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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Brendocon 2.0 wrote:Turns out Windows 10 is the answer to the question "what would happen if we made a list of everything you should never do with a networked computer and then made those the defaults".

I'm fairly certain they've modeled this entire OS after Skynet's plan from Terminator Genisys.

I think they've done a very clever reverse psychology campaign. Everything I'd heard made Windows 10 sound like Microsoft were forcing you to watch an elephant rape a kitten, but other than a couple of niggles it seems... OK so far in comparison.
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Auntie Slag
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Post by Auntie Slag »

A colleague told me Windows 10 is fine, but if you want privacy you need to turn everything off in the Control Panels, which are a bit more hidden away this time. Everything is set to full disclosure, out of the box. Bit like automatic organ donation unless you say otherwise.

I'm sure Mr. Denyer is well on top of this sort of thing (Windows, not organs).
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Nah, it's a horrorshow.

I can just about cope with the "we want to backup your files to a stranger's computer, we want to report everything we do to Microsoft under the guise of enhancing your experience, we want to share your wifi passwords with everybody in your address book, we want to use your computer as a server to torrent updates to other users" part because at least it's up front enough to let you say "ha, **** no" as part of the setup procedure.

What initially pissed me off is the discovery that it automatically downloads system updates in the background and installs them the moment you put the computer to sleep (forcing a reboot, discarding any unsaved material and forcing you to sit through an indeterminate "hi, we're updating your system without telling you first" sequence upon waking it up), but hey at least you can stop this by lying to your settings about your internet connection being metered (and I'm sorry, but anything that downloads and installs anything without my knowledge or permission is malware as far as I'm concerned). Then there's the discovery that other people have had issues where these updates uninstall certain non-MS products like antivirus software.

And hey, what possible concern is there from software that automatically downloads and installs itself and regards an AV package as a threat that needs terminating?

I'm not opposed to my machine doing shit off its own back, so long as it tells me or gives me the option to stop it. And this is just the stuff it's TOLD me it's doing. Who the **** knows what other processes it's running in the background while Cortana (hi Cortana!) logs my every keystroke and spies on my activity in order to "enhance" my user experience.

I'm sure this is all fine if you're from the Mac school of "I just want a machine that does stuff on its own so I don't need to worry about it", which is certainly the market Microsoft seem to be aiming for with their "no, no, it's okay, just let it happen" marketing strategy.

I'm just glad I'm familiar enough with what I'm doing to have understood what it was asking me on setup. I pity the luddites who go "new computer whoo" and just click "okay, next" when they pick up their new machine. This shit is how Skynet happens and as soon as I've done a bit more research I'm nuking it from orbit and installing something else.
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Denyer
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Post by Denyer »

Whether the fact that W10 still communicates with Microsoft even if you turn all of that shit off is incompetence or deliberate, the jury is still out. Possibly a mix. It'll certainly attempt to uniquely identify a machine and thereby place laptops and tablets by geographical area, in the same way that mobile phone location records have become a crutch for police.

http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-te ... microsoft/

Also rather insidious the way that initial screens in 8/8.1/10 are set up to make users think they have no option but to create a Microsoft ID, which you don't. I'd suggest people not, as it's one more thing to be broken/obtained and leads to crap like this:

http://www.wired.com/2012/08/apple-amaz ... n-hacking/
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Post by Denyer »

What initially pissed me off is the discovery that it automatically downloads system updates in the background and installs them the moment you put the computer to sleep (forcing a reboot, discarding any unsaved material and forcing you to sit through an indeterminate "hi, we're updating your system without telling you first" sequence upon waking it up), but hey at least you can stop this by lying to your settings about your internet connection being metered (and I'm sorry, but anything that downloads and installs anything without my knowledge or permission is malware as far as I'm concerned).
Yep. Not going near a machine I actually use without that turned off (i.e. notify to download and notify to install) which is perfectly doable but there's also no great reason to move from 7 for another few years.

edit: And frankly, the amount of legacy software I still use reduces year by year. I'm close to the point I'd be happy to switch to Linux and keep anything Windows specific in virtual machines.

This install's lasted since Nov 2011 and if a SRP approach keeps it relatively safe and stable, it'll probably make it to 2020 if the hardware does.
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Brendocon 2.0
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Denyer wrote:Yep. Not going near a machine I actually use without that turned off (i.e. notify to download and notify to install) which is perfectly doable but there's also no great reason to move from 7 for another few years.
There is the option for it to notify before installing (and it's phrased in such a manner that leads me to think it is just advising you of what it'll be doing, rather than letting you opt out), but the only way to prevent it downloading them is by saying you're on a metered connection.

I only upgraded because my Win7 laptop is about five years old and has reached the stage where it can't handle having more than two programs/tabs open at the same time without needing a lie down. Whether it's a RAM issue or something else, I don't know, but I used it as an excuse to treat myself to a shiny new machine. Only reason I ended up with W10 is because it happened to be on the one that best fit my price/spec needs.

If I'd realised exactly what I was getting myself into I would have gone another route.

This machine definitely has Ubuntu (or similar, I need to do research) in its future. Assuming of course there aren't hidden safeguards that dissolve the hard drive in the event of attempting to replace the OS. A scorched earth protocol wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
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Post by Denyer »

You won't have this in a Home edition, but the group policy option is in others --

http://www.howtogeek.com/224471/how-to- ... g-updates/

On Home editions it's metered connection or kill/enable the WU service.
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Yeah, that's actually the page I found to tell me what to do about it.

It's nice to know there's a bit more control in the professional versions, but chances are the average man on the street isn't going to have the thought to check into all this stuff first (if it even occurs to them to check which version they're getting). It all feels very much geared toward taking advantage of people who just want an upgrade and don't know better.

They sent me a "Welcome to Windows 10" email yesterday that opened with the proclamation "It's the Windows you know, only better!". The fact there are people out there who'll actually buy into that lie scares the shit out of me.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

My mother's reaction to me explaining we might need to change the settings to stop Microsoft spying on us was "Duh ****wit, of course they are. The Man is always watching, no computer is safe from that so why get bothered?"

An odd combination of paranoia and indifference (I may have lied about the ****wit bit).

If anyone happens to have a copy of Word they could theoretically slap on a disc/google drive I could theoretically be very grateful.
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

Your mum sounds like an exciting combination of Dead End and Marvin.

There's a world of difference between your standard "all internet activity is monitored to some degree and networked computers talk to one another because that's what networks are" and Microsoft's set-up procedure asking for explicit permission to keep a remote log of absolutely everything you do, in the hope you'll be so eager to get started that you're blindly clicking "next" on every screen.

And considering that it also wants to use your computer to share information with every other Windows 10 machine (Sorry, not share info - help to distribute updates. Silly me, thinking it's all the same), who the **** knows where else it's accidentally bleeding the info to in the process.

Even stepping outside the "well if you don't want people to know what you're doing, don't be on the internet" argument, and if you're fine with the knowledge that you're basically torrenting Windows to an unknown number of strangers at any given moment, at the very least you'll want to tweak the settings enough to stop Microsoft deciding to uninstall any programs it decides you "don't need".
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Yeah, I'm going to have a proper fiddle with it.

Speaking of internet related stuff, has anyone used Ebay's Global Shipping Program? On the surface it seems simple enough (you send stuff intended for abroad to a UK address, then they take care of everything else), but as I've not used it before and have to post to Taiwan I somewhat worried about it, especially as it seems to be the default option.
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Post by Warcry »

It's got a terrible reputation, actually, and it'll put off a lot of international buyers. Buying from an international auction with GPS shipping usually means higher shipping costs and eBay collecting customs/duty fees that most likely wouldn't have been charged if the seller sent the package directly.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Balls.
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Post by Brendocon 2.0 »

I've used it as a buyer and it can get in the bin.
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Post by inflatable dalek »

The annoying thing is the default used to be that if you offered free postage it was UK only so I didn't pay attention to that side of things (I swore off international sales after every person I dealt with from abroad was a complete dick. A statistical anomaly no doubt, but very tiresome). Best go through my new sales and change the settings then...
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Post by Sades »

Why the hell did you all interrupt my self-indulgent posts about bullshit with actual interesting conversation? *

*Honestly, I'm just sad that people don't seem to enjoy engaging in the vapid bullshit as much as I do. foreveralone.jpg

I have nothing to add to the above conversation. I just came in here to make a lame joke about having gotten the GoT colouring book for Valentine's Day and needing more red pencil crayons.

Ha. Ha.

Yeah, my husband didn't laugh either. But at least I got a chuckle out of my sister.

carryon.gif
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Post by Hound »

I really need to finish the last book and watch the show. GoT I mean.

I've been ignoring the "get windows 10" thing for months now and was looking for solid validation that I shouldn't update so thanks for that. My question is this, is there anyway to avoid this fascist bullshit in the future when i eventually have to upgrade to a newer computer? Do I just need to accept that I'm going to have no privacy at all?
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Post by inflatable dalek »

The answer to that last question is "You're married".
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Post by Sades »

Youdontknowme.gif

forealzthoyoudont.png

So I've started playing around with Tumblr ( clicky, there's nothing really there though, plus it's set to only display to Tumblr users... I think. Someone let me know if it's not EDIT: It is, and I can't stop reblogging pictures of rocks, even though the thing is barely two-three hours old. There is also an octopus video.)
I'm not sure I like it though as I'm pretty sure that I can't jack up the privacy settings on it to where I'd like them to be so I've been considering Twitter. How're the settings there?

Edit: So I haz a Twitter now. Settings appear to be nonexistent. HALP. Soon I might not haz a Twitter. :lol:

I feel like someone's 80 year old grandmother who is just learning how to use the internet.

Edit3: I did it. I feel like the brightest crayon in the box now, I figured out Twitter. Now watch me never use it again/get rid of it in a month.

edit4: Actually Twitter is kind of neat. So is Tumblr. Huh.
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inflatable dalek
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Post by inflatable dalek »

Sades wrote:Youdontknowme.gif

forealzthoyoudont.png

Oh I do. We all do. We're watching you through our computers.


Looking at this "Post it to Ebay" thing, it mainly seems to be a ****ing pain for the buyer rather than the seller, still not nice this seemingly smart idea is run badly though.

And because I need to print the label off for the posting on reference barcode thing and it seems it will only let me do that if I buy postage on there as well, that means experimenting with weighing and measuring boxes! I might actually do all the postage in one go, despite that seeming a bit of a pointless thing to do considering I still have to take it to the post office.
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