Tech News Weekly: Issue 35
Optimizing wireless network adapters, playing a Sand-variant of Tetris, and passkeys are coming
News
Operating Systems
Microsoft released the Moments 3 update recently as a preview, but only on systems that have enabled the “get updates faster” option in Windows Update. The features will be included in the upcoming cumulative update for Windows 11, which Microsoft plans to release on June 13th, 2023.
Mobile
Aurora Store, an open source alternative to Google Play for Android is facing issues with its anonymous login feature, which enables users of its store to access Google’s Play Store anonymously.
Outlook on Android and iOS is now capable of acting as a two-factor authentication tool for Microsoft accounts. Microsoft baked the functionality into the app, because it is more widely used than its own Microsoft Authenticator application.
Browser
Mozilla has concretized the plans for supporting its Firefox web browser on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. The organization plans to support the operating systems until September 2024. Firefox users on these operating systems will be migrated to the next Firefox ESR release in the coming months.
Google released Chrome 114 Stable today, fixing 16 unique vulnerabilities in the browser. None are rated critical and none are exploited in the wild. The browser makes some other notable changes, including switching to its own certificate root store on Android, Linux and ChromeOS, enabling Private State Tokens API, which allows websites to trust users based on previous set tokens, and cookie protection on Windows devices.
MSEdgeFeatures is a new tool that unlocks all experimental features in Microsoft Edge Canary. Run this in Terminal, Invoke-RestMethod 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/HotCakeX/MSEdgeFeatures/main/Shortcut.ps1' | Invoke-Expression, to get the list of experimental parameters returned. The tool creates a new shortcut in the Downloads folder, which enables the features in Microsoft Edge Canary when run. You do need to install the browser on the device though first.
Privacy and Security
Bitwarden users may soon use the password manager to store passkeys. The password manager supports signing-in with passkeys as well.
Software Releases and Updates
CrystalDiskInfo 9.0, a benchmarking software, was released this week. The new version of the free application adds or improves support for various devices and technologies.
PowerToys 0.70 includes the new Mouse Without Borders tool, which allows Windows 11 users to control up to 4 devices with a single mouse and keyboard.
Gaming and Entertainment
Setris is a free Tetris variant that combines classic Tetris with a “turn into sand” mechanism. You drop the usual shapes to the floor and may rotate them just in classic Tetris. As soon as they hit the floor, they turn into sand, which basically means that they start to crumble.
Your task in Setris is to create continuous row of a single color to remove it. It is an interesting take on Tetris. Note that you may donate to the developer, but that it is not a requirement.
Other
HBO Max captchas are pretty bad, it appears, at least judging from this short video of a user who tried to solve the captcha to get into the account. Can’t verify, because I do not have access to HBO Max.
HP continues to punish its customers by disabling support for third-party ink regularly. Its HP+ service, for instance, prevents the use of third-party ink for the lifetime of the printer. Once subscribed, it is game over in that regard. If you ask me, pick a Brother Laser Printer next time, they are rock solid.
Famous torrent website Rarbg has shut down.
Brave Software, known best for Brave Browser and Search, has released a public search API. It has a free tier, very limited, and paid plans.
Article(s)
How to configure advanced wireless network adapter settings
I recently analysed bad wireless network reception of my Asus Zenbook 14, which I bought at the end of 2021. Even though it was located near a specific wireless access point, it would sometimes either drop the connection or stop Internet connectivity, before recovering.
Not that great and I decided to investigate. The usual options, checking for a new driver and making sure the access point’s configuration was set up correctly, turned up nothing.
The device had the most recent driver installed and the access point was configured correctly.
Many Windows users may not know that many drivers support advanced Wi-fi adapter settings, which may be used to customize and optimize wireless reception.
Here is how that works:
Use Windows-X to display the admin menu on the device.
Select Device Manager.
In Device Manager, expand Network adapters and locate the device’s wireless adapter.
Right-click on it and select Properties. Or double-click on it.
Switch to the Advanced tab.
There you find a list of properties and options to customize those. Not all of these need to be configured, but you may want to look at the following, if they exist:
Preferred band — This allows you to tell the network adapter that you prefer either the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz band.
Roaming aggressiveness — The setting changes the signal strength threshold that has the wireless adapter start looking for another, better suited, access point in the vicinity. There will be fewer scans the lower the preference is set to.
Throughput Booster / Enhancement — May affect the upload bandwidth and should be set to disabled, unless large files need to be uploaded or other upload intensive tasks need to be performed.
Transmit power — Reducing the transmit power reduces radio coverage, which may help other devices in the area in regards to their wireless reception.
Note that these may or may not be available, depending on the wireless network adapter and driver that is used.
You may test Roaming Aggressiveness first, by setting it to a lower value or higher value, and then preferred band.
In case you are wondering, Intel has a support page that explains the preferences of its wireless networking driver.
This year, I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription. Here is what happened.
I have been an Amazon Prime subscriber for over a decade. Earlier this year, my membership was up for renewal and I decided to cancel it.
The price increase that Amazon announced was not the main reason, but it was the catalysator I needed to take a closer look at the subscription to determine, whether it was worth the money.
In 2022, I spend thousands on Amazon Prime orders. While there are lots of other online retailers, it always felt cumbersome to use them. With Amazon, it took just a few clicks to buy something, and most of the time, the goods would be delivered quickly.
Then came 2023 and my decision to stop being an Amazon Prime member. Cancelling the subscription was a straightforward process. It takes just a few clicks and your membership will expire at the end of the period you paid for.
Amazon did not try to keep me subscribed to Prime. No offer or incentive, which made my decision easier.
A deeper analysis of my spending on Amazon and my use of Amazon services revealed that I used Amazon because of convenience for the most part. I did not use most Prime services, watched the occasional show or movie on Prime video, but that was about it.
When I cancelled my subscription, I was aware that things would become less convenient in the future. I spend less about $200 so far on Amazon this year, mostly on products that I could not get elsewhere, or not for the price or delivery time.
The one downside to not being a Prime member is that you have to pay shipping costs, unless you reach a certain threshold. If you cross it, shipping is free for most items. This reduced impulsive buys significantly.
Whenever you try to buy something on Amazon, you get an intermediary screen that promotes Prime’s fast and free delivery.
Amazon is using a trick on the page, as it will always show a price for delivery without Prime there. The reason for that is that it displays the “fastest delivery without Prime” price, and not the cheapest option there.
When you proceed, you may get free shipping without Prime, if you select the right option. There is no option to configure the checkout experience to skip this step.
I started to buy local more as a consequence of ending my Prime subscription. Local, meaning both in local shops, but also in online shops from the region.
Shipping is not nearly as fast as before, but this just meant that I started to buy elsewhere more often.
To sum it up:
Cancelling my Amazon Prime subscription saved me thousands, as it helped my family cut down online purchases, including impulsive buys.
Buying goods on Amazon is less convenient, as you need to cross a threshold for free shipping. This may mean waiting with purchases until you got enough to get free shipping, or buying elsewhere.
It pushed me towards using other online services and also local stores.
Tech in less than 150 words
Windows Configuration Updates
This is a new type of update that Microsoft uses to determine if specific features are enabled on Windows 11 devices. It is tied to the Moments Updates, which Microsoft releases regularly for Windows 11.
The features of a Moments update are enabled only if the associated configuration update is installed as well on the device. This is done by checking “get the latest updates as soon as they are ready” in the Windows Update settings, if preview updates are installed on the device.
The features will be included in cumulative updates automatically at one point though.
Links
'Forgotten archive' of medieval books and manuscripts discovered in Romanian church
Pro-cash movement warns that people could be losing more than they bargained for
Who owns this camera, Nikon? Me or you? (YouTube video)
I use a Brother monochrome for years and its quality and total cost of ownership is outstanding IMO.