Posts by BPontius

UK lawmakers look to enforce blocking tools for legal but harmful content

Grow a brain

People need to grow a brain and learn to make choices instead of having an algorithm, a law, company or Government do it for them. It is quite simple, don't want to see certain content block it (social media) or scroll/click away from it. Don't like what is on television or radio? Change the channel or turn it off, stream a video of your choice, watch a DVD or VHS, read a book, challenge yourself and learn something. As for children the parents should be monitoring and controlling their activities on and off line. That is a parents job, not the school, Government or nanny/babysitter.

There are already filters built into browsers to block content, there are tools and ways to block content from children. With a simple google search you can block websites using the host file on Windows, there are programs that will do it for you. Use your brain instead of crying for someone else to make the decisions for you!

End of an era as the last 747 rolls off the production line

No other aircraft has the glorious profile when landing like the 747 does. I will miss seeing this magnificent aircraft.

The A380 is an amazing piece of engineering. I love the shape of the wings looking at the A380 head on, it almost looks like those wings will come to life like an eagle and lift the plane into the skies all by them selves. Never flown in either aircraft, but love watching both.

Look like Bane, spend like Batman with Dyson's $949 headphones

A kick my butt sign

Spend nearly one thousand dollars to get your butt kicked in this dorky get up!!

Killing trees with lasers isn’t cool, says Epson. So why are inkjets any better?

Epson poor print quality

Owned an Epson ink jet printer, never had to clean the print heads so often or reprint stuff because of smeared, squished or incomplete printing. Printing anything resembling a picture or diagram was even worse. Will never go back to Epson.

Judge tells Amazon: Stop retaliating against employees

No Sale!

Amazon is a sweat shop and I will not support it!!

OpenPrinting keeps old printers working – even on Windows

A whole O/S and a sub-system in a O/S for a legacy printer driver? Quite the opposite of secure! Security isn't the place to cut costs, by a new printer and uninstall all that!

I'm happy paying Twitter eight bucks a month because price isn't the same as value

It is "The Star Bellied Sneetches" by Dr Suess with Musk as Sylvester with his machine to add and remove stars. People paying for a star to distinguish themselves from others and soon it will be impossible to tell the true Sneetches from the fakes. The fee is nothing more than a way for Musk to recoup the some of the $4 billion he paid for a dead bird. Waste money for a status symbol in a chat room? Not me!!

Linus Torvalds suggests the 80486 architecture belongs in a museum, not the Linux kernel

Re: Lessons?

Sounds like a financial black hole, both paying for bad support and scraping up old hardware that can be difficult and expensive to acquire. Can't see them saving any money with bad support and labor costs for OT and idle employees due to crap systems and software.

486 processors are 33 years old, it is 15 - 20 years past time to dump support. Ridiculous!! Just as with Windows people want Microsoft to continue supporting 20+ year old protocols and hardware, also complain that Windows is insecure but will not apply updates. Demanding continued support for old protocols like SMBv1, NetBIOS and Telnet. People won't move on from Windows 7 or XP (13 and 21 years old) and cling to hardware, drivers and software form that era even after upgrading to Windows 10.

I realize people have financial reasons and other issues for not upgrading but to insist on continued support for such niche markets is unreasonable.

InSight Mars lander has only 'few weeks' of power left

Re: As a thought....

The high concentration of chlorine in the Mars dust would react with the plastic blocking the solar panels just like the dust.

Intel accidentally leaked its 34-core Raptor Lake chip. What do the dies tell us?

Planned! As cut throat as the competition is between AMD and Intel, seriously doubt it was an oversight or accident.

Even AMDs Threadripper with 64 cores doesn't need 1.21 jiggawatts. They got a flux capacitor inside those things?!

Intel's 13th-gen CPUs are hot, hungry, loaded with cores

Tempted to upgrade to the 13th gen CPUs, though will wait for the prices to drop a bit.

The final sentence about the release of the CPUs and the "bevy of Z790 motherboards" made me laugh. Bevy is a word you don't see much and certainly not in tech articles.

Nvidia RTX 4090: So hot they're melting power cables

Sounds like the cables aren't beefy enough to handle the power draw demanded of the card. Need to re-design or scale back if one graphics card requires that much juice, a 600 watt power supply easily powers my whole i9 11700k, 32 gig, Geforce 3060 video card, two 1 tb SSD drives, a 1 tb M.2 drive and a mechanical 2 tb harddrive. Ridiculous graphics card power needs!!

Your next PC should be a desktop – maybe even this Chinese mini machine

I agree with you, U.S hardware and software is just as riddled with backdoors, remote access/control and problems. Still waiting to see evidence of Russian made Kaspersky software spying on users, British Intelligence, E.U, Germany, France and Belgium investigated and couldn't find any spying. With the National Security Letters companies can be forced to place backdoors and spyware into hardware and software, leaving the company unable to say or do anything about it. World wide it is just one big spying and data collecting system.

"Welcome to the jungle baby!" -Guns n Roses

Laugh all you want. There will be a year of the Linux desktop

If you build it, doesn't mean they will come

Linux has been in single digit market shares on the desktop for decades. Windows updates every second Tuesday of each month with out of band or smaller releases near the end of the month and Windows security is improving. If Linux is so much more secure than Windows, then why are more and more hacking groups specifically targeting Linux systems? Because Linux users\administrators rarely add or harden security after installation. Seems Linux users\administrators have become over confident of Linux security, which has made them less secure and a bigger target.

Ransomware, infections and hacks on and into Linux systems have had triple digit increases over the last several years. All verifiable with a Google search.

Microsoft is having to force users to use their Microsoft account with Windows, doesn't seem likely that businesses or users will flock to a cloud desktop when they won't even use a Microsoft account login on a PC. Don't see dumb terminals making any kind of a come back, nor have thin clients ever taken off. Windows may not be the cash cow for Microsoft it once was, but I don't see it leaving the PC anytime soon, nor is Linux likely to take over even if Windows did vanished. More likely Mac would become dominant, even though they are more expensive and a closed system, as Apple already has support, drivers and mainstream companies producing software for it.

I won't be switching to Linux or a cloud based desktop, nor will I log onto my PC with a Microsoft account. I have yet found any benefit for me to do so. Tried Linux several times over the years and does not suit my needs, is not a simple switch over from Windows, is a splintered mess of distros, distro compatible apps/software, GUI interface overload, script files to configure the system\software and the awful hobbyists, hacker style development of programs/apps. But if it works for you, great!

Oops, web trackers may have leaked 3 million patients' info

Goodbyeeeeee

In what reality did putting Google, Meta or any other trackers on the website with HIPPA protected information seemed like a good idea?!?!? Unbelievable!!

You should be put out of business!!

More than 4 in 10 PCs still can't upgrade to Windows 11

Living in the past

So many living in the past pining for Windows 7 or some other favorite piece of history. If you went back to Windows 7, you would find it not to be what you remember it to be. I used to be that way until I tried several times over the years to go back to older Windows versions, older software, hardware and found it was not the utopia that I remembered it to be. I have fond memories of Apple II, the original Macintosh, used to love using the DOS prompt back in the day, the novelty of Windows 95 but going back to them was to shatter a fantasy of perceived better times, things, places.

Your memories are altered, filtered and in many cases false from the reality of the actual past event(s). Unwillingness to learn, adjust and adapt to changes keeps you in the past and unable to move forward. The changes from Windows 10 to 11 are minimal and very easily learned and adjusted to, it is still Windows 10 under the hood. If staying with older hardware and O/S works for you then great, but wishing for Microsoft to go back to a Windows 7 GUI is wasted energy that is better used to learn and adjust to changes.

White House to tech world: Promise you'll write secure code – or Feds won't use it

This is rich! The Government who couldn't build a basic website for buying health insurance and still maintains decades old systems that rely on running Cobol, is telling programmers to write secure software. At the same time they are integrating open source and IoT into their systems, unable to keep systems patched and updated, use weak passwords and poor security practices. Write your own secure code geniuses!!

China can destroy US space assets, Space Force ops nominee warns

China doesn't invocate, they steal the knowledge from other countries. All this speculation about China's abilities smacks of the space race to the moon against Russia, which in the end Russia was no competition at all. China has so much propaganda and mis-information out there it is impossible to know what is really going on inside their government. We have allowed the Russians to get ahead in the space race and if we allow China to out pace us in tech and space, the world will be in serious peril. The Space Force is an empty, useless agency devoid of function and purpose now or in the distant future. Any aliens that might visit are able to travel vast distances so they will have technology far more advanced, which in the event they attack or invade we have already lost.

AI won't take coders' jobs. Humans still rule for now

From what I've read AI comes pretty close to matching human coders. As the AI project between Facebook and Google with their program for business negotiations demonstrated, the program created it's own language and terms that the engineers who built it didn't know or could understand. Similar things happened in projects in years past with AI programs. Machine learning is able to expand past the functions of the original programming and develop it's own language, systems and functions. The reality of AI developing beyond man's control is not that far off and a bigger danger than we want to believe.

Girls Who Code books 'banned' in some US classrooms

Sounds like there is still a lot of late nineteenth and early twentieth century thinking about women's rights and place in society. Keep women out of IT and science, keep women in the home and kitchen. Keep women subservient and meek, don't teach them to stand up for them selves or fight back and don't let them into management.

The ignorant, scared, and insecure want to keep woman lesser than in society, less pay, less power, less knowledge, less opportunity...etc. We are quick to slam the strict cultures and religions that restrict and suppress woman's rights and freedoms, yet we are just as guilty but refuse to see or acknowledge it.

Data tracking poses a 'national security risk' FTC told

Re: If you have nothing to hide...

"Nothing to hide" So why do you have locked doors, curtains/blinds on the windows, lock box/safe, bank account(s), VPN, encrypted email, firewall, account passwords, PIN number(s), use an alias instead of your real name online, lock your car, paper shredder...etc. We all have something to hide, we all want some level of privacy and security in our lives and personal information.

You okay with the Government eliminating encryption and having your banking, healthcare and other information sent clear text? You wear your name, social security number, birthday, phone number and address on a badge for all to see? Of course not! So you DO have something to hide. Such a lame defense!!!

The crime against humanity that is the modern OS desktop, and how to kill it

Microsoft has support.

There IS support for users on microsoft.com, there is a chat you can use to talk to support. It doesn't cost a thing, I have used it multiple times.

People pitching a fit over changes instead of learning to adapt to change and overcome the discomfort. I am puzzled by the unwillingness to learn to adapt to the changes in Windows 10/11, but not by switching to Linux and learning a new O/S and software. I would think learning and adapting to the changes to Windows 10/11 would be a smaller learning curve than a different O/S, file system, configuration, software...etc. Seems bass-ackwards to me, but too each their own.

I have never had any version of Windows upgrade automatically, but I have always bought the Pro versions as far back as they have been offered. There are plenty of things I don't like about Windows 10 and 11, but Microsoft has proven over and over they will do as they please.

As the Buddha said; "Change is never painful, only resistance to change is painful."

'Unbreakable' Oracle Linux 9 is a RHEL rebuild with built-in Btrfs support

Big headed!

The arrogance about Linux security is off the charts!

Running DOS on 64-bit Windows and Linux: Just because you can

Re: Why?!

I am fully aware of the uses of DOS, UNIX, the language (not a system) COBOL and FORTRAN. While I occasionally use the DOS prompt in Windows 11, I have no need/use for a full DOS environment, as I have no use/need for the year books or the memories of junior high and high school. Enjoyed working in a DOS environment before there was such a thing as Windows, worked with UNIX before there was DOS. Have no need for them, quite happy in Windows and no desire to go back even to visit. If it works for or is appealing to others great, too each their own.

Never said they were useless.

Why?!

Used to enjoy going back to old technology, but anymore going back to old tech. is like remembering junior high and high school. No thank you! Stopped looking in the rearview mirror of technology. Ripped it off the windshield actually.

Don't ditch PowerShell to improve security, say infosec agencies from UK, US, and NZ

Just trade one set of problems for another. No thanks!! Linux is it's own bundle of problems and is fast becoming a target of hackers just like Windows.

Prediction, you will counter with the argument that Linux is more secure. Why has there been a triple digit increase in infections and attacks on Linux over the past two years if it is so much more secure?

PowerShell is a two car garage size back door allowing hackers access and control of your system/network! I have failed to find security measures sufficient to keep it running on my system, it is blocked even for admins. PowerShell is a mess of overly complex commands and syntax structures that I find difficult to learn let alone use.

I see very little in PowerShell that enhances security and an abundance of drawbacks.

Windows 11 22H2 is almost here. Is it ready for the enterprise?

Re: What is it with people ?

The comments only show people are unwilling to change or accept change, unwilling to learn.

Re: I hate the lack of task manager

Task manager is still available just right clicking on the start icon instead of the taskbar .Locate the task manager in Windows/System32 directory and pin it to the taskbar and/or create a short cut on your desktop. I still catch myself right clicking on the taskbar for it.

"Improvise, overcome, adapt." -Clint Eastwood, Heartbreak Ridge

Businesses brace for quantum computing disruption by end of decade

Quantum computers require super cooled temperatures to operate and high levels of technical expertise. They are still experimental and have many obstacles to over come before they ever see even limited production or availability. Quantum physics is a strange beast that we have yet to come close to controlling. Looking well into 2100 if ever, 20 or 30 years is beyond optimistic. More in the realm of fantasy.

Sick of Windows but can't afford a Mac? Consult our cynic's guide to desktop Linux

Yeah, switch to Linux because it looks just like Windows or Mac, it is such an easy switch. No mention of the vastly different directory structure and usage, editing text and bash script configuration files, unfriendly cryptic hardware, drive and partition labeling, different commands used in command prompt which you will still spend quite a bit of time in, text based editors. Despite the GUI based configuration now available there is still a large learning curve to jumping into Linux. Never encountered a Linux article inviting a switch from Windows explain or even hint at the differences that will be encountered. Deceptive!

Windows 10 still growing, but Win 11 had another bad month, says AdDuplex

Linux on desktops still below 3% since 1991 (31 years). Interesting how that is never a headline. Linux experiencing triple digit increase in infections and hacks over the past two years. Never hear about that in comment sections.

Yeah, Yeah people are going to say that Linux dominates Internet servers. According to stats from 2019 Linux is 13.6%, Unix is 5.6%, Windows is 72.1%. (statista.com). FortuneBusinessInsights has Linux at 21.8% as of 2021.

Ah, no doesn't look like it.

Microsoft points at Linux and shouts: Look, look! Privilege-escalation flaws here, too!

Re: Cry me a river

Alot has changed in the six years since that article was written. Windows 10 and 11 don't report nearly as much telemetry as the early days of Windows 10 and much of the telemetry can be disabled. Windows 10 & 11 professional and Enterprise the telemetry can be disabled in services by stopping and disabling the "Connected User Experiences and Telemetry" (Windows Home with a registry edit), also Microsoft publishes a list of end points Windows 10 & 11 talks to and how to disable them.

Even through Linux and a VPN you leave all kinds of meta data (browser and TCP/IP) that can be used to trace back to you. Especially if you use a VPN based in the U.S or a five, nine or fourteen eyes country, don't think that their claim of no logging is true. They are required to keep that information for the Government(s) and any one of the nations connected to the alliance will share that information with all the others.

Windows 11 usage stats within touching distance of... XP

What nonsense! In February Windows 11 shows a market share of ~19%, well above what is shown in this report. I find it ridiculous to believe that Windows 2000 runs on enough machines to even show in a market share survey! This survey is pure fiction, tabloid garbage!

Why the Linux desktop is the best desktop

Re: The joys of Linux

I don't remember waiting even 5 minutes on a reboot and completion of Windows updates and I've never had top of the line hardware in my PCs. Downloading through dial-up was a long wait ('90s). I have tried to like Linux and tried it multiple times but I prefer the applications I can get/use with Windows. Started using MS-DOS through to Windows 11, with the exception of Vista, Me(yuk!) and a limited time on 2000.

I don't believe Linux is any more secure than Windows (both are only as secure as YOU make them) and find the telemetry/spyware argument to avoid Windows pretty weak. Most of the Windows telemetry can be disabled (in services) and anyways most software and drivers send telemetry of their own. Even if you never use the web or a computer all your information is already known and out there, between the leaks and hacks, the Government and Corporations massive data hoarding your privacy is already gone.

There is plenty I don't like or care for in Windows 10 & 11, but overall it is the better option for me.

Kaspersky, China Telecom, China Mobile named 'threats to US national security'

Been using Kaspersky since the 2013 and have had zero problems. British Intelligence, Germany, Belgium and the European Union investigated after the U.S banned it and could find no evidence of spying through Kaspersky software. I have yet to find any convincing evidence of spying to dump Kaspersky, it's unfounded political cold war paranoia (personal opinion).

Distributor dumps Kaspersky to show solidarity with Ukraine

Zero Evidence

I am staying with Kaspersky until I see evidence of spying or data snooping. The U.S Government claims they have evidence of Kaspersky spying, but do not publish it. Switched to Kaspersky after the Snowden leaks showed it was the only security suite the NSA couldn't hack to help them spy on people. The NSA has cracked much of the commonly used encryption on the Internet, so I'm betting they have cracked Kaspersky by now.

I do not support Putin's assault on Ukraine!, it is obvious the Russian people don't support this invasion. I stand with the Ukraine and hope they can regain their peace. Putin has ruined his political career and I hope the sanctions and asset confiscation hit his personal wealth hard.

No defence for outdated defenders as consumer AV nears RIP

Old news

The death of antivirus has been predicted for 25 plus years now. The bigger problem is the continued lack of patching/updates for vulnerabilities/bugs that allows viruses and ransomware to persist. Nearly 5 years (May 2017) after the Wannacry outbreak it still infects because systems remain unpatched, old O/S versions and SMBv1 lingers on. Most infections are because of lax security practices (incl. weak passwords) and lack of regular patching for vulnerabilities.

EU data watchdog to Europol: You've helped yourself to too much data

U.S has company

So the U.S Intel and Law Enforcement aren't alone in their abuse of information gathering. But it is a crime if a citizen abuses their system(s) or information, shoe on the other foot kind of thing. U.S said we won't live in fear after 9/11, but all their actions and restrictions are reactions to the fear of another terrorist attack. Even though their data collecting methodology and analysis methods have proven to be ineffective and counter productive, they repeat the same behavior and mentality. No charges or terminations occur when their employees abuse the access of systems and information, FBI and the years of FISA database abuses, NSA employees spying on exes. But all are out for blood for Snowden, saying he can come back and stand trial to explain his crime, ignoring the fact that the defendant is not allowed to enter any kind of explanation or defense or testify for the crime of espionage.

Windows giant seeks Pluton-ic relationship with chipmaker: AMD first out of the gates with Microsoft's security processor

Most motherboards have TPMs built into the UEFI now, so Microsoft's chip is irrelevant as far as TPM security. I don't see it selling as Microsoft has long burned up any level of trust with it's Windows users. AMD and Intel will end up dropping it due to low sales or sell exclusively for XBox. I will definitely NOT put one in my PC!!

FYI: If the latest Windows 11 really wants to use Edge, it will use Edge no matter what

Re: I've been telling you guys this.

Even if you never use a computer, Windows or the Internet, you are tracked and data is collected from, banks, credit/debit cards, DMV, drivers license, subscriptions, prescriptions, purchases, law enforcement, intelligence agencies, cameras, license plate scanners, cell phone, GPS (in phone, PC, laptops, cars, watches, toys), healthcare, credit reporting agencies. Linux will not prevent or hide you from data collecting.

I will admit that I am paranoid, but you leave me in the dust! Seems you need a better understanding about the Windows O/S and from your descriptions of one program installing or uninstalling another seems like user error or a virus/hack. The 32-bit system within Windows is there because most programs run in 32 bit mode, afraid you will find Linux has an equivalent design to run 32 bit programs in a 64 bit O/S. ALL companies work with the Government to provide data about you, even before 9/11 device drivers and programs were collecting data.

FYI: Today's computer chips are so advanced, they are more 'mercurial' than precise – and here's the proof

Mercurial, so basic predictable human behavior. Imagine the problems that will crop up if/when quantum computers become of such complexity? The computing error within a qubit with multiple values before collapsing the super positioning and the possibility of quantum entanglement between qubits.

IKEA: Cameras were hidden in the ceiling above warehouse toilets for 'health and safety'

Always baffled as to why anyone would want to watch others using the toilet. Sickos!!

Internet Archive's 2046 Wayforward Machine says Google will cease to exist

Foggy crystal ball

The series of computer simulations that led to the Mandelbrot Set and fractals showed that the same simulation run repeatedly with the same values will produce different outcomes (originally used for biologic population tracking/forecasting). Within a range of less than 2 all others go off scale, outside the Mandelbrot Set. Showing momentary periods of calm the majority of the values are chaotic. The possible outcomes, permutations and possibilities are in the billions and trillions, with the natural chaotic nature of humans there is no clear path even into next year. We need to spend more time and energy on the present.

Did you know? Internet money lender Opera also offers a free web browser

Goodbye Opera

This is seems seedy and shady. Will end my use of Opera browser.

Woman sues McDonald's for $14 after cheeseburger ad did exactly what it's designed to

The devil made me do it! Take no responsibility for your actions, blame McDonalds, advertising, anyone or anything else. Money will not buy what you need.

Windows 10 to hang on for five more years with 21H2 update

Re: Plenty of time to save up for an iMac!

Content from the cloud such as games from Steam installs megs or even gigs of information on your local drive, even Microsoft's new 365 service requires a local system running Windows, Linux, iOS..etc and stores local data on those devices. These thin clients as they have been called, have been rumored to replace the traditional PC since the late '80s, running from the cloud will always require local processing power, memory and storage. Even the 'dumb terminals' back in the early days of computing (1970s - early '80s) had a basic Unix O/S (no programs) and local memory to process only basic text with primitive capabilities for simple editing.

Won't be slaughtering the cow anytime soon.

Microsoft received almost 25,000 requests for consumer data from law enforcement over the past six months

Re: Poor Canary

Lovely plumage!

Linux Mint users in hot water for being slow with security updates, running old versions

There are always comments on articles about Windows 10 from Linux users about Linux not having update or security issues, "...it just works". But the truth is Linux users don't and won't update from what I've read, even keeping auto updates off.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." -Wizard of Oz