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

I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that somebody got fired over this one: Open Secret About Google’s Surveillance Case No Longer Secret Whoops!! I'm no fan of Google, but if nothing else, this confirms that at least some tech companies are trying to combat this generalized official spying as well as they're permitted to. (That in itself is a sad statement on the state of things, like the role of defense lawyers in Soviet times who were basically limited to seeking a lighter sentence for their clients.) --JorgeA

Thank you for reconstructing (or pasting back in) many of your original posts. It's amazing that you were able to more-or-less rebuild, from memory, some of the longer ones. Me, if i write something and then it goes *poof*, I can never reconstruct it as well as the first time -- the inspiration is gone. Second time around it comes off mechanical, warmed over. --JorgeA

Speaking of cancer (it's not exactly OT, keep reading), I fully expect that, 20-30 years from now, there will be a masssive epidemic of brain cancer (and cancers of other nearby areas of the head) that will be wholly attributable to people today living with their cell/smartphones on their ears. Silver lining (and coming back on-topic): This will cause a quick and dramatic drop-off in the use of cellphones and other mobile Internet-connected devices, which will be distressing to the authorities as they will lose the most important way of keeping track of where everybody is at any given time. --JorgeA

That is an excellent idea! --JorgeA

That's pretty good! (Agreed about the language, but hey, it's very appropriate. ) I didn't know that... ...unbelievable! Really? --JorgeA

NSA employees spied on their lovers using eavesdropping programme Of course. The temptation to misuse such enormous power is too difficult to resist, unless you have a philosophical objection to snooping on people -- in which case you wouldn't be working there in the first place. (Except for the occasional Snowden type who's willing to overturn his life for the sake of disclosing these outrages.) And who can poosibly think that the same isn't happening with people that the employees (or the managers and officials above them) might view as the political opposition? And anyone who actually believes that this sort of thing is really happening only "about once a year," is a member of the target audience for Metro. --JorgeA

Yeah, I can think of at least one post that was lost from this thread: the one where you explained to me how to insert a video into a reply. (Thank you for that BTW, now I only wish I'd saved the information!) Oh, wait. Didn't you have another set of long (and, as usual, fantastic) posts giving headlines and links from around the tech world on a variety of topics of interest to this thread? And come to think of it, I may have lost did lose a post or two of my own. This has been happening so often lately that we're going to have to make saving our posts (in Notepad, Outlook, etc.) a regular part of the posting routine. Otherwise, it's very discouraging to spend time crafting a post and putting its elements together, and then having it vanish into thin air. These problems with forum software may end up doing more damage to the Forum (in terms of traffic and membership) than any bad publicity, scandal, or badmouthing could hope to accomplish. --JorgeA EDIT: Figured out which posts of mine were lost during the latest Forum maintenance.

Lovely -- two sets of official secret intruders with the key to your digital life. My own eye was caught by this excerpt: Another item in my own slowly building case for making the switch. --JorgeA

Surface Pro -- is Windows 8 the biggest failing of this expensive tablet? Maybe (fingers crossed) the new MSFT leadership will have the sense to decouple the mobile OS from the desktop OS and let the former sink or swim on its own, while no longer dragging the latter down with it. Put back a proper Start Button that leads to a real Start Menu, bring back Aero Glass capability, give users the choice to install (or not) Metro on their real PCs, and then we'd have what could arguably be considered an actual (if perhaps modest) improvement over Win7. That is, unless there is real substance to the subject of my previous post... --JorgeA

Glad to see that MSFN is back up (again), as there is this bit of potentially critical news: Is Windows 8 a Trojan horse for the NSA? The German Government thinks so Comments? --JorgeA

For those who can't access the contents of the full WSJ article, here are two critical passages: [emphasis added] [emphasis added] --JorgeA

Steve Gibson's Shields Up! is a good tool to use to check out any PC's open ports and general visibility on the Internet. Hover over "Services" at the top, and then select "Shields Up!". --JorgeA

Excellent, that now makes it two out of the three in the Windows-wrecking triumvirate who will be gone. (The other two, of course, are SS and JLG.) I did this when SS left last year, and with today's good news it's in order once again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usfiAsWR4qU (Hmmm, I couldn't find any way in the new forum software to embed the video. The "My Media" button takes me only to images that I've previously uploaded.) One to go. Oh, and did anybody notice that MSFT stock is up today? --JorgeA

Either Lenovo cut a deal with Microsoft somehow, or they're looking to challenge them on this issue. Anybody have insight on this? --JorgeA

Just posted this on the Start Menu/Button Replacements thread, but am (sort of) cross-posting here because I want to comment on it and this is the place for that: Full Pokki Suite Will Be Preloaded on All Lenovo PCs, With Native Windows App Support in Store Pokki is not my favorite choice of all the Start Menu/Button replacements out there, but this move does show that at least one major PC maker is thinking more broadly than Microsoft has been. --JorgeA

Lenovo has reached an agrement with one of the Start Button/Menu replacement providers on our list, to factory-install it on their computers: Full Pokki Suite Will Be Preloaded on All Lenovo PCs, With Native Windows App Support in Store Discussion of the pros and cons of this move should go in the Deeper Impressions thread. --JorgeA

In Mary Jo Foley's posting about Microsoft's campaign to scare wean users off XP, a commenter confirms something we've been saying here all along: BTW, lowest common denominator = LCD (hmmm...) I guess that the next great step in reaching out to the LCD might be a car that drives itself (oh wait, Google's working on that) to pre-programmed and officially approved destinations. Great "use" for GPS and electronic toll-taking devices (called "E-Z Pass" in some U.S. states)... --JorgeA

Bingo! --JorgeA

I would still use virus data base since we dont know how a particular program would work on an old computer. (it would most likely fail but I would rather be safe than sorry) Yeah, that's my sense of it too. But I do wonder -- some people say that Win98 is safe (or safer) because the bad guys aren't writing new malware for it anymore. But that leaves two questions remaining: What about old malware for Win98 still floating around the 'Net? What about Win98-compatible versions of Flash Player and Java -- does "modern malware" also work against those old versions? Or does the same principle of "security through obsolescence" apply to Flash and Java?BTW, thanks to @MiKl re: NoScript. I didn't know that it still works on Win98-era browsers. Amazing! But suppose that you're not using NoScript: is a Win98 system safer, or less safe, or equally safe from those kinds of threats as a modern PC? --JorgeA

NSA surveillance may be starting to have a chilling effect on Net speech and activism: Surveillance concerns bring an end to crusading site Groklaw --JorgeA

Thanks... just having a little fun! --JorgeA

All right, let me offer a scenario. Suppose that you have a Windows 98 machine sitting behind a hardware firewall. It also has installed the last version of (say) ZoneAlarm's software firewall that worked on Win98, plus up-to-date definitions for Avast 4.8. Further (and perhaps crucially), let's say that, for the sake of getting as much functionality on the Web as you can for this machine, you're also running on it the last versions of Adobe Flash, Acrobat Reader, and Java that ran on Win98. Lastly, suppose that you use this machine to visit only well-known news websites -- no sites of "dubious" themes, or even entertainment (TV/movies/celebrities) sites. How likely would such a machine be to get infected, relative to a PC that had a current version of Windows and up-to-date applications? I guess that my biggest (though not my only) doubt has to do with the security of those old Flash and Java versions. (Anymore, it's hard to get much done on the Web without both of those.) Let's leave aside the likelihood that many sites that use Flash and Java won't work with these old versions. In our scenario, you're limiting yourself to sites where they do work. How safe is your machine? Curious, --JorgeA

When I saw the picture but before absorbing the text, I thought it was supposed to be Ballmer assuring stockholders that Windows 8 sales are not disastrous! --JorgeA

Uh-oh, looks like we've caught the eye of some pretty important people (see the arrow pointing to the circle): "The truth is out there," and maybe we're getting too close to it... --JorgeA