Microsoft CEO: tech sector needs to prevent ‘1984’ future
Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella said Wednesday tech developers have a responsibility to prevent a dystopian “1984” future as the US technology titan unveiled a fresh initiative to bring artificial intelligence into the mainstream.
Good thing MicroSpy is doing their bit to stop Orwellian snooping.
Oh. Wait.
Popular Antivirus Program Mistakenly IDs Windows as Threat, Creating Chaos
An antivirus service used by tens of thousands of businesses and millions of home users shut down an untold number of computers around the world Monday after it mistakenly identified core parts of Microsoft Windows as threats, the company confirmed.Webroot Inc. of Broomfield, Colorado, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But it confirmed on its support forum for customers that it issued an updated detection rule that “identified false positives” for critical Windows operating files Monday afternoon, resulting in those files’ being “quarantined” and inaccessible to Windows.
On the one hand, perhaps a departing employee left a littyle gift for Webroot.
On the other hand… Frankly, MicroSnoop’s “telemetry” and other file snooping very likely triggered a heuristic scan alarm.
Windows is malware, IMNSHO.
Seriously, either nail down Win7 (for those who need legacy stuff that won’t play well in Wine), or install Linux already.
Windows 10 Anniversary Update breaks most webcams
The Windows 10 Anniversary Update, aka version 1607, has been found to leave many webcams inoperable. The update prevents the use of webcams in applications such as Skype and Open Broadcaster Software (OBS), along with all manner of custom CCTV programs. Extremely popular hardware, such as Logitech’s C920 and C930e cameras, in conjunction even with Microsoft’s own Skype, will fail to properly broadcast video.
Yeah, MicroShaft-you is big, but why hasn’t someone sued them into oblivion with a class action suit? Or for the Win10 HIPAA violations?
You know how those technologically-ignorant idiots in DC think we need to backdoor encryption for the children, to stop terrorists and speeding drivers?
This is one of the many reasons we’ve been telling them that it’s a truly bad idea.
Bungling Microsoft singlehandedly proves that golden backdoor keys are a terrible idea
Redmond races to revoke Secure Boot policy
Microsoft leaked the golden keys that unlock Windows-powered tablets, phones and other devices sealed by Secure Boot – and is now scrambling to undo the blunder.These skeleton keys can be used to install non-Redmond operating systems on locked-down computers. In other words, on devices that do not allow you to disable Secure Boot even if you have administrator rights – such as ARM-based Windows RT tablets – it is now possible to sidestep this block and run, say, GNU/Linux or Android.
What’s more, it is believed it will be impossible for Microsoft to fully revoke the leaked keys.
For the record, I can confirm that Linux Mint 18 installs just as easily as 17.1 and 17.3, and works very nicely. True, this particular clusterfuck seems to affect mobile devices that Mint won’t help with, but it will start weaning you from the idiots at MSFT.
Seriously. Who has trusted MicroCeph since the _NSAKEY fiasco of ’99? What; you believed them?
…to Orient Industry.
Microsoft deletes ‘teen girl’ AI after it became a Hitler-loving sex robot within 24 hours
A day after Microsoft introduced an innocent Artificial Intelligence chat robot to Twitter it has had to delete it after it transformed into an evil Hitler-loving, incestual sex-promoting, ‘Bush did 9/11’-proclaiming robot.
Hey, Bill; there’s a reason children need responsible parents to guide them towards adulthood.
Seriously, Microsoft? “Tay also asks her followers to ‘f***’ her, and calls them ‘daddy’.?
If people needed another reason to dump MS Windows, they could consider the possibility of a “Tay” personal assistant being built into Win10.
Microsoft is downloading Windows 10 to PCs, even if you don’t “reserve” a copy
Microsoft has confirmed that it is “helping upgradable devices get ready for Windows 10 by downloading the files they need” in the event that owners decide to migrate to the new OS, even if they have heretofore passed up on “reserving” their free upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.The issue seems to revolve around the Microsoft update KB3035583, and as such it appears to only afflict individuals who have chosen to receive automatic updates.
I told you to turn off automatic updates. You did… right?
Look, I know they’ve brainwashed you into thinking those updates are necesary for security, lest some Russki hacker get into your porn and bank files. Not really.
The real security issues, like major zero day probs, you’re going to hear about; you can install those fixes on a case by case basis. But even those wouldn’t be a problem if you stop downloading and running every file presented in pop-ups and email. Install a third party firewall (and if you’re on broadband, turn on your router’s firewall — if it doesn’t have one, you need a router built this century anyway).
Besides, MS’ ‘security’ updates are BS anyway. I wiped Windows from this machine completely when the idiots pushed a ‘security’ update that caused screen fonts to be illegible. Security? Font rendering?
The security hazards of not using automatic updates are far, far, far lower than the risks of MS-approved security risks. Remember?
Again, you can avoid all the Microsoft crap by installing Linux. It’s free, it’s easy (finally), and you can pick from many different versions. I recommend Mint Linux for most Windows users. I can walk you through it, if you need hand-holding. If you absolutely must use some Win app (I empathize; I still can’t find acceptable CMYK support in Linux), go dual boot and only run Win if you’re doing that one weird Win thing.
I would hope all Windows users are aware of the deliberate snooping built directly into Windows 10, and know not to “upgrade” to it. If not, the short form is that MicroNSA believes so strongly in the future of “cloud computing” that it’s going to make Win10 users do it whether they like it or not.
That’s bad.
Worse: It now appears that wasn’t good enough for the NSA’s corporate buttbuddy. They’re pushing a set of updates to Win7 and Win8 that implement some of the same file, email, browsing, and search data snooping to be found in 10.
If you must run Windows, do not upgrade to Windows 10. If you are running 7 or 8, turn off Automatic Updates immediately. Check your system (Control Panel=>Windows Updates=>View Update History) for the following updates:
Disable them.
If you aren’t on automatic, check the list of “Updates to install.” If you see them there, right-click on them and “Hide Update.”
Install Linux Mint and avoid this in the future. [grin]
Now about that “prison” reference. Imagine you work for a nursing company or in a doctor’s office. Imagine company IT hasn’t blocked these updates. Now imagine your machine reading emails about/to/from patients and forwarding the contents to Microsoft. The private HIPAA-protected contents.
Now imagine how huge a HIPAA violation that could potentially be. HIPAA violations can carry civil and criminal penalties, including fines as high as $1.5 megabucks.
That’s just in the medical field. Attorney/client privilege information can be breached, too. Or just corporate proprietary data. Can you say, “Liability”? Sure, you can.
Heh. Now imagine you’re a dishonest Secretary of State running classified email through a Windows machine… which helpfully forwards the TS/SCI data to Microsoft in violation of the Espionage Act. China wishes it could rootkit machines as extensively as MS. Hell, the FBI and NSA would probably be willing to pay MS beaucoup bucks for this surveillance functionality. Maybe they did. [/tinfoil hat off]
For various reasons, the computer I use most still runs Windows (Vista, Bog save me). Microsoft is determined to see me switch this one to Linux, too.
Windows updated again. And seriously screwed up Cleartype font smoothing. To the point that text in some applications is almost unreadable (and semi-legible in other like Pale Moon). I reverted the system to pre-update, then did a security-only update, figuring that it was the Windows update proper that did the damage.
Nope. Screwed up the smoothing again. Why in the hell would a security update affect font smoothing?
I have two software packages that are available only as Windows apps. I need them. So far, they appear to run well under Wine in Linux Mint. I’m going to stress test them over the weekend. If all goes well, I’ll completely wipe my Windows partition and install Mint on this machine.
(Please don’t suggest that I upgrade to Win8. I’ve heard certain horror stories. I know people switching to Linux because of 8. It’s time to dump Windows completely.)
Random Acts of Gibberish 