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5 hours ago, elshara said:
I guess you could compare this experience to being a car mechanic, fixing up junk yard cars,
There's me, & every computer I've owned since my first one was returned to Rent-a Center once I realized I 'could' build one. I've never had a new computer, and very few new parts, till this laptop I play with now (and hate, because I didn't build it), always other folks 'throw-aways I've scavenged. I'm always a little behind the new technology, but what I build works for me and that's what matters. Software wise, I struggle but pick up what I can here and there. I too beta Windows 10, but I'm more the "This doesn't work right for me but I don't know why. Here's the log." type of tester. It takes all kinds. For the record, the Rent-aCenter rig, an HP, was torn down 8 or 10 time while I taught myself to build 'em. It sorta worked when they got it back. *chuckles*
sw
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On 7/23/2020 at 3:42 PM, Ramseys said:
Well that's the last time I try to add something new here.
OH gawd no! Never let someone else's lack of proficiency with something trample your success or expression of it!
Our abilities vary. That's it.
My first experience with a computer was a Magnavox. OK, yeah, that should tell you when that was. It had the amazing ability to make stuff vanish without a trace. You might find it in 6 months, a year, or never.
I've had hand-me-down Macs ever since, never a new one but what was top-line one or two generations before. Macs are basically stupid-proof. You have to work at it to lose your work. Got a lot of add-ons, upgrades, security, air-gapped back-ups (in case of ransomware or such I can just wipe the whole thing and boot from backup and only lose the last few weeks of activity).
Speed? Not. A. Thing. Computer's very fast, SSD's all around. But rural internet SUCKS BIG HAIRY BULL BALLS. Downloads can take hours. Uploads even slower. My email literally says "No Internet Connection" at the top of the screen because it fails to detect the connection. So no streaming for me.......
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7 hours ago, elshara said:
Haha! Mint's among my favourite's also for Linux. Ubuntu is, hit and miss. Debian, Fedora etc, all have their draws and setbacks. I use centOS mainly for my custom web builds. The one and only reason why I swapped out custom hardware for branded, is because they do the same thing.
Arch user here, and possibly FreeBSD in the future. I honestly prefer handbuilt rigs because they're cheaper per-capita than a storebought system, and often have the 'just what you want' nothing you don't' sort of mindset going on.
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7 hours ago, elshara said:
The best Windows computer experience I've ever had was on HP as they tended to last longer than any other brand I've owned. MSI is a close second, but I've gone from a laptop to a desktop user in general because all the parts of a desktop are modular, the ones I buy anyways. Soldered on parts don't work for me, not when I can rip out a mother board, CPU and related Wifi card, swap them out and still have a tower to play with for extra slots. But building towers from scratch, means everything is custom including finding drivers that work with the motherboard and finding compatible parts. Branded PC's are just as good, because some of them provide documentation. Once you've seen many cases, I tend to find it doesn't matter what you buy because the best parts of the case are all replaceable. Windows on the other hand, has specific driver specifications that fall out of favour as it grows older. I've had issues where one day, an update caused my sound drivers to not work at all in Windows. But if I put Linux on, it recognized them right away. That's when and where I decided my next computer would be a desktop from a laptop. In fact my only need for laptops was portability. Now they make desktop PCs with Mini ATX cards in them, so I can carry the entire case in a backpack and you can get really great performance out of those custom machines just like you could a typical laptop.
Semi-agree with the 'modular' statement here, not all branded rigs are easily swapped / upgraded, also, it's not drivers you need to worry about: it's ROM compatibility on a lot of proprietary boards.
I've had a few driver issues with Linux, but mainly when AMD GPUs switched from Catalyst, to Crimson, to AMDGPU, AMD itself now contributes code to the Linux Kernel for driver support for their cards. Around 90% of a motherboards' functionality does not need a driver as they are industry standards. I also agree with you on Micro-ATX, and Mini-ITX boards, the only difficulty is things like a screen, mouse, keyboard... which a laptop has already. Soldered parts for me are a NO-GO as well.
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7 hours ago, elshara said:
Everybody says custom is best. If you've got the money to spend, and the time to put cases and screws together, I'm sure it'd last you quite awhile. What I do is buy the base package of a computer, for its case alone, and then replace parts in it to get the best experience of brand support and customization once I figure out through the case documentation, what it can handle.
Custom is cheaper, takes lees than an hour to build with some experience, and every part comes with documentation. Branded is more for 'instant gratification' or for a chucker PC in a couple of years. The case is just a hunk of metal with size specifications, there's nothing special about them that sets limits.
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7 hours ago, elshara said:
I love them both, but if Windows ever became less bloated, or this new Windows 10X became usable outside of major laptops, I'd consider switching to something lighter. Hackintosh for instance, that could be the best of both worlds. I'm keeping an eye out for their exit of intel based CPU's precisely for that reason alone, departing the X86 platform entirely. I find that with multiple computers, local intranets are priceless and with a NAS, some of that storage can be made external for just that reason alone making things a lot more convenient for multitasking.
Windows bloat and spying is why I specifically stay away from it all together.
An FYI on 'Hackintosh' and Apple: T2 and their crypto is making it a thing of the past, also they are indeed changing processor architecture, and will likely as usual, have crypto-signed hardware, making the task nearly impossible. Apple, like many 'big computer companies' like to spy as well, not ideal.
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1 hour ago, silverwolf1 said:
There's me, & every computer I've owned since my first one was returned to Rent-a Center once I realized I 'could' build one. I've never had a new computer, and very few new parts, till this laptop I play with now (and hate, because I didn't build it), always other folks 'throw-aways I've scavenged. I'm always a little behind the new technology, but what I build works for me and that's what matters. Software wise, I struggle but pick up what I can here and there. I too beta Windows 10, but I'm more the "This doesn't work right for me but I don't know why. Here's the log." type of tester. It takes all kinds. For the record, the Rent-aCenter rig, an HP, was torn down 8 or 10 time while I taught myself to build 'em. It sorta worked when they got it back. *chuckles*
My first few rigs were store-bought ones, with parts added. Same with a friend of mine. He 'trash picked' PCs and pars for years. The rig I'm on now is my own build, but a bit behind.Works well though, especially with a lighter OS like Linux, older hardware tends to have more variety in what you can run.
I don't do 'hardcore gaming' anymore with my Shepherd partner, and I just have more irons in the proverbial fire. So having a 3K$ 'gaming rig' isn't as important.
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59 minutes ago, heavyhorse said:
OH gawd no! Never let someone else's lack of proficiency with something trample your success or expression of it!
Our abilities vary. That's it.
My first experience with a computer was a Magnavox. OK, yeah, that should tell you when that was. It had the amazing ability to make stuff vanish without a trace. You might find it in 6 months, a year, or never.
I've had hand-me-down Macs ever since, never a new one but what was top-line one or two generations before. Macs are basically stupid-proof. You have to work at it to lose your work. Got a lot of add-ons, upgrades, security, air-gapped back-ups (in case of ransomware or such I can just wipe the whole thing and boot from backup and only lose the last few weeks of activity).
Speed? Not. A. Thing. Computer's very fast, SSD's all around. But rural internet SUCKS BIG HAIRY BULL BALLS. Downloads can take hours. Uploads even slower. My email literally says "No Internet Connection" at the top of the screen because it fails to detect the connection. So no streaming for me.......
First run-in with a PC was... '96? I think? An old IBM with DOS 5.x.. Ah the days of DOOM, Wolfenstein 3D... good times.. [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/smile.png[/img]/emoticons/ [email protected] 2x" title=":)" width="20" /> Windows 3.1 was interesting to learn for sure.
Also, can confirm on internet speeds: rural net sucks donkey dick (something, I MAYBE would try... that's another topic however [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/tongue.png[/img]/emoticons/ [email protected] 2x" title=":P" width="20" /> ). Streaming is ass at 3 Mbit, so is downloading any sizable file or game. But, I'd take this locale over any other, who knows? Elon Musks' 'Star Link' may take off well, 1 Gbit / Second Satelite to anywhere in the world is the estimate.
I don't think, in all honesty we can get away from spying entirely.
Thanks to the AMD Platform Security Processor and Intel Management Engine making this genuinely a thing. Having said that, older hardware does get around this issue as does some custom Linux laptops like the Purism and System76 brands. Which, I've heard, are looking into this already, if not disabled this completely as has Dell on some Latitude models.
I noticed some of you mentioned rural internet sucking. Here in Canada, I've seen 3G being offered still for mobile and about 100MBPS on some cable lines. I don't think Dial Up is offered anymore. So at least you could get 1MBPS or greater if you wanted. That's true it wouldn't support streaming, but for downloading files it's actually quite fast. As the most I've been able to download direct from Fibre on a classical hard drive is about 7MBPS. A far cry from the 100MBPS I can download on solid state drives.
I feel like I'm the new kid on the block. I started using computers in 2007. That's when Toshiba were making Satellites which made me switch from an old HP desktop with 2Gigs of ram to a 4Gigs of ram Toshiba laptop, and that lasted me up until around 2012 or so. At that time, I was into the Qosmio brand they made, which could've at least doubled my specs somewhat. I remember thinking, wow 8 gigs of ram in 2010 was quite powerful. And now I have 64 and I'm thinking wow, if DDR5 gets around, it'll go good with the new 64 and 128 core Threadrippers AMD is making now. I do thank AI for that advancement fuelling the gaming and artistry economy two.
I can't really say I've ever broke any of my machines, apart from letting them get dusty so I could buy a new one. So I didn't have to clean it out and wait until it clogged up again. Because, laptops solder everything together and I felt for what it was worth, the keyboard, speakers and plastic case were crap to begin with. But at least I didn't feel bad when it decided to over heat and die on me. Now, I just go for mechanical keyboards, and Kosair everything because they're quite stable and run real well. Accept for my drive, which is Samsung 978 Evo Plus and Seagate Exos. Yeah okay I admit it, semi-bragging rights, but this is my best friend in the tech category who I trust to bring me a laugh or two each day. And honestly, it will probably out live my expectations which is exactly what I'm aiming for.
If only I could say the same thing about the sespool that is human society buy and large these days. Sigh...I wish for a gentler time and please bring back space travel. I want to have a farm on Mars, and fibre two. Anyone want to bet that property would at least be affordable there, when we make it off world?
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57 minutes ago, elshara said:
I don't think, in all honesty we can get away from spying entirely.
A bit of Info Sec, and Cyber Sec work wonders here, I've done so for years.
Main thing is giving as little information as possible and use OSes that can be hardened to a huge extend (FreeBSD with Jails, Linux with Chroots, SELinux, etc...).
Windows has no such thing, and with their 'telemetry gathering' (spying) it's hard to escape on that platform.
I also encrypt almost all my internet traffic.
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20 minutes ago, WinterGreenWolf said:
A bit of Info Sec, and Cyber Sec work wonders here, I've done so for years.
Main thing is giving as little information as possible and use OSes that can be hardened to a huge extend (FreeBSD with Jails, Linux with Chroots, SELinux, etc...).
Windows has no such thing, and with their 'telemetry gathering' (spying) it's hard to escape on that platform.
I also encrypt almost all my internet traffic.
Linux is a very hands on OS. Windows just hides stuff. Everything is going to share data remotely at some point, it is inevitable. Not everyone may know how to protect themselves on platforms they don't know how to operate. It'd be really cool to see someone come up with a Distro that put everything Windows was known for into a Linux kernel and made a GUI for security centre that did its job, on the network and hardware level. Ultimately, tracking ties back to location. Who cares who sends what, so long as all your personal info is viewed offline and perhaps even on a USB thumb drive viewed on Linux. That's probably the best way to keep your most secure stuff shown to as few people as possible, while keeping it stored on you or where only you can get to it best. I like to use Tor when doing research, just in case of any browser problems and use different browsers for different tasks on different computers to divide things up.
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26 minutes ago, elshara said:
Linux is a very hands on OS. Windows just hides stuff. Everything is going to share data remotely at some point, it is inevitable. Not everyone may know how to protect themselves on platforms they don't know how to operate. It'd be really cool to see someone come up with a Distro that put everything Windows was known for into a Linux kernel and made a GUI for security centre that did its job, on the network and hardware level. Ultimately, tracking ties back to location. Who cares who sends what, so long as all your personal info is viewed offline and perhaps even on a USB thumb drive viewed on Linux. That's probably the best way to keep your most secure stuff shown to as few people as possible, while keeping it stored on you or where only you can get to it best. I like to use Tor when doing research, just in case of any browser problems and use different browsers for different tasks on different computers to divide things up.
That's not how Cyber Security works: it's not just the OS, but people. Windows is KNOWN for spying, and hiding it, as well as encouraging 'cloud storage', 'access anywhere' ... The real important thing is educating people, and showing them alternatives that promote secure practices (not performing an action without root permissions, not implicitly trusting / clicking every link...).
It's in part due to GUI, and certain OSes (Mac, Windows...) wanting to HIDE everything from the user that makes such education and settings hard to work with. Plus, Windows' security is complete trash. There are still bugs in 10, that I can access with a piece of code that worked in Windows 7 and Vista.
There are kernel level exploits on Linux, such as 'Wasp Sting', and the infamous OpenSSL vulnerability 'HeartBleed' (a buffer overflow in the C Code that spilled cert signatures out in to random memory spaces...), they are rarer though, mostly due to the systems' permissions and the code being accessible to everyone to patch and review. If a Distro doesn't trust something, don't build / ship it.
Now, Linux DOES have a major problem, fragmentation. Multiple hundreds of distributions, and third-party attachments, as Linux is just a Kernel. A shame FreeBSD is sort of behind on hardware support: that system is all one piece, and undergoes full code audits I believe at least once a year.
I'll state this again for anyone checking this thread / posts out: cyber security is NOT about button clicks, companies, UIs, support. It is about user CARE and KNOWING what you are doing, making sure you understand and and reduce risks online, and sending data to as FEW PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE, regardless of what said data is!
As a longtime Windows user, misuser and abuser, I'm intimately familiar with with Task Manager. It's quite helpful in tracking down and removing the bloatware that comes on new laptops, among other things. It's also great for finding out what application has gone rogue and is consuming 100 percent of processor time or is causing a massive memory leak. (I love Firefox, but several versions back it was guilty of both).
My main machine here is a home built desktop dating to 2011, but I upgrade pretty much continuously. Still has the same motherboard, though. It started out as a Win 7 box, but I did the "secret" free Windows 10 upgrade last December. After some initial snafu's, it settled down and it's been running pretty solid. Not so sure I'm happy with the most recent 2004 build, though. It's buggy and just plain won't run on some systems. The patch that came out last week doesn't seem to fix anything and often fails to install. I'm calling inadequate beta testing on this one. Hopefully they'll eventually get it sorted out, but I'm not gonna hold my breath. This box is dual-booted with Xubuntu Linux 20.04LTS "Focal Fossa" if all else fails.
Disabling the snoopy bits in Windows 10 is a never ending battle. The latest release is loaded with them. Everything seems to end up in the "Cloud." MS is trying their best to disguise their spyware as useful or helpful features. Back in the day, we called things like that a "back-door Santa." That is, what looked like a cute little utility or screen saver was really stealing your personal info or breaking your operating system, or both. Anyone else remember Webshots screen saver that installed the infamous Gator spybot? Those little Gator eyes down in the lower right hand corner of your screen watched everything you did. Anybody's guess who ended up with the data.
MS is a bit more sneaky. Windows 10's latest iteration of the Cortana personal assistant offers a "pick up where I left off" feature on the same or a different device. Even if it's on a different network. Guess who has a copy of whatever you're working on? And who are they going to share it with? Okay, I only need to chew a few more sticks of gum before I have enough tinfoil to make a hat. [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/ph34r.png[/img]/emoticons/ [email protected] 2x" title=":ph34r:" width="20" />
I'm not a Microsoft hater, but all this free stuff they're giving out really isn't free. You need to be careful. Even Firefox has come out with a resume on another device feature. I refuse to use that, or their "Pocket" feature and have declined to sign up for a Firefox Account. I do send them a few dollars occasionally, though.
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1 hour ago, DingoJay said:
have declined to sign up for a Firefox Account.
Accounts accounts accounts. Gawd everybody wants you to register an account for damn near EVERYTHING! Register a warranty, get an account and fill out your life's history. Buy a packet of seeds, get an account. Check the price of a light switch, get an account.
I think I'll run right out and sign up for a Google account. I'm SURE they have my best interest at heart....
.... NOT !! [img]<fileStore.core_Emoticons>/emoticons/angry.png[/img]/emoticons/ [email protected] 2x" title=">:(" width="20" />
The only good thing about accounts, is they're all ultimately tied back to an email address. So if you're smart about things, and keep your emails categorized, you should do fine for the most part.
Gmail's never done me wrong. I can't stand the interface of Yahoo. Microsoft is little better. Gmail's the least (oh god I have to look at that) type of service I have to deal with on a regular basis.
Most everybody else though, everyone and their blog has a newsletter. And it sends out notifications if you sign up to get them. So yeah, I can only say that people want to know 5 things about you, and only 5 for the most part. Name, age, gender, birthday and how much you make. Everything else, is icing on the cake. Sometimes you're asked for a photo but mostly, it's just identifiable traits people look for in humanity.
Names, I almost always give one I stick with. Doesn't have to be the birth name, but it helps to know that only your bank and your land lord and the government know the name you didn't even choose that you got stuck with until you chose something else.
Age, I don't lie about it. IF they don't know my name, I show experience or lack their of if I put it in my profile. Makes for more truthful conversations if anything when you're on social media or something else. It's actually something that bugs me about people. They fake their age and I don't actually care about the number, but I do when people say they're an adult and they aren't. It just sucks in general because you don't realize it until you say something the legal system here frowns upon that really shouldn't be repeated. I wish minors had their own internet, so we didn't have to care if we talked to a 40 year old or a 26 year old.
Gender, I keep it the same. Why? Because it's next to meaningless when you see it online. I look past the whole, male or female sex issue entirely. I see the person inside. Why people care to know that other than for government identification purposes, is beyond me. Seriously, it's only useful if you care to distinguish people on porn sites but even then, you respect the person before what's between their legs and you'll get very far in life.
Birthday, see age.
Income. Assynchronis with enter your credit card details on this or that site. Yeah fuck it you're not pay pal I don't need to show you. Other than the government and the bank, I keep that as private as possible. It's like worse than asking what political affliction you belong to. Because, well it buys you food, it buys you life and everything else like shelter and clothing and companions and the internet usage every day. So the second I start paying for something, if it doesn't have a pay pal symbol on it, I leave it alone. In fact the biggest scam I've ever seen online is bit coin. Yeah I tried it, waste of time. Just like the stock market.
Why trust Pay Pal? Because they're in the business to be trusted with the most prized possession on the planet. If they want your business, they need to be in business with businesses they approve of to want you as a customer unless you're into fraud, then they don't want you at all. And that unity makes the rules clear when dealing with online businesses. It's one thing to have your card processed by a provider you recognize. But when it isn't, that's when payments don't go through, or they are held by the bank for suspicious activity. That's just a headache to deal with, and so you give a little to get a little. I'm at least grateful that not all humanity is out to take from you and not give anything in return. I wish there was other things than money to get what you want in life. I guess if people started asking questions like why does being rich matter when all you have to show for it is dollars and land. Since land would only prove to people that dollars prevents someone else from doing whatever they want with it. And that status does promote mistrust at the start, which is the entire reason why I keep finances private so people can't come after you for what they don't know you don't have. The key is saying you have experience with something, but not admitting to own it right now.
So, back to the topic at hand...why the hell Microsoft, Google, Apple, Facebook want to know that information when all they do is sell me email and or a place to comment, makes me think about this. Even Ubuntu is starting up with their account service to receive updates through their live patch system. Yes, I have a Firefox account because it does a good job at telling me if my identity has been stolen on certain domains. Yes, it's a granny time feature and I wish it was something Chrome had because honest to god, people will do one of two things with that information. Report a fake breach to scare everybody, or report a real breach to scare everybody. Into doing the same thing, which is change your password and hope to Christ it's secure. Now sites are saying, don't enter this character but enter that character and make sure your password is on the higher percentage of the strength meter, which is common sense. But still, it's 2020 already. Use something else other than a password to login to sites. That's 1990's technology and the fact that there's a locked door makes hackers more inclined to unlock it just because it exists and it's private. In fact, my good friend of 10 years told me, if you want to make a site primarily information based, just use HTML and try not to store things in a MYSQL database. Less stuff to hack that way, and therefore nothing to inject if you set your permissions right. I am tempted to agree. Not only because it cuts down on search traffic, but also because you're putting up something more useful than a system to have to constantly monitor even if it's just a personal blog now days. It's one thing to login to Cpanel, and it's one thing to self host on your own internet connection something that interests you. But it's gotten to the point where we've forgotten what online is, because at the end of the day, we're people using a computer as tools to meet each other, not email addresses and passwords tied to a person at the other end.
If only we had a system built where we were asked how to get the most out of life when you paid attention to the computer, well that would be a relief and a dream come true.
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