From what I read on the Palo Alto site, the ransomware is still under development and looks like it will eventually encrypt TIme Machine, but that functionality is not active in this round.

I'm really curious what made me "immune." I updated Transmission last Thursday or Friday to the version supposedly infected. I learned about the malware Sunday and immediately checked for the reported signs of an infected computer, of which I had none. I immediately upgraded to the clean version and as of last night, my Mac mini is still clean.

Props for the Max Headroom quote.

It gives me pause to see "for example" in a privacy statement. They should be explicitly stating every piece of information they collect and what it will be used for. It makes me think they are collecting much more than their "example".

Dunno if this means anything anymore, but they also post a warrant canary.

I followed the instructions here...

https://www.hackread.com/microsoft-updates-spy-on-windows7-8-users/

It details how to see if you have those KBs installed and if so, how to remove them.

I did this just a few days ago (not the script, but removed all these KBs by hand).

While that's great and all, I'm not sure what to do moving forward. I'm certainly not believing Microsoft won't continue to try and insert these call-backs in future KBs and I'm not Windows-savvy enough to trust myself to identify future KBs that I would not want in my system.

Not even. It costs around 50 cents a year to charge an iPhone. We are talking about tenths of a penny.

About 15 years ago, I was able to grab a motorized drafting table at a state auction for $75. The thing is built like a tank. I keep it locked in table-mode. The work area is about 4.5 ft square and height-adjustable from around 2.5 - 4 ft. Best item I ever picked up at one of those auctions.

My master password is 21-characters long. Even with the hashes having been collected, wouldn't it still take this side of forever to brute-force it? Should I still change my master password?

Not enough. MicroUSB is rated (someone else said) for 10,000 insertions. Insertion count means nothing if it's rated that way based on "perfect" connections. I am highly suspect that MicroUSB can hold up to anywhere close to 10,000 under normal, "human" usage.

I think you need to go farther with this one. The connector must be able to be connected in either extremely low-light or no-light conditions and not have the possibility of being bent or broken in those conditions.

Maybe, maybe not. I've read several accounts from former Apple engineers who state Jobs pushed them to do far more than they ever thought they could. Many times, they would present work to Jobs they thought was "good enough" only to have it thrown back at them.

"Making fun" of PC's? Yes. Making fun of customers, no. "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC".

First computer. When I bought it, it had 16K, but I saved and was able to upgrade it to 32K. The plastic-enclosed memory modules certainly distanced you from the technology, but I can still vividly remember the solid fit-and-finish when I plugged that module into place.

No, I did not RTFA, but the first thought I had was; if the planet is between us and its star, we'd be "seeing" the side of the planet facing away from the star. Wouldn't it be dark? It's not like it's a binary system with another star lighting the opposite side. Since it's a gas giant, I guess there would be enough light filtering through the upper atmosphere edges to cast off some light, but overall, it seems like such a small area to glean colors from.