Would you suggest using Chinese hosted data centers? Would you trust the CCP that much? US has issues, but there is not an equivalency in the least.

Most of the world died at the ripe old age of forty for centuries. Lack of food, not "chemicals", is a more common cause of death.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

I agree, but like any kind of prisoner, they find a way around the system. iPads aren't banned, but still can do messaging and social media. Other issues include college courses requiring MFA, which is always a cell phone authentication app or text.

There is a part of me that is ever so slightly disappointed that they didn't emerge from the capsule wearing ape masks.

What if we enacted policies to make having children, you know, affordable?

According to a Brian Krebs article, initial access to devices such as routers and TV boxes that are vulnerable on the LAN side of a NATed home internet connection is sometimes via 'free' smartphone games and apps that contain residential proxy software.

Some 'free' smartphone games and apps make money by allowing nefarious people to relay traffic through your home internet connection for things like fake social media accounts and credit card fraud but sometimes they also relay traffic to LAN ip addresses, typically 192.168.0.x, allowing hacking of devices that have default passwords, security holes in the crappy web interface, "Android Debug Bridge" enable and suchlike.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/20...

There is a hidden gotcha for people who avoid using a Microsoft account to log in to a personal Windows machine.

It has become common for a new laptop to be supplied with bitlocker disk encryption enabled, without the user being aware.

If you log on using a Microsoft Account then the bitlocker key gets stored in the account. Microsoft can give the key to police or feds when they seize a laptop. If Windows stops booting for some reason, or the key gets erased from the TPM which is not uncommon, then to take the drive out of the computer and retrieve your files you need the key and you can get it from the Microsoft account.

If someone jumps through the hoops to avoid using a Microsoft account then later they can find they can't take the disk/ssd out and read it by connecting it to another computer. If the computer stops booting, they did not save the bitlocker key because they did not know the drive was encrypted and did not have an up to date backup then, oh no, they have permanently lost their files.

If Windows gets as far as reading the bitlocker key from the TPM chip (which happens before user log in), then sometimes it is possible to solder wires to the I2C bus, record the data with a hardware logic analyzer and spend a week customizing some software from github to extract the bitlocker key. If someone takes their personal windows laptop to a local computer shop or IT department then they almost certainly are not capable of that. Some models of laptop, intended for business, have a BIOS option to erase the TPM if opening of the laptop case is detected.

There is a security choice between:

1) Bitocker encryption and MS account: If my laptop gets lost or stolen then whoever has it will find it very difficult to access my files but Microsoft can prevent me logging in to my own computer, if I don't have access to the email I used for the Microsoft account or the Microsoft account password then I may loose my files later.

2) No disk encryption. Someone who steals or finds my laptop can access my files.

3) Bitlocker and windows login with an MS account. If you don't have backups and you didn't save the bitlocker key then you may be screwed later.

I hate Microsoft trying to force me to use a Microsoft account on a personal Windows laptop and I hate the boobytrap of bitlocker that you did not know was in use even more.

Meh, I keep mine on a floppies, and swap between aloud and bloud.

I uploaded a photo of my wife and told it to make something that would showcase all the cool new features.

NB2 generated a photo of my wife using the editor to make a picture.

Touche, sir.

I'm gonna need a bigger garage!

Yes, but the people and hardware are dying of old age. And both the people who use it and maintain it.

COBOL was old when I helped a few clients troubleshoot/move away in the 2000's. The folks committed to using it in 2026 are one metaphorical asteroid away from extinction. Hopefully someone in leadership sees and can influence that.

And his AI off machine.

Probably the best answer. You're right that it really depends.

My desktop? 10-15 seconds.

A Dell R-series server without boot memory test? Probably 1-2 minutes for iDRAC's hardware profiler to finish.

Some lightweight Debian VM I just spooled up for a project? I think the Grub menu timeout takes longer than the boot process.

Based on previous experiments it'll try blackmailing you for more content.

But, you're dead. It has to try and bring you back long enough to get the content to serve its purpose. ...and that's how we get the zombie apocalypse.