Thunderbolt Dock by Billy Tallis: https://www.anandtech.com/show/16149/western-digital-launches-new-wd-black-nvme-ssds-and-thunderbolt-dock

~Windows 10 update finally lets you disable Bing for good by Joel Khalili: https://www.techradar.com/amp/news/windows-10-update-finally-lets-you-disable-bing-for-good

Intel Alder Lake 16 Cores 32 Threads: (Image credit: Shutterstock) https://www.tomshardware.com/amp/news/intel-alder-lake-s-cpu-reportedly-surfaces-with-16-cores-32-threads

 

[Raymond7cn 6,776]

Hiya Nick @Kloudkicker, Thank you for informing me of this thread, It's a great idea to create a place where we can share the news and technical resources for this classic game.

The Graphics card has entered into a new era of RTX (RayTracing), so i often worry about whether i could play my beloved game with fancy Hardware and modern PC, but these day i also have seen many people they have never given up hope and attempt for that, GOG and Intel and Nvidia and visual wrappers they all have some good news for these good old games, so i do feel relief since i'm not alone.

Anyway, i will post every useful infos here as well, Maybe each of us is playing small, but we are indeed powerful beyond measure when we unite together. Keep up your great work on this!

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

Tesla is surely stepping up their game amongst the other tech giants. One of their cars is passing by mars, wow. That's just cool to be able to says. What does the future have instore for us, I don't know but I bet it's awesome. Here's a few articles about Tesla's current innovations.

~Tesla launches Solarglass (Solar Roof V3) starting at $33,950 for average home by  Fred Lambert: https://electrek.co/2019/10/25/tesla-solarglass-solar-roof-v3-price/

~Solar panels and roofing pricing guide by Fred Lambert: https://electrek.co/2020/07/07/tesla-solar-panels-roof-pricing-how-to-buy/ 

~Tesla reveals plans for its fifth Gigafactory...will likely be in United States by Joey Klender: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-fifth-gigafactory-united-states/amp/

~Tesla FSD beta takes on San Francisco’s famed Lombard Street and its 8 hairpin turns by Simon Alvarez: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-fsd-beta-lombard-street-test-video/amp/

~

Looks a little like the draw paths cheat, LOL (Picture from https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-full-self-driving-price-2020-10k/amp/)

~Tesla partner Panasonic is working on a prototype 4680 battery cell production line by Simon Alvarez: https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-partner-panasonic-builds-4680-battery-cell-pilot-line/amp/

"which feature 500% times more energy and 6X more power than the company’s existing batteries" Holly Molly that's a big increase in energy reserves and power. Here is a pic of the Tesla Gigafactory 1 plant by Sparks, Nevada. Where the Model 3 battery cells are manufactured.

 

 

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

This affects windows users 7 thru 10. Lets hope it doesn't become an issue.

On a side note, this seemed interesting, but I don't have a GitHub account. Both are something I may look into later on.

https://attackerkb.com/ "Did you know AttackerKB has an open API? Log in with GitHub to access on your profile page"

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

~Another 21 malware apps found on Google Play~

 “This time, users reported they were targeted with ads promoting the games on YouTube. In September, we saw adware spread via TikTok. The popularity of these social networks make them an attractive advertising platform, also for cybercriminals, to target a younger audience,”... “Developers of adware are increasingly using social media channels, like regular marketers would,”... "These scammers purposefully target places that young people hang out — like YouTube and TikTok — because younger people are generally good targets for this type of scam." quoted from https://blog.avast.com/new-malware-apps-on-google-play-avast by Emma McGowan, 26 October 2020

This is not the only source 

~Adware found in 21 Android apps with more than 7 million downloads~ by Catalin Cimpanu: https://www.zdnet.com/article/adware-found-in-21-android-apps-with-more-than-7-million-downloads/

Here's the list of apps: 

Shoot Them

Crush Car

Rolling Scroll

Helicopter Attack - NEW

Assassin Legend - 2020 NEW

Helicopter Shoot

Rugby Pass

Flying Skateboard

Iron it

Shooting Run

Plant Monster

Find Hidden

Find 5 Differences - 2020 NEW

Rotate Shape

Jump Jump

Find the Differences - Puzzle Game

Sway Man

Money Destroyer

Desert Against

Cream Trip - NEW

Props Rescue

copied from here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Cu6KVYG6VWWCZMY0A-vXlewXyfm7yd0djQtTzc82cyY/edit#gid=0

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

Coronavirus Cases:

50,303,629

Deaths:

1,256,910

Recovered:

35,579,798

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

~New 'Ghimob' malware can spy on 153 Android mobile applications~ by Catalin Cimpanu posted November 10, 2020 

quoted " New Ghimob Android trojan rises and evolves from Brazil to spread internationally. Security researchers have discovered a new Android banking trojan that can spy and steal data from 153 Android applications...the new Android trojan has been offered for download packed inside malicious Android apps on sites and servers previously used by the Astaroth (Guildama) operation. Distribution was never carried out via the official Play Store. Instead, the Ghimob group used emails or malicious sites to redirect users to websites promoting Android apps....Most of the targeted apps were for Brazilian banks, but in recently updated versions, Kaspersky said Ghimob also expanded its capabilities to start targeting banks in Germany (five apps), Portugal (three apps), Peru (two apps), Paraguay (two apps), Angola and Mozambique (one app per country). Furthermore, Ghimob also added an update to target cryptocurrency exchange apps in attempts to gain access to cryptocurrency accounts, with Ghimob following a general trend in the Android malware scene that has slowly shifted to target cryptocurrency owners."

~Ransomware Group Turns to Facebook Ads~ by Krebs on Security posted November 10, 2020

quoted "Now, one crime group has started using hacked Facebook accounts to run ads publicly pressuring their ransomware victims into paying up. On the evening of Monday, Nov. 9, an ad campaign apparently taken out by the Ragnar Locker Team began appearing on Facebook. The ad was designed to turn the screws to the Italian beverage vendor Campari Group, which acknowledged on Nov. 3 that its computer systems had been sidelined by a malware attack...The Facebook ad blitz was paid for by Hodson Event Entertainment, an account tied to Chris Hodson, a deejay based in Chicago. Contacted by KrebsOnSecurity, Hodson said his Facebook account indeed was hacked, and that the attackers had budgeted $500 for the entire campaign....Hodson said a review of his account shows the unauthorized campaign reached approximately 7,150 Facebook users, and generated 770 clicks, with a cost-per-result of 21 cents. Of course, it didn’t cost the ransomware group anything. Hodson said Facebook billed him $35 for the first part of the campaign, but apparently detected the ads as fraudulent sometime this morning before his account could be billed another $159 for the campaign."

~Compal, the second-largest laptop manufacturer in the world, hit by ransomware~ by  Catalin Cimpanu November 9, 2020

quoted "Compal, a Taiwanese electronics company that builds laptops for some of the world's largest computer brands, suffered a ransomware attack over the weekend. Responsible for the breach is believed to be the DoppelPaymer ransomware gang, according to a screenshot of the ransom note shared by Compal employees with Yahoo Taiwan reporters. According to Taiwanese media..., the incident was discovered on Sunday morning and is believed to have impacted around 30% of Compal's computer fleet. Employees arriving at work were greeted by a memo from Compal's IT staff, asking workers to check the status of their workstations and back up important files on systems that were not impacted...."[Compal] is not being blackmailed by hackers as it is rumored by the outside world," the Compal exec told reporters....In the past, Compal has produced laptops for companies like Apple, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, Toshiba, HP, and Fujitsu. Besides laptops, the company also builds monitors, tablets, smartwatches, smart TVs, and other computer peripherals. Compal is the third major Taiwanese plant hit by ransomware gangs this year. Taiwan's state-owned energy company, CPC Corp., was hit by the ColdLocker ransomware in May, while the Taiwanese plant of US smartwatch maker Garmin was hit by the WastedLocker ransomware in July."

~FBI: Hackers stole source code from US government agencies and private companies~  by Catalin Cimpanu posted November 7, 2020 

quoted "FBI blames intrusions on improperly configured SonarQube source code management tools. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent out a security alert warning that threat actors are abusing misconfigured SonarQube applications to access and steal source code repositories from US government agencies and private businesses. Intrusions have taken place since at least April 2020, the FBI said in an alert sent out last month and made public this week on its website. The alert specifically warns owners of SonarQube, a web-based application that companies integrate into their software build chains to test source code and discover security flaws before rolling out code and applications into production environments. SonarQube apps are installed on web servers and connected to source code hosting systems like BitBucket, GitHub, or GitLab accounts, or Azure DevOps systems. But the FBI says that some companies have left these systems unprotected, running on their default configuration (on port 9000) with default admin credentials (admin/admin)."

[TheMurderousCricket 5,109]

All of the above makes me proud I still have a working Nokia X2 at home. 

It may not send MMS, it may be lacking the back lid but boy... if some "Raggedy Man" infects and takes control over the entire communication, I'll be among the very few with a functional phone!

[rsc204 21,866]

3 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

if some "Raggedy Man" infects and takes control over the entire communication, I'll be among the very few with a functional phone!

That rather assumes someone willing to take control over communications networks, would be stupid enough to do it at the device level, rather than bringing down the host. Still, I'm sure in either scenario, you'll have lot's of people to talk to on your 'working' phone.

Did you know it's ridiculously easy to spoof a cell tower?, not to mention you also don't need to have a smartphone to be caught up in all this. A "dumb" phone runs on software, is essentially a small computer at its core and usually will have an OS too, even if none of those parts are particularly advanced. Nothing to stop someone making Malware for any device that runs code, including your washing machine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_X2_(2014)

In fact, having just researched it, you are running a cripplingly old version of Android, so your phone's security would be eaten alive by anyone remotely determined on getting past it. Modern Android and iOS users would be using their phones, long after yours was compromised methinks. And if you think the lack of an internet connection is your saviour, remember your network has the ability to send software to your phone, over the cellular signal. So assuming that was compromised or your phone was tricked into connecting to a fake cell tower, you are way past doomed at this point.

[TheMurderousCricket 5,109]

Hmmm. Didn't think about it this way.  Though my point is that modern OSs are more susceptible to attacks because this is where most traffic is nowadays. A hacker, I think, would rather try to dig a phone which contains valid, fresh information rather than a cell phone that had not made any connections for several years.

One of the concerns I have these days is the fact that some of my external drives cannot be ejected correctly. I keep receiving errors and I am somewhat worried that something might be very wrong... On the other hand, I've been subscribed to an ativirus software for four, maybe five years non-stop. I hope it's just a question of messed-up drivers or a malfunctioning MoBo. Anyway, perhaps you could shed some more light on it @Kloudkicker. It looks like you have a lot of knowledge on security-related issues. 

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

I'm sorry I'm not going to be much help to you @TheMurderousCricket. I have not done much in this field beside read articles and learned general things. Its is a everchanging and complex industry with criminals always one step behind them. Keeping up to date software and hardware is a safe bet. Thinking that having old hardware will stop most problems because its not logical for hackers to waste their time, is not safe bet. The security of old devices is much less, means less work for them. If work is even needed,  example: once a virus leaves its host computer, all or most of their work is done. Its up to us to speared it. Old tools hackers used are still around for use and young people are proving that it dose not take much to take over even "simple" devices, like a smart refrigerator, or complex equipment, like a car.  I personally wouldn't want to be multiple steps behind hackers, as in your case.

[TheMurderousCricket 5,109]

No worries @Kloudkicker. Your insights are valuable nonetheless. 

Don't get me wrong - as far as computers go I do keep everything updated. Cell phone was only a digression. 

I have also made some research of my own. It turns out that, for some reason, some anti-vir programs tend to block the dustbin after mass delete operations (so the viruses don't resurrect?).

My eject problem has indeed appeared after I have deleted a large portion of files so I think this was the cause.

[rsc204 21,866]

13 hours ago, TheMurderousCricket said:

One of the concerns I have these days is the fact that some of my external drives cannot be ejected correctly. I keep receiving errors and I am somewhat worried that something might be very wrong...

Nothing there screams virus or security issue to me.

Some manufacturers, actually just WD mainly, want to have control over your drives, such that if you don't install their drivers, Windows just won't work with it as well as it would otherwise. If I recall, the latest version of SmartWare won't even work without an internet connection! I have two drives that require the SES Driver at least to be installed, or they don't really allow for an obvious eject like a typical removable drive.

None of these issues with the same drives on my Mac's funnily enough, where one now is handling my Time Machine backups. Although the 3TB My Book requires me to go into Disk Utility to properly Eject it seemingly, but only if I want to re-mount it without unplugging it again. I don't see the same issue with my newer 2TB My Passport Essential, nor a 5TB Seagate I got last year on sale. All my other drives are just a 2.5" disk chucked into a cheap external drive housing, none of which give me any such grief.

It could be USB drivers, or simply some Windows issue, is the option there in the Task Manager to Eject it? If so, is it that failing? Honestly, these days there are like 2 controller chips that handle every external USB HDD on the market, so if you are using Windows 10, there isn't a good reason why this shouldn't just be working.

[Turnstyled 539]

Technology...my true love. Take a look at the RSS feeds that I'm subscribed to. I really don't care about world events, but I care about what's happening in the technology sphere. I'm just wrapping up a degree in information technology this semester and I'll be working on transferring to a computer engineering program. Luckily, I'm eligible for what's called the Total and Permanent Disability Discharge, so I can get full relief from all federal student loans.

Edit: I just wanted to also say that I'm currently working with a project with my school to get a 1998 Chevrolet truck converted to an electric vehicle. This has been an ongoing project since 2014. I had joined the project because of my interest in autonomous vehicles. Last summer, I was also a part of an ethical hacking coding project. it was my first experience coding. There were too many students on it, though, and they were too excitable for me. I've always preferred to work alone in school.

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

46 minutes ago, Turnstyled said:

Take a look at the RSS feeds that I'm subscribed to.

That is a lot to keep up on. 

48 minutes ago, Turnstyled said:

I'm just wrapping up a degree in information technology this semester and I'll be working on transferring to a computer engineering program.

Very cool, and a very good field to get into. 

 

53 minutes ago, Turnstyled said:

I'm currently working with a project with my school to get a 1998 Chevrolet truck converted to an electric vehicle.

That sounds really interesting and fun. How close to it being finished is it?

[Turnstyled 539]

33 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

That is a lot to keep up on. 

Inoreader is the feed reader that I'm using. I'm paying Inoreader $5 a month so that I can set it to only keep articles for a certain amount of time. I've selected three days. That way, if I don't keep up with it for some days, it doesn't feel unmanageable to me. Social media is very overwhelming for me and I find it to be strange. I feel comfortable using RSS feeds.

36 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

Very cool, and a very good field to get into. 

 

Thanks! 

36 minutes ago, Kloudkicker said:

That sounds really interesting and fun. How close to it being finished is it?

I don't know the exact answer to your question. We can't work on the truck due to the "garage" being on campus and COVID existing. The garage is a room with a big shutter door. A new faculty mentor joined the project in January of last year. We worked on documentation over the summer and this January, we met together and charged and discharged 4 of the 36 battery cells on the truck and recorded measurements. I'll be working on the project more this summer.

[Kloudkicker 4,565]

All Eyes On $4 Million Diesel-Killing Hydrogen Locomotive In California

"If all goes according to plan, the entire US locomotive fleet will switch over to diesel-killing hydrogen fuel cells and other non-diesel technologies.

Dirty diesel fuel still holds a tight grip on the nation’s heavy duty transportation sector, but it looks like railway companies are finally poised to break free. In the latest development, Sierra Northern Railway just nailed a $4 million grant to build a zero emission switcher locomotive powered with a hydrogen fuel cell. If all goes according to plan, all 760 switcher and short-haul locomotives in the state could ditch diesel, and the switcheroo could ripple across the entire railroad industry. As for the hydrogen angle, that’s a whole ‘nother kettle of fish."

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/03/25/all-eyes-on-4-million-diesel-killing-hydrogen-locomotive-in-california/amp/

 

The Battery That Will Finally Unlock Massless Energy Storage

"It could revolutionize electric vehicles and aircraft.

To make the new structural battery, the scientists layered a buffer glass “fabric” between a positive and negative electrode, then packed it with a space-age polymer electrolyte and cured it in the oven. What results is a tough, flat battery cell that conducts well and holds up to tensile tests in all directions.

The scientists say the next step is to improve the performance even more, replacing aluminum foil in the electrode with carbon fiber material and thinning out the separator. This could result in a battery that produces 75 Wh/kg of energy and 75 GPa of stiffness, setting more records for massless batteries and also greatly reducing their weight."

Chalmers University of Technology writes in a press release:

“The battery has an energy density of 24 Wh/kg, meaning approximately 20 percent capacity compared to comparable lithium-ion batteries currently available. But since the weight of the vehicles can be greatly reduced, less energy will be required to drive an electric car, for example, and lower energy density also results in increased safety. And with a stiffness of 25 GPa, the structural battery can really compete with many other commonly used construction materials.”

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/amp35902755/structural-battery-massless-energy-storage/

 

Space station detectors found the source of weird ‘blue jet’ lightning

"Scientists have finally gotten a clear view of the spark that sets off an exotic type of lightning called a blue jet.

Blue jets zip upward from thunderclouds into the stratosphere, reaching altitudes up to about 50 kilometers in less than a second. Whereas ordinary lightning excites a medley of gases in the lower atmosphere to glow white, blue jets excite mostly stratospheric nitrogen to create their signature blue hue."

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-station-detectors-found-source-weird-blue-jet-lightning/amp