JorgeA

^^ Thanks NoelC, that was helpful. --JorgeA

The tech law podcast This Week in Law recently discussed an Internet-connected refrigerator. The brief discussion begins at 1:33:54: Here's the article referenced in the podcast. The writer's conclusion there: --JorgeA

Transform Windows 10 into the operating system it should be --JorgeA

7 ways Windows 10 pushes ads at you, and how to stop them --JorgeA

Thanks jaclaz, that is indeed what I thought. --JorgeA

KB2952664 showed up yet again for me this week. This is why there are "Do Not Call" lists and why a lot of neighborhoods have "no soliciting" signs posted at the entrance: they don't want pushy salesmen phoning or knocking at people's doors over and over and over again. In Windows, the analogous way to put up a "no soliciting" sign is to turn off Windows Update altogether. --JorgeA

NoelC, would you mind elaborating on what that "NoOpenWith" registry value means, or does? What action is it that the value can be set to prevent from happening? (Based on the name of the value, I can make an assumption, but you know what happens when you "assume"...) --JorgeA

I'm not sure that we covered this specific news item before: The cumulative update not only knocks out PCs' default settings, it prevents users from resetting them Woody's comment: --JorgeA

Get ready for a world of hackable cars This is just amazing: And: --JorgeA

Well, that's definitely a deal-breaker for me!! --JorgeA

Windows 10 overtakes Windows 8.x, but its growth is slow despite Microsoft forcing it on users --JorgeA

Good points, NoelC. One thing I don't understand is the official justification for forcing ongoing, contemporaneous telemetry. We're told that it's to "improve" Windows. But in earlier versions of Windows, users had two options: 1) join the Customer Experience Improvement Program; and 2) perform Error Reporting when something went wrong. If there is no problem to report, then there is no need to report anything. Therefore, Error Reporting is all that's required: you report a problem if and when there is a problem. The report presumably includes everything a Microsoft engineer would need to know about the troubled PC's configuration, enough to identify problem patterns and to devise solutions. So unless Microsoft actually wants all this user data for some purpose other than the publicy stated one, the purpose of the real-time telemetry function remains obscure, despite what the likes of Ed Bott might say. --JorgeA

Windows 10 and telemetry: Time for a simple network analysis The article itself is a bit of a whitewash, but there's an excellent discussion down in the comments section where Win10 apologists get repeatedly skewered. One of my favorites: --JorgeA

It's been a long time since I had problems playing video on my Windows systems. Things seem to "just work" for me. Not that I play all that many, but nonetheless... The main idea I got from Dedoimedo's post was not that this or that particular software requires an inordinate amount of technical knowledge to get it to work on Linux (although that's certainly the case), but rather the contemptuous and condescending reaction among too many in the Linux community to people who report such technical difficulties. --JorgeA

Whoa, and we thought Win10 was bad with our privacy: Baidu's browser leaks sensitive information --JorgeA

We go on about how Microsoft is dumbing things down in Windows. Linux, which should be the leading candidate to take lobotomized Windows's place on the dekstop of serious computer users, has failed time and again to seize the opportunity. In his latest post, Dedoimedo points to the likeliest reason: whereas the 'Softies are busy dumbing things down, the Penguins take the exact opposite approach, priding themselves in keeping things as arcane and difficult as can be. Charitably, Dedoimedo ascribes it to a lack of "reading comprehension": Lots of good points made in the full writeup. The conclusion: Microsoft errs in one direction, the Linux community in the diametrically opposite direction. What's going to be left for us in the middle, who are fascinated by but not obsessed with technology, who want a rich computing experience that we can mold to our wishes but without having to manually screw into place every single bolt on the engine? We need a happy medium, as Windows used to be and is increasingly moving away from. --JorgeA

jaclaz This is an excellent point: --JorgeA

The screenshot is from a Windows 10 system, so I guess that the answer is no. I should explain that the download manager is part of Norton's attempt to slip through an installation of Norton Security onto the PCs of people who tried out their Norton Security Scan. When you download and install the NSS, you can scan your system for threats. But it turns out that NSS also downloads the full Norton Security suite for you, and next it pops out a window telling you that the program is ready to install -- with no evident way to decline the installation!! (Much like that loathsome Win10 "install now" or "install later" thingie for Windows 7 users.) The "download manager" is not for general use, it's related specifically to the installation of Norton Security. Yeah, Norton has been busy removing features from its software lately, and they're now even declining to participate in at least one major AV test lab's ratings. So the time is approaching when I may switch away from Norton for my work computers. --JorgeA

Here's an illustration of what happens when you minimize or eliminate visual UI cues such as colors and window borders: The text, "Norton Download Manager," is part of a window that's sitting on top of a File Explorer window. Where does that window begin or end? You have to speculate as to where it is, based on the location of the X to close the window and the Cancel/Retry buttons, and the minimal contrast between the stark white of the whole window and the faint blue of the Explorer menu bar. Otherwise there is no indication as to the top window's location: I wanted to move it around the screen and ended up clicking on the File Explorer window several times before finally landing on the area where I could click to drag. What genius came up with this user-hostile design?? --JorgeA

Microsoft demolishes Bridge for Android -- yet another nail in the Windows 10 Mobile coffin Score another one for Microsoft's wrecking of the Windows UI for the sake of this mobile cr*p. --JorgeA

That sounds like something that the Kung Fu Master Po might have said to Kwai Chang Caine: (source) --JorgeA

Just to clarify things, I'm fairly sure that, when he wrote "politics," @vinifera meant what native English speakers call "policy." The same thing happens in Spanish, where "política" can mean either "politics" or "policy" depending on the context. I'm pretty sure that in the context, he means policy. With a lesser degree of certainty, I think that by "your politics" vinifera meant Microsoft's Windows 10 policy, i.e., of creating garbage and then letting others fix it, if possible. --JorgeA

originally I was going to use the word personalization, however, spell check had a better word. As for the word rationalization I am questioning Microsoft's decision making ability. LOL --JorgeA

And from the outside, this could even be counterproductive. The more people provide ways (like ClassicShell, Aeroglass, various tweaks, service disabling, etc.) that allow people to make their Windows 10 if not good at least bearable, the less the good MS guys will have a reason to do something to better it. I mean, let us assume that out of 100 Windows 10 users: 1 actually - and in good faith - likes it 9 are MS fanboys and will like whatever the MS good guys release 5 know enough to tweak it into a bearable (almost) experience and they actually tweak it 13 know enough to tweak it into a bearable (almost) experience but they cannot actually tweak it (corporate policies and what not) 25 don't know enough to experiment and make tweaks by themselves but can use the already made programs or follow the available instructions 20 don't bother to tweak it 27 do understand how bad the abomination is and hate it but are not expert enough to tweak it or to use another OS (for whatever reason) MS could legitimately say that 1+9+5+13+25+20=73 people out of 100 are using the OS in a satisfactorily manner. Without the nice tools and tweaks, that amount would be at least 25 less. jaclaz I do think that there is an important "propaganda" or "public relations" value to people coming out with these tools and hacks for tweaking Windows 10. If these tools and hacks were not coming out, Microsoft and its apologists would proclaim the non-existence of such tools as "proof" that users are happy with Win10 just the way the Microsoft gods provided it to us. "Why, nobody has seen a need to change this, so what's the problem?" Every new privacy tool, every new technique that's published to increase control over Windows updates or to restore some aspect of a usable UI -- every time one of these gets created is a one-fingered salute to Microsoft's arrogance and paternalism. --JorgeA

For sure a step back on the interface part. I'm not sure I understand the rationalization part? --JorgeA