* Posts by BuckoA51

11 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Oct 2012

Windows 10 Pro Anniversary Update tweaked to stop you disabling app promos

BuckoA51

and here I was thinking...

..that now we have Bash in Windows 10 there's no need to ever boot my Linux box again :)

Still, while this is unquestionably a dick move by Microsoft I guess third party software can disable/work around these issues if necessary. Classic Shell plus Spybot anti-beacon if required.

Mostly Harmless: Google Project Zero man's verdict on Windows 10

BuckoA51

"User account control is a pain-in-the-ass and Forshaw's "ultimate bug bear". It appeared to have been downgraded from a security technology to "'something you just put there to annoy the user'"."

The number of so called security experts that keep saying this, yet none of them actually explain why or what a viable alternative would be. You don't get linux people saying "Oh my God Sudo is a pain in the ass! It's just here to annoy me!". I find UAC supremely useful for making it simple to run a STANDARD account on Windows and not have to change to my admin account every time I want to do some systems admin tasks.

Yes I realise that default UAC settings aren't the most secure, but that's largely come about because of whining like that and "oh there's too many prompts" etc. Microsoft just can't seem to win on this one (though I suppose it's their own fault for the mess in Windows XP that got everyone used to the idea of no UAC prompts when installing their malware).

"though the complete refusal to run some things rather than querying admin credentials (or at least allowing you to do this - some items will completely omit this option) can be annoying."

Just saw this so sorry for the edit, you know who seems most guilty of this? MICROSOFT! I haven't really come across any third party software that refuses to UAC into admin that I can remember, but there's a few things you can't do through MS's own fancy "modern" interface without actually logging in as admin. So yeah I suppose they shoot themselves in the foot with that one.

Oh dear, Microsoft: UK.gov signs deal with LibreOffice

BuckoA51

Hope they enjoy crashing and weird glitches

I've written a 500+ page book in Writer and done my accounts in Calc for the last few years. The best thing I can say about LibreOffice is its free. I recently upgraded to version 5, BIG mistake, trying to write an index for my book it crashed about every 3 minutes. Luckily downgrading back to 4 solved that problem, for now. Every version I've used since I can remember has this weird issue where it sometimes decides to insert 2 or 3 blank pages after you place a picture in the document. Sometimes deleting the paragraph or character before the picture, then immediately undoing your change will fix it, other times you have to delete and re-insert the picture. Kind of frustrating when you're trying to publish on a deadline.

Calc crashes less than Openoffice.org Calc, but is still pretty crappy. If I should ever start making more money I know what office suite I'll be using then.

Then again I suppose since I've not used MS Office for years it could also have it's fair share of glitches too.

VPNs are so insecure you might as well wear a KICK ME sign

BuckoA51

Re: Is there really a VPN solution called "Hide my Ass"

I can't understand how Hide My Ass is even still in business. Every time there's anything security related that mentions them they do abysmally. They have been shown to keep logs and hand them over to the authorities without question and it's no surprise their implementation is full of security holes at all. You'd think anyone looking for a VPN would at least be able to do a Google search and find out how useless these folks are.

I've been using iVPN for when I go to Turkey or want to look up anything without it going in the GCHQ data vacuum. They have their own custom firewall that blocks anything leaking from outside the VPN tunnel and respond very quickly to support tickets (I reported their old VPN software silently disconnecting in Windows 8 and they not only talked me through configuring a firewall to prevent it but implemented their own custom software so that it could never happen again). I highly recommend them. Of course with any VPN you're always going to have to trust someone and eventually if you are using it for nefarious purposes someone will find a way to unravel your anonymity.

Shadow of the Beast: Amiga classic returns from the darkness

BuckoA51

You missed the excellent C64 port, which made great use of the cartridge format which saw a brief revival towards the end of the machines commercial life. It also dialled back the difficulty a bit (not enough though). Easily the best 8-bit version I think.

Samsung caught disabling Windows Update to run its own bloatware

BuckoA51

Re: solution?

Anyone who's used both Excel and OpenOffice Calc will tell you that Calc is absolute garbage. I did my accounts in Calc this year (because I'm poor) and it must have crashed at least two dozen times.

Windows 10 won't help. The PC biz is doomed, DOOMED, I TELL YOU

BuckoA51

Re: Correct

So far I honestly prefer 8 on a touchscreen. 10 is simpler but 8 was pretty awesome when you got used to it, certainly the power-users touch OS of choice. Can't help feeling in order to appease the "omg windoze 8 sucks so bad ra-ra-ra" crowd that seems to have sprung up (ffs people just install classic shell if you don't like it) Microsoft are throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to touch.

Microsoft to TAKE OUT THE TRASH in the Windows Store

BuckoA51

Re: Quality is important to me

Quite agree, I installed an Android emulator to my Windows tablet to fill this supposed app-gap and haven't found anything on it yet that I couldn't get in the Windows store. Apart from Plants Vs Zombies 2 that is, but that turned out to be micro-transaction crap anyway (thanks EA for ruining another dev studio).

Then again in my mid-thirties I'm not some young finger-on-the-pulse of the app world type person any more I suppose (you know, the kind who finds copy and pasting between Word and Excel a completely alien concept).

LG monitor software quietly kills UAC, dev says

BuckoA51

Seriously WTF is wrong with you? The number of Windows users that say/do this nonsense, you never get Linux people saying "oh yeah I just run as root all the time, I know it's terrible for security, but man, that sudo crap annoys the hell out of me". Did you forget what a malware magnet XP was? Personally I run all my Windows boxes (except my keyboardless tablet) as standard user and put my full admin password in each time I see a UAC prompt, which on a fully configured box isn't very often anyway.

Google, Amazon 'n' pals fork out for AdBlock Plus 'unblock' – report

BuckoA51

Extortion racket

I wish Google etc would just stand up to this extortion racket and remove ABP from their app store, maybe they are too scared people will switch back to Firefox? As usual its the little guys that can't afford Adblocks protection money that suffer, while surfers typically don't give a shit and just watch small and medium sites die, as long as they don't have to have a flashing banner at the top of the page.

Paul Allen: Windows 8 'promising' yet 'puzzling'

BuckoA51

Correction re: Internet Explorer

Paul Allen is incorrect regarding IE, the tile and the desktop version both share bookmarks, or "favorites" as IE calls them.

If anyone wants a Start Menu replacement, try Stardock Start8, Classic shell is okay, but Start8 actually gives you the choice of Windows 7 style start menu or something that's sort of a halfway house between the new tiles and the old Start Menu.

Also I'd like to say that the notion that touch will replace the desktop is utterly absurd. Anyone who's used both will tell you where they are faster and more productive and it's not prodding an on-screen keyboard that's for sure. The quicker we can get over this fad of calling the desktop "legacy" and accept touch is useful for tablets and phones but not for laptops and desktops the better.