Monroe

Intel Asks Customers to Halt Patching for Chip Bug, Citing Flaw http://www.oann.com/intel-asks-customers-to-stop-using-faulty-patches/ January 23, 2018 By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) – Intel Corp said on Monday that patches it released to address two high-profile security vulnerabilities in its chips are faulty, advising customers, computer makers and cloud providers to stop installing them. Intel Executive Vice President Navin Shenoy disclosed the problem in a statement on the chipmaker’s website, saying that patches released after months of development caused computers to reboot more often than normal and other “unpredictable” behavior. “I apologize for any disruption this change in guidance may cause,” Shenoy said. “I assure you we are working around the clock to ensure we are addressing these issues.” The issue of the faulty patches is separate from complaints by customers for weeks that the patches slow computer performance. Intel has said a typical home and business PC user should not see significant slowdowns. Intel’s failure to provide a usable patch could cause businesses to postpone purchasing new computers, said IDC analyst Mario Morales. Intel is “still trying to get a handle on what’s really happening. They haven’t resolved the matter,” he said. Intel asked technology providers to start testing a new version of the patches, which it began distributing on Saturday. The warning came nearly three weeks after Intel confirmed on Jan. 3 that its chips were impacted by vulnerabilities known as Spectre and Meltdown, which make data on affected computers vulnerable to espionage. Meltdown was specific to chips from Intel, as well as one from SoftBank Group Corp’s ARM Holdings. Spectre affected nearly every modern computing device, including ones with chips from Intel, ARM and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Problems with the patches have been growing since Intel on Jan. 11 said they were causing higher reboot rates in its older chips and then last week that the problem was affecting newer processors. The Wall Street Journal first reported Intel asking customers to halt using the patches. ...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5279587/A-potentially-hazardous-asteroid-flying-past-Earth.html ‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid the size of the Burj Khalifa is heading towards Earth at 67,000mph The 2002 AJ129 asteroid has been classed a 'potentially hazardous' by Nasa It will fly past on 4th February at speeds of 67,000mph (107,826kmh) This makes it nearly 15 times faster than the world's quickest manned aircraft By Phoebe Weston For Mailonline Published: 17 January 2018 A gigantic asteroid which is larger than the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, will hurtle past our planet in around two weeks time. The 2002 AJ129 asteroid has been classed a 'potentially hazardous' by Nasa and will fly past at speeds of 67,000mph (107,826kmh). This makes it nearly 15 times faster than the world's quickest manned aircraft - the hypersonic North American X-15, which travelled at 4,520mph (7,300kmh). The asteroid is around 0.7 miles (1.1km) wide - making it longer than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which stands at 0.5 miles high (0.8km). It is set to pass by our planet on the 4th February at a distance of around 2,615,128 miles (4,208,641km) away - which is relatively close in space terms. For reference, the distance between the Earth and the moon is 238,855 miles (384,400 km). Nasa describes asteroids as 'hazardous' if they come within 4,600,000 miles (7,403,00km) of our planet. It is the largest space rock to brush past our planet this year and previous research has found a rock of this size could plunge Earth into a mini-ice age if it hit. The impact would cause average temperatures around the world to fall by as much as 8°C, according to a 2016 study on the effects of a collision with a 0.6-mile-wide (1km) asteroid. Scientists warned the 'very severe global impact' would last several years, causing the world to become a much darker, colder and drier place. 'These would not be pleasant times,' Charles Bardeen, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research said during a presentation at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) at the time. 'As of December 24, there are 17,495 known Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) around our planet; 17,389 are asteroids', a Nasa spokesperson told the Express last month. 'This year, we discovered 1,985 new near Earth asteroids. There were 1888 such objects discovered in 2016 and 1,571 in 2015'. Nasa is currently moving forward with a refrigerator-sized spacecraft capable of preventing asteroids from colliding with Earth. A test with a small, nonthreatening asteroid is planned for 2024. This is the first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defence. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) would use what is known as a kinetic impactor technique—striking the asteroid to shift its orbit. The impact would change the speed of a threatening asteroid by a small fraction of its total velocity, but by doing so well before the predicted impact, this small nudge will add up over time to a big shift of the asteroid's path away from Earth. ...

dencorso ... I did not understand what that page was until I stumbled across the same page with some English ... thanks. Web browser Spectre Check https://xlab.tencent.com/special/spectre/spectre_check.html ...

AstroSkipper ... if you're inclined to also try KM-Goanna, they are working on improving the 'language packs' as I post this. German, Italian ... are what I remember reading the latest posts about. Guenter and siria are in Germany but not 100% sure, but I think they are. I just don't know for sure where everyone is located ... rodocop is from Russia ... pretty sure about that. Anyway, under 'Customize K-Meleon' you will see 'Localization' ... http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/ Localization http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/list.php?20 ... just posted by siria at KM, latest updated language packs: TRANSLATION / LOCALES: last updated packages http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,145068 Posted by: siria Date: January 11, 2018 05:44PM A little link-list to the NEWEST language packs, as long as the official threads aren't stickies and have no last-upDATE in titles yet. Or last updates are hidden in the middle of some other thread. So that roytam needs not search through the heap and overlooks updated packages anymore. ES (2018-01-11+) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,144672 RU (2018-01-10) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,144981,145012#msg-145012 IT (2018-01-10) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,143686 FR (2018-01-06, in work) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,144855 (guenter?) CN (2018-01-06) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,144709 DE (2018-01-05) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?20,144525 ... if you try KM with the Klassic skin you can change the 'throbber' in the Klassic skin folder to a nice lighthouse throbber ... for something different. The light looks great going around. It was made with this Maine Lighthouse in mind by disrupted. Cape Neddick Lighthouse (download is fourth post down) http://www.lighthouse.cc/capeneddick/ K-Meleon Lighthouse Throbber http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?10,110908 ...

apreese16 ... I think I now understand why the different browser look. I thought you were talking about New Moon but you were posting about the basilisk/moebius XP browser, I guess. I tried that browser in early December and I did not like it ... I didn't like the look also. I have been using New Moon 32bit https://o.rthost.cf/palemoon/palemoon-27.7.0a2.win32-git-20180106-d74da289f-xpmod.7z as each update is released by roytam1. Dencorso is right ... wait for roytam1 to maybe be of help to you. You might try the K-Meleon version by roytam1 ... you can really make it the way you want it to be. Great bunch of people over there and they are excited that roytam1 paid a visit there and offered to help with a newer version of KM. You will see names of siria, Yogi, guenter, rodocop, hermes, JamesD and many more. They created a special area for roytam1 and it has 'expanded' in a very short time ... it can be hard to find so here is the link. Unofficial versions development : K-Meleon Forum http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/index.php?18 K-Meleon on Goanna : K-Meleon Forum http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/list.php?19 Here is another nice link ... siria has put a short history of roytam1 showing up ... it was posted 04 Dec 2017 ... siria is the 'organizer' at KM ... she keeps it all together. K-Meleon on Goanna (Link collection) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?19,143414 Posted by: siria Date: December 04, 2017 12:56AM short summary (if I got it right): Fellow Gecko-engine browser Palemoon has stopped support for XP. Meanwhile it also uses a special own engine "Goanna", that they forked from gecko. In the MSFN forum independant developer roytam1 works on a variation of Palemoon for XP: "New Moon" and other builds: ==> http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/177125-my-build-of-new-moon-temp-name-aka-pale-moon-for-xp/?page=17 Callahan introduced it to KM here: 'New Moon' Browser - Another Option http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?12,142494 and kept us updated with crosspostings from the MSFN-forum. That thread grew longer and longer, one day roytam1 showed up here too, and a few days ago he made a test build of KM76 with Goanna engine inside (G-Meleon?) The discussion is going on in both forums now, over at MSFN and here at KM too. Our 4-page-thread here was now split in the middle: First half (in Offtopic forum): http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?12,142494 Second half (moved into Dev. forum): http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?19,143253 There's also a brandnew subforum for Goanna-threads: http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/list.php?19 Some other Palemoon-Goanna-related postings partly here: http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?1,141148 (Palemoon dropped XP) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?2,143067,143094#msg-143094 (XP-support) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?8,138447,143300#msg-143300 (Resource://) http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?9,142878,143309#msg-143309 (Version ID probs) Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/2017 05:58AM by siria. ...

Thanks for your picture of the buttons ... I don't have that setup at all. Those top right buttons are small or normal in my setup. They match exactly what I have setup in the K-Meleon browser. I use the Klassic skin in the KM browser ... it gives the feel or look of WinXP. I'm not sure why you have those buttons, I never saw them before in New Moon. Maybe there is a size setting in 'about:config'. I admit, I don't care for those buttons either. Maybe someone else can be of help. I just don't want a whole bunch of changes made to New Moon ... except for the 'better' of course, but it's a good browser now, better than Pale Moon, just my opinion. People want a name change also but I happen to like New Moon. ...

I think roytam1 doesn't like automatic updates but I may be incorrect on that. The subject came up either here or over at the K-Meleon forum. I hope he keeps it as is ... I like updating each item myself, I get to see what changes were made. It takes me less than five minutes to update everything. I have no problem with downloading a 7z file ... WinRAR opens it quickly. Not sure what weird windows you are talking about ... I see nothing wierd in my setup. I hope things stay as they now are ... it's a good simple working browser for Windows XP. Maybe try the newer K-Meleon browser that he is working on ... you could probably customize that to your liking. I also use that roytam1 KM version. Who needs anything more for WinXP ? I vote to keep this browser as it is ... simple, lean and clean. ...

Nvidia Patch Release Adds to Scope of Spectre Worries http://www.oann.com/nvidia-says-some-chipsets-hit-by-spectre-gives-security-patches/ January 10, 2018 By Aishwarya Venugopal and Laharee Chatterjee (Reuters) – Graphics specialist Nvidia Corp was the latest chipmaker to say its equipment was vulnerable to the Spectre security threat, broadening the scope of concern for millions of computers beyond their central processors. Spectre is one of two chipset flaws, the other dubbed Meltdown, revealed by researchers last week which offer hackers opportunities to steal sensitive information from laptops, desktop computers, smartphones, tablets and internet servers. Advanced Micro Devices Inc, ARM Holdings and now Nvidia have reported being exposed to the Spectre flaw, while Intel Corp has been hit by both. Nvidia, the world’s leading maker of graphics chip processors (GPUs), said in a blogpost releasing software security patches that affected chipsets included GeForce, Tesla, Grid, NVS and Quadro. (http://bit.ly/2DeYzXN) “NVIDIA has no reason to believe that the NVIDIA GPU Display Driver is vulnerable to this (third) variant,” Nvidia said, referring to Meltdown. A display driver is an integrated circuit that acts an interface between Nvidia chips and a screen. While the full extent of affected systems is not yet fully known, Cisco Systems Inc has said it has identified 18 vulnerable products and is looking for problems in nearly 30 other products, including switches and routers. Releases to date from chipmakers have concerned central processing units (CPU) rather than graphics processors. Affected companies, keen to quash any speculation that the flaws could require the replacement of millions of chips or provoke lawsuits caused by slowing computer performance, have been striving to play down the scale of the threat. Intel and AMD have not disclosed the number of chips affected by the security flaws and AMD has said its products were at “zero risk” from Meltdown. ARM says that around 5 percent of more than 120 billion chips shipped since 1991 were impacted by Spectre and significantly fewer by Meltdown. Meltdown could let hackers bypass the hardware barrier between applications run by users and the computer’s memory, potentially letting hackers read a computer’s memory and steal passwords. Spectre potentially allows hackers to trick otherwise error-free applications into giving up secret information. GeForce, Nvidia’s core line of GPUs, is aimed at consumer markets and includes gaming chips. The Quadro chipsets are used for commercial workstations, while Tesla powers datacenters and is used for artificial intelligence processing such as that used in self-driving cars. “It’s not shocking to see this given the widespread nature of the chip vulnerabilities … This situation will test its brand and reputation although we see minimal financial ramifications to the company,” said Daniel Ives, research analyst at GBH Insights, said about Nvidia. Nvidia shares were down 1.3 percent at $219.09 in early trading on Wednesday. Intel shares were little changed, while AMD, believed to be able to benefit from its rivals’ issues, were up 1.7 percent. Chipmakers and operating system vendors have been pushing out patches to fix the flaws, but the software updates have also raised a host of new concerns. Microsoft Corp said Tuesday its software patches slowed down some PCs and servers, with systems running on older Intel processors seeing a noticeable decrease in performance and added that security updates froze some computers using chipsets from AMD. ...

HP Recalls Laptop Batteries Due to Fire, Burn Hazard http://wnep.com/2018/01/08/hp-recalls-laptop-batteries-due-to-fire-burn-hazard/ January 8, 2018, by WNEP Web Staff Palo Alto, CA — Hewlett-Packard is voluntarily recalling batteries in some of their electronics for safety concerns. The batteries were shipped with the following computers and mobile workstations: HP ProBooks (64x G2 and G3 series, 65x G2 and G3 series) HPx360 310 G2 HP Envy m6 HP Pavilion x360 HP 11 HP ZBook (17 G3, 17 G4, and Studio G3) Best Buy and other stores and authorized dealers nationwide and online at Amazon.com, hp.com and other websites. The batteries were shipped in notebook computers and mobile workstations sold from December 2015 through December 2017 for between $300 and $4,000. The batteries were also sold separately for between $50 and $90. The batteries were also sold as accessories or replacement batteries for the HP ZBook Studio G4 mobile workstation or for any of the products listed above. Consumers should immediately visit the HP recall page to download the “Battery Validation Utility” to see if their battery is included in the recall and for instructions on how to enable “Battery Safety Mode” if their battery is included in the recall. HP will provide free battery replacement services by an authorized technician. HP has received eight reports of battery packs overheating, melting, or charring, including three reports of property damage totaling $4,500 with one report of a minor injury involving a first degree burn to the hand. If you believe that your battery is included in this reacall, you can call HP toll-free at 888-202-4320 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT Monday through Friday or online at www.HP.com/go/batteryprogram2018 orwww.hp.com and click “Recalls” for more information. ...

Microsoft Halts Some AMD Chip Meltdown Patches After PCs Freeze http://www.oann.com/microsoft-halts-some-amd-chip-meltdown-patches-after-pcs-freeze/ January 9, 2018 By Eric Auchard FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> said on Tuesday it had suspended patches to guard against Meltdown and Spectre security threats for computers running AMD <AMD.O> chipsets after complaints by AMD customers that the software updates froze their machines. Microsoft said in a support blog that it was working with AMD to resolve the issues and would resume Windows operating system software updates to affected AMD devices via its Windows Update process as soon as possible. AMD shares dipped 1.3 percent in pre-market U.S. trading. Last week the stock rose nearly 20 percent as investors speculated AMD could wrest market share from Intel, whose chips are exposed to risks from possible Meltdown and Spectre attacks. “To prevent AMD customers from getting into an unbootable state, Microsoft will temporarily pause sending the following Windows operating system updates to devices with impacted AMD processors at this time,” Microsoft said in its statement. Microsoft said it had received complaints from AMD customers that their machines stopped loading the Start menu or taskbar after installing Windows operating system security updates. Upon investigation, Microsoft said some AMD chipsets did not conform to technical documentation the chipmaker had provided, preventing Microsoft from successfully patching affected machines. In its blog post, the software giant said the patches had caused computer screens to freeze up, or have so-called “blue screen errors” on Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7. Meltdown and Spectre are two memory corruption flaws which could allow hackers bypass operating systems and other security software to steal passwords or encryption keys, on most types of computers, phones and cloud-based servers. AMD said last week that differences in its chip designs from rival Intel Corp meant its products were at “zero risk” from Meltdown flaw but that one variant of the Spectre bug could be resolved by software updates from vendors such as Microsoft. AMD was not immediately available for further comment. ...

Just to add about where you can get some information on your setup ... if you have AIDA64 or Everest installed. I got this information on FSB from AIDA64 ... Everest also says the same thing. AIDA64 North Bridge Properties: North Bridge Intel Odem i855PM Intel Platform Carmel Supported FSB Speeds FSB400 Supported Memory Types DDR-200 SDRAM, DDR-266 SDRAM Maximum Memory Amount 2 GB Revision / Stepping 03 / A3 Package Type 593 Pin Micro-FCBGA Package Size 37.5 mm x 37.5 mm Core Voltage 1.2 V In-Order Queue Depth 12 ... also I got the FSB information from Google at the Intel web site: Intel Pentium M Processor 745 (2M Cache, 1.80 GHz, 400 MHz FSB) ...

OK ... so my older Pentium ThinkPads are safe since the CPU Processor is FSB ... if I understand everything. Intel Pentium M Processor 745 (2M Cache, 1.80 GHz, 400 MHz FSB) ... if so, then thanks for clearing some of this up. I happen to like and still enjoy using my older ThinkPads with WinXP. I wasn't going to ditch them anyway ... I don't store any passwords and with the New Moon browser that roytam1 brought to MSFN in the Windows XP thread, everything is 'good to go' for 2018. monroe

Exactly what I was thinking when I first read this ... I had first heard '10 years', then 20 years. I thought my Pentium M ThinkPads might be 'good to go' ... but not sure. I am also wondering if there will be a 'fix' for the older chips at some point. ...

Just reading this ... looks like Intel has it covered ... I hope this will be the case. https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245508/components-processors/intel-responds-to-the-cpu-kernel-bug.html Intel responds to the CPU kernel bug, claiming its patches will make PCs 'immune' Intel said the patches for the CPU vulnerability, due next week, would bring a negligible performance hit to the average user. Claiming that the patches can make PCs "immune" from the vulnerabilities is a first, though. By Mark Hachman Senior Editor, PCWorld | Jan 4, 2018 (Editor's Note: Intel has now provided a list of the affected processors, as well as when it first learned of the problem.) Intel said Thursday that by next week, the company expects to have patched 90 percent of its processors that it released within the last five years, making PCs and servers "immune" from both the Spectre and Meltdown exploits, the company said. Intel's announcement was the latest update in an ongoing fight to patch microprocessors against a pair of vulnerabilities released this week. The company said that it had already released updates "for the majority" of its chips released in the last five years, and would hit the 90 percent mark next week. The updates are being released as firmware updates and software patches. Right now, there are two areas of concern for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities, which we've described in more detail in a separate FAQ. First, there's the security concerns: both vulnerabilities allow an attacker to peer into privileged data that normally is concealed. There's also a worry that any patches will slow down PCs as a result, though Intel has maintained that the average user will be only slightly affected. What this means: At this point, we know that major chip and operating system vendors are aware of the problem and working to release fixes. The first should probably arrive as part of Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday, or earlier. What’s unclear is how many different types of software and CPU architectures the patches will affect, and the amount of performance (if any) that PCs will suffer as a result. It’s a very complicated issue, so we’ve created an Intel CPU kernel bug FAQ that breaks down all the info we know in clear, easy-to-read language to help you wrap your head around it. How we got here If you think both Spectre and Meltdown were new to Intel -- no, they're not. In a FAQ published Thursday, Intel said it was aware of the problem in June 2017. "In this case, the security researchers presented their findings in confidence, and we and other companies worked together to verify their results, develop and validate firmware and operating system updates for impacted technologies, and make them widely available as rapidly as possible," the company said. During a conference call Wednesday afternoon, Intel shed more light on the CPU kernel vulnerability, now being referred to as a “side channel analysis exploit.” Expect to see patches roll out to address the flaw over the next several weeks, Intel executives said. The performance impact of the patches is expected to be at frustrating levels—somewhere between 0 and 30 percent, though “average” PC users are expected to see little impact. To the question of which Intel microprocessors are affected: it's pretty much all of them. Here's the complete list, as published by Intel. Intel Core i3 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel Core i5 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel Core i7 processor (45nm and 32nm) Intel Core M processor family (45nm and 32nm) 2nd generation Intel Core processors 3rd generation Intel Core processors 4th generation Intel Core processors 5th generation Intel Core processors 6th generation Intel Core processors 7th generation Intel Core processors 8th generation Intel Core processors Intel Core X-series Processor Family for Intel X99 platforms Intel Core X-series Processor Family for Intel X299 platforms Intel Xeon processor 3400 series Intel Xeon processor 3600 series Intel Xeon processor 5500 series Intel Xeon processor 5600 series Intel Xeon processor 6500 series Intel Xeon processor 7500 series Intel Xeon Processor E3 Family Intel Xeon Processor E3 v2 Family Intel Xeon Processor E3 v3 Family Intel Xeon Processor E3 v4 Family Intel Xeon Processor E3 v5 Family Intel Xeon Processor E3 v6 Family Intel Xeon Processor E5 Family Intel Xeon Processor E5 v2 Family Intel Xeon Processor E5 v3 Family Intel Xeon Processor E5 v4 Family Intel Xeon Processor E7 Family Intel Xeon Processor E7 v2 Family Intel Xeon Processor E7 v3 Family Intel Xeon Processor E7 v4 Family Intel Xeon Processor Scalable Family Intel Xeon Phi Processor 3200, 5200, 7200 Series Intel Atom Processor C Series Intel Atom Processor E Series Intel Atom Processor A Series Intel Atom Processor x3 Series Intel Atom Processor Z Series Intel Celeron Processor J Series Intel Celeron Processor N Series Intel Pentium Processor J Series Intel Pentium Processor N Series Intel, whose processors were the focus of an initial report from The Register, said that both ARM and AMD, as well as several operating system vendors, have been notified of the vulnerability. The flaw was first discovered by Google’s Project Zero security team, says Intel, which Google confirmed. Two names, Spectre and Meltdown, are also being used to identify the vulnerabilities. Intel said that it would issue its own microcode updates to address the issue, and over time some of these fixes will be rolled into hardware. At press time, Microsoft declined to comment on how it would proceed, though it is expected to release its own patches soon. Google, too, issued its own report on which of its products could be affected: These include Chrome and Android phones, though the latter will depend on how quickly phone makers roll out updates. ... more reading at the link to the article https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245508/components-processors/intel-responds-to-the-cpu-kernel-bug.html ...

Early Data Shows Linux Update to Fix Intel Security Flaw Hits Performance Hard By Joel Hruska on January 3, 2018 https://www.extremetech.com/computing/261420-early-data-shows-linux-update-fix-intel-security-flaw-hits-performance-hard Critical Intel security patch will slow PCs, servers and Macs http://www.computerweekly.com/news/450432564/Critical-Intel-security-patch-will-slow-PCs-servers-and-Macs "The impact of the flaw is potentially huge because Intel’s microprocessors are found in millions of internet and corporate servers as well as business and consumer PCs, with the performance degradation of the security patches potentially as much as 30%, according to The Register. This means if a server has the capacity to support 100 users, this could drop to 70 after the software updates are applied." ...

Microsoft issues emergency Windows update for processor security bugs https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/3/16846784/microsoft-processor-bug-windows-10-fix ...

was: Security Flaws Disclosed Wednesday 03 Jan 2018 https://www.yahoo.com/news/design-flaw-found-intel-chips-fix-causes-them-152935477--finance.html ...

roytam1 ... I really like the New Moon browser. It does everything I need and I am using it nearly 100% these days. It gets good Protocol and test results at the SSL Test page ... thanks. I am also following you at the K-Meleon forum. You are busy ! I have made my version portable which I like better to keep my settings and use on any WinXP computer ... I have three at the moment. Protocol Support Your user agent has good protocol support. Your user agent supports TLS 1.2, which is recommended protocol version at the moment. Experimental: Your user agent supports TLS 1.3. Logjam Vulnerability Your user agent is not vulnerable. For more information about the Logjam attack, please go to weakdh.org. To test manually, click here. Your user agent is not vulnerable if it fails to connect to the site. FREAK Vulnerability Your user agent is not vulnerable. For more information about the FREAK attack, please go to www.freakattack.com. To test manually, click here. Your user agent is not vulnerable if it fails to connect to the site. POODLE Vulnerability Your user agent is not vulnerable. For more information about the POODLE attack, please read this blog post. Protocol Features Protocols: TLS 1.3Yes TLS 1.2Yes TLS 1.1Yes TLS 1.0Yes SSL 3No SSL 2No ...

I happen to like 'New Moon' as the name and hope it will stay that way. It just seems fitting. A New Moon every month till we get to see another wonderful Full Moon ... Google search "The new moon is the phase that is invisible to us here on Earth because the moon is between the earth and the sun, and its illuminated side is facing away from us. The new moon marks the beginning of the lunar cycle, the movement of the moon through its different phases." ...

A new Shockwave version was released on or around 15 November 2017. Shockwave Player 12.3.1.201 ...

My thoughts are ... if (and it's a very big if) I owned a huge amount of acreage and was lucky enough to have the asteroid land (crash) on my property, it would belong to me ... right ? ... providing I survive the impact. Finders - keepers and all that stuff ... then I could claim 'mineral rights' ... I'd be smoking those big fat $50 cigars, but I don't smoke. Asteroids can have real value ... Single asteroid worth £60 trillion if it was mined – as much as world earns in a year. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2147404/Found-The-single-asteroid-thats-worth-60-billion-years-financial-output-entire-WORLD.html One single asteroid in our solar system - 241 Germania - has $95.8 (£60) trillion of mineral wealth inside it - nearly the same as the annual GDP of the entire WORLD. The finding comes in the wake of the founding of Planetary Resources, a venture backed by Avatar director James Cameron, which aims to mine asteroids for their wealth. Asterank is based on publicly available information - and aims to catalogue the enormous wealth in the solar system, and also how little is currently known about what lies out there.

Well, there seems to be some changes with the upgrade and updates over the last ten hours. It may mean there is a door still open or it may be nothing. Whatever happens will be ... monroe

Size is estimated between 10 and 30 meters ... myself, not exactly sure how large 30 meters might be ... found this example from China of a 30 meter bus that carries 256 passengers. World's Longest Bus is 30 Meters Long and Carries 256 Passengers http://www.infoniac.com/hi-tech/world-s-longest-bus-is-30-meters-long-and-carries-256-passengers.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 30-metre Asteroid Skimming Past Earth in October Will Test Nasa's Doomsday 'Planetary Defence System' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4746010/Nasa-test-defence-asteroid-skims-past-Earth.html Asteroid 2012 TC4 will pass 4,200 miles from Earth on October 12 Nasa is using the flyby to test its asteroid detection and tracking network As it starts to approach Earth, telescopes will establish its precise trajectory The observations are expected to help refine knowledge about its orbit By Shivali Best - Mailonline 31 July 2017 On October 12, a 30-metre asteroid is set to make a 'close' flyby of Earth. The asteroid, named 2012 TC4, will pass just 4,200 miles (6,800 kilometres) from Earth for the first time since it went out of range in 2012. Nasa is using this opportunity to test it's 'planetary defence system' put in place to protect Earth from a doomsday asteroid threat. Asteroid 2012 TC4 is estimated to be between 10 and 30 metres in size. Michael Kelley, a scientist working on the Nasa TC4 observation campaign, said: 'Scientists have always appreciated knowing when an asteroid will make a close approach to and safely pass the Earth because they can make preparations to collect data to characterise and learn as much as possible about it. 'This time we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat.' Nasa hopes to use its international network of observatories to recover, track and characterise 2012 TC4. ...

https://www.cnet.com/news/asteroid-2017-001-close-pass-space-earth-nasa-undetected/ A plane-size asteroid buzzes by Earth undetected A big space rock slipped right by us last week and was only spotted as it left our cosmic neighborhood. Eric Mack - July 27, 2017 Astronomers first spotted an asteroid about as long as a 737 passenger jet on Sunday and analyzed its path to determine it had made a close pass by our planet three days earlier. In other words, the big space rock slipped right by us without being detected and was only seen in our cosmic rear-view mirror. While the asteroid, now named 2017 001, flew right on by without incident, it was a relatively close pass. It came within about one-third the distance between Earth and the moon, roughly 76,448 miles (123,031 km). With an estimated size of between 82 and 256 feet (25 and 78 meters), it was around three times as big as the bolide that entered our atmosphere in 2013 and exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, blowing out windows and causing numerous injuries on the ground. That house-size bit of cosmic debris also had been previously undetected. It's not that it's impossible to detect asteroids when they come close to us, either. A much smaller asteroid that passed even closer was spotted on its approach in January. In the case of the plane-size asteroid, which was first seen by telescopes in Hawaii, it appears to be very dark or nonreflective, which probably made it harder to spot, according to NASA Solar System Ambassador Eddie Irizarry. Also, space is a very large place filled with thousands of near-Earth asteroids. While many of them have been cataloged and are tracked, it seems we still don't have quite enough eyes, human or digital, to spot all of them. ...

Just to add ... when you get the Thinkpad T60, if you find the fan never shuts off ... there are two good fan utilities in the forum developed by members. ThinkPad Forum https://forum.thinkpads.com// ... on that page go to the bottom thread 'ThinkPad Utility Work Area' ... https://forum.thinkpads.com/viewforum.php?f=27&sid=56fdb93704fb4a9a1f18b011d9e9454d I like TPFC v0.62 by troubadix but I don't use X64. TPFanControl by troubadix Download latest version WinXP/Vista, 32/64bit, Celsius/Fahrenheit, service/non_service from TPFanControl.com http://www.staff.uni-marburg.de/~schmitzr/tpfc.html?prx-ref:http://tpfancontrol.com/ At the TP forum there is also a lot of reading. ...