Vistapocalypse

As Imacri has pointed out elsewhere, Norton has recently announced EOL for users running Windows XP: https://community.norton.com/en/forums/end-life-announcement-norton-security-software-windows-xp-windows-vista-and-windows-7-sp0-3

Windows 7 has Compatibility Mode for Windows XP. Have you tried that?

The link states: “From 2014 to 2020, Jumpshot sold browsing information that Avast had collected...” This was well known to many of us years ago, but the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has acted at a glacial pace.

True, Supermium has already been discussed elsewhere at MSFN; but still I welcome @westpoint‘s first-ever post here (although his account was created two years ago). This forum certainly needs some new members. Supermium 119 actually supported Vista before any Windows XP support was added, so the Vista forum was a logical place for a post.

Hello account #4 of many. I have not “attacked” account #5, and have no clear recollection of attacking account #4, although it became hostile toward me almost immediately upon creation, leaving little doubt that it was one of yours. Have a nIce day.

Self-described Zoomer in Denmark wants to use year-old Opera on modified Windows Vista!? “Please, don’t disturb me with nonsense.”

Only two nations on earth have over a billion people. Both of them have good relations with Putin’s Russia, albeit not with one another. If Blaukovitch has denounced one of Putin’s allies, that suggests to me that he is not a Putin loyalist, so your point escapes me.

Thank you for confirming that Russophobia is your real concern about Blaukovitch. Reinhard presumably resides in Austria, since he is Managing Director of Denuvo - but if he can write in Russian, what further evidence would a Russophobe require? No need to PM me any Russian links: I can’t read Russian. Dave-H could lock this topic as far as I’m concerned, since your earlier efforts have been surpassed by a “Russian cracker” now.

Upon further research, Reinhard Blaukovitch of GitHub appears to be “the founder and Managing Director of Denuvo...” See “About the Author” beneath this Denuvo blog written by Blaukovitch: https://blog.irdeto.com/video-gaming/bots-are-invading-your-mobile-games-get-ready-to-take-them-on/ He might not appreciate being called a “Russian cracker,” but I don’t think MSFN is imperiled by any mention of his GitHub projects.

Perhaps he thinks the name “Blaukovitch” sounds Russian? I just did a little research, and the name (or at least the spelling) seems to be more common in the United States than anywhere else, e.g. Jim Blaukovitch is a well-known golf course architect here.

Unless I am mistaken, nothing discussed in this thread would work unless Vista x64 has been modified in violation of Microsoft’s EULA, so this concern about modifying Opera seems rather hypocritical. To his credit, the developer of extended kernel for Vista x64 has “gone straight” and currently devotes his efforts to modifying open-source Chromium (Supermium), which is perfectly legal AFAIK.

The X-Files was certainly my favorite TV show of the 1990s! It actually ran until 2002, but I had grown somewhat tired of it by then (and both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had left the series). I’m old enough to remember the last great UFO outbreak in the fall of 1973, and yes I was a believer like Agent Mulder in my youth, like many Americans in the 1970s. Perhaps you have seen Steven Spielberg’s first science fiction film Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), which was partly inspired by 1973 reports of UFOs in the U.S. state of Indiana. But I’ll bet you never heard this popular song from the same time period: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leKeknINhkc

Hello PugLover13. You cannot very well use WMC as a DVR to record TV without updated Electronic Program Guide (EPG) data for your TV channels. Microsoft formerly provided free EPG data for WMC users, but unfortunately they ended that service in 2020. We had a discussion about that at the time, but unfortunately the participants (including myself) were all Americans whereas your profile says you live in Poland. Still, it might be worthwhile to read: https://msfn.org/board/topic/180377-windows-media-center-epg-ending-in-january-2020/ Since you don’t even have tuner hardware yet, you might want to just forget about recording TV and join the streaming generation. As for mods/workarounds, there is something called EPG123 that can convert Schedules Direct EPG data (subscription required) into Microsoft’s MXF format for WMC, but I never used it myself. https://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewforum.php?f=99 In my opinion, it might be better to use third-party DVR software instead of WMC. I formerly used an old version of NextPVR on Vista. (Other options include MediaPortal and DVBViewer.) In the UK, terrestrial DVB broadcasts include about a week of free EPG data, but I do not know if that is also true in Poland. If not, you still might need a Schedules Direct subscription, but NextPVR has native support for Schedules Direct (no workaround needed), and it looks like they do have data for Poland: https://www.schedulesdirect.org/regions

Blade Runner is one of my favorite films! I’m not that particular about which cut, and I don’t think I ever saw the working print. In recent months I have watched both the so-called Director’s Cut and the so-called Final Cut, and there was very little difference between them. (I think director Ridley Scott would suggest the Final Cut.) Believe it or not, most Americans are not familiar with this excellent film: Mostly just science fiction fans like myself. American audiences in 1982 did not want to see their hero Harrison Ford shoot a woman in the back - never mind if this woman was a “replicant” and his job was to “retire” replicants - so Blade Runner is a cult movie. I must be rather sensitive myself, because Rutger Hauer’s last scene sometimes makes me cry. Who was more human in the end, the human or the replicant? The moral implications of creating artificial beings very much like ourselves are the theme of this film. Wouldn’t we have some moral responsibility toward such beings? Another good film with the same theme is A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). Stanley Kubrick was initially developing that film, but his health failed and Steven Spielberg adopted the project. This one is almost suitable for children, but perhaps not quite despite its PG-13 rating.

I think it’s fair to say that America is more religious and more sexually inhibited than Europe. No offense intended in either direction.

I agree with you, except that Dennis Hopper has been in other good films. Isabella Rossellini was a professional model with very little acting experience. Lynch had wanted Helen Mirren to play “Dorothy” in Blue Velvet, but couldn’t get her. Rossellini talks about that in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-dwkJeOKGM

That Today Show segment has already been posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umtZ-LPc2IY It includes some discussion of David Lynch’s Dune (1984), which was MacLachlan’s first starring role, based on the excellent science fiction book by Frank Herbert. Unfortunately that film version of Dune was a commercial failure, and even I (a fan of both science fiction and David Lynch) did not like it at all. The newer Dune Part 1 by director Denis Villeneuve (2021) is a better adaptation of the book in my opinion, and Dune Part 2 will be released March 1.

Coincidentally, Blue Velvet star Kyle MacLachlan appeared on Today Show this morning to promote a new podcast he’s hosting about organized crime in Varnamtown, North Carolina. Does anyone else have any thoughts about Blue Velvet?

I also loved cartoons as a kid, especially the Warner Brothers “looney tunes” characters (Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, etc.) Of course I eventually gave them up, however I did watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas a month ago so I don’t exactly share your revulsion to cartoons as an adult. One possible rule of thumb: When cartoon females start looking sexually appealing, it’s time for a young man to stop watching cartoons. For me, the acid test was Josie and the Pussycats. You could say they were the first girl band I ever listened to, and man those chicks were hot! Val was actually the first black female character to appear in a Saturday morning cartoon in the United States (1970). Here’s a YouTube clip, look at those legs man! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly4fJeCQV_o

I recently rewatched David Lynch’s 1986 cult classic Blue Velvet. This film is certainly not for everyone! Depending on which critic you listen to, Blue Velvet might be one of the 100 best films ever made, or it might be one of the most disturbing pieces of trash ever to avoid an X rating. Youngsters and sensitive adults beware! This film was rated R for extreme profanity, sadomasochistic sex and other miscellaneous violence. Dennis Hopper’s villain “Frank” is especially depraved, but if he doesn’t make you nauseous, you might find him to be quite funny. I would be interested in knowing what other members think of Blue Velvet. Here’s an official trailer suitable for general audiences, hence it does not prepare you in the least for the film’s more controversial content: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGQlJQHHTgA

I didn’t really need a European interpretation of XPerceniol’s reply. I did not call him a woman, but rather asked a question: I asked because I do not personally know any American man who would care to watch Hoda & Jenna, but apparently there is one with an MSFN account. My apologies to @XPerceniol, but the only thing I know with certainty about MSFN’s membership is that one member has multiple accounts and never misses a chance to antagonize me.

I assume you know that Wednesday is played by Jenna Ortega in the new Netflix series? Christina Ricci does have a role in this series, but isn’t playing a teenager. As I mentioned, she last played Wednesday in the 1993 film Addams Family Values, at which time Ricci was only 13 years old. I’m a little confused, but glad to know you have enjoyed Wednesday like me.

I stand by that statement despite hostile replies. I’ll bet our European members have never been subjected to Hoda & Jenna in any case.

Has anyone else watched the Netflix series Wednesday, which revolves around the Wednesday Addams character from the Addams Family franchise, who is now a High School student? I’m rather old to be watching a teenage comedy, but I’ve been fascinated by the Wednesday Addams character ever since the 1993 film Addams Family Values, in which Wednesday was played by Christina Ricci (and strongly resembled a girlfriend I once had). I’m sure that was the film that inspired a series about Wednesday. You’ve only missed 8 episodes thus far, but Season 2 is coming. Her’s an official promotional video (one of many) on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Di310WS8zLk A surprising number of mental health professionals have been commenting on Wednesday. (The character might plausibly be interpreted as autistic, among other issues.) Here’s one commentary on Episode 1 (the same therapist has commented separately on all 8 episodes of Season 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EifMK_Ko2gg

Are you a woman? I often watch Today Show in the morning, but always turn off the TV before Hoda & Jenna starts. In particular, I think Jenna only has a job at NBC because her father was President. Is she smart? Pretty? Neither of the above!