Bloated Windows 10

Extreme Tech: Win 10 requires 32GB storage space.

Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it would begin using ~7GB of user hard drive space for the application of future updates. The advantage of this system is intended to be that it doesn’t break the update process halfway through by a system running out of space. The disadvantage is that it would eliminate virtually all of the storage available on small systems[.]

And more yadda yadda, blah blah the ExTech story writer goes on why Win 10 requiring 32GB storage isn't so bad...

But it's the comments at the link that are fun:

sola • 10 hours ago
What on Earth could need so much storage space for a baseline operating system?
[.]
Hard-core Linux people ridicule Ubuntu all the time for being bloated while a full blown Ubuntu x64 desktop installation is about ~8GB (1/4 of Windows) and that includes a full blown office suite, a proper web browser and a lot of usable cli and graphical tools.

ChromeOS also still works on 16GB machines and that includes a secondary partition for full-parallel, in-background OS updates.

Techutante @ sola • 5 hours ago
Eh, 2 TB hard drives are as cheap as 14-40 dollars. Get over it. Back when I started I ran my entire computer with Dos and Windows 3.1 on a 426 meg hard drive, of which windows took up approximately 35-50 megs[.]

John Galt @ Techutante • 4 hours ago
Sure thing, I'll just pop open that ultra slim laptop or tablet and de-solder the SSD and pop that 4TB drive in there... See the problem yet?

adamrussell @ sola 39 minutes ago
32 GB is pretty deep into the low end.

Uh, yeah - it sure as heck is deep in the low end.

@ Techutante, "Back when I started..." - - - then return to the days of DOS, Win 3.1, a 9.6 modem and those lovely, techno-gray dot-matrix printers. There's probably a good, used pre-owned horse and buggy for sale in Amish Country that may be of interest to you.

Fcuk...some people who defend Win and MS no matter how sub-par the OS. I do not understand.

 Ink well with Quill and Eight - and ONLY EIGHT- Crayons for you!

4Sysops: Windows 10 1903: defer upgrades in all editions, SAC-T removed, new reboot option:

After a lot of negative feedback about Windows 10 1809, which the manufacturer had to withdraw due to serious errors[.] ("A lot"? AYFKM? - DD)
[.]
Officially, the next release bears the version number 1903, but it will not be released until the end of May. Therefore, Microsoft also refers to it as the May 2019 update.

Well, MS has until midnight Tuesday to roll out their April patches. As for their May release being released during May, I wonder what Vegas odds are on that?

Tech News

Extreme Tech: Don't Miss tonight's Super Blood Moon eclipse.

WIRED: What IS a "Super Blood Wolf Moon"?
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Ars Technia: Facebook facing record-setting financial penalty by FTC.
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Ars Technia: Dr. Richard Sackler family blamed for Oxy addiction?

Members of the Sackler family, particularly Richard Sackler, aggressively pushed for extreme sales figures—and profits—which they accomplished in part by bullying their sales representatives; targeting vulnerable patients, such as the elderly and veterans; suggesting that the addictive opioid was an alternative to safe medications like Tylenol; and encouraging doctors to write longer and higher dose prescriptions, according to the lawsuit.

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UberGizmo: World's first 5G remote surgery conducted in China.

The test involved a doctor in the southeastern province of Fujian removing the liver of a laboratory test animal at a remote location. The doctor performed the surgery by controlling robotic surgical arms over a 5G connection.

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Tech News World: Cops can't compel unlocking of phone with body or physical parts.

"The Government may not compel or otherwise utilize fingers, thumbs, facial recognition, optical/iris, or any other biometric feature to unlock electronic devices," Magistrate Judge Kandis A. Westmore wrote in an opinion for the U.S. District Court for Northern California.
[.]
Passcodes used to unlock devices already are protected by the Fifth Amendment, which prevents the government from forcing people to testify against themselves, she explained.
[.]
"The judge rightly recognized that traditional constitutional principles must be adapted as technology changes in order to preserve privacy and other rights ensured by the Fourth and Fifth Amendments," [said Alan Butler, senior counsel with the Electronic Privacy Information Center].

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Tech Crunch: Building a Chevy Silverado out of Legos. Or watch below.

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TechSpot: Ford's F-150 electric pickup truck.

Increased customer demand and rising competition have finally pushed Ford to announce the development of an electric version of the world and America’s best-selling truck: the F-150 pickup.

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C|Net: Facebook adding "Petitions" to your news feed.

The social network will start rolling "Community Actions" out to its US users on Monday.

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Beta News: Win 10 built-in screen recorder you might not know about.

You didn't know that Windows 10 could record videos of on-screen activity? You're not alone. The screen recorder is built into the Game bar and you may well not have seen it.

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Security Week: Bulgaria extradites Russian hacker to U.S.

Alexander Zhukov had been extradited on January 18 and was being held in a jail in Brooklyn, New York.
[.]
Zhukov is one of eight people, most of them Russian, indicted in November for creating fake advertising schemes through remote data centres and malware-infected computer networks.

 Well-known Russian "bad actor." Hacker status unconfirmed.

Tech News

TechDirt - Students charged with terroristic threats for posting video of fictional school shooting.

Three students face felony charges of making a terroristic threat for posting online two brief videos where they act out a school shooting in someone’s house.
[...]
Content disturbing to others is present in a lot of content. Just because this dramatization happened to be produced by students and distributed by Instagram doesn't somehow entitle it to less First Amendment protection than a motion picture released by a major studio.
[...]
Sheriff Craig Apple's speech -- as moronic as it is -- is also protected by the same First Amendment he won't extend to these students.

    “There’s been enough shootings going on around the country. This is despicable artistic expression, if that’s what it was.”

Is the video protected under the First Amendment or is the sheriff's interpretation of the video consistent within the context of preventing a potential threat?

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
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Business Times: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says it will fix years to FB's problems.

Who...knew?

Gadgets Now: India law misunderstood by FB moderators. 

[Facebook moderators are advised] that any post degrading an entire religion violates Indian law and should be flagged for removal.

[Another instructs moderators] to "look out for" the phrase "Free Kashmir" - though the slogan, common among activists, is completely legal.

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Ars Technia: Residential home battery (power) not energy efficient in most cases.

"There may be good reasons to decentralize the grid through ubiquitous installation of small RES [Residential Energy Storage], but cost-effective emissions control is not one of them at the moment," the researchers write.

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Caution - story contains AI created "scary" names (I'm looking out for the easily frightened Libs, here.); Ars Technia:

AI invents New Year fireworks names that sound more like the end of humanity.
[...]
Flaming Thundersplont Box
Red flashing cake
Machine Blinking Display
Black Moo
Original Cat Pix Budget 2 Boom

Yikes! Machine Blinking Display and Original Cat Pix Budget 2 Boom. Run Away ! Run Away !
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Coffee? Tea? Lots of room?

Technology: What happens when almost no passengers show up for their flight?

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Technology: Wind turbines hurting robins. 

...wind turbines are rather loud and robins have to adapt. In these areas where wind turbines are present, robins drop their lower pitch and go for the trademark puffed up red chest instead. Little birds cannot compete against the low hum of the wind turbine blades.

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TechRadar: MS 2018 retrospective.

...the October 2018 Update has been the most problematic and buggy update ever released for Microsoft’s OS, outdoing even the infamous Anniversary Update.
[.]
Another major development for Microsoft in 2018 was that the firm finally admitted that it had got things wrong with the default web browser for Windows 10. The company has been pushing hard with Edge for a good while now, but to no avail[.]

WccfTech: Here comes Win 10 forced update v 1809.

We are still waiting for user reports to see if they have experienced any Windows 10 forced updates over the last few days. But, if you want to avoid Windows 10 version 1809, it would be wise to block it to avoid any surprises.

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Gadgets Now: Elon Musk needs people to beta test Tesla's autonomous-driving cars.

Earlier this year [Tesla] reportedly sought hundreds of employees to test its full-driving system and offered free Autopilot upgrade with new purchases.

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The Drive - Ford's 2019 preview and 2020(?) Bronco.

Ford "Super Duty"

Tech News

Go ahead. Have a second piece of (belated) birthday cake. IRC Turns 30. Ars Technia:

For Ars staffers, IRC led to love, marriage, and trolling.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC) turned 30 this August.

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C|Net - Inside the You Tube House:

Living in a mansion playing video games with your best friends all day. But inside, it’s a slightly different story.

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Tech Crunch - Tesla Tequila coming soon?

Tesla CEO Elon Musk confirmed Friday in a tweet that the Tesla-branded tequila called “Teslaquilla”... is “coming soon.”

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Win 10, more flaws, how to fix? ZD Net:

Disastrous is the best word to describe Microsoft's release of Windows 10 version 1809. A data deletion bug forced the company to take the unprecedented step of halting the roll-out of its October 2018 feature update.

Shorter answer to fixing Win-anything: Switch to Linux
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Geek - Barn doorstop actually a meteorite:

...a 22-plus pound meteorite—the sixth-largest recorded find in Michigan, and potentially worth $100,000.

But I bet it did a good job as a doorstop, too.
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PC World - Alienware's impressive laptop:

Alienware's m15 is significantly smaller, thinner, and lighter than its 15-inch cousins[.]

Check out the video at the link.
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Trust in Google wanes, search engine DuckDuckGo Soars! BetaNews:

The privacy-focused search engine has enjoyed a 50 percent surge in usage over the last year, and it can now boast a new record of 30 million daily searches.

"Trust in Google wanes..." ... will the person who trusted in Google admit it?
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Ever been sun-burned? Blame Trump Dinosaurs for it.  Extreme Tech: 

...dinosaurs were sauntering around all day, looking for small morsels to eat. This may have caused a “nocturnal bottleneck” as mammals survived for generations by hiding underground during the day and only coming out at night.

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Establishing Biometric Databases.  Technocracy:

Does anyone remember that it used to be considered a conspiracy theory to warn people about biometric databases? Well, now that it is an accepted reality, we should be looking even farther down the slippery slope for new signposts indicating even greater plans to track, trace and database all human beings.

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TechDirt: The continuing battle between the FCC and net neutrality.

The FCC's claims that its rules embrace transparency are equally hollow, given the agency's replacement transparency provisions are entirely voluntary. And the idea that "market forces" can fix the broken and uncompetitive broadband industry should be laughable to anybody that's experienced Comcast customer service.

Tech News

Non-high-tech voting; circa 1994...

ArsTechnia: High-speed voting tabulator vulnerable to hacking.

One vulnerability they discovered—in a high-speed vote-tabulating system used to count votes for entire counties in 23 states—could allow an attacker to remotely hijack the system over a network and alter the vote count, changing results for large blocks of voters. "Hacking just one of these machines could enable an attacker to flip the Electoral College and determine the outcome of a presidential election," the authors of the report warned.

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SEC Sues Elon Musk. From C|Net:

The US Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to bar Elon Musk from serving as an executive or director of any publicly traded company.

More on Elon Musk.  From Gizmodo:

[Elon Musk is]  accused of tweeting on LSD, sued for defamation by a cave diver he called “pedo guy,” given a “weepy” interview to the New York Times, and admitted that this whole going private thing just isn’t going to work out.

Among other things, the SEC wants Musk to pay civil penalties and be “prohibited from acting as an officer or director of any issuer that has a class of securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.”

 I dunno...seems like the SEC is overreacting and over-reaching.
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ZD Net: New AI can identify guns in crowds and alert authorities about an active shooter.

The trick during development was to create a computer vision algorithm that continuously monitors cameras without reporting too many false positives, a weakness of past attempts at AI gun detection technology.

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And "they" say there's no way to meet new people these days. More than you care to know about fecal transplants. Geek:

The process involves collecting feces from a healthy donor, processing it, and delivering it into the colon of the recipient.

What a fun way to meet new people.

Image credit: Alexas_Fotos/Pixabay

So this is the one time in life when, if it comes to it, you can actually say to the donor person, "Hey, thanks for the shit,"...and mean it literally.
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Any gamer on top of their game already knows this, but Gamer Alert anyway. From BetaNews:

- - the new season of Fortnite has arrived! With the arrival of Fortnite Season 6: Darkness Rises and the V6.00 patch, Epic Games put its servers into maintenance mode in preparation.

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And in that good-ole, reliable, stable, high-standard, secure platform of MS Win 10 (snicker, snicker), a Fourth set of Win 10 cumulative updates patches issued in two weeks. Computer World:

In the past 15 days, we’ve had four cumulative updates for Win10 version 1803[:]
[.]
Apparently, KB 4458469 v2 is a Wednesday fix for a botched Thursday kitchen-sink cumulative update, which followed a Monday cumulative update that specifically fixed a bug introduced in the Patch Tuesday patch. Got that?
[.]
But wait. The weirdities don’t end there.

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Tech News World - Poorly designed websites no excuse for Terms of Agreement "fine print".

...legally valid sales agreements need to demonstrate clearly that both vendors and consumers are aware of -- and consent to -- the terms of the agreements. It is especially important for vendors to ward off expensive class action suits by including contract terms that prohibit such suits and instead rely on arbitration to resolve any issues with consumers.

Yet recent federal court cases indicate that poorly presented Internet contracts can result in the nullification of arbitration provisions and class action prohibitions -- thus giving consumers greater leverage in legal disputes with vendors.

Image: Damon Day

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Extreme Tech - NASA determines why earth wobbles on Axis:

NASA says it has now pinned down three causes for this shift. As expected, the loss of polar ice is a major contributor.

The other two "wobbly Axis" contributing factors are, oddly, the same: The Lard Lad Michael Moore's  spatial relationship at any moment and point on the earth in relation to the specific location to the rest of the world's 99% human population.

Tech News

Three members of You Tube Channel High on Life die in tragic accident. C|Net:

[Megan Scraper] ...  slipped and fell from the top of the falls into the water below[.]
[.]
[Ryker Gamble and Alexey Lyakh] jumped in after her in an attempt to save her, but no one survived.

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Will your financial institution survive a tech meltdown? BBC Tech:

UK banks have been told to explain how they would cope with a technology failure or cyber-attack.

The Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority have given financial firms three months to detail how they would respond if their systems failed.

Does this really matter since...The Illuminati controls everything?!?!?!
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Gadgets Now: Over 50% of smartphones not password protected.

[A Kaspersky Lab survey] showed that less than 48 per cent of people password-protect their mobile devices and just 14 per cent of people encrypt their files and folders to avoid unauthorized access.

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Do we have a say in this? Amazon wants Alexa EVERYWHERE.  PC Mag:

[We caught up with Zain Gulamali who manages the $100 million Alexa Fund] and [posed]  a few questions about the personal digital assistant and its future.

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Extreme Tech: Self-driving Acura steers driver into oncoming traffic:

...the camera that peers ahead through the windshield needs to be re-aligned when the windshield is replaced.

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eWeek: WordPress had some security vulnerabilities:

A new version of open-source content management system WordPress, 4.9.7, was released on July 5 that patches a pair of security vulnerabilities that could expose WordPress sites to risk.

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Mobile Syrup - Canada is having a tough time retaining cyber talent:

...Canadian demand for cyber talent is increasing by seven percent annually.
[.]
Deloitte says addressing cybersecurity risks is critical because they could slow the pace of global technological innovation by as much as $3 trillion USD in lost economic value in 2020.

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Having issues with Win 10? ZD Net: Some free tech and trouble shooting tips:

Windows 10 upgrade: Survey finds half of users experience problems[.] (Win users...experiencing...problems? Really?-DD)

Dump Win; Covert to Linux.
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Beta News: The NSA is deleting millions of files.

The NSA...has announced that it is deleting hundreds of millions of call and text records because of "technical irregularities".
[.] While full details of the reasons for the deletion are not given, the NSA notes that it collected data it was not authorized to collect.

..."because of technical irregularities." Anyone buying this? It's reassuring that the NSA collects info they're not authorized to collect, isn't it?
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Tech Explore - Bandages go high-tech.

[Engineers] led by Tufts University developed a prototype bandage designed to actively monitor the condition of chronic wounds and deliver appropriate drug treatments to improve the chances of healing.

Credit: Tufts University

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Engadget - Pot In a Blender:

The Rosinbomb Rocket is a $600, 13-pound tabletop rosin extractor designed to squeeze and melt the THC crystals present on the surface of the flower into a solventless dabbable hash similar to shatter. Think of it as a panini press for weed.

[.]...tokers can get stonier than a rock garden.

I don't know what any of it means. Is this about rock gardens...comments,  anyone?
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File Hippo - Free data recovery software for Windows that boasts a 96% recovery rate.

Recoverit retrieves your data from all data loss scenarios including emptied recycle bin, accidental deletion, disk formatting, partition loss, external device corruption, virus attack, system crashes...[.]

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Have you ever wondered why cruise ships and yachts are painted white? Technology.Org:

Container ships and all other kinds of cargo and fishing ships are all kinds of colours...[while] cruise ships and luxury yachts are usually white. Why?

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And because I know you've been waiting on this news: Pokémon Quest downloaded 7.5 million times.  Mobile Syrup:

The game launched on May 30th for the Nintendo Switch and was followed on June 27th with a mobile release across iOS and Android. Pokémon Quest has been climbing the charts[.]

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The Rosinbomb Rocket-Image: Marijuana Retail Report.com

Tech News

Information Week - Commentary: Why Microsoft's purchase of GitHub isn't an apocalypse.

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WIRED: AT&T / Time Warner deal done; now what?
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TechDirt: AT&T's purchase of Time Warner brings competitive headaches.
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Martian Dust storm lets rover nap. C|NET:

NASA's Opportunity rover is stuck in a huge storm that has literally turned day to night, forcing the solar-powered robot to nap for now.

[.]

Within a week, the storm had grown to cover an area larger than North America. Just a few days later, NASA says the storm has more than doubled in size again making it nearly the size of Asia and casting a very ominous shadow on the Opportunity Rover, which is caught in the storm.

Mars Dust Storm - Image: NASA

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Tech Crunch: "THEY" can see you through your walls.

...a system that can see your body through walls, recreating your poses when you walk, sit, or simply stand still. 

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Digg: Wheelies.
(I don't know why the lower screen is like that. It's a simple copy and paste embed code. Tried a few times, couldn't get rid of it. Click lower right and make it full screen).

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BGR: The Michael Moore-mobile?

Morbidly obese VW bus will serve free hot dogs in NYC all summer.

 Image Source: Public Art Fund

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PC World: Toshiba's affordable SSD (review).

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BETA News: Windows 10 tales of woe. (And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth).

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ArsTechnia: Tesla layoffs number thousands.

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ZD Net: NTSB Preliminary report on Tesla Crash:

The agency found no evidence that the vehicle's crash-avoidance systems kicked in before the horrific crash[.]

[.]

"At three seconds prior to the crash and up to the time of impact with the crash attenuator, the Tesla's speed increased from 62 to 70.8mph, with no precrash braking or evasive steering movement detected," the report notes.

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Gizmodo: Elon Musk looks like God? Or does God look like Elon Musk?
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Phys.org: Queen bees under a lot of pressure.

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Geek: Nerdy gifts for geeky Dads for Father's Day.
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Science News: New theory that the Easter Island (Rapa Nui) statues were pulled [using] cylinders up a ramp with ropes[.]:

No more than 15 people were needed to manipulate ropes that rolled stone cylinders, or pukao, up ramps.

[.]

The hatlike cylinders were then tipped over to rest atop statues[.]

[.]

Hundreds of [statues] [measure] up to 10 meters tall and [weigh] up to 74 metric tons.

 Image: C. Lipo