Hello,

While it may be easy to say it is some kind phenomenon from online pictures ("airspace") shared via social media as the TFA declares, it seems its author did not perform any kind of rigorous study into what the alternatives might be, so let me propose one here:

Perhaps coffee shops are limited by what restaurant supply shops (both online and offline) offer. I would imagine this is a space which has had a lot of consolidation just like every over one over the past decades, so the breadth of what has been manufactured and sold specifically for coffee shops has probably declined, while the sales of specific items marketed for "coffee shops" has increased. Over time, they would all end up buying the same (or similar) furnishings, supplies, etc.

So, in a sense, perhaps it is more a case carcinization (convergent evolution) driven be restaurant catalogs than social media.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

Here are the usage states for the deprecated versions of Windows, according to the Valve Corporations November 2023 Steam Hardware Survey at https://store.steampowered.com...:

Windows 7 64 bit - 0.69%
Windows 8.1 64 bit - 0.16%
Windows 7 0.06%

So, according to Valve's own data, this accounts for just under 1% (0.91% to be exact) of all use.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

I haven't seen the file myself, but usually program files from Microsoft are digitally-signed by the company.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

While having access to AM radio for emergency communications is good, I would like to see NOAA Weather Radio frequencies added as well. They broadcast weather information 24×7, as well as notifications about other types of hazards and AMBER alerts.

Having access to those from inside your vehicle would be extremely useful during an emergency while you're on the road.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

While it is interesting that these spheres were found (and should probably be called spheres, pending confirmation that they are actually spherules), it would be good to check for them outside of the search area.

It is entirely possible these are the result of some terrestrial activity, man-made or otherwise. After all, people have been using shot towers since the late 18th century to make lead shot round enough for shooting. Aside from industrial processes, perhaps these could be the result of volcanic eruptions or some other rare, but entirely earth-bound geologic process.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

I had largely the same experience as you growing up in the 1970s-1980s, so share a mutual "OK, boomer" with you over these experiences.

These are not the experiences that teens and pre-teens are having, though. They live in a world where computers and networking are miniaturized and ubiquitous. Heck, they even spent a couple of years of doing classes online through Zoom meetings.

While their understanding of how the underlying technology works may not be great, a lot of them have manifested an ability to use it and seamlessly integrate it into their lifestyle.

I don't know if what they have is better or worse than what we had, but before I complain about it too much, I will point out that it is the world we created for them--predatory business models and dark patterns and all--and we shouldn't complain too much about how they choose to live in it.

If you stay in touch with how they use the technologies we gave them and even adopt some of them ourselves, you can learn a lot about them and how they think, everything from how they approach problem solving to how they socialize. And, having done so myself, I have to say it isn't all bad.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

The Lenovo laptops on which this was demonstrated were ten and eleven years old, with third and fourth generation Intel Core series CPUs.
Information about resetting their passwords has been around for years. A quick search reveals:

• https://milaq.net/thinkpad-password-removal/ (2022)
• https://www.dataimpact.nl/blog/removo-lenovo-thinkpad-bios-and-supervisor-password (2020)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z0HdLqgR_IM (2020)
• https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/367966/Supervisor+BIOS+password+reset (2017)
• https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/447975/How+to+Reset+Bios+Password (2017)
• https://41j.com/blog/2014/11/ibm-laptop-supervisor-bios-password-reset/ (2014)

Refurbishers have been doing this for years to make old off-lease ThinkPads ready for resale. It's not exactly new, nor is it a secret since the steps to do it are widely known.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

One of the researchers who worked on the investigation here.

In the recommendations section of our research paper, one of the ones for device manufacturers was that they both switch to storing configuration data on removable media, and that the removable media in question be something that could easily be connected to a computer like a CompactFlash card, an SDXC card, a 2.5" or 3.5" drive, or even an M.2 drive so that part could be easily removed from the device. That way the device owner could perform a secure wipe of it, and verify it no longer contained any data.

Or they could then destroy it.

That wasn't something I favored, but I would rather have devices re-enter the secondary market missing a common and easily-replaceable storage device than be destroyed in their entirety because the device owner could wipe its on-board FLASH RAM.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

One of the researchers who worked on this.

As part of our research, we came up with a list of recommendations for both device owners and device manufacturers that are in the research paper, which you can get to by going TFA, going to our blog, and then downloading the PDF file from there (direct link, no need to give an email address or anything like that).

One of the recommendations we had was for device manufacturers to have the information about how to securely wipe their devices publicly available (i.e, not behind a paywall) and kept online even if the devices in question were EOL and no longer eligible for any kind of support from the manufacturer. We also suggested that manufacturers adopt a common set of commands for wiping their devices in order to make it easier to device owners.

We did talk about asking manufacturers to include written instructions in their packaging with secure wipe instructions, and that they should all use a common size and color of paper or a card for this, but that didn't make the final cut because we felt most organizations would throw the packaging out when they were done racking the gear.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

One of the researchers who worked on this investigation here.

The problem isn't so much that the devices are too risky to sell, it's that the devices were not decommissioned properly. In some cases, the organizations claimed to have followed procedures and even had been given certificates of data destruction, which it turns out were not so valid after all. And in one case, an organization claimed the router had been stolen.

The Ars Technica article links to our blog, which in turn links to our report (direct download PDF, no registration required) if you would like to know more about our findings.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

No, they are completely different.

Amazon Web Services is a business and can offer whatever kind of contracts to customers it wants. If a customer signs a contract and then repeatedly breaches the terms, they get booted.

It's called capitalism.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

LOL, you're delusional. As if Valve cares? Amazon ain't clean either. Wasn't Amazon AWS not long ago banning Parler off their cloud when they decided they didn't like Parler's political leanings?

Nope, nothing to do with that at all.
Parler violated Amazon's terms of service against hateful content. Good write ups explaining what happened here and here, amongst other places.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

The Win95/CIH virus begs to differ.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,

Requiring lower-capacity storage on devices running Windows, especially laptops, seems like a good way to boost subscriptions to Microsoft's cloud-based apps and storage (Office 365, OneDrive, etc.).

Hopefully, regulators will ensure that such pushes occur in a transparent fashion so that customers have a choice of third-party services (Box, DropBox, Google, Zoho, and so forth) without having to use Microsoft's "solutions," especially since they are solving problems created by Microsoft's guidelines for reducing storage capacities in the first place.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Hello,
While Reddit may have removed over 2,600 subreddits for copyright infringement, there are still plenty providing links to pirated software and counterfeit goods.

Here are ninety-nine (99) subreddits that have been actively involved:

r/360hacks/ r/3dshacks/ r/3dspiracy/
r/a:t5_3nggh/ r/accountselling/ r/Addons4Kodi/
r/alexandria/ r/animepiracy/ r/ApksApps/
r/Archiveteam/ r/CemuPiracy/ r/CrackSupport/
r/CrackWatch/ r/deemix/ r/DHExchange/
r/DolphinEmulator/ r/EBook_Resources/ r/emulation/
r/everything/ r/forsale/ r/FREEMEDIAHECKYEAH/
r/FreezerApp/ r/GamingMarket/ r/hamlinks/
r/Invites/ r/IPTV/ r/IPTVReviews/
r/jailbreak/ r/KissCartoon/ r/KissCommunitySupport/
r/libgen/ r/LinuxCrackSupport/ r/market/
r/MegaLinks4U/ r/megaporn/ r/moddedandroidapps/
r/MusicalBootlegs/ r/musichoarder/ r/N64Homebrew/
r/NetflixByProxy/ r/Newredditbay/ r/nzbhydra/
r/opendirectories/ r/OpenSignups/ r/panelshows/
r/Piracy/ r/piracylinks/ r/piratebay/
r/PiratedGames/ r/PiratedGTA/ r/postanything/
r/promote/ r/ps3hacks/ r/ps3homebrew/
r/ps4homebrew/ r/psphacks/ r/PyMedusa/
r/radarr/ r/realredditbay/ r/RedditBay_Official/
r/RedditbayPro/ r/REDDITTBAY/ r/RepackWorld/
r/Roms/ r/Romstorage/ r/Sales_and_Deals/
r/Scholar/ r/scihub/ r/Selfpromote/
r/Shopping/ r/shoppingbay/ r/sickchill/
r/sideloaded/ r/Softwarr/ r/sonarr/
r/Soulseek/ r/SteamAccountsForSale/ r/StremioAddons/
r/SwitchHacks/ r/SwitchHaxing/ r/SwitchPirates/
r/textbook_piracy/ r/textbookrequest/ r/torrents/
r/trackers/ r/TradeAccounts/ r/usenet/
r/UsenetInvites/ r/vitahacks/ r/VitaPiracy/
r/VitaPiracyHelp/ r/VPNTorrents/ r/watcher/
r/WiiHacks/ r/WiiUHacks/ r/xb1hacks/
r/xTrill/ r/youtubedl/ r/ZippyShare

My suspicion is that Reddit will take no action against these whatsoever, due to their popularity.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky