JorgeA

Thanks for the additional information, jaclaz. I had complete confidence that you would provide it. I did wonder why not just keep the phone turned off, which is what I normally do anyway. But then it occurred to me that there could be special (political) circumstances where you'd want to keep the phone turned on and available for quick use, but inaccessible by snoops, which is where these bags come into play. Like wearing plate armor, anybody who's involved in these sorts of special circumstances will learn the product's limitations soon enough, and use it with the understanding of where it's most effective. Time and experience will tell what the "market for privacy" considers the best product at the optimal price. As I see it, the more people who know that these kinds of products exist (thanks to the news media), the quicker we can get to that point. --JorgeA

That was very good! --JorgeA

The race tightens: Leaked US spying budget reveals investments in 'groundbreaking' cryptanalysis What do y'all think? --JorgeA

Ow, come on. You probably didn't read fully what I posted. Or you really like paying more money for something that you can have for much less and that will anyway drain your battery? Interesting idea of "competition" and "evolution". Humanity is doomed. jaclaz jaclaz, I did read fully what you wrote, as you will see below. Regarding the higher price for this product -- well, whether it's worth it depends on whether their bag really does offer better protection (as claimed) than other competing products. We can look into it if you want. And as for how fast it drains the battery -- that's good to know, but again it is up to the market (customers) to decide whether it's worth it to get the ostensible level of protection. If you can find a protective bag that performs as well or better, for a lower price -- fabulous. Market competition will separate the wheat from the chaff. For now -- and this is the actual point of posting the link to that article, a point that has been ignored in this sidetracking discussion -- a major daily newspaper saw fit to remind its readers (no doubt some of them learning of this concept for the first time) that there is this kind of product out there that they can use. It is not the sort of thing that a user would conceive of automatically, so articles like this one are helpful as springboards for researching one's purchases. --JorgeA EDIT: clearer wording

Here's an interesting take on the surveillance/privacy game Microsoft and Google may be playing: Microsoft and Google (don’t really) want to tell you more about government data requests There isn't a singular paragraph that sums up what the article says, so I'm not pasting any quotes. You may want to go and read it all. (It's not long.) --JorgeA

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2405855/OFF-Pocket-privacy-pouch-blocks-mobile-phone-signals-stops--including-government--finding-are.html These things are called "Faraday bags", are on the market since years, are not 100% effective in a number of cases, BUT - if they work - they will bring the battery of the phone down in a VERY SHORT period of time. See: http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=10657/ http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=9890/ "Inventing" some that already exists, it is actually better tested, and it's already sold for less than US $ 60 (very expensive because of the transparent window, plainer models cost much less, anything between US$ 10 and $25 is available) and selling it for the US$ 85 apiece is pure genius . BTW, wrapping the handy in three or four layers of common kitchen aluminum foil has EXACTLY the same (if not better) results. jaclaz The Daily Mail article doesn't say that this guy invented the idea or its implementation, only that he created this particular product. However, the article does suggest that this particular bag may offer superior privacy: In any case, I'm all for new entrants in this market. As the saying goes, "the more, the merrier!" --JorgeA

I have one or two of these tiny ones that you showed. I sure haven't seen anything smaller. Don't know if you'd count these, but MicroSD camera cards are even tinier than that -- and even easier to lose forever! --JorgeA

More news on online privacy: Test 'reveals Facebook, Twitter and Google snoop on emails': Study of net giants spurs new privacy concerns And I wonder how long it'll be before this product is banned for "security" reasons: OFF Pocket privacy pouch blocks mobile phone signals and stops anyone - including the government - from finding where you are Get one while you're still allowed to... --JorgeA

Yeah, really!! It does tell you something when an Apple OS starts looking like a friendlier computing environment than Windows. But we'll leave that discussion for "over there"... --JorgeA

Yeah, right -- like authors, reporters, editors, bloggers, lawyers, students, professors, scientists, and secretaries are going to start poking their communications into Metro Word. And everyone who posts on forums like this one or NeoWin and so many thousands of others is going to do so from an onscreen keyboard, a stylus, or voice. If you even have to so much as write an e-mail that says more than "how r u doin," none of these methods holds a candle to the keyboard in terms of speed, reliability, and efficiency. I'd like to get some of what Andy Wilson's been smoking... --JorgeA

Good discussion of iOS 7, Johnny Ive, and "designer dictatorship" in Windows Weekly 317, starting at about 48:30. But the real gem comes at 55:00, courtesy of Paul Thurrott who unequivocally takes our side of things: --JorgeA

I have an old PC with two hard disks each containing a full installation of Win98FE. They both include all official Windows Updates for that OS. One of them is the original install from the vendor (I bought that PC in early 1999, just prior to SE's launching) and the other is one that I did a couple of years ago, by sheer chance shortly before Microsoft cut off the server for Win98 updates. But neither of these installations is particularly stable and so I have two main choices next time I need to install Win98 fresh: To somehow extract the Windows Updates from these installations, so that I can then apply them to a new, fresh install. Is that possible? To get the Updates from some other source.The trajectory of my computing learning is very different from that of most people on this forum. Although I had a lot of fun tinkering with computers in 1982-85, ever since Windows overtook DOS I had tended to approach computers as black boxes that performed magic; in 2005-6 I wasn't expert enough to back up Win98 updates. Had you talked to me in those years about backups and installers, I would have given you a blank, mystified look. But TBH I'm not sure how I would go about it today even if the updates were available the old-fashioned way -- I don't remember the Windows 98 update application offering a simple choice to download the updates such that they could be installed manually later. Memories of how it worked are getting fuzzy by now, but IIRC it was a fairly automated function unless you went to the individual information page for each update -- which on dial-up made for quite a tedious process. (Not that back then I would have given much thought anyway to such an "advanced" function as downloading individual update installers.) I do remember, though, that the last time I installed Win98, there were many many more than a dozen updates, maybe even several dozen. Maybe they weren't all security/stability updates, but there were a ton of them all told and it would be preferable to have them too, if possible. --JorgeA

OK, since you're running Win98SE on a modern PC, we have established that one can run Win98 on a current-model computer. That's very good to know. But to my mind the issue isn't the age of the computer itself, but rather the age of the OS relative to the newness of the peripherals and accessories. May I ask you this: If you have an equally modern printer attached to it, are you using generic printer drivers or does the vendor offer Win9x drivers for it? Is there any printer functionality (two-sided printing, for example, or printing more than one copy at a time) that you can't access because there are no specialized drivers for the printer for that OS? Likewise, if you have an add-on video card, does the vendor publish drivers for it that work on Win98, or are you again limited to relying on some type of generic approach? Besides getting the official Windows Updates, this would be my main type of concern if I were contemplating doing a fresh Win98 install on a new computer in 2013. Again, to be clear -- I'm not arguing here, just inquiring. There is a possibility I might do this at some point in the future, so my curiosity is a practical one. It would be great to know that one can run 2013-vintage equipment on Windows 98 without compromising functionality. --JorgeA

Wow, that is amazing! However... If and when the time comes to do a fresh install of Windows 98 -- where does one go to get all the official updates through July 2006? (I'm thinking of Win98 FE, not SE.) Are there any repositories elsewhere, now that Microsoft has killed/repurposed the one(s) that stored the Windows Updates for 9x that you used to be able to get by clicking on "Windows Update" on the Start Menu? And, is it possible still to get 9x drivers for all the peripherals that one might have today (modern printer, current graphics card, and so on)? Not trying to be argumentative here, just genuinely curious. --JorgeA (still with a soft spot for Win98)

Wow, great project! I wish I knew more about this to offer guidance, but I will definitely be watching this topic. There are a number of expert Vista fans around on MSFN. With any luck, they will see this (although maybe not right away, as this is the "last weekend of the summer") and then give you the information you're looking for. Good luck! --JorgeA

This morning's Wall Street Journal carried a series of excerpts from interviews with eleven "business leaders, technologists and management gurus" as to what Microsoft needs to do to solve its problems and what kind of CEO they should look for to replace Ballmer. Unfortunately, the article isn't available online except to subscribers, but here are some quotes that may be of interest to readers and participants in our thread: I was especially intrigued by Bret Taylor's observation about the inherent tension between trying to be a "devices" company vs. trying to be a "services" company. --JorgeA

Love that picture and caption!!! --JorgeA

Well it looks like Windows 8.1 isn't really ready for RTM, since they are still busy debugging it, so this will give them a chance to meet their October deadline. As a former developer, who had to try to work within the arbitrary deadlines imposed from on high, I feel really sorry for the W8.1 developers. I also feel very sorry for the three W8.1 app developers and see no reason why anyone would want to join them. No it is the standard procedure MS uses for RTM an operating system. Basically MS makes the annoucement that a product is RTM but it takes 2-3 days before anyone can actually download it. I don't know why MS just waits until it is available for download before telling the world that it is out. Paul Thurrott looked for some sense in Microsoft's new RTM policy, but essentially gave up in the end: A couple of good takes on this, down in the comments section: --JorgeA

In ACLU lawsuit, scientist demolishes NSA’s “It’s just metadata” excuse Bet the Stasi would have loved to have this kind of technology in 1989, or the British monarch in 1774. What was that Lenin said about capitalists selling the rope they were to be hanged with? Oh, and for those who haven't done this already, it's time to create longer and even more complex passwords: “thereisnofatebutwhat­wemake”—Turbo-charged cracking comes to long passwords --JorgeA

Yeah, I'm curious to see what comes out of that meeting. You just know somebody will spill the beans! --JorgeA

Interesting speculation: Alleged Windows 9, Windows 10, Windows RT and Windows Phone details emerge (rumor) First, the good "news" (if that's what it is): And now for the bad news (if that's what it is): Stay tuned: --JorgeA

I'm not sure that "credited" is the right verb to use in combination with the MSFT employee review process. What an insane system. You could have a whole lineup of Hall of Fame players, but some of them necessarily get tagged as journeymen. Or you could have an entire team of mediocrities, and still at least one of them will be rated stellarly. @Charlotte -- you can add this to the list of Ballmer's "achievements" during his tenure. --JorgeA

Yeah, that would be something, eh? And yet, we survived IBM (they of IBM PC fame) disappearing for all intents and purposes from the individual-customer space. --JorgeA

Ballmer Departure From Microsoft Was More Sudden Than Portrayed by the Company More good reading at the link above! --JorgeA

Is that computer connected directly to the Internet (to the wall), or is it on a router? You might also want to try http://www.canyouseeme.org/, although it can get pretty tedious to test hundreds of ports, one at a time. For all the ports that I did check, it gave me the same results as GRC's Shields Up -- it "could not see" it. If anybody knows of some other service that will accurately test the status of all ports (or ranges of ports) with one action, this is a good time to contribute. --JorgeA That place sees all the services I have on that particular computer (FTP, HTTP, VNC, and some other bits). The machine is in the "DMZ" so it is 100% exposed. When you said "that place," was that the canyouseeme.org site? --JorgeA