Daily Archives: August 9, 2020

• Will Windows transition to one update a year?

  Posted on August 9, 2020 at 23:15 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums
  

  WOODY’S WINDOWS WATCH

  By Woody Leonhard

  Windows 10 upgrades have had a rocky past, with minimally useful new versions cropping up two — or even three! — times a year.

  I assume that an exceedingly few Windows users want that much churn. The entire process has brought more smoke than light.

  But it now looks like Microsoft will finally fall back to just one new “feature” release each year. Arguably, we’re there already. Raise your hand if you can remember the Windows versions that lasted two, four, six, or even more years.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.31.0 (2020-08-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Windows 10 Releases AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Feature updates, Windows 10 upgrading

• More tales from the drive-sanitation trenches

  Posted on August 9, 2020 at 23:10 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  LANGALIST

  By Fred Langa

  My report about making a hard drive permanently inaccessible really struck a chord with AskWoody subscribers!

  That article, “‘Moving house is great fun,’ said no one ever” (AskWoody Plus Newsletter 2020-07-13), kicked off a profusion of reader tales about drive sanitizing — a mix of excellent advice, unexpected suggestions, and amusing anecdotes. Take a look!

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.31.0 (2020-08-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, LangaList AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Drive sanitation, drive wiping, Hard drive destruction

• Is there a DNS Blackhole in your future?

  Posted on August 9, 2020 at 23:05 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  PRIVACY

  By Richard Hay

  Managing your online security and privacy is a never-ending battle.

  There is a variety of tools for this task, but each has its limitations. So I decided to experiment with a somewhat lesser-known technique called DNS Blackholes. Here’s my report on a journey of discovery.

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.31.0 (2020-08-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Privacy Anonymous mode, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, DNS Blackholes, Personal DNS, Raspberry Pi, VPNs

• Living in a time of digital obsolescence

  Posted on August 9, 2020 at 23:00 CDT by Tracey Capen • Comment in the Forums

  ON SECURITY

  By Susan Bradley

  Recently the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation released a document warning about unpatched Windows 7 machines.

  That alert reinforced what we already know: using an unpatched copy of Win7 is risky. According to the FBI, cybercriminals are targeting network infrastructures containing Win7 systems. And the document pointed out past problems with obsolete operating systems. For example, after Windows XP’s end of life, the healthcare industry was slow to upgrade to a supported version, leading to increased exposure of “records.”

  Read the full story in AskWoody Plus Newsletter 17.31.0 (2020-08-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, On Security AskWoody Plus Newsletter, FBI alert, IoT threats, Jailbreaking, Two-factor authentication, Win7 vulnerabilities