Posts by BenMyers

Microsoft extends extended updates for Windows 10 in the most muted way imaginable

16-bit support disappeared

16-bit support disappeared in Windows long ago. It is not in Windows 7, and maybe not in Windows Vista, which I avoided like the proverbial plague.

Infosys boss says vibe coding is no threat because there’s more to writing software than writing software

More to writing software than writing software, for sure

Infosys guy is spot on. Once the software is written, it needs to be tested to make sure it works according to spec and all the coding errors are wrung out. Depending on the complexity of the software and its dependencies on other software, this could take a long time if done well.

Ordering a trip back to 2009, with a side of nostalgia

C2032 CMOS battery is dead!

The 2009 date on the UEFI/BIOS screen says that the motherboard's C2032 3v coin-sized CMOS battery is dead, does not hold a charge. I suspect that the battery has been changed. When the battery is dead, power from the mains via the power supply is enough to keep date and time moving right along, ticking and accurate. But reboot, and poof! Goodbye accurate date and time.

HP stuffed a PC into a keyboard. We took it for a spin

Another solution in search of a problem

Given it's cost, this is a dumb idea. I expect to see these keyboard computers remaindered, sold off cheaply when they do not catch on.

FCC says it's making it easier for US telcos to ditch legacy lines

Copper wires are reliable

Copper wires are reliable, even when there is a power outage. We pay too much for an old copper wire phone line, because it is our only contact with the outside world if there is a power failure. This is because the copper wire provides enough voltage to power an old-time touch tone phone, of which we have several.

If the power goes out, the internet goes down and with it, our cell phone service. We can only make cell phone calls here through the internet, because cell coverage here is nil. The nearest cell tower is on the other side of a hill, so it does not provide us with a cell phone radio signal.

What do Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile claim on their cellular coverage maps? 90+% coverage? Hah! Their maps are as accurate as a map constructed with Rorschach blots.

Apple's last tower topples… and the others will follow

Stupid design of Mac Pro!

I think Apple created a self-fulfilling prophecy with the Mac Pro. Design it badly enough and price it high enough, so nobody wants to buy it. Curtains!

Wine 11 runs Windows apps in Linux and macOS better than ever

Too bad

It is too bad there is not a WINE that runs under Windows! WINE makes it easy to run all manner of Windows and DOS programs, easier than Windows itself, given that Microsoft has castrated the ability to run 16-bit programs following Windows XP. Despite Microsoft-Think, there are plenty of good solid financial reasons to run old 16-bit Windows and DOS programs. I have dealt directly with some of them.

Microsoft Windows Media Player stops serving up CD album info

Why even use Windows Media Player?

I have not used Windows Media Player for maybe a decade, preferring VLC, which will also play CDs mastered to play on every continent, not just my home continet of North America/

Stealthy browser extensions waited years before infecting 4.3M Chrome, Edge users with backdoors and spyware

INCOMPLETE ARTICLE!

So tell us all how to identify and remove these scurillous browser extensions!

HP to sack up to six thousand staff under AI adoption plan, fresh round of cost-cutting

Special option attached directly to your credit card

HP is the world leader in finding ways to sell more inkjet cartridges. When you unpack a new one, you find "starter" ink cartridges with very little capacity. Cartridges are built with a time limit, so they expire even when there is still a lot of ink remaining. Woe unto you who use an HP inkjet for infrequent printing. And, of course, you can only use :genuine" HP cartridges, not refilled ones from 3rd parties.

I have long said that every HP inkjet printer comes with a special accessory that attaches directly to your credit card.

HP warns memory price explosion means PCs may have less RAM, or use low-cost parts???

HP warns that the memory price explosion means PCs may have less RAM, or use low-cost parts. Why is that any different than what HP has always done? Time and again, HP computers and laptops arrive here for service and they are almost always configured cheaply in the consumer sector of the business. In other words, HP already sells cheap underconfigured systems. So now they are saying they will do what they've always done.

Rent-a-GPU neoclouds need to adapt or die as the AI market evolves

Or AI simply blows up!

More and more, every day, AI is seeming like Dutch tulip bubble, the DotCom bust at turn of the century, and the collateralized mortgage debt implosion of 2008, It does no good that the Trump cabal have loosened financial regulations and embraced crypto. And let's not metion the great depression nearly a century ago, with same lax financial oversight.

Who benefits when the bubble bursts? Billionaires with the money to buy assets at pennies on the dollar. They may not benefit if the have made serious investments in AI.

But I have my Kruegerands and other gold holdings.

Microsoft's fix for slow File Explorer: load it before you need it

Why let's preload everything!

Why not preload everything? After all, memory is cheap. Oops! DDR5 prices are going through the roof, thanks to AI madness!! I could outfit my rig here with 128GB, instead of 64GB.

Microsoft does not know how to do simple and effective software. Instead, everything is complicated and ever more bloated.

The Notepad that knew too much: Humble text editor gets unnecessary AI infusion

Bye bye Notepad!

Can I uninstall Notepad? Time to use Notepad++ exclusively, so I don't get bamboozled by AI that has no clue about the text I am editing.

Google unveils master plan for letting AI shop on your behalf

Re: The woods are calling.

Just remember you can always recycle your tinfoil hat.

No, no. A thousand times no.

I am a picky shopper. Nobody and no AI will ever think for me when I shop. AI doing shopping for you is an idea dead on arrival.

Junk is the new punk: Why we're falling back in love with retro tech

SDD, DOS and Windows 98

Does installing an SSD in a Pentium 100 DOS computer or an elderly Windows 98 computer count as retro?

Long live the nub: ThinkPad designer David Hill spills secrets, designs that never made it

Continuing a tradition of Thinkpad excellence

Hill has been instrumental in the design of Thinkpads, still the best ever business laptops. My first one was an X30. Now I use an elderly X280 with a superb 1920x1280 12" screen, easy on the eyes despite the small dimensions. It keeps on doing the job for me, and I have little incentive to replace it. The only thing I regret is that it does not have an Ethernet port, lacking real estate for one, and consistent with the trend toward laptops using only wifi, not more reliable and faster Cat6 Ethernet. So I have a USB-Ethernet adapter to use.

Weapons jam: Pentagon sucks at removing foreign objects from its gear, auditors say

DOGE with its chain saws?

DOGE were a bunch of immature amateurs hired to do an important, and perhaps necessary, job. They botched it, and the world pays the price. What DOGE did and how they did it says that they were not detail-oriented. Or maybe they were prodded to do it quick and dirty.

All it takes is some motivation

It's easy, but Hegseth is too clueless to get it to happen. From now on, all military contracts for electronics MUST identify the country of manufacture as part of the delivery manifest. Oh! And the govt database needs to be expanded to record and track this data.

Uncle Sam wants you – to use memory-safe programming languages

Uncle Sam wants Microsoft to use memory-safe programming languages?

Just think how stable Windows would be if Microsoft actually used a memory-safe programming language! As it is, Windows is a house of cards on top of its inscrutable and woefully complicated registry.

China just two years behind USA on chip design, says White House tech Czar

Sacks has great tech credentials? Nope.

How much can lawyer Sacks truly understand about technology? Another butt-kissing appointee?

The AIpocalypse is here for websites as search referrals plunge

Google search is garbage, with or without AI

Google search used to be my go-to for info (drivers, specs, repair manuals) about computer gear. No more. Even before it showed its AI chops, Google searches returned not the info I wanted, but instead directed me to the home page to sell me something. I now use Duck-Dick-Go in Firefox to fine the info I really want. This is a real pain-in-the-ass, Google!

Microsoft is opening Windows Update to third-party apps

Any QA of vendor-supplied updates?

Is there any QA of vendor-supplied updates? Oh, wait a minute! Microsoft does no QA on its updates, so it seems with all the update messes it regularly causes.

Microsoft winnows: Layoffs hit software engineers hard

Windows done with AI adds to the Windows disaster

So Satya says that 30% of Windows is coded by AI. What was used to train the AI that generates the code? Doubtless Windows itself, maybe Windows 10, and surely not Windows 8! All the modern versions of Windows are littered with code defects, as evidenced by the monthly Patch Tuesday release of sometimes hundreds of updates, and occasional "must fix" updates on other days.

My conclusion here is simple and it seems logical. AI is helping to generate even more Windows defects and faster.

Fired US govt workers, Uncle Xi wants you! – to apply for this fake consulting gig

LinkedIn is 1000% useless for jobs!

I have been a member of LinkedIn for at least a decade. It enables me to keep in touch with other professionals I know, almost a Facebook for professionals. I have provided a thumbnail sketch of my CV and indicated that I work for big bucks, especially when travel is involved. Nevertheless, I get bombarded with job requests mostly from people outside the US for ill-described work I could probably do. They usually need the work done by next week, impossible. I simply delete these requests which would amount to nothing. My guess is that these are scam requests.

To progress as an engineer career-wise, become a great communicator

Yes, engineers MUST communicate well to succeed

My career accomplishments are not so sparkling, but I've made a decent living for years as an engineer who could write and present to audiences.

In my large American high school, I was denied participation in the first-ever advanced placement course in English, despite straight A's previously. The single guidance counselor for 1300 students advised me to seek a technical education because I had straight A's in math and science. I was worthy and financially deserving of a scholarship for full tuition and books at Case Institute of Technology, a forerunner of Case Western Reserve. I did passably well in courses there, including two programming courses and four semesters each of Calculus/Differential Equations, Chemistry and Physics, including lab work. But my liberal arts leanings made Case and uncomfortable fit. I gave up the scholarship, began working as a programmer, transferred to Western Reserve next door, losing credit only for a course in which I attained a "D", a barely passing grade. I completed my studies with a BA in English Literature, taking graduate level courses in linguistics, old English and non-Shakespearean middle English literature. I graduated at the end of the summer rather than the spring of my senior year.

So I have been an English lit major masquerading as an engineer for decades, working variously as a software developer, customer-facing support person, project leader, manager, presenter to a couple of thousand tech people, negotiator and self-employed personal computer fixit guy. It has worked out well for me, enabling me to live in different areas and climates including one year in the old Yugoslavia, one year in Belgium and four years in Italy, fulfilling my dream of living outside the monolithic and provincial United States. Financially, it has been good, but I am not exceptionally wealthy.

Being able to communcate clearly and succinctly is most important, in engineering and in ANY career.

The 'End of 10' is nigh, but don't bury your PC just yet

Linux Mint Cinnamon

Linux Mint Cinnamon on a USB stick is my go-to quick hardware diagnostic. It is easy to use. I have a project in the works to install it on a wonderful laptop (large screen, powerful CPU, 32GB memory, 500GB SSD) to become the tool for me to become more familiar with Linux.

People promoting Linux rarely take into account the grunt work and tedium of finding Linux apps comparable to Windows apps and then converting ones data to be usable with the Linux app. However, as more and more apps become web-based like QuickBooks, data movement becomes less of an issue. I wonder if the web-based Microsoft 365 will run in Chrome on a Mint system? I'll find out.

Microsoft to preload Word minutes after boot

Since when is 8GB "beefy"?

Microsoft continually avoids the real world to make it easier for 3rd tier brands and even name brands with schlock computers to sell underpowered computers to an unwitting and uninformed public. Sorry, Satya, but a computer with only 8GB of memory running Windows 11 is a recipe for a computer that impersonates a slug. Worse yet, with so little memory, one of these 8GB computers will wear out an SSD with constant swapping of data and code segments as the user changes the focus from one app to another.

So let's say that 16GB is the bare minimum for Windows 11, and 32GB for any computer used for heavy lifting.

One would hope that it is possible to disable the preloading of Word to free up memory for other regularly used tasks. And when one finishes using preloaded Word, does it still remain in memory?

Microsoft goes off the rails again, doing something questionable, when actual software design and engineering are called for.

Official HP toner not official enough after dodgy update, say users

HP's zeal for toner revenue is enough to start killing off its printer business. What a strategic vision!

Trump eyes up to 100% tariffs on foreign semiconductors, TSMC in crosshairs

Re: Elections

Nope. Trump has made it real easy. Jump on the Trump train, pledge absolute fealty, and you re-election will be smooth as can be. But if you cross Trump, don't do or say what he wants, be prepared for a Republican opponent backed by Trump dollars in the 2026 primaries.

Rubbish!

All that the tariffs would do is raise prices for buyers of products, because THEY pay the tariffs, not the country that exports its stuff. This is utterly brain-damaged thinking by the US felon-in-chief, who only wants to look out for himself and his personal mafia, and to hell with regular everyday Americans. Did I mention that the lizard-felon is pissing off a lot of countries, and his reasoning is always half-assed.

Linux Mint 22.1 Xia arrives fashionably late

No reason for 32-bit Mint unless...

The only reason to run 32-bit Mint is if one has a computer that cannot be upgraded above 3GB, and those are few and far between. Even 4GB of memory gives a boost from the extra ~500MB of addressable memory. The cost of DDR2 or DDR3 memory for upgrading an old computer is now almost negligible.

Apple drops soldered storage for 2024 Mac Mini

Proprietary is part of Apple DNA, too

Proprietary is part of Apple DNA, just like degree of difficulty to repair. Like competitive diving, Apple gets a perfect 10 on both difficult to repair and proprietary. That's why their products cash machines, and they've dupe the Apple cult into spend, spend, spend big bucks.

Same old, same old Apple

Yes, Apple used proprietary SSDs in older Intel-based MacBooks, so why not in the newer Mac Mini? Apple always finds a way to destroy a good idea about repair and maintenance of its computer products. All this does is open the door for extremely pricey SSD upgrades from Apple and maybe a company the dotes on Apple upgrades like OWC.

M4 MacBook Pro shows Apple is still glued to the idea of unfixable laptops

It's in the Apple DNA!

It's in the Apple DNA that devices cannot be repaired or maybe repaired with a great deal of difficulty. What is new here? Same old, same old Apple.

Windows 10 given an extra year of supported life, for $30

Windows 11 is a mess cobbled in Redmond

Not only does Windows 11 require newer hardware, but it's desktop UI is a regression in usability from Windows 10. Here we are with the OS claimed to be the best ever UI, but the start menu is so cumbersome that it is faster for me to type the program name in the search bar and then hit enter. Worse yet, the Microsofties have not listened to three years of unrelenting criticism about Windows' design, and they have not changed anything significant.

Floppy discs still run a U.S. metro? Japan steps in with 'project kill floppy'

What? 5.25" floppys

Why didn't these people use 3.5" floppies, newer and more reliable? Or use FreeDOS, giving them access to USB? How stinking old are the motherboards for these computers? Many questions raised about total IT incompetence in San Francisco.

Buying a PC for local AI? These are the specs that actually matter

As described in the article, I have to agree with your completely.

This article, though very thorough, makes no mention whether multi-core CPUs have a positive effect on the time it takes to run an AI model.

Re: This space is evolving quickly...

Which makes and models of video cards come with 16GB?

Microsoft pushing, pushing, pushing Edge in Defender slammed as a 'dark pattern'

It's not only Edge

My laptop has Windows 11 installed, and every time it boots up, it nags me to set up one version of Teams or another. I have no present need to use Teams, so Ctrl-Alt-Del and Task Manager seems to be the only way to rid my system of the setu-up-Teams app. This does not appear to be controlled by the launch of a program during startuo, so I can't edit the list of program to run at startup. Hard coded? Sheesh! How serious can Microsoft get pushing its own unwanted products? Anybody know how to eliminate this annoyance? Of course, it will come right back with the next Windows up date to improve security and to peddle its products.

UK Royal Mint mining PCBs for precious metals in e-waste recovery effort

A nice side business

I have a nice side business, collecting and aggregating memory and other circuit boards to sell to a nearby e-scrap company for top dollar.

Raptor Lake microcode patch arrives for Intel motherboards this month, ASUS and MSI say

Obvious why

It is obvious why MSI and Asus are at the head of the queue for Raptor Lake microcode updates. Both focus on gaming computers, often overclocked.

The Reg did not try top contact Lenovo? And what about Gigabyte, also big in the world of gaming? And SuperMicro?

Secure Boot useless on hundreds of PCs from major vendors after key leak

Binarily free scannng tool is not usable by regular people.

"Binarily has released a free scanning tool", but it is not friendly. It uploads a UEFI firmware image, which most of us do not have available for our computers. SO regular computer owners cannot use it. I think that the purpose is to all to the growing list of motherboards that test positive for PKFAIL.

Yet another message here says that someone managed to run the Binarily PKFAIL test. I wonder how.

Windows Patch Tuesday update might send a user to the BitLocker recovery screen

Re: Dont panic.

What!!!! Yes, BitLocker works on Windows 10/11 Home. It is set up by default when one brings a computer home from the store, powers it up and creates a login. Managed to "repair" a dead Windows 10 Home laptop a couple of years ago by mouting the Bitlockered SSD in another computer, typing in the 48-bit BitLocker key and ridding the owner of BitLocker.

Another reason

One more reason not to use BitLocker.

The months and days before and after CrowdStrike's fatal Friday

An oxymoron

Given the McAfee XP disaster in 2009 or thereabouts and the recent CrowdStrike debacle, saying the name of ex-McAfee CTO and CrowdStrike founder George Kurtz and "computer security" in the same breath is an all-time great oxymoron.

FreeDOS and FreeBSD prove old code never dies, just gets nifty updates

Re: Why?

I was tasked recently with replacing a dead Gateway 486 running MS_DOS 6.2 to control a factory device through a serial port. I chose a Dell Optiplex 7050, AFAIK one of the last modern computer generation to support legacy boot. Everything since is UEFI-only. The minimum amount of memory for the Optiplex is 2GB, enough to cause HIMEM.SYS to hang during system boot. I substituted the FreeDOS equivalent with a command line parameter to limit the high memory to 512MB. The replacement computer runs well.

The big picture is that many companies use very old but highly reliable industrial or medical equipment controlled by very old computers, and that's why people use MS-DOS 6.2 and FreeDOS today.

Windows: Insecure by design

SJVN is an industry expert, but...

SJVN is an industry expert, but in railing against Microsoft (for good reason!), he trots out the old saw that we all have to migrate to Linux. From his POV, this is easy, because he has been there for decades. But in telling us all to move to Linux, he disregards entirely the problems of finding apps to replace our Windows app, moving all our data, and, finally, the likely onerous task of making our data compatible with whatever Linux replacement apps we choose.

But I repeat, SJVN is 1000% correct in pointing out how insecure Windows is, and the US govt does not levy fines or take anti-trust action. The EU, though, is well positioned to whack Microsoft, and its regulators have the mindset to do so.