Microsoft ? *TEST* updates ????

Have I missed something ? Microsoft just push any old "updates" for "users" to beta test their "new & improved" crapware. (e.g. try and put band aids over the pile of crap they originally shipped) I don't think Micosoft have properly tested anything since possibly Windows 2000.

It's also their policy to charge significantly more than everyone else for the same components.

And nowadays, also to make RAM/disks non upgradable/serviceable.

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Doesn't matter if it was created by a human, an insect, a computer program or even the arrangement of rocks by random weather events.

Art should give you a sense of wonder, amusement, a deep appreciation of the skills involved in its creation or (in the case of things like photography) delight in seeing how someone sees something in the world in a way you'd never previously thought of. Art should expand your mind (man). Sadly art collectors have turned the whole thing into a giant festival of snobbery and the older I get the more convinced I am that the art "markets" are primarily a front for money laundering.

I remember seeing Marcel DuChamp's "fountain" as a young kid and didn't get it at first - I thought "anyone could do that" and it was just another artist with their head up their arse. But then I read about DaDa and how it was sticking two fingers up at pompousness and pretentiousness and I loved it (and DaDa in general).

Personally I'm a big fan of AI generated art - the weirder the better ! and am looking forward to what it spews out next ("Killer AI Duck" has some superb videos on YouTube). I think it's a lot more interesting that some of the uninspiring "proper" art I've seen in galleries recently.

Really good art should make a giant exclamation mark pop into your brain ("Aha !")

P.S. Hopefully AI "art" can't be copyrighted too :)

Unfortunately these sort of CEOs are like dinosaurs who didn't notice the meteorite impact.

The worlds changed. People do not want to, and will not, spend hours of their life in uncompensated commutes any more and the top talent will start specifying remote working as a prerequisite for coming to work for you. Technology means I can communicate with you just as easily whether I'm 5 feet or 5,000 miles away. If you don't know how to do this ask your kids.

These antiquated firms, with old fart CEOs like this, will soon find they're staffed with the poor sods who can't get a better job elsewhere and will soon become part of the fossil record.

Fuck 'em.

And your solution is beaten in about 2 minutes with a pipe wrench. "Unlock it". "No". "OWW... ok... ok...". No amount of encryption or passwords will protect a phone.

Phones are by their nature portable, and very easily lost or stolen. My phone has a small list of contacts, all using nicknames, and is used for voice calls and a few texts. I'm old fashioned so a lot of numbers are simply kept in my head (I come from the generation that has memory skills). If it's lost or stolen a thief will get to use up whatever's left of my "pay as you go" credit (anything up to 10 GBP) and will see a contact list of meaningless names They'll get zero personal information about me (not even my real name), and zero access to any accounts. They won't even get a browsing history as I don't use the internet from my phone.

Using a phone to access your bank accounts etc. is simply brain dead. Due to my banks asinine 2FA policy I now have a second phone (old Nokia) purely to receive the "security theatre" SMS codes. This is kept in a locked drawer and only brought out, and charged, when I need to do online banking.

You can have convenience or security. Pick one.

Hey great ! They've moved stuff around and "prettified" it a bit (again) Same as last year... and the year before... and the year before... and the year before...

When do you think they'll get round to writing any "best in class" desktop software to go with the shiny new DE ?

Shouldn't really complain about people writing the software they want to write but... the Linux DEs have been good enough for decades. I can only dream of a world where there's some good desktop application software to go with them. Meanwhile I'll have to keep using that abomination from Redmond as it's the only way i can run the software I want/need to use.

"But next year we'll have transparent, rounded corners, with a new improved font". Yawn...

Pillock.

> that runs full-blown windows 11 with all the functionality

That seems like an extremely good reason to avoid them like the plague. Who cares what the hardware is when it's running a giant steaming pile of malware/spyware/crippleware !!!

> (semi seriously, a picture to describe the article would be a cool feature ;-) )

Not sure I'd like that. The image for all the AI and "Windows 11" related stuff would probably end up being one of the old Slashdot "favourites" - Goatse. Tubgirl, "Penis Bird" or "Lemon Party" etc.

n.b. If you're not familiar with these images I'd suggest not searching for them :)

Wish I still had mod points left. Insightful indeed :)

I always found it interesting that Francis Crick (of "Watson & Crick" fame, discoverers of the double helix structure of DNA) was interested in the idea of directed panspermia. Decent article on the idea here https://retrospectjournal.com/...

Personally, from a very limited look at all the extremophiles/bacteria/microbes we've got on our planet, I'd be very suprised if the entire universe isn't crawling with life.

Intelligent life on the other hand... Judging by the state of our planet I'd say that's going to be *really* rare :)

This is how that conversation would have gone if they'd called me:

Marketer: "We see you once had our service but switched to our competitor. For $20 more a month you can get our Premium service! That's only $5 more than your current service under our competitor guaranteed for 2 years!"

Me; "Fuck off" ..[CLICK]

A court has fined you for your shitty behaviour. You should shut up, pay up, amend your ways or go to jail.

What next ? a murderer appealing against their conviction because it interferes with their vacation plans ?

You missed out the "and used" part from "Facebook is run, and used, by stupid people"

Obviously it should play back a sound clip of HAL 9000 saying "I'm sorry Dave, I can't do that".