Posts by Wade Burchette 1252 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Apr 2007
I think Microsoft should move beyond NTFS. And I am not talking about their ReFS. What we really need is for the Apple, Linux, and Microsoft people to all get together and come up with a universal, open-source, free, and interoperable file system. No more proprietary file systems. This would benefit everyone, including Apple and Microsoft. But I am certain that because everyone would benefit, a universal file system will never happen.
The world is not black-and-white. Unions can be both good and bad. Unions can protect a worker's rights, but they can also screw the worker too. These things need to be considered on a case-by-case basis and never a blanket "ALL UNIONS ARE GOOD!" or "ALL UNIONS ARE RUN BY THE MAFIA!"
Considering the appalling conditions Amazon puts their workers through, I support them unionizing.
But I also know unions can be bad. This is the true story behind the bakery company that invented Twinkies. The company was in financial ruin, so the company gave the union an ultimatum: take a pay cut or we will go out of business. The union voted against the pay cut. Finally, after negotiations continued to fail, the company went under. All the employees lost their job and the company sold off the rights to Twinkies to pay off their debts. This union screwed the employees.
But Amazon has enough cash that that will never happen. I'm sure Amazon could double the number of warehouse employees, double their pay, and still make a large profit. Things aren't black-and-white. We need to view each situation as unique.
Two of the most requested features in Windows 10 beta were a proper start menu and the return of Aero. Neither feature made it into Windows 10. I have concluded that Microsoft doesn't really want feedback; they want affirmation. In other words, if I told Microsoft "this weather thing by my taskbar is annoying and gets in the way, so get rid of it NOW!" gets immediately thrown in the trashbin while the employees put their hands over the ears and go "LA LA LA LA. I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" But if I sent feedback that says "I like what you are doing, just tweak this a little." then the Microsoft employees read that.
I have been complaining for years on how Windows 10 auto installs drivers without my permission. That is something that should never ever be done, no exception.
Every device with a battery is required to include instructions with the product on how the user can change the battery. Also, the device may not block or limit batteries from third parties.
Every laptop, desktop, tablet, phone, and printer is required to have a service manual that is available free online, except for custom made devices built by independent repair shops.
All devices that can be updated must receive support for at least 5 years after the last device was made by the company. The manufacturer must replace devices at their full cost if an update damages the equipment no matter when the update was applied.
Mobile phone companies must allow devices that have the compatible hardware to use their network even if the device was not purchased from the company.
All desktops and laptops must have user-upgradable hard drives and user-upgradable memory slots.
A person can repair or upgrade their device without the permission or knowledge of the manufacturer and it may not void the warranty provided that the upgrade was done without damaging the hardware.
(Feel free to add to this wishlist.)
Two reasons why Firefox is a good browser:
(1) It supports the NoScript add-on, which allows me to tame websites that try to load 5, 10, or even 20 scripts each from a different website, which in turn allows websites to load so much faster and protect my privacy and security due to malvertising.
(2) See reason 1.
It is my opinion that all software is tied to the user and never to the hardware.
It is my opinion that all software is to be owned, never leased, with subscriptions only allowed for security products that require daily updates, i.e. antivirus software.
It is my opinion that all software must have a fully transferable product key and may never be connected to any personal information at any time. The product key may be transferred or resold to anyone without the permission of the original company as long as the original owner is no longer using the product.
It is my opinion that if a software vendor allows you to download their product at any time, then that vendor must allow you to re-download as many times as needed forever, even if support for the product has ended.
Try the new NVidia RTX 5090 Ti, now free for the first 30 days.*
* Credit card, valid email, and active mobile number required. After the first 30 days, a one-time payment of $499.99 will be processed and you will automatically be enrolled in the NVidia PLAY! program for $34.99 per month. DLSS, PhysX, and NV encoder are additional monthly fee each. By enrolling in the NVidia PLAY! program, you agree to allow NVidia to collect usage telemetry and insert relevant advertising into the game. Failure to pay will limit the video card to 20 FPS in all applications, including the operating system.
Every so often, I get a message from Windows 10 that an app is not compatible. The last time it did this, I renamed the .EXE file to a random letter, and the program worked just fine. I also fired off some feedback asking them who gave them the authority or right to determine what I can or cannot run on my computer. I also told them that when I renamed the file -- which I never told what program it was -- that it worked just fine.
I think a more appropriate punishment would be to permanently bar "Meta" from ever tracking you, using your location to serve ads, or scan your content to serve ads. This will hit them will it hurts the most; a one-time fine will be a tax write-off.
<< Asked how it might be done, he replied, "The simple answer is: you would create an ad creative that has a JS payload. When the ad loads on an end user device, and detects that the iframe it's loading inside isn't sandboxed, it would trigger a pop-out window that looks like a login page." >>
So, this and other malvertising attacks can be stopped by BANNING JAVASCRIPT IN ADS! But that will never happen because of greed. Advertisers view their wallets as more important than my security. Whenever an advertiser tries to shame me into turning off my ad-blocker, I always tell them my security is more important than your profit. My ad-blocker allows all ads without javascript, which is now 0.0000000000% of the ads out there. Malvertising can die immediately if advertisers went back to the successful ads of the early internet, which were static and had no javascript.
There is only two things I want my search box to discover: files on my computer and installed programs on my computer. Full stop.
I was helping someone with their Windows 11 machine yesterday. After getting out of S mode, I wanted to open the command prompt as administrator to manually add a local user. Since Microsoft somehow made the start menu even worse, I went to the search box and typed "CMD". At no time the option to run the command prompt come up. Instead, all I got was Bing searches about the command prompt. It did this even though I had already switched out of S mode.
The search box should never ever, without exception, search for anything except for what is on my machine. I have long believed that the purpose of Windows is to make money off you after the first day. Having a Microsoft account to log in is part of that, so is making the search box use Microsoft's search engine. Since the purpose of Windows is to be profitable after the initial sale, that means its purpose is not to make your life easier. That idea ended with Windows 7.
Not content with just polluting the earth, the Chinese are now polluting the moon. Just great.
"This change follows the trend of the last decade, whereas instead of striving at catering to everyone at the price of tolerable cmbersomeness, companies, that do have the means to cater to everyone, build their services only for the mainstreamest main stream and the rest is welcome to bugger off."
I've noticed that some websites are so bloated that it even taxes my Ryzen 3000 and 2000 MBPs internet unless I am using Firefox + NoScript. I have also noticed that when you call tech support to say a website is not working, the answer is almost always "Just use Google Chrome".
I have concluded that these people design websites they like, not what you like or want. I call this myopia. They have powerful computers and they have ultrafast internet because they live in a big city. But they don't realize that not everyone can get or afford ultrafast internet and not everyone can afford a powerful computer. A website should be designed so that all your potential customers/visitors can use it, regardless of how good or bad their computer or internet is and regardless of which up-to-date browser is being used.
I found a workaround for my new Windows 11 Home laptop. During the initial setup, you have to connect to a network. If it is WiFi, simply uncheck the box that says "connect automatically". If it is ethernet, simply remove the wire after it reboots. When the initial setup starts after the reboot, you can create a local account only. But it is still the same annoying steps that were in Windows 10 -- you have to click on a hard-to-see phrase "I don't have internet".
I am sure Microsoft will take away that workaround. So be prepared for a temporary one-time sign-in with a Microsoft account, followed by a series of "net user /add LocalAccount MyPassword" then "net localgroup administrators LocalAccount /add" commands. You can then login your new non-spying account and remove the one that is profitable for Microsoft.
I have believed that a politician's only concern is to get elected or re-elected. Our needs and wants are a distant third, if there is even a third. This is true no matter what political party the politician is part of. Now, there are a few good apples in the bunch. But these are far outnumbered by the bad ones. And, as the 1939 classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington showed, the good politicians are quickly destroyed by the bad ones. It was true back then; it is even more true today.
I don't like where things are going. It is my opinion that the truth can survive the harshest attacks thrown against it whereas the lie needs a strong fortress of censorship and propaganda to protect it.
I am bothered by how many people are okay with censoring "misinformation". Okay, it may be a lie. Prove it is a lie. The answer to "misinformation" is more speech, not less. You start down this path today, and when the winds change, then you will find that your speech is being censored, not theirs. But the precedent has been set and there is nothing you can do about then. But there is something you can do about it now: Condemn censorship in all its forms today, whether by a government or by a business.
I think I am going to write my representatives and tell them to support these bills, but add a provision for that a manufacturer must provide a replacement battery, or allow a functional equivalent, and instructions on how to replace the battery. This would prevent Samsung, Apple, et al from having devices where it is impossible to change the battery without destroying the product.
The changes to the start menu from Windows 95 to Windows 7 were all small and logical. In each case, it was not too difficult to learn because the change wasn't drastic and the way it was done made it easy to learn.
Then along comes Windows 8. The change was drastic and illogical. Worse, it was a UI meant for small touch screens, not large non-touch screens. No wonder it was unpopular. All we wanted was the start menu from Windows 7 - which you could customize and make it look like the one from Windows 2000 if you wanted. What we got was a mini version of the Windows 8 start screen for Windows 10.
And, not surprisingly, I find the Windows 11 start menu even worse. Stuff that was once a short distance away with large, easy-to-find words is now a long distance away with small, hard-to-understand icons. And what is there? Pinned apps, which default to apps that are good for Microsoft's wallet with a few useful ones thrown in. It is like Microsoft asks everyone about a start menu, except for their customers and people who understand smart UI.
"I consider an electrically powered clothes drier an utterly pointless waste of energy. You may of course have a different opinion."
I don't know how it is in new European homes, but in America the laundry areas in new houses aren't big enough for a drying rack and worse, these homes are almost always built in communities that have a Homeowner Association (HoA). I despise HoA's because they make you pay for the privilege of being told what you can and cannot do on your own property with the rules enforced by a bunch of retired busybodies who make it their mission in life to meddle in your affairs. Almost every HoA also prohibits you from have an outside clothes line on your property. The result of small laundry areas, not rooms, and no outside clothes line means the only practical way to dry your clothes is with a machine.
How to connect with an ethernet cable:
1) Connect cable to device and then to a switch or router.
2) Enjoy.
How to connect with WiFi:
1) Find wireless access point or router.
2) Make sure signal is strong enough.
3) Walk to access point and push WPS button.
4) Walk back to device.
5) Enter password anyway because the WPS button didn't work for some reason.
6) Re-enter password because your fat fingers messed up.
7) Enjoy.
WiFi has a useful purpose, but replacing ethernet ain't one of them.
During World War II, the Americans used the Navajo language to confuse the Japanese.
In the United States these people can move to Greenbrier, West Virginia. By federal law, no terrestrial radio waves are allowed due to the radio telescope. The mountains and the law block all human radio waves so that there is no interference with outer space radio waves. There is no 5G there, or even 1G.
Several weirdos have already moved here because they have "WiFi sickness". I have driven through the area, and it is beautiful. But I wouldn't live there just because I don't want to be associated with these irrational people.
"the Teams app on my OpenSuse computer swaps the keyboard layout from UK to US"
Sounds about right. At least here in the US, Windows 10 and 11 assumes that you live in the same timezone that Microsoft is in. Windows 7 would ask you what timezone you lived in. Now everyone lives in the Pacific timezone. Unless you buy a Dell computer, then everyone lives in the Central timezone.
The point being is that it seems Microsoft assumes everyone is like them. The programmers live in Pacific time, so do you. The programmers use a US keyboard layout, so do you. The programmers like that abomination of a start menu, so do you. Do you see the point?
"While the PC market is cooling following two straight years of double-digit growth spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, analyst firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted shipments will continue to grow over the next five years."
Well, this confirms it. PC shipments will slow soon. The track record of these analyst firms like IDC is currently not good. I would love to have a business where I am never right, and yet people still pay me to provide predictions. Seriously, why does anyone give IDC's prediction any weight considering how they are always wrong?
The problem with the new Microsoft is that even in mature OS's they will find a way to screw up. Remember earlier in the year when people printing in Windows 10 caused the BSOD?
The only way to avoid any bad updates from Microsoft is to have an OS so mature that Microsoft stops providing any updates. This is what you get when the current CEO wants the company to be "agile".
In the United States, many politicians are former lawyers. It is not in the financial interests of lawyers to have a speedy resolution to a trial. Reform will never happen.
The result is the rich and big business can use the courts to ruin another person. If a rich person wants to silence another person, he can sue. The victim -- the person the rich does not like -- will have to pay for lawyers with his own money. Even if the rich person loses in court, he still wins. The rich person can keep dragging this out until the victim is ruined financially. Big business can do the same. Apple can afford to drag this out forever, hoping that their victim business will be forced into bankruptcy and no longer able to mount a defense. I think that is Apple's goal here: To bankrupt Epic.
I feel like the Beatles covered this situation in a song.
Let me tell you how it will be
There's one for you, nineteen for me
'Cause I'm the ad man
Yeah, I'm the ad man
Should five percent of the webpage appear too small
Be thankful I don't take it all
'Cause I'm the ad man
Yeah, I'm the ad man
If you drive a car, I'll put ads on the street
If you ride a bus, I'll put ads above the seat
If you get too cold, I'll put ads for the heat
If you take a walk, I'll put ads for your feet
'Cause I'm the ad man
Yeah, I'm the ad man
Don't ask me what I want it for
If you don't want more ads to find
'Cause I'm the ad man
Yeah, I'm the ad man
'Cause I'm the ad man
Yeah, I'm the ad man
And you're living for no one but me
If there is one thing NVidia is known for, it is for burning bridges and stifling competition. There is a reason why NVidia was forced to use Samsung instead of TSMC for their current video cards. There is a reason why Apple refuses to use NVidia anymore. Remember when NVidia blacklisted Hardware Unboxed? Remember the Geforce Partner Program?
NVidia has a history of trying to restrict competition and hoard innovation. A leopard can't change its spots, and NVidia can't change who it is. An ARM-NVidia merger will be bad all around for everyone.
Intel and AMD define TDP differently. Intel defines TDP as the minimum cooling needed whereas AMD defines TDP as the typical amount of energy needed. This means you cannot compare TDP of Intel and AMD processors. The result is AMD processors use only about 50% more power than the stated TDP whereas Intel processors can use over 200% more power.
To Intel's credit, they told us up-front the TDP of the boost speed of Alder Lake, which I think was around 240 watts.
"I should probably admit now that I hate the modern web. I find the experience of modern websites so unreliable, slow, and overall user-hostile that I prefer to do literally anything else. I dislike the experiences enabled by JavaScript-driven web APIs so much I've taken to browsing with JavaScript disabled."
Some websites try to load scripts from 15+ different sites. Many times they try to load multiple analytic websites; why is one not enough? There are multiple unscrupulous, abhorrent privacy-hating advertisers; internet ads once worked quite well without tracking, which means they can work today. And worst of all, some websites will not load unless you enable javascript. All this is bad and wrong.
It seems to me that modern programmers have myopia. They use Google Chrome, they test on Google Chrome, therefore it works. They don't test with Firefox or Safari. If it doesn't work, their solution is to use what they use. They create websites on powerful computers with ultra-fast internet. If a website is too slow, their solution is to buy a stronger computer and get a faster internet. Not everyone can afford a new computer, not everyone can get or afford fast internet. Instead of people conforming to you, you need to conform to your users. And that means assuming they use a different browser, assuming they have a weak computer, and assuming their internet is slow.
Some versions of Windows 10 are sold so that you cannot install standalone programs. This problem can be turned off, but it requires several unclear steps. This change is for those whose Windows is sold that way. Most of the people who have that version of Windows will not know that they can turn this off, much less know how to turn it off.
Microsoft's premium tech support can only give boilerplate responses, which are not responses.
For instance, someone says "I cannot boot into Windows. I tried (1) and (2) and (3). Please help!"
Microsoft's response. "We are sorry you are having trouble. Have you tried (1). Next try (2). If that still doesn't work, try (3). If I answered your question, mark this post as fixed."
Satya Nadella's justification for making us beta testers is so that Microsoft can be more "agile". But I believe it is because Nadella wanted to get rid of expensive employees to increase revenue. And I also believe that the severely limited supported hardware for Windows 11 is so they can get shed even more employees. "Agile" Microsoft no longer has to buy a lot of hardware and pay many good people to test their software. Now they just buy some hardware and pay few people to test.
"Cyber-enabled serious and organised crime, often enabled by the dark web and other anonymising technologies, such as bespoke encrypted devices for criminal use, present a direct challenge to community safety and the rule of law. For example, on the dark web criminals carry out their activities with a lower risk of identification and apprehension."
There are many smart criminals. This law will do absolutely nothing to stop them. The smart ones, the ones you need to stop, will just move to a different system. One where the government cannot hack no matter what law is passed. This law may catch a few criminals; it will be used more against people. Your social media post about protesting ... taken down and you get sent to an Australian gulag.
The thing to do is what the FBI did a few years back. They convinced criminals to buy phones that used an encryption system that the FBI had access to. They convinced criminals to use their compromised service. This was not an existing service that had a backdoor. This was a honeypot the US government set up to specifically catch criminals.
Going further, how can a SSD tell if a file is encrypted or not? What is to prevent the ransomware creators triggering a TRIM command after a few encryptions? How does the system detect between ransomware encrypting files and a safe, bulk file operation?
It is an interesting concept. But they aren't thinking like the baddies. To thwart this system, all the ransomware has to do is encrypt a few files, run a TRIM operation, and then repeat until all the files are encrypted. The ransomware could even stagger the operation -- do 4 in the morning, another 4 in the afternoon, another 4 in the evening. It would, at least, stop the older ransomware infections. But I can already see how the blackhats can get around it.
Just like Audacity with telemetry, a desire delayed does not mean a desire denied. Keep a watchful eye out for any every new terms-of-service from Apple. I am certain that Apple will try this unacceptable nonsense again, except later when people have moved on and quietly so they won't know.
"In order to reduce gun violence, knowing where it occurs is crucial." Yeah, and how is that working out for Chicago? It has one of the highest incidence of gun violence in the entire United States, if not the highest. Remember that Chicago was also home to Al Capone who said "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than with just a kind word". Or something like that.
A system so effective that it puts innocent people in jail while doing nothing to stop real gun violence. Why is Chicago paying for Shot Spotter again?
Prison. Phaw! I suggest we target the top execs where it really hurts: their wallet. Make them pay a fine equal to a year's salary, BEFORE taxes, and then they will weep. And they will also think twice before even thinking about pulling a dirty trick again, and then think thrice before actually doing it.
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