True, but then you couldn't control it from the airport with your smartphone. You could argue security issues, but that would result in too many people not feeling the joy of controlling their home from anywhere in the world. Of course they forget others could too...that's besides the point, at least to those seduced by the "cool" factor. (I blame Apple...too use friendly for our own good..)
Okay, this is just too hilarious. It's like the movie "War Games" when the computer engineer left his dead son's name as a password before he disappeared. This sort of thing tends to happen when a non-engineer want to ensure absolute control in a quick dirty way. Of course anyone with any foresight (AKA IT/Engineering professionals or even Philosophers/Historians I expect) would have pointed out how easy a back door this would be. We already have tons of historical precedence. And then take two years to undo it? Probably a 3rd party pointed out they could be sued for negligence and said "get this fixed...now". The usual reactive crap when sales/iron grip overrides good judgement for short terms savings. Of course why anyone would want a device like this in their home giving people a potential back door for any hacker to get in through the Internet and play poltergist is slightly puzzling. People need to learn that "Convenience comes at the price of Security". Kind of sounds like: "With Great Power comes great responsibility". Of course nobody seems to learn from either phrase. And here's another one: "Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it"...whoops...too late...
Okay, I find it funny that the IRS reassuring people that SSN's were not stolen from them. Not sure it matters, the SSN' s were already stolen. All they wanted was the PINs and, Hey, 25% isn't bad. Still worth a fortune. Wonder if data would be safer being send by pigeon carrier. All these data breaches recently. FBI, CIA and the IRS.
Really? I've been using it for a few months and I quite like it. It's FAST, very clear interface. Although...sometimes it's a little too clean; had to think where a few things were, but once I got over that. Plus it has a NoScript equivalent that makes Noscript look like kiddie scripts. Way more visibility and control overs scripting behavior than NoScript has.
Think I'll get rid of Opera before there are any more updates and move to the Vivaldi web browser (created by opera guys apparently). when the Chinese nation gets their hands on anything, 2 things generally happen: Attempts to make it cheaper at our expense, or attempts to get more from us, again at our expense. I'm not saying westerns don't do some of this too, but China has a lot more practice at it. QQ and WeChat are two good examples.
Imagine driving in a vehicle that can literally "take you for a ride". Hackers could have a field day with this. Wonder if law makers/enforcement agencies will allow a manual override. If people can get reveal private/classified information from federal agencies like the CIA and FBI, is a car (or car server network) going to be a tougher challenge? Hmm...
In my experience, many projects look great on paper but when the benchmarks of a what is in essence an experiment, they usually fall short. It's a worthwhile project for sure, but I'd bet more on 700k rather than 1.1 million. Solar Cells are not that efficient yet (we're getting there), and there is power delivery;How much power will we lose in transport over a physical medium with electrical resistance. (even with super conductors there is SOME loss, just less). This would be awesome in deserts where in theory there is minimal impact on the environment, but then again..do we really know the impact on the natural balance of things by putting in a few thousands solar panels for generating electric power. I know we've done smaller scale projects like this in China, for example and probably other places. But I kind of doubt energy proeuced will be enough to export much power to outsiders like Europe if any at all. Still, if it cuts emissions, that's cool. so why aren't we doing that in, say, Arizona or Nevada?
Sorry, my bad. Solar Cells are really part of this equation as it's using heat to produce steam. So it's a better approach than conventional solar power plants I knew about. I still think the numbers may be a bit less than they are marketing, but less is still better. Just wouldn't bet the farm on those numbers.
In my experience, many projects look great on paper but when the benchmarks of a what is in essence an experiment, they usually fall short. It's a worthwhile project for sure, but I'd bet more on 700k rather than 1.1 million. Solar Cells are not that efficient yet (we're getting there), and there is power delivery;How much power will we lose in transport over a physical medium with electrical resistance. (even with super conductors there is SOME loss, just less). This would be awesome in deserts where in theory there is minimal impact on the environment, but then again..do we really know the impact on the natural balance of things by putting in a few thousands solar panels for generating electric power. I know we've done smaller scale projects like this in China, for example and probably other places. But I kind of doubt energy proeuced will be enough to export much power to outsiders like Europe if any at all. Still, if it cuts emissions, that's cool. so why aren't we doing that in, say, Arizona or Nevada?
When you get goodies like warrantless searches, you never want to give them up. Like Ben Franklin said "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety". Never were truer words spoken. Next we'll be using methods we condemned Germany and China for to "monitor for threats". From this respect, it's true We haven't learned from national or world history.
Given that facebook has collected so much data that can be used by intelligence agencies, I'm sure they see this is VERY productive: People voluntarily giving lots of private data that has been used by hundreds of agencies including but not limited to government intelligence, insurance investigators, human resources, private intelligence/investigation, recruiting and marketing companies. Facebook has probably injected "nitro" into the fuel of face recognition technology development. Happy Birthday, Facebook (aka "The Facebook"). You've given us insight into our friends and family, in some cases more than the data owner probably would like if the thought about it in between postings...
Which distro was it? Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, another? It could be integrated as a gnome dependency but that seems strange. There are many flavors and it's possible not all of of them do this (I may try on virtual OS's just to confirm). Yes, it is illogical, but being open source + community driven, we have the ability to change it, either in code for submissions, or in bug reports. The thing about MS (Especially Windows 10 which sends data about you which is hard-impossible for a non-techie especially in Home edition to block/shut off and even Windows 7/8 may have their systems hijacked if they don't disable Windows updates in the "Services" and now there is no description in new updates so you have no clue what they are doing until it's too late..), is if the community says something is bad/irritating, MS says politely "f** you". With Linux distros, you have a chance of being heard. The only way MS hears anything, is if given an "offer you can't refuse" by the US government, or if everyone stops using MS Windows. (which while there is chance is happening with more Android/iOS/MacOS/Linux users leaving MS in disgust as they realize there ARE choices), is happening at a snail's pace. So it's your choice: Go with an OS where your opinion might matter, or with an OS that couldn't care less because they still think you are beholden to them.
I've read a few things about systemd that are not entirely positive. There seems to be a religious war about using or not using (and whether it should be optional). The thing is, hindsight is 20/20. When Linux was first conceived (and MS windows for that matter), no one foresaw anything like UEFI. How could they? Well..maybe if you were Nostradamus, but I'm not sure even he predicted this one. (anyone care to check his notes?) A living growing system must adapt to it's environment to survive and Linux (and MS Windows), are "living", growing, changing, evolving system. This is all part of the process. I just wonder how long before some genius says "hey, how about a new status on certain file/file locations that has an additional sudo like layer so people have to confirm this before they potentially nuke a UEFI system"). I'm sure it will happen eventually (hopefully very soon, we've had time to consider this...). I remember reading, "Make an idiot proof system, and the universe will build better idiots.". We'll get through this. Of course deleting things recursively is a dangerous operation and perhaps this is a sign that we should all stop being lazy and remember that "with great power comes great responsibility.".:D
They finally figured out nobody pays attention to anything unless you give it bright colors. It's amazing how little we have evolved (or perhaps devolved) since our early formative years. Of course when people see a big red "x" they tend to panic somewhat (as red often symbolizes danger). But because a site is not encrypted doesn't necessarily pose a danger. If there was sensitive data being sent unencrypted (or even a password field and unencrypted), okay, alert them. But to encourage ALL sites to encrypt regardless of purposes/data to avoid the big red "x" from google Chrome...seems a bit much. I'm enjoying the Vivaldi browser so I think I'll just keep using that.:D
The only person I've met who has a Windows Phone was a Microsoft employee. That same employee told me he would never recommend SharePoint. LOL. Microsoft seems to have a trend of getting into markets too little too late and if they can't buy/push out the competition their product effort dies a SLOoooowww death. Such products include IE 7 (yes there are still a few people on it...), Zune, ASP (in my opinion worst web scripting language...ever). Visual Basic died less painfully/faster once NET came out. (Remember "Option Explicit" folks...what a concept). there are probably others I've forgotten about (or it like ASP was so painful I wanted to block out the memory).I suspect the Windows Store will not gain a lot of traction even though MS is force feeding Windows 10 down people's throats. (I tell my friends how to stop MS updater services before it hijacks their Windows 7 computers.) How is it Microsoft waits for someone else to "strike while the iron is hot" and come in after the the market has already been dominated by someone else. It boggles the mind. Apple/Google are with or ahead of the curve and MS Windows is consistently behind.It's just so funny and sad. While it's probably true that this article is there to fan the flames, the flames are there..or in this case, the embers of the dying coals.
Just goes to show how lazy some people in the tech community are. Copy/Paste...in this case technology + psychology. Cute/Clever way to ferret out those fledgling blackmailers. (wonder how many people who visited/downloaded from that project are being investigated...and how many of them bothered to hid their IPs before visting..)
Wow, so all it takes now is one virus or one planned "feature" and you could give a new definition to insider trading. There are some things that we should think before we automate. (We already learned what happens when we deregulate/abstract...:-) ) The view Doyle and Clemens(Twain) had on the stock market (not exactly favorable) may have been justified.
While your point is valid, truth be told, we've been "suspending" (I say cancelling) freedom for awhile now, and it's getting more extensive. New bills fining people for recording events on their cell phone to social media (I forget which state but it was posted yesterday), ability to do warrentless record searches/phone/email taps for any reason, hold people indefinitely (kidnapping them and taking them to a foreign country to "processing" (persuading, aka torture) for information. Companies possibly about to be told they have to create government back doors upon request and can be imprisoned if they say anything about it. Not being allowed to consult a lawyer when being "request" to create backdoors. When have we been promoting/practicing freedom? Not for at least 10-12 years, possibly longer in my observation. It would be interesting if we ever used these sweeping powers governments are seizing do so something actually moral for a change, but that never seems to happen. And are we safer from all these loss of civil rights, from what I see, the "attacks" have gotten worse not better. We've been telling people to give up freedoms and promising safety. And then saying we need more. At least the EFF is putting pressure on this. Oh, and the government DOES have restrictions on what you can sell to foreign powers (especially in encryption), just not on anything not affect government operations. (ethical or otherwise). Also, it can be argued that EFF is fighting for free of people in China to speak their minds. So which freedom is more precious...when in doubt, I go to that which has longer term good for the most people. Freedom to see to people who exercise in harmful behavior, I think trumps freedom of commerce. (and we apply this with weapons, technologies and so on). Just food for thought.
Most of us probably know that IBM sold computers to Nazi Germany which were used to help keep track of stuff in their concentration. IBM knew what was going on there as Cisco knew what it was doing here. All for a buck. Trouble is, it's hard to claim to be a country that stands behind human rights while at the same time helping people specifically violate those rights. Knowing China tortures people it doesn't like, it's clear social responsibility goes out the window when it comes to profit.Yahoo gave their search engine saying "it's the law in China" around 2004 leading to the torture of 2 reporters (if my memory is correct). At a Foreign Affairs committee they got blasted by the leader, Tom Lantos (rightfully so in my opinion). The problem is, when you do business with a country that is well known to act in was contrary to what we consider ethical/moral this is inevitable. So why do we still do it? Because convenience is more valuable to us than our sense of morality. People would scream about not having their "cheap Chinese underwear" if we stopped trading with them on moral grounds. (As if we'd ever entertain doing this). If people want this to change we have to vote with ourr minds, hearts and dollars. Something we all seem to forget as we say, "shame on you" and then buy our products from people we know do things we public denounce. Something to ponder on...
Oh, a few typos, sorry. (Was in a rush..dumb..Linux does not install spyware unlike MS windows. ("so" instead of "no" and "went full throttle" not "want full throttle"..opps). Anyway, you get the idea. Hope it helps some of you out there wondering what to do who may think MS rules cyberspace.
Folks, in my experience with M$ Window$ they have become aggressive to collecting data without our permissions to unacceptable levels. For those are hard core gamers and are not preprepared make MS feels their error by no longer using their "possessed" OS do the following:
1. Disable the "Windows Update" Service in services. This is the ONLY way stop MS windows from pushing their stuff on your computer without your permissions. If you need to install updates on Windows 7 research them before you install them. Otherwise you are better off installing a 3rd party firewall and an updated antivirus/maleware software. yes, there have been vunlerabilities found in antivirus/maleware products, and some spyware is whitelisted but it's better than an OS installing what is basically spyware or worse, updating components to the point you cannot remove the spyware.
2. Install a 3rd Party firewall. (not rely on Ms Windows firewall: if you can't trust the updates, how you can you trust their firewall). PrivacyFirewall has done well for me.
You can uninstall the updates. I read that Windows 10 won't even describe what their updates do any more except to say "new features & enhancements"; creepy!. Haven't we all had enough?
Of course the best thing to do is to use either Linux (Linux Mint is the most user friendly so far, but I also like Debian or Scientific Linux). Unless you are a gamer, or doing insanely complex spreadsheet tables, there is nothing on MS Windows you cannot do in Linux. Professional quality Word Processor: Free, LibreOffice 5.0 works very well. Email client: Most of use use Thunderbird anyway. Browsers: We all tend to use Chrome or Firefox anyway (I highly recommend the new Vivaldi browser, FAST!!). Multimedia for DVD/CD: Free VLC. AND....not region encoding enforcement and you can make backup copies (own the media, please I'm not endorsing piracy). So you can play your disks from the UK with nothing in your way. And...so spyware trying to install itself. I have noticed the CentOS update model is a little vague at time but you can check it or disable it. The need for Linux Antivirus is less (like mac) but there are viruses out there. F-Secure, ESet and Codomo has antivirus products for Linux. Oh, Itunes...humph.... RhythmBox does the job better in my opinion. Oh, there are WAY more games (including AAA games) for linux now, just not as many, but if more people switch that too will change.
Yes you can also go to Apple. (although I suspect they will play their own games with collecting user data eventually)
Anyway, point is, the only way MS is going to stop this is if we stop using them. The WGA was a test to see if we'd "take it up the butt" and most people did, so they want "full throttle". I'm kind of allergic of an OS that hijacks itself.So...vote with your minds, your hearts and your dollars. Otherwise things will get worse in this are, not better. I've had young kids from my classes use Linux Minx and they didn't even blink. One kid told me she was way happier with it because it was stable and faster. So usability is no longer holding people back from Linux (x-windows+ manager installed anyway). We have options, let's use them!
I was brought up on one of those...and had to have it replaced (got a free replacement and game after writing a letter). The programs on the TI994A crashed, fairly often although I loved the thing. Also, does it make sense to expose a child to a platform whose design doesn't reflect today's computer platform foundation? The TI 994a cartridge system doesn't reflect the way systems work now and good luck finding that GIANT expansion module add-on module with the floppy disk drive. (Considering how small the cartridge memory space and Floppy disks were that is a LOT of physical hardware to store). Easier/smaller to just get an old PC and put a Linux distro on it, perhaps one like qimo4kids http://www.qimo4kids.com/ or DouDou Linux http://www.doudoulinux.org?
Apologies, You may have noticed that my link for Mint Linux in my first posting doesn't work. Its http://linuxmint.com/ (not.org). Apologies again for confusion.
Slashdot Mirror
"We at the FBI do not have a sense of humor that we are aware of" - Timmy Lee Jones, Men in Black
True, but then you couldn't control it from the airport with your smartphone. You could argue security issues, but that would result in too many people not feeling the joy of controlling their home from anywhere in the world. Of course they forget others could too...that's besides the point, at least to those seduced by the "cool" factor. (I blame Apple...too use friendly for our own good..)
Okay, this is just too hilarious. It's like the movie "War Games" when the computer engineer left his dead son's name as a password before he disappeared. This sort of thing tends to happen when a non-engineer want to ensure absolute control in a quick dirty way. Of course anyone with any foresight (AKA IT/Engineering professionals or even Philosophers/Historians I expect) would have pointed out how easy a back door this would be. We already have tons of historical precedence. And then take two years to undo it? Probably a 3rd party pointed out they could be sued for negligence and said "get this fixed...now". The usual reactive crap when sales/iron grip overrides good judgement for short terms savings. Of course why anyone would want a device like this in their home giving people a potential back door for any hacker to get in through the Internet and play poltergist is slightly puzzling. People need to learn that "Convenience comes at the price of Security". Kind of sounds like: "With Great Power comes great responsibility". Of course nobody seems to learn from either phrase. And here's another one: "Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it"...whoops...too late...
Okay, I find it funny that the IRS reassuring people that SSN's were not stolen from them. Not sure it matters, the SSN' s were already stolen. All they wanted was the PINs and, Hey, 25% isn't bad. Still worth a fortune. Wonder if data would be safer being send by pigeon carrier. All these data breaches recently. FBI, CIA and the IRS.
Really? I've been using it for a few months and I quite like it. It's FAST, very clear interface. Although...sometimes it's a little too clean; had to think where a few things were, but once I got over that. Plus it has a NoScript equivalent that makes Noscript look like kiddie scripts. Way more visibility and control overs scripting behavior than NoScript has.
Think I'll get rid of Opera before there are any more updates and move to the Vivaldi web browser (created by opera guys apparently). when the Chinese nation gets their hands on anything, 2 things generally happen: Attempts to make it cheaper at our expense, or attempts to get more from us, again at our expense. I'm not saying westerns don't do some of this too, but China has a lot more practice at it. QQ and WeChat are two good examples.
Imagine driving in a vehicle that can literally "take you for a ride". Hackers could have a field day with this. Wonder if law makers/enforcement agencies will allow a manual override. If people can get reveal private/classified information from federal agencies like the CIA and FBI, is a car (or car server network) going to be a tougher challenge? Hmm...
In my experience, many projects look great on paper but when the benchmarks of a what is in essence an experiment, they usually fall short. It's a worthwhile project for sure, but I'd bet more on 700k rather than 1.1 million. Solar Cells are not that efficient yet (we're getting there), and there is power delivery;How much power will we lose in transport over a physical medium with electrical resistance. (even with super conductors there is SOME loss, just less). This would be awesome in deserts where in theory there is minimal impact on the environment, but then again..do we really know the impact on the natural balance of things by putting in a few thousands solar panels for generating electric power. I know we've done smaller scale projects like this in China, for example and probably other places. But I kind of doubt energy proeuced will be enough to export much power to outsiders like Europe if any at all. Still, if it cuts emissions, that's cool. so why aren't we doing that in, say, Arizona or Nevada?
Sorry, my bad. Solar Cells are really part of this equation as it's using heat to produce steam. So it's a better approach than conventional solar power plants I knew about. I still think the numbers may be a bit less than they are marketing, but less is still better. Just wouldn't bet the farm on those numbers.
In my experience, many projects look great on paper but when the benchmarks of a what is in essence an experiment, they usually fall short. It's a worthwhile project for sure, but I'd bet more on 700k rather than 1.1 million. Solar Cells are not that efficient yet (we're getting there), and there is power delivery;How much power will we lose in transport over a physical medium with electrical resistance. (even with super conductors there is SOME loss, just less). This would be awesome in deserts where in theory there is minimal impact on the environment, but then again..do we really know the impact on the natural balance of things by putting in a few thousands solar panels for generating electric power. I know we've done smaller scale projects like this in China, for example and probably other places. But I kind of doubt energy proeuced will be enough to export much power to outsiders like Europe if any at all. Still, if it cuts emissions, that's cool. so why aren't we doing that in, say, Arizona or Nevada?
When you get goodies like warrantless searches, you never want to give them up. Like Ben Franklin said "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety". Never were truer words spoken. Next we'll be using methods we condemned Germany and China for to "monitor for threats". From this respect, it's true We haven't learned from national or world history.
Given that facebook has collected so much data that can be used by intelligence agencies, I'm sure they see this is VERY productive: People voluntarily giving lots of private data that has been used by hundreds of agencies including but not limited to government intelligence, insurance investigators, human resources, private intelligence/investigation, recruiting and marketing companies. Facebook has probably injected "nitro" into the fuel of face recognition technology development. Happy Birthday, Facebook (aka "The Facebook"). You've given us insight into our friends and family, in some cases more than the data owner probably would like if the thought about it in between postings...
Which distro was it? Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, another? It could be integrated as a gnome dependency but that seems strange. There are many flavors and it's possible not all of of them do this (I may try on virtual OS's just to confirm). Yes, it is illogical, but being open source + community driven, we have the ability to change it, either in code for submissions, or in bug reports. The thing about MS (Especially Windows 10 which sends data about you which is hard-impossible for a non-techie especially in Home edition to block/shut off and even Windows 7/8 may have their systems hijacked if they don't disable Windows updates in the "Services" and now there is no description in new updates so you have no clue what they are doing until it's too late..), is if the community says something is bad/irritating, MS says politely "f** you". With Linux distros, you have a chance of being heard. The only way MS hears anything, is if given an "offer you can't refuse" by the US government, or if everyone stops using MS Windows. (which while there is chance is happening with more Android/iOS/MacOS/Linux users leaving MS in disgust as they realize there ARE choices), is happening at a snail's pace. So it's your choice: Go with an OS where your opinion might matter, or with an OS that couldn't care less because they still think you are beholden to them.
I've read a few things about systemd that are not entirely positive. There seems to be a religious war about using or not using (and whether it should be optional). The thing is, hindsight is 20/20. When Linux was first conceived (and MS windows for that matter), no one foresaw anything like UEFI. How could they? Well..maybe if you were Nostradamus, but I'm not sure even he predicted this one. (anyone care to check his notes?) A living growing system must adapt to it's environment to survive and Linux (and MS Windows), are "living", growing, changing, evolving system. This is all part of the process. I just wonder how long before some genius says "hey, how about a new status on certain file/file locations that has an additional sudo like layer so people have to confirm this before they potentially nuke a UEFI system"). I'm sure it will happen eventually (hopefully very soon, we've had time to consider this...). I remember reading, "Make an idiot proof system, and the universe will build better idiots.". We'll get through this. Of course deleting things recursively is a dangerous operation and perhaps this is a sign that we should all stop being lazy and remember that "with great power comes great responsibility.". :D
They finally figured out nobody pays attention to anything unless you give it bright colors. It's amazing how little we have evolved (or perhaps devolved) since our early formative years. Of course when people see a big red "x" they tend to panic somewhat (as red often symbolizes danger). But because a site is not encrypted doesn't necessarily pose a danger. If there was sensitive data being sent unencrypted (or even a password field and unencrypted), okay, alert them. But to encourage ALL sites to encrypt regardless of purposes/data to avoid the big red "x" from google Chrome...seems a bit much. I'm enjoying the Vivaldi browser so I think I'll just keep using that. :D
The only person I've met who has a Windows Phone was a Microsoft employee. That same employee told me he would never recommend SharePoint. LOL. Microsoft seems to have a trend of getting into markets too little too late and if they can't buy/push out the competition their product effort dies a SLOoooowww death. Such products include IE 7 (yes there are still a few people on it...), Zune, ASP (in my opinion worst web scripting language...ever). Visual Basic died less painfully/faster once NET came out. (Remember "Option Explicit" folks...what a concept). there are probably others I've forgotten about (or it like ASP was so painful I wanted to block out the memory).I suspect the Windows Store will not gain a lot of traction even though MS is force feeding Windows 10 down people's throats. (I tell my friends how to stop MS updater services before it hijacks their Windows 7 computers.) How is it Microsoft waits for someone else to "strike while the iron is hot" and come in after the the market has already been dominated by someone else. It boggles the mind. Apple/Google are with or ahead of the curve and MS Windows is consistently behind.It's just so funny and sad. While it's probably true that this article is there to fan the flames, the flames are there..or in this case, the embers of the dying coals.
Just goes to show how lazy some people in the tech community are. Copy/Paste...in this case technology + psychology. Cute/Clever way to ferret out those fledgling blackmailers. (wonder how many people who visited/downloaded from that project are being investigated...and how many of them bothered to hid their IPs before visting..)
Wow, so all it takes now is one virus or one planned "feature" and you could give a new definition to insider trading. There are some things that we should think before we automate. (We already learned what happens when we deregulate/abstract...:-) ) The view Doyle and Clemens(Twain) had on the stock market (not exactly favorable) may have been justified.
While your point is valid, truth be told, we've been "suspending" (I say cancelling) freedom for awhile now, and it's getting more extensive. New bills fining people for recording events on their cell phone to social media (I forget which state but it was posted yesterday), ability to do warrentless record searches/phone/email taps for any reason, hold people indefinitely (kidnapping them and taking them to a foreign country to "processing" (persuading, aka torture) for information. Companies possibly about to be told they have to create government back doors upon request and can be imprisoned if they say anything about it. Not being allowed to consult a lawyer when being "request" to create backdoors. When have we been promoting/practicing freedom? Not for at least 10-12 years, possibly longer in my observation. It would be interesting if we ever used these sweeping powers governments are seizing do so something actually moral for a change, but that never seems to happen. And are we safer from all these loss of civil rights, from what I see, the "attacks" have gotten worse not better. We've been telling people to give up freedoms and promising safety. And then saying we need more. At least the EFF is putting pressure on this. Oh, and the government DOES have restrictions on what you can sell to foreign powers (especially in encryption), just not on anything not affect government operations. (ethical or otherwise). Also, it can be argued that EFF is fighting for free of people in China to speak their minds. So which freedom is more precious...when in doubt, I go to that which has longer term good for the most people. Freedom to see to people who exercise in harmful behavior, I think trumps freedom of commerce. (and we apply this with weapons, technologies and so on). Just food for thought.
Most of us probably know that IBM sold computers to Nazi Germany which were used to help keep track of stuff in their concentration. IBM knew what was going on there as Cisco knew what it was doing here. All for a buck. Trouble is, it's hard to claim to be a country that stands behind human rights while at the same time helping people specifically violate those rights. Knowing China tortures people it doesn't like, it's clear social responsibility goes out the window when it comes to profit.Yahoo gave their search engine saying "it's the law in China" around 2004 leading to the torture of 2 reporters (if my memory is correct). At a Foreign Affairs committee they got blasted by the leader, Tom Lantos (rightfully so in my opinion). The problem is, when you do business with a country that is well known to act in was contrary to what we consider ethical/moral this is inevitable. So why do we still do it? Because convenience is more valuable to us than our sense of morality. People would scream about not having their "cheap Chinese underwear" if we stopped trading with them on moral grounds. (As if we'd ever entertain doing this). If people want this to change we have to vote with ourr minds, hearts and dollars. Something we all seem to forget as we say, "shame on you" and then buy our products from people we know do things we public denounce. Something to ponder on...
He's lost my vote, along with Microsoft with the OS that now spies on you and hijacks itself.(Wonder if these two have chatted at some point...)
Oh, a few typos, sorry. (Was in a rush..dumb..Linux does not install spyware unlike MS windows. ("so" instead of "no" and "went full throttle" not "want full throttle"..opps). Anyway, you get the idea. Hope it helps some of you out there wondering what to do who may think MS rules cyberspace.
Nice find! Although I may also suggest moving to MacOS or Linux
Folks, in my experience with M$ Window$ they have become aggressive to collecting data without our permissions to unacceptable levels. For those are hard core gamers and are not preprepared make MS feels their error by no longer using their "possessed" OS do the following: 1. Disable the "Windows Update" Service in services. This is the ONLY way stop MS windows from pushing their stuff on your computer without your permissions. If you need to install updates on Windows 7 research them before you install them. Otherwise you are better off installing a 3rd party firewall and an updated antivirus/maleware software. yes, there have been vunlerabilities found in antivirus/maleware products, and some spyware is whitelisted but it's better than an OS installing what is basically spyware or worse, updating components to the point you cannot remove the spyware. 2. Install a 3rd Party firewall. (not rely on Ms Windows firewall: if you can't trust the updates, how you can you trust their firewall). PrivacyFirewall has done well for me. You can uninstall the updates. I read that Windows 10 won't even describe what their updates do any more except to say "new features & enhancements"; creepy!. Haven't we all had enough? Of course the best thing to do is to use either Linux (Linux Mint is the most user friendly so far, but I also like Debian or Scientific Linux). Unless you are a gamer, or doing insanely complex spreadsheet tables, there is nothing on MS Windows you cannot do in Linux. Professional quality Word Processor: Free, LibreOffice 5.0 works very well. Email client: Most of use use Thunderbird anyway. Browsers: We all tend to use Chrome or Firefox anyway (I highly recommend the new Vivaldi browser, FAST!!). Multimedia for DVD/CD: Free VLC. AND....not region encoding enforcement and you can make backup copies (own the media, please I'm not endorsing piracy). So you can play your disks from the UK with nothing in your way. And...so spyware trying to install itself. I have noticed the CentOS update model is a little vague at time but you can check it or disable it. The need for Linux Antivirus is less (like mac) but there are viruses out there. F-Secure, ESet and Codomo has antivirus products for Linux. Oh, Itunes...humph.... RhythmBox does the job better in my opinion. Oh, there are WAY more games (including AAA games) for linux now, just not as many, but if more people switch that too will change. Yes you can also go to Apple. (although I suspect they will play their own games with collecting user data eventually) Anyway, point is, the only way MS is going to stop this is if we stop using them. The WGA was a test to see if we'd "take it up the butt" and most people did, so they want "full throttle". I'm kind of allergic of an OS that hijacks itself.So...vote with your minds, your hearts and your dollars. Otherwise things will get worse in this are, not better. I've had young kids from my classes use Linux Minx and they didn't even blink. One kid told me she was way happier with it because it was stable and faster. So usability is no longer holding people back from Linux (x-windows+ manager installed anyway). We have options, let's use them!
I was brought up on one of those...and had to have it replaced (got a free replacement and game after writing a letter). The programs on the TI994A crashed, fairly often although I loved the thing. Also, does it make sense to expose a child to a platform whose design doesn't reflect today's computer platform foundation? The TI 994a cartridge system doesn't reflect the way systems work now and good luck finding that GIANT expansion module add-on module with the floppy disk drive. (Considering how small the cartridge memory space and Floppy disks were that is a LOT of physical hardware to store). Easier/smaller to just get an old PC and put a Linux distro on it, perhaps one like qimo4kids http://www.qimo4kids.com/ or DouDou Linux http://www.doudoulinux.org?
Apologies, You may have noticed that my link for Mint Linux in my first posting doesn't work. Its http://linuxmint.com/ (not .org). Apologies again for confusion.