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I should also point out that GDPR is a GROWING TREND. The USA does not CURRENTLY have anything at the FEDERAL level like GDPR. But the USA *IS* moving in that direction, just not there yet. Again, not "debating", just "stating". California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Indiana, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Kentucky, and Rhode Island. All of these States have laws very similar to GDPR. The list grows every year. And that list is both "red" and "blue". EU is leading the way in this regard. But the USA *is* moving in that direction.
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What about STATE LAWS here in the USA? There is no FEDERAL equivalent to the EU's GDPR, but my STATE does have a law equivalent to GDPR (*many* STATES do!). Not to be misread, MSFN has not (to my knowledge) violated those STATE laws (ie, my profile does not show my EMAIL address, or I *opted out* during registration). In accordance with those STATE LAWS, not even my checking account has my REAL email address. By law, they cannot deny me an account if I do not provide them a "real" email address. I, of course, have to provide proof that I am a real person, lol, and a "real" home address. But not a real email and not a real phone number. Per my STATE LAW, I should be able to OPT OUT of any "targeted ads" on MSFN. I see no route to opt out of ads. Not really an issue, uBO blocks them anyway. NOT attempting any "debate". Just asking questions out of curiosity.
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The U.S. federal government banned the use of Kaspersky software. By Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld MAR 28, 2022 9:59 AM PDT Antimalware provider Kaspersky Lab has been blacklisted by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, adding its name alongside Huawei and ZTE as companies that are deemed a threat to national security. The FCC maintains a list of companies which are “deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security or the security and safety of United States persons,” and added Kaspersky to the list on Friday. Officially, the list now includes China Mobile International USA Inc., China Telecom (Americas) Corp, and AO Kaspersky Labs, as well as their subsidiaries. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a statement that adding those companies to the list “will help secure our networks from threats posed by Chinese and Russian state backed entities.” If a company is on the restricted list, it can’t receive federal subsidies, Bloomberg reported. The U.S. federal government banned the use of Kaspersky software in federal information systems in 2017 because of concerns about Kaspersky’s links to the Russian government. Individual users may continue to use products blacklisted by the FCC if they choose to do so, however. Kaspersky does not appear in PCWorld’s list of the best antivirus programs for your PC but does appear in the current list of PCWorld’s best free antivirus programs for Windows. If you try to install Kaspersky’s free tools, Windows Defender may flag Kaspersky as dangerous. We encountered the issue in our testing, though it wasn’t clear why the issues occurred. Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor As PCWorld's senior editor, Mark focuses on Microsoft news and chip technology, among other beats. He has formerly written for PCMag, BYTE, Slashdot, eWEEK, and ReadWrite. https://www.pcworld.com/article/626854/kaspersky-blacklisted-as-a-risk-to-u-s-national-security.html -
We need to take Climate Change seriously
NotHereToPlayGames replied to Dibya's topic in General Discussion
I have to also disagree with raising minimum wage. Here in the States, we have a FEDERAL minimum wage - THAT NEEDS ABOLISHED. What would help is that every STATE had their OWN minimum wage !!! California and New York have a very HIGH cost-of-living. Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa, N/S Dakota, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Nebraska all have a very LOW cost-of-living. Having the same EXACT minimum wage in California that you have in Arkansas is just plain STUPID. I also submit that MINIMUM WAGE is a TEENAGE PROBLEM !!! Unsympathetic? No, not really! If you are in your 30s, 40s, or 50s and earning MINIMUM WAGE, then that is YOUR FAULT for working the same jobs that TEENAGERS WORK !!! -
ProxHTTPSProxy and HTTPSProxy in Windows XP for future use
Multibooter replied to AstroSkipper's topic in Windows XP
I just saw a description of the Gamaredon trojan flagged by Kaspersky in cacert_Updater.exe: "Gamaredon ... is a Russian, state-sponsored cyber-espionage hacking group with cybersecurity researchers linking them to the FSB (Russian Federal Security Service)" https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/gamaredon-hackers-start-stealing-data-30-minutes-after-a-breach/ Russian Kaspersky is very unlikely to flag real Russian state-sponsored trojans, cacert_Updater.exe for ProxHTTPSProxy must therefore be clean, and this must be a false flag Why not just create a different SFX? -
Doctors’ representatives are pushing for the end of the mask requirement in practices 1/23/2023, 7:32:00 AM The corona situation is easing – hospitals are seeing fewer intensive care patients, and restrictions are falling in many places. Medical associations are now demanding that employees in practices should no longer have to wear masks. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, employees in medical practices no longer have to wear mouth and nose protection from February. Now the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) and the German General Practitioners Association as well as other industry representatives are calling for an end to the corona mask requirement in practices in the remaining federal states. "It is logical to lift the mask requirement in doctor's offices and other medical facilities, as Bavaria has now announced. The other federal states should follow this step," said KBV chairman Andreas Gassen to the editorial network Germany (RND). »The pandemic situation is over.« The deputy federal chair of the general practitioners' association, Nicola Buhlinger-Göpfarth, told the RND: "In our view, there is no need for the legislature to wear a mask in medical practices." The practices should decide this independently. Last Thursday, Bavaria announced that it would lift the state mask requirement for employees in medical practices and other outpatient medical facilities from February 1st. Baden-Württemberg followed suit on Friday. Due to federal infection protection regulations, on the other hand, the FFP2 mask requirement will remain in clinics and care facilities, as well as for patients and visitors to medical practices - according to the current status until April 7th. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) rejects a quick end to the mask requirement in the healthcare sector. He justifies this with the protection of particularly vulnerable people. Significantly fewer pandemic patients in hospitals Meanwhile, a trend reversal is emerging in German hospitals in view of the wave of respiratory diseases and the workload of the staff. Since the beginning of January, the number of corona patients in the intensive care units has “reduced from around 1,500 to less than 800 today – i.e. almost halved,” said the Vice President of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine (DIVI), Gernot Marx, the RND. "Corona is no longer a problem in the intensive care units." In addition, the number of daily new admissions is falling steadily. This is a "very positive development," said Marx. Now “the many postponed, plannable operations from December” could be made up for. At the moment, the clinic staff "doesn't have to think every day about how we can still ensure patient care," said Marx. According to the German Hospital Society (DKG), occupancy is also decreasing in the other wards. "Significantly falling occupancy numbers" would be recorded for those who tested positive for the corona virus, said DGK CEO Gerald Gass to the RND. The number of sick employees is also declining, “so that the personnel situation is slowly improving”. col/dpa/AFP Source: spiegel Here: https://newsrnd.com/news/2023-01-23-corona-virus--doctors’-representatives-are-pushing-for-the-end-of-the-mask-requirement-in-practices.HylYycjsij.html
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Unfortunately, this is not quite correct. All Saints' Day is not a public holiday everywhere in Germany. Germany is divided into federal states, and there are state-specific differences for some holidays. Where I was born, in Lower Saxony, it is not a public holiday, but it is in North Rhine-Westphalia. It's all very complicated and has a lot to do with the federal government and the federal states here in Germany. Some holidays are obligatory nationwide, others are regionally dependent. This has partly to do with the majority religious beliefs in the different federal states.
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Thorium
NotHereToPlayGames replied to mockingbird's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
To be honest, and as I have also "bent over backwards" blocking/disabling/and-now-even-faking Client Hints, I kind of have to wonder if this is just one of those things where we, myself included, shout Privacy Rights from the rooftop, but I have to wonder if we are just starting our own Conspiracy Theories and that "client hints" is really not as a gigantic "privacy rights violation" as we, myself included, pretend it to be ??? I mean, I view it this way, I shout Privacy Rights all day long, my own bank accounts do not have a real email address and I have threatened to close accounts when they claim they "require" one. I once cited a Federal Law regarding their claim to be illegal, but I cannot remember what it is/was at the moment. Basically, NO bank transactions can be done over email, NONE, so no email address should EVER be tied to the account. Not to go too far "off topic", we have way too many OT Police, lol. But in all seriousness, just how "bad" are Client Hints? In a world where NO MATTER HOW HARD WE TRY, IN VANE, to avoid "fingerprints", the reality is that if you are ON THE INTERNET, then you have been fingerprinted. -
You command of English shows that you are non-US person, are therefore allowed to use Kaspersky and can be spied out according to the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act For persons who want to continue to use Kaspersky Anti-Virus here is the definition of US-person: "According to the National Security Agency web site, federal law and executive order define a United States person as any of the following: a citizen of the United States an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence an unincorporated association with a substantial number of members who are citizens of the US or are aliens lawfully admitted for permanent residence a corporation that is incorporated in the US" from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_person in section "Data collection and intelligence"
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Hello , I'm having a really hard time understanding what are you trying to suggest to this fella by saying this ? It means he just needs to obey any "directive" ? Of course , I'm sorry in advance , if I made a wrong assumption . Though , you may want to know that directives (even federal) are not federal laws . https://www.dailyleader.com/2016/06/02/myers-federal-directive-is-not-law/ And this is regarding EU directives in particular. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_(European_Union) "Directives normally leave member states with a certain amount of leeway as to the exact rules to be adopted..." So again , directives are not federal laws. And , as a citizen , he supposed to obey federal laws . Let him write to the bank and demand to show the >federal< law , which clearly states that this form of identification is required.
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Pegagruz - Pegasus/Famicom/NES/Famiclone DIY zine
D.Draker replied to Mcinwwl's topic in Gamers Hangout
Was produced at a Russian military installation factory in Zelenograd (Federal subject: Moscow), I again know this from now non-secret documents. The second manufacturing site was somewhere in Taiwan. Considering the fact it was sold throughout the whole Combloc, including Poland, it was a big market. But then again, the OP might be too young to remember. -
jaclaz, I don't know about Italy , but since this nice fella lives in Slovenia ... Federal laws in Slovenia now are just "laws" without "Federal". "The Constitution was adopted on December 23, 1991 and hereinafter the laws started to pass; until they were put into force, the old Yugoslav Republic and Federal laws and rules have been applicable." 3.1.3. Laws Laws/acts are the main general law acts in a law system. Hierarchically they are subordinated to the Constitution and International treaties signed and ratified by the National Assembly and have to be in accordance with them (the principle of constitutionality). The laws are adopted by National assembly according to the procedure described below (sector 4.2.4.). In Slovenia there are no different types of laws (as there are, e.g. in federal states; federal laws and state laws) but in practice also a type of law called code (zakonik, kodeks) is used. https://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Slovenia.html P.S. So even if there is a law, that was passed according to this directive , let them show it . I can't find any local Slovenian law with such requerement, no matter how hard I try. Can you ?
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US government gives TikTok an ultimatum
Vistapocalypse replied to Vistapocalypse's topic in Technology News
Statements such as “TikTok is actually getting banned in the US” (the title of a March 20 post) are quite premature. The bill passed by the House was just another ultimatum (sell TikTok within the specified time or else we will ban the app), and cannot become law unless it is also passed by the Senate. If the Senate fails to act this year, we might have a different president who says he is opposed to the TikTok bill. The latest news here in the U.S. is that the Federal Trade Commission has been investigating TikTok: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/26/biden-administration-tiktok-data-practices-00149139 A link in that article reports that the European Union is also investigating TikTok: https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-goes-after-tiktok-over-addictive-design-minors-protections/ As I pointed out above several months ago, India has already banned TikTok and many other Chinese apps. -
Link To Original Article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna74311 (By request of @Tripredicus) The closure came after growing concerns about a run at the lender — the 16th largest U.S. bank and a tech industry favorite — that also led investors to dump shares of other bank stocks. March 10, 2023, 9:36 AM EST / Updated March 10, 2023, 1:27 PM EST By Brian Cheung and Rob Wile Silicon Valley Bank, one of the tech sector’s favorite lenders, is shutting down. The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced Friday that it was taking over and closing the distressed bank to protect deposits, naming the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as its receiver. The FDIC in turn formed a separate entity where all insured SVB deposits would be transferred. The closure marks the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis and the second-largest on record after Washington Mutual collapsed during that industry-wide meltdown, an FDIC spokesperson said. Like other FDIC-member banks, deposits are insured up to $250,000 per depositor. The agency said it is “working over the weekend” to determine how many SVB deposits are insured. The shutdown came after a tumultuous morning for the Santa Clara, California-based bank — the 16th largest bank in the country — during which trading of its shares was halted after they fell by double-digits before markets opened. That downslide came on the heels of a more than 60% decline Thursday. Worries over a run at SVB led Wall Street investors to dump other bank stocks as well. Shares of other prominent West Coast lenders took sharp nosedives Friday, including First Republic Bank, PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorporation In view of the tumult, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told House lawmakers Friday morning, “There are recent developments that concern a few banks that I’m monitoring very carefully, and when banks experience financial loss it is and should be a matter of concern.” First Republic submitting a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday morning that “reiterates [its] continued safety and stability and strong capital and liquidity positions.” Silicon Valley Bank didn’t respond to a request for comment. Jitters around the bank followed the news this week that Silvergate, a much smaller bank largely focused on the cryptocurrency industry, announced plans to shut down. For SVB, the drama started earlier this week when it disclosed that it sold about $21 billion of securities and proposed to offer over $1 billion in shares, all to fundraise for “general corporate purposes.” That move raised eyebrows among investors who pondered why SVB would need to raise so much money abruptly. It also sparked concerns among depositors, many of whom suddenly wondered whether their money was safe. On Thursday, The Information reported that Silicon Valley Bank CEO Greg Becker was asking venture capital clients to “stay calm” as some tech founders began clarifying whether their companies had money at there. Silicon Valley Bank is known for helping to finance an explosion of West Coast companies in the tech sector — an industry that has recently been walloped by high interest rates and an economic slowdown. Many of SVB’s depositors are tech startups and venture capital funds, and it doesn’t rely on mom-and-pop savings accounts like banks familiar to the average U.S. household. SVB’s tech-focused strategy has helped it ride the industry’s massive growth leading up to and through the pandemic. But overzealous hiring during the public health crisis has more recently led the tech sector to institute sweeping layoffs, as the Federal Reserve sharply increased borrowing costs to cool inflation and has raised expectations of an economic slowdown.“The issue here is what is the domino effect of problems outside the banking industry on the banks themselves?” Mike Mayo, a bank analyst at Wells Fargo Securities said earlier Friday, before regulators announced SVB's closure. “Banks are still the heart of the economy, and if there’s issues, then banks are going to feel it.” Mayo cautioned that the banking system overall has more robust guardrails now than it did 15 years ago, due to policies put in place after the last financial crisis such as regulations imposing stronger capital and liquidity requirements. As one of the country’s top 20 banks by total assets, SVB is subject to stricter regulations than many other lenders. Weighing in on the crisis Friday, Cambridge University economist Mohamed El-Erian tweeted that “the most vulnerable currently are those vulnerable to both interest rate and credit risk,” adding that “the systemic threat can be easily contained by careful balance sheet management and avoiding more policy mistakes.” -
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.
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Federal Judge Orders Arizona Child To Dismantle Border Wall He Built Out Of Legos Here: https://babylonbee.com/news/federal-judge-orders-arizona-child-to-dismantle-wall-built-out-of-legos
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Here's the latest Fact-checked article By Kristina Jarusevičiūtė, which will help you. "Kaspersky antivirus latest review: is it safe to use?" October 2023. Fact-checked by Paulius Masiliauskas* "The Russian-owned company has been reported to be in communication with Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and is responsible for providing them with real-time intelligence and identifying data of customers’ computers." https://cybernews.com/best-antivirus-software/kaspersky-antivirus-review/ *Paulius Masiliauskas is a content lead at Cybernews. An avid tester and spreadsheet lover, he currently specializes in website builder, VPN, antivirus, and password manager reviews https://cybernews.com/author/pmasiliauskas/ -
The reason is clearly stated in your quote. Forbes Advisor and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) are both based in the US. The FCC's recommendation is crystal clear, and Forbes Advisor follows it. What more is there to explain? I think, actually, nothing at all. -
The current version of Pale Moon is based on Firefox 38 ESR, which was originally released in 2015. The prior release was based on Firefox 24 ESR, which was released in 2013. The project uses an older Firefox interface created before the Australis theme, and still supports XUL add-ons. Rather than being based on Mozilla’s Gecko rendering engine, Pale Moon is based on “Goanna“, an open-source browser engine that’s a fork of gecko. Current modern firefox uses Quantum, and is on version 99 and nearly releasing version 100 in the upcoming days. If you want to insist on using XP, at least use an official provided Mozilla option. Firefox ESR 52.6 or 58, last builds supported by XP and released by Mozilla around 2018. Its support just recently dropped. Its not “hype and propaganda”, it’s common sense. keep your AV updated, your system updated, your browser updated, don’t click shady links, don’t accept obscure files and don’t, never ever, use an outdated browser for internet banking since its security is not up to date with the bank security measures. A user script, what you’re confusing with a polyfill, is a client side javascript used in a browser to do things to a web page. Generally involves disabling scripts on a page to let an old browser work with it. An exception are extensions like the ones from Google Chrome, that provides extra features. A Polyfill was a javascript thing used by me and other web developers, in the past (2001/2010) to provide old browsers like IE (main target) support for features that only existed in modern Firefox and Chrome. It was a server side thing. We as a developers don’t have to use it anymore because all modern browsers supports the features we have to use. We do not have the obligation to provide support to old (censored) like Pale Moon. https://www.howtogeek.com/335712/update-why-you-shouldnt-use-waterfox-pale-moon-or-basilisk/ Brazilian government and federal agencies have already switched from XP to Windows 10/11, after nearly two decades using it for its public services. Last time I worked in a federal agency they were still using Windows 7/8. XP user base in the internet is smaller than 1% right now. If you expect to be able to continue browsing modern sites with XP, I must warn you that your expectation will be shattered. Modern web is evolving in a fast pace, even Pale Moon is failing to keep up with it, and with the rise of JS frameworks to build web sites and web apps, XP and its browsers is no longer a viable option to internet browsing. Its a fact, it’s happening right now, end period.
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An Australian teenager pleaded guilty to charges of hacking into Apple's secure systems and said that he was a fan of the technology giant and hoped to work there one day, the media reported. The 16-year-old boy is facing criminal charges after the technology giant called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). "The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, broke into Apple's mainframe from his suburban home on multiple occasions over a year because he was such a fan of the company, according to his lawyer," The Age reported late on Thursday. The teenager, who studies in a private school, reportedly stored the saved information in a folder titled "hacky hack hack". He was able to access authorized keys, view customer accounts and download 90 GB of secure files before being caught. "The teen's defence lawyer said his client had become so well known in the international hacking community that even mentioning the case in detail could expose him to risk," the report added. The magistrate has acknowledged the teenager's guilty plea and he is set to be sentenced next month due to the "complexities" of the case. Isn't it amazing?
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Subject: Kaspersky In Germany, the "Bundesamt für Sicherheit und Information (BSI)", in English the "Federal Office for Information Security (BSI)", had already warned against the use of anti-virus software from the Russian manufacturer Kaspersky on 15 March 2022: https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Unternehmen-und-Organisationen/Cyber-Sicherheitslage/Technische-Sicherheitshinweise-und-Warnungen/Warnungen-nach-Par-7/Archiv/FAQ-Kaspersky/faq_node.html (German website, use an online translator!). I already reported the warning from BSI months ago in the old antivirus thread. In the meanwhile, I have changed my mind and now share the official concerns about Kaspersky. Thus, I have removed Kaspersky Antivirus from my internal list and will not write an article about this programme anymore. In these times, one cannot seriously entrust the security of one's computer to such a programme due to its origin. A more in-depth consideration at this point cannot be carried out due to our forum rules. Kind regards, AstroSkipper
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Although in Germany the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) warned against the use of anti-virus software from the Russian manufacturer Kaspersky on 15 March 2022 https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Unternehmen-und-Organisationen/Cyber-Sicherheitslage/Technische-Sicherheitshinweise-und-Warnungen/Warnungen-nach-Par-7/Archiv/FAQ-Kaspersky/faq_node.html, I don't really share such concerns. The developers of Kaspersky software would ruin the entire company if they implemented malicious code in their software. For me, it's about a general statement, a sign of solidarity. And that may not always be fair, however Kaspersky has to thank for that a certain person.
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Twitter Inc. no longer exists, now X Corp. Sawyer Merritt @SawyerMerritt NEWS: Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists. Source: https://slate.com/technology/2023/04/twitter-inc-x-corp-elon-musk-x-nevada.html Twitter Inc. no longer exists, now X Corp.: on appleinsider.com: https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/04/11/twitter-inc-no-longer-exists-now-x-corp by Wesley Hilliard | Apr 11, 2023 "Elon Musk-owned X Corp. has absorbed Twitter Inc. as the first step to becoming an "everything app" similar to China's WeChat. Twitter's slow transformation from micro-blog to everything platform has seemingly begun. A series of corporate ownership moves has made Twitter Inc. cease to exist, at least in name. According to information obtained by Slate, X Corp. merged with Twitter Inc. on April 4. This information was revealed within court documents from an ongoing court case between Twitter and Laura Loomer. The court case in question isn't particularly important, it's a case where Loomer is suing Twitter for violating federal racketeering laws when her account was banned in 2019. What is interesting are court filings that were shared publicly. The filing reads: "Twitter, Inc. has been merged into X Corp. and no longer exists." This merger hasn't been announced and likely won't have any immediate effect on the app or service, but it is a first step from Elon Musk. He previously said that Twitter would become the "everything app" called X and could rival other platforms like China's WeChat. Nothing suggests that X Corp. will actually lead to the X app. The reporting also suggests this could be a move to have a larger parent company named X as the controlling interest over all of Musk's properties like Tesla and Space X. Interestingly, this also means that the entity that is Twitter under X Corp. is now based in Nevada instead of Delaware. However, all of the debt and lawsuits Musk and Twitter faced before will be carried to the new X Corp. And, Musk was the original owner of the "X.com" domain. He once used it for a payment service that was rolled into Paypal back around the turn of the century. He re-bought the domain in 2017, for an undisclosed sum. Twitter is still functional as a social media platform. It continues to spark controversy with who it allows, who it bans, and what content is allowed. Many users, especially in the tech community, have sought refuge from this upheaval on various platforms or by quitting social media altogether. AppleInsider continues to operate on Twitter but can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and Mastodon."
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My Browser Builds (Part 4)
NotHereToPlayGames replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
But what I still cannot grasp, as far as timelines go, did Google "create" this Googlism, or were they just the first to be able to "render" what a THIRD-PARTY "CONSORTIUM" created? edit - my frame of reference is the automotive industry. here in the US, it is often Federal Mandates that come FIRST, then YEARS later is the "widget" created to meet that Mandate. -
Where do you get this 3.4% number from? This from 3 years ago? https://mspoweruser.com/windows-is-the-most-popular-operating-system-in-the-us-according-to-the-federal-government/ Which cites its data source as the US government, which then goes about to say this: "On November 8, 2016, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a memorandum on Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites and Digital Services, which requires federal agencies to implement the DAP javascript code on all public facing federal websites." That is how they get that figure. To be clear, the actual headline is not "Of Windows OSes that people use, 3.4% use XP" instead it would be "Of Windows OSes that visit US government websites and have javascript enabled, 3.4% of visitors use Windows XP, with a +/- percentage difference to those using XP (and not using XP) with modified user agents." There are two things that are immediately clear: 1. We can never know a nice number, such as the "50 of 45 million" in your question. Companies need their analytics, and the best way to determine OS usage (outside of malware) is to read browser User Agents. However, this method is severely limited and can never give an accurate number. 2. The common analytic method requires specific circumstances in order to be counted. It not only requires javascript and un-altered (or recognizable) user agents, but also requires that a person actively uses a web browser to go to a specific website. So it cannot count Windows XP computers that do not go to government websites, XP computers that do not go to any websites, and XP computers that are isolated or not connected to an external network/internet. So does that mean there are more than 3.4% of Windows XP computers out there? Yes and no. All of the reasons posted why a Windows XP computer would not get counted, while still existing and operational, are the same reasons why a computer with any other OS isn't counted. And then there are the ones that do get counted, but as other OSes due to how the information is gathered. It could be more, it could be less.
