Posts by joed 827 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jun 2013
Using old school ICE motor burning H2 is quite silly, might as well keep filling up with gas(oline).
Probably just as silly is the idea that all this vehicles for "environmentally conscious" stick to SUV monstrosities. Feel good if do no good I guess.
When everyone is dependent on feds handouts (in one way or another) nobody will express opinion that disagree with the party line. Democracy can't exist in the environment where power brokers have almost complete (and increasing) access to sensitive information. And don't think of politicians as power brokers - there's a "vanilla folder" for every puppet.
BTW, I've expressed no opinion with regard to the subject;)
almost a substitute for 127.0.0.1 bing.com
though knowing MS one has to stay alert and keep checking the settings (even IE on corporate system somehow enabled url suggestions and sending keystrokes to MS, nice try). Or better yet, block the crap at router level and disable IPv6 routing while there (just in case;).
It's a shame it's come to desperate measures when trying to keep OS from being compromised by its vendor.
probably someone who thinks that the "cure" is worse than the disease.
8.1 may be far from perfect but has much fewer privacy tradeoffs compared to 10. Myself (on 8 and 8.1) I'm not planning to move (and keep fighting the nag). Good start menu replacement (if needed) is actually better from what 10 has to offer
(2) would also be my concern (but I just keep using one key anyway).
Cars usually have provisions for getting in when the fob is out of sync/juice (better RTFM before this happens;).
In addition, having physical lock is hopefully more than just security theater sacrificed on behalf of premium trims with keyless entry (fine with this) and start (meh).
The hack has a problem though. It's one thing to open garage door in the middle of nowhere - and the quicker the better. It's entirely different thing to open them simultaneously on all buildings along the street (withing transmitter range). Neighborhood watch or not someone will look out the window.
Start menu remains almost as useless as start screen in 8, but gets more bloated than in 7.
While 10 does not necessarily force you (yet) into MS cloud, the system is simply a platform optimized to connect to MS services and everything else remains secondary consideration (EULA takes care of that). Say what you want, but try disabling all the chit-chatting between your PC and MotherShip. Just start with fully disabling Cortana, smartscreen in IE (prompt seems to come back every IE update) etc. They truly like to listen.
And the idea of Store seems like a racketeering of the computer age. Sorry, but I need no middle man no big brother to guide me and help make "correct" choices.
Windows used to be low friction platform for less hardcore users with access to wast (and unrestricted) selection of 3rd party software and games. Now it becomes extension of MS data center with some gaming capabilities. I have no intent to let MS mine through my crap and the older I get the less I care for gaming.
It's been easy, convenient and fun this far, but no way I want to end up at mercy of MS admins/execs when they complete Windows switch to the service/subscription model.
not that easy:
1. you have to get to these (buried behind the dash etc)
2. once unplugged the rest of the system may (will in case of my car) complain (luckily for me it'll keep running as far as I know)
3. going really low-tech may void warranty (and look ugly)
4. at some point it may become illegal to disable built in comm systems (one more reason to keep the old clunker around for "special" runs;)
Exactly the "important" update that has made me reconsider automatic Windows updates (not to mention essential telemetry features sprinkled onto existing systems). Now set to manual because MS can't be trusted (if they ever should be). Manual (with checking kb articles) is pain but still better than being force-fed on home revisions of Windows 10. Freedom of choice is chipped away bit by bit (as US citizens have found in recent years). No 10 for me.
Absolutely. Today cars control basic functionality through centralized computer (instead of autonomous simple modules). Against all logic, single point of failure plus all the problems of bad software etc. Nobody asked for this (maybe programmers - you know, job security) but we'll all pay the price when something goes wrong. I guess cars got too reliable otherwise so planned obsolescence and complexity had to be added.
Well, I use PayPal as the middle man for small payments/purchases at odd places to limit exposure of the my credit card, actually I've created separate bank account just for PP (to downgrade risks even more). Now, with their history of freezing user's assets I'd be wary to have any other relationship with them than payment to a merchant, but for my purpose it's been OK. No problems with passwords and such but because of them holding on to old addresses (that I can't even find in my profile) completing transaction became annoying (and ended up shipping one of purchases to wrong place).
And don't forget about forced telemetry helping you MS, help force you to "upgrade" to 10 (and this activity overrides your previous choices). As usual,old Windows slows down with the age due to "improvements" applied via updates (newer version of Office will do the same). The icon is just the tip of an iceberg.
BTW, I've just tested build 10130. Not ready is name of the game. And while I had no problems setting it up without MS account, disabling all cloud "conveniences" etc, number of settings that MS took control away from the user is just unacceptable. Last but not least, start button/menu stopped working soon after I customized it to my needs. Lipstick on 8 pig.
Why - possibly because the company with - de facto - monopoly in desktop OS space (and keeps trying to inject itself into mobile space) will be forcing its users (especially the more ignorant) into their cloud service and - sooner or later - creating another monopoly that's much harder to break (once your data is on cloud providers server you're on the hook).
Dependency is the biggest issue for me, no matter how convenient I don't like the idea of powerful business with full control over my OS/device, overseeing my online habits (ISP is enough) and keeping my data hostage (not even rent to own scheme).
So far I've been able to avoid MSA requirement across all my system (heck, I've even upgraded from 8 to 8.1 outside their Pawn-Shop) but since there's not upgrade path for 8Pro w/WMC I have no reason to go to 10 (what for, fancier Metro apps I wished I could completely remove).
I've never had a "pleasure" to use "modern" version of Skype as desktop version was easily available. I bet sure that there's fewer metro Skype that Media Center users (it also died behind MS shed, BTW, this place is littered with corpses).
If anyone installed modern Skype it had to happen by mistake. It's standard routine for Windows 8 users to remove all traces of Metro junk of their machines after initial login to the system.
not to mention that pulling the toolbar off was also accompanied in change of legit home page to ... BING
Double standards?
And what about this Windows 10 upgrade nag, forced telemetry/CEIP (all this despite me disabling tasks, removing "updates" etc)?
BTW it was fun Monday when flood of ForeFront sh...t, I mean emails, signaled the end of world (at least for Ask;).
How has this ridiculous trend come to be so popular in Europe (US can't be helped, we can't even drive proper transmission)? Expensive fuel (and electricity), narrow streets and (most places, actually same like here) no need for 4WD. Once, visiting historical downtown of some small German city I saw a big hulking Land Rover. No idea how it was delivered there - air drop or some masochistic driving pleasure (plus inevitable liberal use of insurance over time). Sucks to drive, next to nil utility and expensive. Am I missing something?
I would not be so sure about this immunity to radiation, just ask NASA engineers. Now, mounting pounds of plutonium into this junk would make it more of a target than hunter (and just plain heavy). Also, by the looks I'd bet that on downward slope this thing would just tumble over, it'll be funny to look at. In addition, even if it was stable in straight line, any "helpful" nudge from side would have it on it's back, ready for picking of precious content/parts.
"Unless there's some particular value proposition over Safari, I don't see why anyone should switch. They certainly haven't on Android." - Well, keeping some of your data/browsing habits private (at least from Google) may be considered a value. It was even more the case before they switched firefox sync mechanism to the new, less secure method. Besides this their browser works fine (for the little use I get of my Android tablet).
I'll add another argument for ordinary coffee pot. The ease of use. Family member "upgraded" to newer Keurig's crap (old was was actually usable). DRM or not, I was able to load it with reusable cap (though it resulted in some internal spill eventually, just to add to aggravation). That thing was like trying to program VCR (with no TV connected) and I had no manual (manual for coffee pot, wtf;). The fancy display, water filter and "convenient" cup. I got some coffee out of it (lets say a shot too little) but what a hassle.
And all I needed was one button operation, Start and let it drip until the water is gone. All these wasted R&D $. But suckers will pay.
and if only water used for drinking was significant to your drought problem. Bathroom use - possibly will show on the radar (if you tried hard enough). The biggest offenders are residential irrigation (complete waste), then industry and agriculture (these at least provide produce something useful).
It's not only an issue of MS approval to get an app(lication) and getting revenue cut (as if they deserved mnore) but also the issue of constant supervision that comes with centralized store model. I don't enjoy the idea of another big brother having complete overview of all my activities. They better work harder to know it all.
You like to over-engineer, don't you. For most MC users nicely integrated DVR option and maybe a DVD player were the essential features. Low crud, low cpu use, decent anti-aliasing for video, always on top (even this had to be hacked on Windows 8) etc.
For all intents and purposes Windows 10 (and 8 for that matter) is just a glorified web browser (home use). Less and less reason to "upgrade", not even at the price of free (there surely is a catch in this deal).
Well, each of Apple's products we receive comes in at least 2 boxes. A brown shipping cardboard box is easy to recycle (if somewhat redundant). It goes right on (tight fit) the fancy, white/colored and laminated (= next to impossible to recycle) product box (the one that "fanboys" keep on their shelves). In this box is bunch of other junk responsible for "product experience" and the actual toy. None of this seems easily recyclable (and repairable). By comparison other brands' packaging looks more mundane but is much easier on environment, though more and more copycats try to follow Apple in over-packaging. At the end we - consumers - pay for both the over-engineered boxes and their disposal.
And responsible forestry (or whatever PR name they use) is only the 1st step in turning the wood into packaging. None of these steps is particularly environmentally friendly. The only true 'conservation scheme' is to actually conserve resources at every stage. I can't see Apple (or any other "concerned" corporation) doing this. I bet that another of their environmentally friendly achievements - the spaceship HQ - will be is just as great for forests. Price of progress?
Thanks for the Palemoon reference. While I have no strong preference for/against Australis, I'm not a fan of the new sync mechanism. There's no way I'd store my sensitive data and related encryption key at someone's server (no matter how much I trusted them). Old/roll your own scheme was much better (if cumbersome for some) and should remain an option for these that care, especially that mobile platforms removed the secure offline "copy profile folder" option. Palemoon's sync seems nice compromise between security and convenience (and I may give it a try).
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