d-RLY?

I work on peoples’ PCs at work (regular people and not business IT), and one thing that I do for every PC I work on is add uBlock Origin Lite to Chrome and uBlock Origin on other browsers no matter what. As 8 or 9 times out of 10 the shit that caused someone to bring in their PC for cleaning are actually full-screen scam messages and scummy ads on sites or from emails. The only times I ever randomly get someone that is upset about the blockers being installed are from either the pickup person not showing them how to use them. Or I get a random person that actually uses those “news” start pages like MSN, Yahoo, AOL, etc. not understanding that the blank slides in the main slideshow are not actual articles and are ads.

“Everyone lies” - House, MD

I too feel like there is like one or more reasons some people say to not use them (I haven’t used one myself). Though I think that one thing is that if you don’t clean the pot very thoroughly, it might cause some bad infections. But that would be true of anything like that since bacteria can thrive on warm moist devices that come into contact with our bodies (and from the buildup that you would be trying to clear).

I also went completely to FF on my phone the moment it had uBlock Origin and some other extensions. Now that I learned how to force other ones, it has been game over for other browsers aside from just seeing how they are every now and then (I work with general public and need to be aware of how they work). The only thing I would really really advise in addition to FF on a non-rooted device is setting the Mullvad ad-blocking/tracking blocking DNS for the device.

It helps even if I need to use a different browser (not as good as also having uBO), and has really good chances of blocking ads in many apps. For example, I kind of treat the Microsoft Solitaire app since it keeps games and stats from my PC. However they have lots of video ads that play after a couple of games. With the DNS it just kind of glitches when an ad should run and just goes on to the next round instead. The only odd thing I see with other apps is that it can cause my bank app to take a little longer to load when signing in (I am guessing due to tracking it is trying to do). But after like ten seconds it goes through like normal.

This is the DNS address to add if you want:

https://base.dns.mullvad.net/dns-query

And here is the main site for all their options and tester to make sure whichever one you pick is working:

https://mullvad.net/en/help/dns-over-https-and-dns-over-tls

Since it is FOSS, couldn’t they just take the source code and just re-compile it with different naming? Like how Debian did with Iceweasel naming and branding, though I know in their case it wasn’t due to not liking the Firefox name/branding.

And I was over here thinking the 100GB Blu-ray M disc that came with my BDXL drive was some wild shit. It has been wild seeing how big some PC cases are these days, but don’t even have 5.24 bays. Would be dope to have some discs like these to use as cold storage for my Plex server/complete uncompressed rips of literally all of my DVDs/BDs. Sad that these things would be kept at some wildly high prices since they would be overkill for normal media releases. And since many of the companies are starting to scale back on said releases in favor of revokable digital copies and subscriptions.

I will always have a soft spot for spinning discs and other weird storage.

Ah, good to know. Though wouldn’t it still at least make it easier for people to install overall? The last time I messed with Nvidia on Linux gave me issues even with using a named supported distro on their site. Would error out about “missing headers” or something like that. Given this was many years ago and before distros would offer an Nvidia specific iso. Mostly just curious in the event that I needed to help someone that is all-in on having one of their cards.

I am all AMD both PC (currently Windows but have used Linux on systems with AMD and Nvidia over the years) and Steam Deck (of course). AMD is overall easier. That being said, Nvidia is supposedly in process of making opensource drivers. I believe they are going to be focusing on their newer cards. So it might be worth researching into any recent news on their progress. Always good to have options if you get a better deal on one vs another.

Probably a good move for them to make tbh. I like how CrowdStrike’s name already sounds like it should be the name of a big malware/virus/zeroday. So we should have seen it coming.

How long have you had your phone? I have seen it begin to happen around the three year mark on my Galaxy S8+ and my S20+. Slight ghosting of parts of the Wayz UI. My S23 Ultra hasn’t yet, but still have a while on it.

doing the evanescence routine on older hardware

That was one of the best deep-cut comments I have read in a while! The helpful advise to OP was also nice. lol

When I got my first Raspberry Pi (4B), I was kind of shocked at how hot even my passive Argon case would get. Though I am guessing a more powerful and efficient ARM or RISC-V CPU would not spike to 100% so fast. But when I got my Pi 5 I made sure to get the official case that came with a fan while I waited for the more powerful active cooling fan to release. So much better at running stuff like YouTube or other media without hitting thermal issues (got the active cooling Argon One for my 4B with similar results too).

Having more powerful ARM/RISC-V CPUs that can actually handle stuff I expect a full on laptop or especially a desktop will be awesome. But while we are in the “still not as good” period of these CPUs both matching x86_64 and programs for them being full versions. The inefficiencies of either needing emulation or just very un-optimized code as devs are getting the hang of ARM/RISC-V coming from x86 mean those temps are easy to hit.

They did mostly. It is still possible (but can be extremely frustrating if your timing is off by fractions of a second) to disconnect a LAN cable or USB-LAN adapter (DON’T sign into a wifi network) at the right moment and cause it to ask for a name for the user account. I have taken to calling this the “AA Pullout Method.” My co-workers and myself are crass de-gens and sometimes have to trade off trying to get it to work and made it a game to see who can get it to work in the least amount of tries. Get the “title” of “pullout king.” Did you need to know this? No, but it is no less dumb than the steps below and attempts needed to just make a fucking local user on Windows 10/11 (though 10 seems to be much easier to get around).

You have to first fail at signing into a MS account. Which you can just type the letter “a” instead of an actual email address (seriously don’t have to type anything else, not even adding “@email.whatever” is needed) as if you are just using a preexisting account and not pick the “create a MS account.” It will then ask for your MS account password and just again type the letter “a.” It will then give a “Oops something went wrong” message. This is where the unplugging the cable is needed. The timing is that you need to pull the cable basically right as you let go of your left-click on the “Retry” button. So like if you are using a regular mouse it won’t register that you clicked the button until the moment you have lifted your finger. But if you fail to time it just right, it will either just cycle back to the “Sign into existing MS account” screen where you used the first “a” instead of an email. Or it will give a different message about not being online and take you back to the “Let’s get you online” network screen with your LAN adapter and wifi networks. However if you time it correctly, it will just ask for the name of the user and password.

If you forget to plug the LAN cable back in after getting the “name of user” screen, it will give the screen about not being online. If you are able to get the local user name screen, just plug your LAN back in and it will just ask the rest of the setup questions like normal. And you now have a local user account. But again, shit is super touchy about the timing. So it could take quite a number of retries to get it to work. If you have ever used the PSP/PS3/PS Vita “Hen” non-permanent “custom firmwares,” then you might know the struggle (as the hack may fail to launch until entirely too many attempts if you haven’t used them).

THIS all fucking day for new and even experienced users. Setting up a dual boot is fairly easy. But the moment you decide that you just need Windows (mostly new/non-tech users) and delete the Linux partition. Shit will break booting and lead to so much panic and/or frustration just getting Windows booting again. And that ignores the additional fuck-ups that can happen with just making a small mistake doing anything with partitions no matter the OS. It is much less frustrating to just disconnect the second drive in a desktop (or just format the drive and have as a data drive). Or to just swap one drive for another in a laptop with one drive bay/slot. Opening a laptop might be annoying depending on the model.

But at least your data and OS won’t be lost. Lots of people can understand using a screwdriver and spudgers while watching a video and some care. But lots of video and written guides for complex software can be worse. Lots of my frustrations with Linux guides over the years has to do with some steps being just left out due to the person(s) showing or writing it just assume certain steps as being super “obvious” or “common sense.” Though some folks are at least good at pre-facing stuff as assuming certain levels of knowledge. So it is easier to know that I might need to also research whatever they mentioned.

And if someone is experienced, it is still good to keep your OSes on physically different drives. Reduce the amount of problems that can come from a drive going bad and taking both (or however many) OSes down together. Of course backups are to be made for reasons that include a drive failing. But shit happens, and minimizing impact and the work needed to get everything working again is always a good idea. It is also nice to know that if you get the itch to distro-hop, you can just nuke the one drive without worry as much as you want. Keep your “I need to know this won’t be impacted” drive safe, and your play drive liquid.

It is because so many people see a Russian security company and just go on and on about “Russian company? they can’t be trusted!” While they act like US companies/government is somehow trustworthy by default (or at least by the omission of only dunking on the “always evil” vibes of anything Russian). Russia is very up front about their laws and their opinions of how they do or want to do. While US companies and the US gov love to also push that narrative hard and loud all the time.

They go on and on about “privacy” being like the most crucial thing ever. But they are also the very same fucks that have and actively at this moment find every way to just vacuum up all of our information, chats, searches, etc… And even when we get proof beyond proof that the US gov and private companies are doing this on their own or colluding. It is somehow the Russian companies (or insert whichever country) that are somehow more “evil” for doing shit.

Hell, the US is constantly spying on and inside our own allies. I really don’t see why our allies would freak out about shit like Chinese cell technology. But they are tripping over themselves to willingly build complete infrastructure with shit that the US gov most certainly has backdoors to backdoors inside. It isn’t about Russian companies being more or less trustworthy. But it is dumb as fuck to act like they are somehow worse than US companies with gov contracts. I am honestly more worried about what my own gov is doing to me than shit other nations companies might be doing. Do I want other nations companies having access to my shit? Fuck no, but acting like they are actively more a threat to spying on me as a US citizen than the profit chasing companies Enshittifying everything with adware/spyware. AND knowing that my own tax dollars are also being paid to them to give my gov access to it and me is stupid.

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It isn’t a science vs pseudoscience, it is using an easy to understand set of symbolic numbers and words that are meant to be taken together as a point. The point being that we are assholes if we don’t stop to take a moment to see that we at some point were those same “10,000” and experienced shit for the first time. And that jumping on others for now being those “10,000” instead of sharing their excitement is dumb. Humans tend to like lessons and reminders that are clear to understand. We as a species have learned and taught via parables basically ever since we could speak.

Focusing on complicated but very precise data removes the whole point of the meaning being presented. Now if this were being understood to be a real study or some other situation where the numbers and science were the focus then it would very much matter. It is just a super basic lesson in social interactions presented in a nerdy way.

Close enough lol

Maybe next year will be the year of React OS?? lol

For real! The only thing that matches this frustration of trying to find out wtf something is and not just “feel good” BS statements about whatever it might be is surveys. Fuck me am I going to snap one day over fucking surveys on big companies. I hate going to support pages for getting like drivers to install for a PC I am working on and knowing that before I can even press “search” I get a box in the middle of the fucking screen already asking “How’d We Do?” or “Got three minutes to let us know how well we helped you today???” I would try to just start filling them out, but I don’t want to have the very fed-posting-ish words I have for them to be tied to a customer’s PC.

Ignore this unless you (the persons reading this) either don’t understand how fucked so many surveys are as a worker. Just thinking about how much I hate them means I needed a therapeutic rant to get it out. And I am not just going to delete it after typing it at this point. lol

And the surveys that all big companies have are rigged to begin with. They all have either numbers or stars and comment boxes. But depending on the company and situation the rating part might be tied to a specific worker that may have even been the only good part of the interaction. So giving a real “rating” only means that worker is raked over the coals and can be written up. Even if the comments part easily shows this to be the case. The big box chain I fix PCs for does this and my co-workers and myself are constantly fucked over by customers that we were told point-blank that we helped them more than anyone else. But since those customers are fuming about all the other stuff (that was completely out of our control), they give whatever the lowest rating is and the comments about us specifically being good are ignored. All because those comments parts don’t really matter to high-er level managers and corporate. Can’t be removed from our metrics as being clearly about something else. So it just becomes about “well it means you will need to get more positive ratings to cancel it out”.

And as a customer, they use the whole “concern about wanting feedback” as 100% go ahead to just spam the ever living shit out of your txts, email, and even start harassing via calls that they force workers to make. FUCK SURVEYS so much from both a worker and customer standpoint! I volunteer to be the executioner of the people that make this shit a policy of a company (and of course the CEO, other C level folks, and every single member of their boards once the revolution comes.