Posts by BPontius

Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 26H1, but you can't have it

Respectfully disagree, every version of Windows had it's share of issues. The Service Packs shows they were hardly angels.

I remember running Windows 3.x and XP and it was hardly paradise!!

Re: What a coincidence…

Second that!! Let us hope it dies alone and forgotten.

Attackers finally get around to exploiting critical Microsoft bug from 2024

Get "round to it"

That's about par, the U.S State Department uses PCs running Windows 7, an OS unpatched for six years. But the State Dept. insisted they were safe in a 2025 security audit. Military is at least two years behind patching it's systems. Not a recent problem either, going back to Pres. Reagan's Presidency. Secret Service, FB and many other agencies are riddled with unpatched systems, running out dated software and legacy hardware.

The pandemic showed clearly how outdated State and county systems were.

Sweet dreams

Microsoft's Valentine's gift to admins: 6 exploited zero-day fixes

What the *@#$!

Gift WT...? Windows users are not your royal subjects that must gravel and cry at your feet in appreciation of vulnerabilities being patched. If you are so hard up for cash (NOT) from the loss of revenue from Windows, then charge ~$35 - $50 dollars for a product\license download and stop giving it away! Then stop the absurd pretense that you are struggling so requiring ads in Windows for well known Microsoft services and products. Just like product recalls for cars, food, toys...etc., you are responsible for fixing Windows 11 and Word, stop perverting it into some benevolent act you are gifting to Microsoft prodcut users!!!

Why is The Register limbo'ing itself to Microsoft's level? Shame!

Microsoft warns that poisoned AI buttons and links may betray your trust

Get rid of AI!!

Big Tech, take responsibility for your AI contamination and clean it up yourselves!! Bunch of cowards to pawn it off on the users to fix YOUR screw ups, remove the AI!!

Old Windows quirks help punch through new admin defenses

Only in testing huh?

Windows Administrator Protection is available in Windows 11 25H2. Do your homework before publishing these articles!!!

Challenger at 40: The disaster that changed NASA

Not enough change

NASA has a seriously flawed safety culture and too many layers of management with a strict hierarchical structure that filters unwanted feedback. It was said that it was changing after Challenger, but the same mentality and layered management lead to the Columbia loss. Now there are talks of problems with the Orion heatshield cracking on reentry, but NASA dismisses the problem. Sound familiar?

What if Linux ran Windows… and meant it? Meet Loss32

You live in a different reality than I do. I read tech news every day and i have not heard of any hint or movement in the divesting of PCs, laptops and tablets due to subscribing to apps on any platform. So it is pure propaganda that users and businesses are delaying hardware upgrades for Windows 11 and staying with Windows 10? If they don't own the PC then they would be leasing their PC(s) and it would cost them little to nothing to upgrade to a new PC (pretty standard and common for IT hardware leases) and not the hundreds to thousands of dollars people don't want to spend for ONE new PC.

I have yet to run into any of the 99% of people that don't care about owning their own PC, quite the opposite. Many want to own a PC, it is being able to afford one! The last job I worked at had hundreds\thousands of PCs and laptops and all were owned by the company, which regularly upgraded said PCs\laptops as I saw pallets and pallets of laptops and PC hardware arrive. YOU are the one out of touch with the real world!!!

Ancient telnet bug happily hands out root to attackers

All eyes on the code

So what happened with all those eyes on the code that makes Linux so secure?

Gone unnoticed for 11 years, obviously not many eyes were even looking!!

Ransomware attacks kept climbing in 2025 as gangs refused to stay dead

STOP PAYING THE RANSOM YOU DUMMIES!!!

Come fall all the birds started flying south for the winter, except one stubborn bird. When it began to snow he decided he'd start flying south.

In the cold and wet weather his wings began to get heavy and icy causing him to crash into a barn. Still dazed from the impact a cow in the barn pooped him.

Soon he realized the poop was warming him up and started to sing. The cat on the farm heard the bird and dug him out of the poop and ate him.

Morale of the story. People who poop on you aren't always your enemies and the people who get you out of the poop aren't always your friends.

If you like the poop your in keep quiet.

One criminal, 50 hacked organizations, and all because MFA wasn't turned on

Struggling to understand why trade secrets, legal and corporate information was stored on a cloud sharing platform. Such information should be stored at HQ in offline storage under restricted usage. The Military and Government complains about being hacked, but has sensitive and secret information on public\Internet accessible servers, no encryption, no extra safeguards, no VPN.

"Are we learning yet?" - Terminator 2

User found two reasons – both of them wrong – to dispute tech support's diagnosis

Awful memories

In my brief time in tech support, I encountered so many people with such attitudes. I would always think; "Why did you call?". As much as I enjoy computers and technology, In retrospect I am glad that my IT career never took off. I don't have any tolerance for enduring such treatment from people who call me for help.

'PromptQuest' is the worst game of 2025. You play it when trying to make chatbots work

Oh the memories playing on mainframe dumb terminals and teletype machines, also later laboriously typing the code for a Star Trek game into a "luggable" Osborne PC (~20 pound portable PCs with a tiny green monochrome screen and two 5 inch floppy drives). In the old spaghetti code Basic, back when open source code was a common occurrence in magazines and books (long before internet).

Microsoft research shows chatbots seeping into everyday life

Just turn it off!

Microsoft, Apple, Google et al., then STOP stuffing AI agents and chatbots into anything and everything! You created this mess, step up and take responsibility by cleaning it up!!

Windows boss defends 'agentic OS' push as users plead for reliability

Microsoft, I hope your vision of agentic AI for Windows 11 bites you on your corporate posterior and bleeds profusely!!

Windows 11 26H1 is coming ... for new processors only

26H1 is for PCs with Snapdragon AI chips, calm down!!

52-year-old data tape could contain only known copy of UNIX V4

Why do we need a 52 year old OS?

Microsoft Task Manager now tasking PCs with running multiple copies of itself

Batting 1000

Microsoft also botched hot patching for some Windows Server 2025 devices with KB5070881 out of band update. Quality is not a priority at Microsoft!

ISPs more likely to throttle netizens who connect through carrier-grade NAT: Cloudflare

Re: CGNAT is more widely used than you may think

No, it is down to the carrier has not upgraded to support IPv6. France has good IPv6 adoption at 86%, where the U.S is only 52%, the U.K is 50%. (according to Google IPv6 statistics)

Japanese city passes two-hours-a-day smartphone usage ordinance

By whom and how do they enforce this ridiculous ordnance?

Make Windows 11 more useful and less annoying with these 11 Registry hacks

Nothing!

The context menu registry hack does NOTHING, just like all the others I've tried!!

Then stay on Linux related websites and stop polluting comments with this worn out rhetoric!!

China says US spies exploited Microsoft Exchange zero-day to steal military info

That is the pot calling the kettle black!!

What if Microsoft just turned you off? Security pro counts the cost of dependency

No option for a third term

In 1951 they amended the Constitution that limits the President to 2 terms, because of Roosevelt's three terms.

Trump has no power or means to get a third term in office. He would have to get Congress to abolish the twenty-second amendment and have it ratified by a all the states. VERY unlikely!!!

Tested: Microsoft Recall can still capture credit cards and passwords, a treasure trove for crooks

Re: GPO

If your system does not have the AI Snapdragon AI processor, Recall is NOT installed! Recall only installs on Copilot+ laptops and tablets, so unless you have upgraded to a Copilot+ laptop or tablet within the past year. There is no way Recall is on your system! Go into Settings, Recall settings are in Privacy & security > Recall & snapshots. If that is not there you do not have Recall installed.

Unless you have upgraded to a new Copilot+ laptop or tablet with the AI neural processor, Recall is not installed!

‘I nearly died after flying thousands of miles to install a power cord for the NSA’

Less than reassuring!

The NSA which is supposed to keep the country safe from terrorists, a place full of very smart people that break codes, hack into Governments and run super computers, could not troubleshoot a faulty power cord? Thousands of dollars spent on a service call replacing a ~$10 cord, Do they fly people in to help employees open doors at work or how to put one foot in front of the other to get to the office?!

Meta pauses mobile port tracking tech on Android after researchers cry foul

In the center ring...

We get another performance of Zuckerberg the clown fumbling about claiming he was unaware of the spying, insisting the code in the Meta software is a mystery and denying ever hearing of Yandex. Then for a finale a clown car full of empty promises about protecting users privacy and policy changes. For an encore we might get his fellow clowns from Congress performing their best fake outrage in another Congressional hearing that will do and change nothing.

LibreOffice adds voice to 'ditch Windows for Linux' campaign

Re: There's a lot of vultures circling over Window 10 body....

Get over yourself, what works for you is NOT universal for everyone!!

Microsoft rolls out Windows 11 Start Menu updates

Polish a turd, it is still a turd!!!

Wanted: Junior cybersecurity staff with 10 years' experience and a PhD

You made your bed!

To all companies that demand these unreasonable qualifications for "junior" positions, do the world a favor.

STOP COMPLAINING ABOUT THE LACK OF IT STAFF!!!!

You made your bed, you lie in it.

Windows isn't an OS, it's a bad habit that wants to become an addiction

Not a habit or addiction

Windows is a tool just like DOS was. I browse the Internet with Windows 11, I also browsed the Internet in DOS back in the early days of the Internet with a program called gopher. Connected to a Unix mainframe on an Apple II and also played games, did word processing...etc on Apple and in DOS, just as I do now in Windows 11. The majority of the bloat that Microsoft is adding to Windows 11 is ignored, uninstalled or disabled by me, as it is of no use to me. I would say that society is addicted to the clock, to time, the speed at which everyone rushes to froe, the inhuman speed at which everything must be accomplished and the impossible accuracy demanded at these speeds. Society needs to take a Valium, slow down and take a breath, sit on the porch or lay on the grass and stare at the clouds, take a nap, read a book, just sit quietly, daydream...etc. RELAX PEOPLE!

Microsoft blames 'latent code issue' after Windows 11 upgrades sneak past admin blockades

Latent machinations

I don't believe it is any kind of accident, this very typical behavior from Microsoft. Latent code my lily white bum!!

Knock, knock

Who's there?

We ask the questions!!

Microsoft: Why not let our Copilot fly your computer?

Given Microsoft's history of lax security and total disregard for privacy of Windows users, this is no doubt going to launch even more remote and more automated hacks, data mining and infections. The repeated re-working of Recall is a prime example of this. Microsoft disabled registry backups in Windows 11 claiming it takes up too much disk space, but no problem having Recall gobble up gigabytes of space in storing of everything the user has done.

Are Microsoft's A.I bots going to wake them up to the environmental disaster they are inflicting upon the planet with their forcing of millions and millions to buy new hardware to run this bloat?! No, just ship it off to some third-world country and contaminate their soil and water with toxins and heavy metals. Run out and buy an electric car so these battery packs can be added to this e-waste nightmare, CO2 is much more dangerous! Who needs CO2 when we can grow our food in toxic soil and drink water polluted with heavy metals and toxins? Sounds yummy!!

Free Blue Screens of Death for Windows 11 24H2 users

Eject Copilot!!

Pull the ejection handle on Copilot and all the A.I garbage few users want in Windows 11 and concentrate on quality and stability of Windows 11 Microsoft!!

You DO remember the users don't you Microsoft? Those pesky millions that use Windows, the product that you claimed Apple had stolen their GUI design from, despite the fact they had their GUI established on the market with the Lisa computer in '83 (followed by the Macintosh in '84) seven years before Windows 3 became king and twelve years before Windows 95. You both go the inspiration for the GUI from the Xerox PARC Alto PC, as you were there with Apple for the demonstration.

Privacy died last century, the only way to go is off-grid

Using a password manager, ad blocker(s) and two-factor authentication will NOT protected your privacy. With the constant and numerous hacks, breaches and leaks, plus all your information that is collected, traded and sold, your privacy is already gone! The Government and Law Enforcement can and does find people on Tor. You and Snowden update your knowledge, even if your opt-out of data collections on an app, most continue to collect your data and except for not using apps there is no way to avoid it. Even if you neve use the Internet your information is being collected, traded and sold, there is no way around it!

Re: Did You Read About The Metropolitan Police Snoops Who Had False Identities?

In the U.S that is identity theft and is illegal, it is also both a State and Federal crime to forge a birth certificate! A background check for an apartment would reveal your fraud, most likely you would be arrested. Not saying it isn't done, but going to prison is NOT something I care to risk!!

Microsoft lists seven habits of highly effective Windows 11 users

Re: As effective as V.P Harris was a leader and equally eloquent.

Thank you your is very helpful!

As effective as V.P Harris was a leader and equally eloquent.

1) Open Shell allows me to make the Start menu my own.

2) Snap layout is annoying and useless, disabled!

3) Unneeded. Easier to get a wide screen or dual monitors.

4) Never had any interest in Widgets

Focus - Unneeded! There is a three pound organ inside my skull that allows me to do this.

Windows Hello - Bought a Yubico security key which allows me to secure my system without logging into an online MS account. Help me understand how a 4 - 6 digit PIN is more secure than a 15+ character password?

Dark mode - Inconsistent implementation.

Windows intros 365 Link, a black box that does nothing but connect to Microsoft's cloud

Would much rather flush the money down the toilet than be assimilated into Microsoft's Borg style Azure collective. Resistance is NOT futile, I refuse signing into an MS account to use my PC. Abandoning my Apple Mac Mini due to the same mentality!

FreeDOS 1.4: Still DOS, still FOSS, more modern than ever

Fail to see any advantages or reasons to going backwards over 30 years to a DOS prompt or Windows 3.1. Want a DOS prompt use Terminal already integrated into Windows.

Get out of the rear view mirror and be in the present!! The past is fun to remember and maybe visit on occasion, but not to live in.

HP Inc settles printer toner lockout lawsuit with a promise to make firmware updates optional

Re: Update optional?

The multi function Brother laser printer I had, the toner cartridges leaked. Then the print quality went to crap, never again will I buy Brother!

CISA: We didn't fire red teams, we just unhired a bunch of them

Government double talk

A Red Team's sole purpose is to find vulnerabilities in any system or software that allows access and/or elevation of privileges. Which is exactly what penetration testing is about, looking for vulnerabilities and weaknesses allowing access. A Red Team is a live test of security and will actively enter a network(s) and system(s) moving to take control. Where penetration testing finds the vulnerabilities unknown to the administrators and reports them. They do not takeover the system(s), network(s) to interfere with the administrators\users as Red Teams do.

RIP Mark Klein, the engineer who exposed US domestic spying ops after wiring it up

No turning back!

There is no putting the Genie back into the bottle, we have past the point of no return on ending telemetry, spying, data collecting. Too many see it as perfectly acceptable to collect every scrap of data and the Government has encouraged this behavior with their Fusion Centers and using businesses and citizens (social media, shoppers memberships...etc) to feed them information. The Government and Law Enforcement are not going to end their data gravy train by repealing the spying section or the Act and are definitely not going to discourage businesses, Utilities and Telcos of doing the same . There is no turning back!!

Trump says US should kill CHIPS Act, use the cash to cut debt

Re: What Trump talks about

That is Trump's S.O.P, he sees himself as King, Dictator, Supreme Ruler unbounded by laws and the Constitution. Even the four years since his last Presidency he has acted as if he is still unbounded by the laws and rules of the U.S, during his hearings and trial for violating the Classified documents laws.

The Job

Hate to beak it to you theregister.com, sitting through meetings and speeches to report on them is your job. Don't start an article with a lame line to make it sound as if you have gone out of your way to report about Trump and the CHiPS Act. You are better than that!

How's that open source licensing coming along? That well, huh?

So these companies changed the licenses to fit the greedy whims of the investors, taking no consideration or analysis as to how it would affect business? Brilliant!!!

Athena Moon lander officially FOADs – falls over and dies – in crater

Soon the moon will be littered with space trash and dead landers. Several of the moon missions (IF we ever get back there) would be clean up missions, collect all this stuff and send it back to burn up on reentry. Humanity needs to expand to other planets to survive but will leave piles of junk as they planet hop. Seems better just to stay on Earth and minimize the damage.

Windows 7 lives! How to keep your favorite fossil running

Re: Or save yourself the headaches and install Linux

Gem Desktop was written by Lee Jay Lorenzen who worked at Xero PARC, which is where the Gem Desktop GUI came from. Both Apple and Microsoft also took their GUI designs (was all but given to them) from Xerox PARK's Alto computer for Mac OS and Windows. Gates stole Windows GUI from Apple as the Lisa came out Jan 1983 and the Macintosh was out in Jan. 1984. So Microsoft's claim that Apple stole their GUI from Windows is absurd! I don't find any licensing of DR DOS\Gem Desktop to Microsoft. Perhaps I am misunderstanding you.