JorgeA Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 More details (and worrisome implications) on the Lavabit case:Lavabit encryption key ruling threatens Internet privacy, EFF arguesLavabit founder Ladar Levison was found in contempt of court for resisting an order to turn over his company's private SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) key, used to encrypt communications for 400,000 users. He is appealing.The U.S. government is believed to have sought access to the account of Snowden, who gave out a Lavabit email address after arriving in Russia, but he has not been named in the court documents.Turning over the private SSL key would have allowed the government to potentially access the communications of all of Lavabit's users, violating the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment protections against overly broad warrants.[...]"Facebook has a single private key that protects the communications of over 1.26 billion users," the EFF wrote. "In the case of Facebook, having the private key used by the company would give unfettered access to the personal information of almost 20 percent of all of the human beings on the planet obtained through the Facebook site for three years."[...]Lavabit was initially served with a pen register order that required it to provide metadata association with the email account the government sought. But like other privacy-focused email and VPN service providers, Lavabit's systems were designed to not retain that information.The company was then served with a warrant to turn over its private SSL key. Levison opted in early August to shut down Lavabit's service, saying he could no longer guarantee the privacy of users.Great, so if the service doesn't log your communications, they want the private key. Lovely.--JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Here's an argument, from the advertiser's viewpoint, against encouraging all this mobile-device craze:As The New York Times reported, Google sells mobile ads for half to two-thirds as much as desktop ads, but the mobile ads are only a third to a quarter as effective. It bears mentioning that before scrolling, real search results on mobile don’t get much real estate, either.So, for all the hype about tablets and smartphones, and all the contortions that websites and manufacturers and Microsoft have gone to in order to cater to mobile, it turns out that plain old boring desktops are still a more effective advertising vehicle.--JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TELVM Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Another pleasure in the Tiles 81 experience: . . . Apparently people is getting this watermark whenever "secure" boot is not enabled in BIOS. This is a brave new joy, didn't happen in Tiles 80.I already asked MSFT and they don't want to provide a way to disable it.I can't believe this, MS listening to customer feedback! :Windows 8.1 'SecureBoot isn't configured correctly' watermark finally removed via hotfixKB2902864 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayMan Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 While everybody can make a mis-step, no-one is more expert at it than Microsoft. If they made cars they would cancel the Mustangs, Corvettes, Ferraris, Lambos and Carreras and make only economical flat Chevy Chevettes. If they made guitar amps they would have chucked out the massive selling 100-watt tube lines and went to electronic mini-techno-gadgets. If they were a record label, they would have fired The Beatles and Stones and Iron Maiden and Dream Theater ( and everyone else ) just keeping Madonna and Miley Cyrus. They are the Justin Bieber of operating systems now. The solution is to ridicule them and make them suffer and expedite their fail. Or just wait it out because what goes around comes around.Dude, I have to give you props for referencing Dream Theater on this forum!!!!Win8 = Justin Bieber parable....... PRICELESS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 "The server requested a login authentication method that is not supported." It does that under heavy traffic. Just hit refresh a few times and it will show. I've experienced it a few times in the last year or so. Still doing it on the old FTP. New one is fine though. What happens if you try these ... ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases I'm guessing that new FTP is the official one and the old is deprecated and whatever they changed causes Opera to bounce. Doesn't matter though since the old one has no releases past v23, except for some betas of v24. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Apple reports quarterly revenue of $37.5 billion, sells 33.8 million iPhones ( TechSpot 2013-10-28 ) Apple sells 33.8 million iPhones and 14 million iPads in fiscal Q4 2013 ( NeoWin 2013-10-28 ) Apple on Monday topped Wall Street estimates as they reported revenue of $37.5 billion for the fourth quarter of their 2013 fiscal year. The figure is up from $35.97 billion during the same period last year and beat Apples own estimates of roughly $37 billion. Net income for the quarter was $7.51 billion, or $8.26 per share. Thats down from $8.22 billion, or $8.67 a share, a year ago but still beat analysts average estimates of $7.96 per share based on revenue of $36.9 billion. Sales of iPhones fell below analysts forecasts of 34.5 million with 33.8 million sold in the quarter despite launching two new models, the iPhone 5s and the 5c, for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Cupertino sold 14.1 million iPads, 4.6 million Macs and 3.5 million iPods during the three-month period. So now we have Apple's numbers. $37.5 billion revenue, $7.51 billion net. And they actually give hard numbers ( unlike Microsoft ) for calendar 2013 3rd quarter units sold ... iPhones ... 33.8 million iPads ..... 14.1 million iPods ...... 3.5 million Macs ....... 4.6 million If anyone actually locates the Microsoft data for Surface, WP and Windows ( UPDATE: see article below for Nokia Lumias figure of 8.8 million ), let me know and I will try to update this for a direct comparison! Now we can add Apple's numbers to that list of "Top Ten Most Valuable Companies" according to Interbrand ... Apple ........ $ 98.3 billion ... Q3: $37.5 / $7.51 billion Google ....... $ 93.2 billion Coke ......... $ 79.2 billion IBM .......... $ 78.8 billion Microsoft .... $ 59.5 billion ... Q3: $18.53 / $5.24 billion GE ........... $ 46.9 billion McDonald's ... $ 41.9 billion Samsung ...... $ 39.6 billion ... Q3: $55.59 / $9.56 billion Intel ........ $ 37.2 billion Toyota ....... $ 35.3 billion So Apple's showing also looks weak as does Microsoft's. Clearly they both need to be watching the 800 pound Gorilla in this room, which is clearly Samsung. Most importantly, in April 2014 when the this current period calendar Q4 and the next Q1 are completed, we will see the completed story, no more excuses! There are no more critical products missing, all the teams have all their players on the fields now. NuMicrosoft will be 4 years old, as will be Apple's iPad, and Windows XP will be undergoing its euthanasia. And Microsoft will be right where it is now, a distant 3rd in phones and tablets. Nokia sells 8.8 million Lumia Windows Phone devices in Q3 2013 ( NeoWin 2013-10-29 ) To be honest that is more than I expected for Nokia and WP. It's still only 1/4 of the amount of phones that Apple sold though and far far less than Samsung, let alone Android as a whole, but a respectable number nonetheless. However, I think this is their highwater mark since Microsoft has killed Nokia as a brand. Unfortunately we'll never know what would have happened if Nokia had offered their phones with a choice of WP or Android what the sales would have looked like. I suspect Android would have swamped WP and Samsung and Nokia would be neck-and-neck for world handset leader today. New Windows 8.1 patch fixes SecureBoot watermark bug ( NeoWin 2013-10-30 ) Microsoft's support page reveals that the patch is supposed to remove the "Windows 8.1 SecureBoot isn't configured correctly. Build 9600" watermark that has been showing up on the desktop wallpaper of some users. You may remember that a Windows 8.1 RTM GA Rollup file that leaked out to the Internet before the official launch of Windows 8.1 was also supposed to address this bug. Well there's the official fix for that above-mentioned mighty convenient "bug" ( or rather, "feature" ) of Windows 8.1 Blew protecting its users from the evils of multibooting. ( I see MagicAndre has already mentioned the Microsoft KB : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 PDP selling Xbox One Kinect TV mount with 'privacy cover' ( NeoWin 2013-10-28 ) And this of course leads to quite a parade of sheeple, even for NeoWin. Here are some of the NeoKids reactions to the mere thought of covering up the Kinect cameras ... Tin foil hat is far cheaper, and can be hung in front of the camera as well... that hat has so many uses. I think people have gone too far with the whole privacy issue thing The comical part is worrying about this locked down system when everyone has a GPS tracking device in their pocket. ... Microsoft did NOT give the NSA access. The only NSA access is by network monitoring, which includes EVERYTHING on the internet and only gets up to the servers as data is transferred. Data sitting on servers or behind a workstation (like the Kinect is) is not open to the NSA. This is in contrast to ANY *nix based system/server where the NSA has established backdoors and low level access via the OS's simplistic I/O model. And yes this DOES include Android phones and even iOS devices. For those paranoid types, lol. One thing I never have been. Smart company, praying on the paranoia of idiots. Why not just use an extra piece of tinfoil from your hat to cover the camera? Of ALL companies to be worried about, Microsoft is the only tech giant that is fighting for user privacy rights. In both products and in legal protections. When Google lobbies for removing user privacy in the USA, it is Microsoft on the other side pushing back against them. This is, close to, the silliest thing I've ever seen. Its funny people get so worked up over this when they already have webcams on your laptop, tvs, and cell phones. (All of which are probably easier to hack than your Xbox) Even some of the new Droid phones are "always listening" for commands as well and people have them with them everywhere they go. But the world would end if someone was watching me play Skyrim on my couch. i hope the people that buy this dont have a smartphone, or access the internet, or put rubbish in the dustbin, or go outside...... Well I'm convinced! Microsoft is actually the one fighting for our rights, it's all the others who are evil. And what's wrong with a camera setup peering into our homes. Get with the times you Luddites! In all seriousness, most of these children will probably reach adulthood someday and become voters. Food for thought. And how about that "in for a penny ..." type argument. "Well since you already have a cellphone, you might as well go whole hog and invite a camera into your living room". Never mind that they are two completely different concepts, a static camera in a phone and a live console camera designed to recognize you and others, count you and even bill you if you are watching the TV. Amazing lack of logic. "Well since I am someday gonna die anyway, why not inject this heroin in my veins!". Mozilla to support Firefox on Windows XP after Microsoft ends support for the OS ( NeoWin 2013-10-28 ) Neowin asked Mozilla, the creator of Firefox, if it has any plans to end support for XP and Johnathan Nightingale, VP of Firefox at Mozilla stated, "We have no plans to discontinue support for our XP users." This means that for users of Windows XP, who have not upgraded their decade-old OS, they will have two supported browser options once Microsoft ends support for XP (and subsequently Internet Explorer on XP): Chrome and Firefox. Well that is a nice bit of news from one of the few organizations that don't say "how high?" when Microsoft says "jump". The NeoKids on the other hand not only say "how high?", but they instinctively drop them and bend over as well. They are definitely not going to take kindly to this development ... No this is not good, people need to get off XP. 3 newer Windows have come out since XP and its a 12 year old OS also. So many great improvements have been made to Windows since then also. The last time I used XP was back in 2009 and I don't miss it. Microsoft is going to need to take drastic measure to kick people of Windows eXPired. Well, it seems some people like to live with the past in the present... Why would they want to use resources doing this? Dumb people, a secure browser on an unsecure OS is still unsecure. I'm afraid that Mozilla will continue Firefox for XP for years, just like they did with Windows 2000. This will only hold them back. like Av that plans to support XP after support ends, doesn't matter how good the lock on your door is, if there's a weak point in the structure someone will get it. Yawn... The product is in terminal phase. Please let it die peacefully then, move over. It is time for an upgrade. No wonder why, most of their user base is still using rubbish outdated XP on dated incapable hardware. They should just stop supporting it and force people to upgrade, lagging behind with a castrated pos OS will only endanger whoever still uses it. ...Windows XP without updates will be severely vulnerable. The OS would be like the engine that powers your car, without proper maintenance it would eventually crippled the whole machine in the long run. But yeah why upgrade when it just works with all the exploits left unpatched.. You can still drive your 10 year old car, but just be aware that after April 2014 your breaks have a highly likely hood of spontaneously failing while on the road killing you and possibly other drives. Dot MetroTard: Great, so now we have to suffer with a decade's old browser. What I tell people, is they can still use their XP machine until april, at which time security updates will stop and I would NOT recommend putting that machine on the internet after that. You can't fix stupid. Well that last one is certainly true. You can't fix stupid, and there is a whole lot of that going here with Pavlovian children who bark on command at the mere mention of Windows XP. It's a lot like what happens their parents mention "asparagus" to them. Or "homework". Or "bedtime". I just love the nonsense about Windows XP being 12 years old! Would someone please ask the NeoKids how old Skype is? And Xbox? Inquiring minds want to know! One other little tidbit from the comments ... Microsoft should make Windows XP open source. It would be the most advanced open source OS available.You're joking, right? NeoKids like Dot MetroTard know that letting Windows XP out into the public would be then end of the party for Microsoft and all her fanboys. The end to interface dictatorship, planned obsolescence and forced upgrades. Freedom from being annoyed by color-blind hipsters pretending to be interface designers. Crowd sourced improvement to all those endless Windows annoyances would work for me just fine and is something that would cut them right to the bone. But don't worry MetroTards, you would still have your Playskool sandbox, no one wants to take that away. The only differences is that the adults would no longer be forced to occupy it along with you. We simply have better things to do than to keep you company all day long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Surface works with official Ethernet adapter thanks to Windows RT 8.1 (Update .... or not?) ( NeoWin 2013-10-28 ) And they're still not sure if it works. Seriously, Apple is bad enough by ignoring standardized ports like USB and failing to add standard card slots for removable storage. But when you have a Wi-Fi or cellular only device in for repairs or cleanup, exactly what would you do without wired local network access? There is often a need to jump on the Internet to use Windows Update and to get copies of Opera or Firefox or Flash or Java or whatever. Ethernet into a network is fast and painless and temporary, and the alternative is giving the device the passphrase for the router wireless security which naturally is then stored on the device permanently, or into the cloud which defeats the purpose of the network security. Sure, you could disable your router security temporarily I guess, or add the device as guest if it has that facility, but jacking up the device with Ethernet to a router port takes no effort at all and is the best option IMHO. But I guess they're thinking what good is a walled-garden device model if it has such convenient connectivity options. Microsoft will give you 11 pizzas for free if you optimize your website ( NeoWin 2013-10-28 ) The life of a web developer is a lot like trying to shoot a moving target while riding on the back of a horse going downhill near a canyon cliff edge. With many different browsers on the market and a need to support them all, building a website can become a complicated task. Too bad we just couldn't get together a group of creative developers into a standards committee and produce a common base set of webpage rendering elements which then are carefully implemented by the developers of web browsers to display webpage code correctly and consistently. Then, if webpage authors code their sites following these hypothetical standards they would be guaranteed that their website will then render correctly and consistently on those web browsers. We could call this standard HTML and describe it as platform independence. ( Sorry, I guess I'm feeling a bit sarcastic today ) William C. Lowe, the man responsible for leading the project to create IBM's first PC, dies at 72 ( TechSpot 2013-10-29 ) Well not exactly. Lowe was definitely a big part of IBM's entry into microcomputers, essentially getting the project approved in Armonk, but the driver of the PC train was Don Estridge ...The birth of the IBM PC (IBM)Philip Don Estridge (Wikipedia)Over the next several years, Estridge received a string of promotions, and by 1984 was IBM Vice President, Manufacturing.[2] Steve Jobs even offered Estridge a multi-million dollar job as president of Apple Computer, which he turned down.[3] Estridge and wife Mary Ann were killed when the plane they were traveling on, Delta Air Lines Flight 191, crashed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on August 2, 1985.[4] He was 48 years old. The Estridges were survived by their three daughters. At the time of his death, IBM ESD (which included the development and manufacturing of the IBM PC, PC DOS, PC LAN and TopView) had nearly 10,000 employees and had sold over a million PCs. Estridge has been honored many times. In 1999 he was identified in CIO magazine as one of the people who "invented the enterprise". The Don Estridge High-Tech Middle Schoolformerly IBM Facility Building 051in Boca Raton, Florida, is named after him, and on the occasion of its dedication received from Don Estridge's family his own personal IBM 5150 computer. That's how important this man was managing a radical innovative product through a bureaucracy that is only rivaled by the USA federal government itself. Bill Lowe was very important as well, and this is certainly not to take away from his own accomplishments at all. But when Estridge died tragically in a 1985 plane crash, he literally took IBM's PC ambitions with him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 'Titanfall' developer didn't know game would be Xbox One exclusive forever ( NeoWin 2013-10-29 ) Vince Zampella, a co-founder of the developer, took to his Twitter account to reveal that the studio initially thought the game was merely going to be a timed exclusive. Instead, he said, the game's publisher made a deal with Microsoft without Respawn's knowledge. Confirmation that the reviled publisher EA took a deal from Microsoft to make this developer's company's game 'Titanfall', an Xbox only release rather than Xbox first, and he had no idea of it. Monopoly business activity on an empty playing field where Microsoft is the only player present is the only strategy that Redmond is truly comfortable with, and with deep pockets they can pave the road to monopoly with greenbacks to achieve their ends. EA and Microsoft, a match made in heaven. Huge Adobe Data Breach Gets Even Worse ( Tom's Hardware 2013-10-29 ) Information-security blogger Brian Krebs, who broke the news earlier this month that Adobe had suffered a massive data breach, now says the situation is much worse than it initially appeared. Krebs discovered, and an Adobe spokeswoman confirmed, that the breach affected at least 38 million, and possibly as many as 150 million, Adobe user accounts. [...] One decrypted file is a 3.8-gigabyte list of more than 150 million usernames and encrypted passwords for Adobe user accounts. Adobe spokeswoman Heather Edell told Krebs that because many of those accounts were inactive, invalid, duplicated or test accounts, the number of active users affected by the release of that file was closer to 38 million. More on the recent Adobe hacking incident. But please don't be worried, the cloud is our friend. Microsoft says it has offered to help fix issues with Healthcare.gov site ( NeoWin 2013-10-29 ) Oh dear God no! Even Stevie Wonder can see what a disaster this is gonna be. Confidential medical information plus all the usual personal information like names, addresses, phones, Social Security numbers. Being managed by a Big Data corporation who is the principal member of Club PRISM. Talk about privacy issues! Is there any bad idea that is not going to be fully explored now, any line that will not be crossed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Microsoft to update Xbox Live Terms of Use with new app privacy rules ( NeoWin 2013-10-29 ) The dreaded Terms of Use is a document common among software and online services that users have to agree to accept before they can access many products. Today, Microsoft announced an upcoming new version of the Xbox Live Terms of Use that will include a change that will give permission from users to let Microsoft share personal data across Xbox Live apps. In a post on the Xbox Wire site, Microsoft says the new TOU for Xbox Live will be rolled out to Xbox 360 owners later this week. It stated: "More app experiences available via Xbox Live are provided by a partner with whom you may have a separate online account. If you choose to link this account with your Xbox Live account, we confirm key data points across the accounts by sharing data such as your name, address, email address and date of birth with the partner. In this TOU update, customers agree to allow Microsoft to share this information in this manner." WTF? Who would really understand that? Both the NeoWin article and the direct Microsoft quote are clear as mud to the average EULA clicker out there. I get a distinct sense that Microsoft is imitating Google but is trying to use every possible literary obfuscation to disguise it. U.K. ISPs ordered to block 21 pirate sites, including top torrent destinations ( NeoWin 2013-10-29 ) Which inversely complements other news from just a few days ago mentioned above ...Victory for tech giants on EU data laws ( FT.com 2013-10-25 )... where the UK PM snookered EU citizens by getting Merkel to allow the Big Data corporates free reign to milk the consumers of their private data like cows. Let's recap: unrestricted government spying is good, and corporate Big Data privacy violations are good, but smalltime "pirates" are terrorists ( probably because they don't hand over big bucks in lobbying and play golf with Cameron ). It's a Brave New World and the fix is in. We're gonna need a new Internet. Florida police testing GPS tracking device tasked with ending high-speed pursuits ( TechSpot 2013-10-29 ) The technology is called Starchase and is essentially a James Bond-like cannon mounted to the front of a cop car that shoots a sticky GPS tracking device at target vehicles. Once a vehicle is tagged, the pursuit can be called off which allows police to continue to track the getaway vehicle in real-time using GPS technology at a safe distance. Well now, how's that gonna fly considering the recent decision just days ago mentioned above ...Ruling on GPS Tracking Could Protect Cellphone Privacy ( Tom's Hardware 2013-10-24 )... Who am I kidding, they'll just ignore that decision or get Congress to write an exemption. Spying is good as long as it is done by authorized personnel. Like the government spooks. And Big Technology companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 New cybersecurity report details risk of running unsupported software ( Tim Rains, Director, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft 2013-10-29 ) Microsoft: Windows XP malware infection rate nearly six times higher than Windows 8 ( NeoWin 2013-10-30 ) As you can see in the chart above, the malware encounter rate for Windows XP is actually lower than Vista or 7 and only a few percentage points higher than Windows 8. However, the chart next to the malware encounter rate shows the actual infection rate among those same operating systems, and that's a totally different story. Windows XP's rate is 9.1 computers cleaned of malware per 1,000 PCs scanned. That's well above the 5.5 and 4.9 scores given to Windows Vista and Windows 7, receptively, and nearly six times higher than the 1.6 score for Windows 8. Oh this is just so wrong, in fact it goes right past lying and into pure evil. They correctly note that Windows 7 has the highest infection rate because of its widespread usage but then they go and label it "Encounter Rate". Then to counter this inconvenient fact they construct a phony chart using numbers pulled from their butts and call that one "Infection Rate" ( which should be called "Imaginary Rate" ). Even for Microsoft this is a new low in lying propaganda. Leaving aside the amusing fact that MSSE ( Security Essentials ) is clearly proving to be an inadequate at best, a laughingstock at worst antivirus utility, the fact is that when Windows 7 computers get infected, they come in with tens or hundreds of different active malware at once. If you run MBAM it inevitably locates things that got by MSSE, and lots of them. Perhaps this phony graphic should simply be described as illustrating their own failure at cleaning malware. Besides, most people on Windows XP probably wouldn't be using MSSE in the first place since it came out after Windows XP and such users either already got used to other antivirus utilities, or simply don't use one like me. If Microsoft had any real integrity they would aggregate details from all the virus suites, not just their already suspect telemetry. Furthermore, what kind of deception is it to say that an unpopular OS like Windows 8 has less malware than the 2nd most popular OS on the planet? Cue Captain Renault in Casablanca! The real takeaway from this FUD piece is just how low can Microsoft stoop? Pretty low indeed. Here is some of the linked Microsoft propaganda ... Microsoft Windows XP was released almost 12 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms. While we are proud of Windows XPs success in serving the needs of so many people for more than a decade, inevitably there is a tipping point where dated software and hardware can no longer defend against modern day threats and increasingly sophisticated cybercriminals. That's propaganda baby. "Microsoft Windows XP was released almost 12 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms", is truly twisted logic. Let's check some dates ...Windows Azure was released on February 1, 2010 making this NuMicrosoft cloud platform almost 4 years old already. Hey you Luddites, isn't it time for a change?Skype was released in August 2003. This government approved spyware which is a cornerstone of the NuMicrosoft cloud model just turned 10 years old.Xbox ironically was released a few months after Windows XP in November 2001 and is therefore nearly the same age as their hated Windows XP OS which they are calling 12 years old. The difference being that Windows XP is clearly pre-9/11 and obviously pre-PRISM. Perhaps 9/11 is their religious demarcation similar to BC and AD.Microsoft Office was released, get this, on August 1, 1989. This ancient software just celebrated its 24th birthday. That means its twice as old as the average child posting at NeoWin and The Verge Tribe forums. Microsoft Windows was released November 20, 1985. And what fine pieces of software ( POS ) versions 1 thru 3 were! Yes friends, in a mere three weeks Windows will celebrate its 28th birthday.So we can factually rewrite that quoted Microsoft propaganda to this ..."Skype was released 10 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms""Xbox was released 12 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms""Microsoft Office was released 24 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms""Microsoft Windows was released 28 years ago, which is an eternity in technology terms"Cue the fanboy excuses that "they have all been updated since then". Ummm, you can say that but at the same time you would be calling Microsoft's Tim Rains a deceptive liar for not mentioning that fact with respect to Windows XP ... Vista .............. 2006-11-08 ... 7 years 00 months old Windows 2003 SP2 ... 2007-03-13 ... 6 years 07 months old Vista SP1 .......... 2008-02-04 ... 5 years 08 months old Windows 2008 ....... 2008-02-04 ... 5 years 08 months old Windows XP SP3 ..... 2008-04-21 ... 5 years 06 months old <--- yet this is the evil one! Vista SP2 .......... 2009-04-28 ... 4 years 06 months old Windows 7 .......... 2009-07-22 ... 4 years 03 months old Windows 2008 R2 .... 2009-07-22 ... 4 years 03 months old Windows 7 SP1 ...... 2011-02-09 ... 2 years 08 months old Windows 2012 ....... 2012-08-01 ... 1 years 03 months old Windows 8 .......... 2012-08-01 ... 1 years 03 months old Windows 8.1 ........ 2013-08-27 ... 0 years 02 months old Hypocrites. The 2nd most popular operating system on the planet is Windows XP 32-bit and it is actually newer than Vista RTM and Vista SP1 and is just a year younger than Windows 7 RTM. But that's not all. The key component of the Windows 8 disease, the Playskool Metro interface, is itself getting long in the tooth depending on which part of the stolen Swiss concept you want to focus on. Some of the events follow ( this is a work in progress, corrections are welcome ) ... Windows 8 was hatched on August 1, 2012 and is already two months past its 1st birthday. But wait, the Xbox Dashboard became full Metro on December 6, 2011 over a year before Windows 8 was released and is now almost 2 years old. Windows Metro was heavily hyped back in September 2011 at //build/ a month past 2 years ago. And Windows Metro first got into public hands with the leaks of milestone builds in April 2011 over 2.5 years ago. However way back in January 2011 at CES there was a presentation of Windows Metro nearly 3 years ago. But Metro of course was not even new, it was simply ripped from Windows Phone which was Metrofied since October 21, 2010. So it just had it's birthday and is 3 years old. Or is it? Those leaked Windows Metro milestone builds were actually determined to have been compiled even earlier in September 2010, a month over 3 years ago. And there is serious controversy over alleged mockups seen even earlier in 2010, and is related to the iPad release in April of that year. The Jensen Harris video and other information seems to be aimed at revising the history of this period. Ironically if their propaganda is true, then Metro will be now approaching 4 years old. But, the roots of the Metro disease are clearly seen in the Xbox Dashboard NXE on November 19, 2008 when they stole the MCE interface style. That was almost 5 years ago now. Windows Media Center itself on Windows XP of course was released to OEMs for PC's in 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002. Interestingly the first Media Center was apparently released way back on January 9, 2001 ( Wikipedia ). So the typographic interface that Metro is stolen from is itself even OLDER than Windows XP RTM at almost 13 years old. Of course, we are now seeing some direct Metro copying from Encarta 95, particularly with the Charms idiocy, an interface over 18 years old. Much more research is needed here, hopefully someone still has the CDROMs! Live Tiles are nicked from Windows 95 era SysTray icons and Windows 98 era channels and of course Vista era gadgets. And much of the icon style in Metro is a direct ripoff from public handicap, parking and street signs seen around NYC since at least the 1970's and perhaps earlier, and maybe in other cities as well. Therefore this dumbed down icon style is likely at least 40 years old. So what's the point here? Well for one thing, age is apparently a highly selective thing when you are a fanboy. The modern interface that they worship is 4 years old from Microsoft, and uses charms that are 18 years old and icons that are 40 years old. Their hypocrisy knows no real bounds as they turn around and single out Windows XP as old and dated and "cheesy". Lastly, we are treated to Tim Rains, Director, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft. "Trustworthy Computing" is in actuality Untrustworthy Computing, it has nothing to so with trust or security whatsoever, but is instead the catch-all phrase used by Big Technology corporates to wrestle back control of the PC ( personal computer ) away from the user to the industry. Both Big Data ( the computer hardware and software makers ) and Big Hollywood serving their own interests and only their own interests. These "trustworthy" folks are the all-time kings of euphemisms. Their plan is to standardize PC technology hardware in a manner similar to the captive consumer electronic industry which is a stunted technology living under the thumbs of Big Hollywood and their lobbied lackeys in government. The PC is the enemy to all of them: government, Hollywood, and the tech manufacturers. That means it is under attack from all angles and people had better realize this before it is too late. So why is this man even talking about Windows XP in the first place or about security at all? The only logical reason IMHO is that Windows XP is pre-9/11 and pre-PRISM and someone in that position at Microsoft is most likely to be the de facto contact person for the government spooks to be pressuring or is receiving the instructions from pressured members of the Board and CEO. The facts as far as we can see tell the likely story ... 2001-08-24 ... Windows XP RTM 2001-09-11 ... 9/11 Terror Attacks 2001-10-26 ... USA Patriot Act 2001-11-02 ... DoJ agrees to settle with Microsoft instead of breakup 2002-??-?? ... Telecom Companies spying underway ( New York Times ) 2004-05-?? ... Microsoft announces Palladium "trusted platform" in Longhorn 2004-08-27 ... Longhorn plans scrapped, Windows XP code jettisoned 2005-07-22 ... Vista development official 2006-03-?? ... Dual_EC_DRBG RNG flaws first noted 2006-11-08 ... Vista RTM 2007-03-?? ... Dual_EC_DRBG recommended by NIST 2007-08-?? ... Dual_EC_DRBG backdoor discovered 2007-09-11 ... Microsoft joins PRISM as first spying partner 2007-11-12 ... DoJ Microsoft settlement expires 2007-11-15 ... Did NSA Put a Secret Backdoor in New Encryption Standard? ( Bruce Schneier ) 2008-02-04 ... Microsoft now adds Dual_EC_DRBG to Vista SP1 2009-07-22 ... Windows 7 RTM ... compromised or not? 2012-08-01 ... Windows 8 RTM ... compromised or not? There are still many unknowns but we can see clearly that things really got rolling after 9/11. That sequence of events there is especially troubling and IMHO proves that Microsoft ( and probably all of the Big Technology and Big Data companies ) cannot be trusted, EVER. The known backdoor RNG was clearly identified by security experts and still went into Vista SP1 and presumably everything ever since. Note, the Dual_EC_DRBG is the only one we actually know about, but who is to say it is the only existing one? It's unlikely Snowden got every possible evidence that exists. Still, the point is that the sequence of events shows that Microsoft added this is regardless of what was being said at the time, and has very little to say about it. If you were part of the Vista era when it was called out for various DRM infractions and typical annoyances and then you saw Microsoft's arrogant and inexplicable reaction by attacking the critics and the public for "doing it wrong" you might have suspected that something smelt bad about the whole thing. It's not a huge leap to believe they were under pressure to perform their patriotic duty and help the government keep its citizens safe from Terrorists, and Vista with its infamous complete rewrite ( formerly "Longhorn" with Windows XP codebase ) may have been the vehicle to satisfy federal "suggestions". The public backlash and low uptake with Vista would naturally come as an unwelcome surprise to them and to the feds, leading directly to the erratic behavior of Microsoft going forward, particularly with radical moves into the cloud, against user privacy, draconian EULAs and alienation of their PC developer community. One thing is for sure, with Windows XP sitting at the top of that list prior to all those other events it sure looks like an angel now by comparison. This is the most plausible and simple reason for the mad push to destroy Windows XP. IMHO. ( Lots of this comment is a work in progress, corrections welcome ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagicAndre1981 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 I can't believe this, MS listening to customer feedback! :Windows 8.1 'SecureBoot isn't configured correctly' watermark finally removed via hotfixKB2902864looks like the support was flooded with question how to remove it. I already posted it here:http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/169286-windows-81-secureboot-isnt-configured-properly/?p=1057969 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrofLuigi Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Still doing it on the old FTP. New one is fine though. What happens if you try these ...ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releasesThe first one barfs and after refresh shows the directory listing. The second one shows it immediately.GL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlotteTheHarlot Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Still doing it on the old FTP. New one is fine though. What happens if you try these ... ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases The first one barfs and after refresh shows the directory listing. The second one shows it immediately. You're right! I guess I didn't refresh. As GrofLuigi has said, after it kicks up the error, just press F5 and the list pops up. Now this is interesting .... The list at the 1st link is different in Opera and Firefox. The 2nd link is identical in both browsers. In Firefox ... the most recent folder shown is version 24.0b9 In Opera ..... the most recent folder shown is version 26.0b1 and this exactly matches the 2nd URL as well. Anyone understand this? Can someone compare those FTP directories in FF and Opera and see if you get different listings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 looks like the support was flooded with question how to remove it. May I add "unsurprisingly"? jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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