Wow, only over a decade since this problem was first demonstrated at defcon and the community started finding ways to detect this themselves!
Glad to have this feature natively, but come on Google.
wizardbeard
joined 2 years ago
100% valid choice. I'd argue that it's even the correct one.
That said, those specific examples are all "solved". My issue is that the overwhelming amount of Linux pushers here tend to act as though those issues are literally unsolvable.
The ads are nearly all controlled from a single yes/no switch a single level deep into the settings menu. And that switch has not been reset by updates in at least four years. Since I've joined lemmy, every single "Microsoft is pushing more ads into Windows" article I've seen has been talking about ads controlled by this same singular switch.
Things like the pushing of the Microsoft account and Recall are mostly avoided by using their Professional SKU/License/OS version and using GPO to disable those features. Or to take specific steps during install. You have to use the tools they have for corporate customers that have specific legal guidelines that prevent them from being able to use whatever MS's new revenue extraction trick is.
Bullshit? Yes. Should anyone have to do this shit to have a decent OS? No.
But if you're savvy enough to navigate Linux, you're more than capable of navigating this shit on Windows. It's not impossible.
I work in this space profressionally. Systems administrarion, architecture, design, and integration. Please take your single sentence "hot takes" elsewhere.
Windows is far from "a shitty product" or "broken". It is developed by horrid anti-consumer motherfuckers out to extract as much profit as possible from their least profitable user base: home users. Evil as hell, sure, but so is nearly every large corporation that makes shit that fills your personal hovel you call home. If that makes them untouchable for you, that is a great choice. But that does not factually impact the usability or usefulness of the product.
Linux is awesome and necessary. Open source is the only way this whole mess keeps working far into the future, and I am no stranger to compiling shit from source and submitting pull requests.
My problems with the Linux community, specifically on Lemmy, are these: Linux is not "just easier" and depressingly still not ready for the average consumer unwilling to tinker. The overwhelming majority of complaints about Windows so frequently posted here are solved problems that people pretend are entirely unfixable, or refuse to learn how to fix. For many people venting about their computer, it would be easier to direct them how to fix what they have rather than try to use it as an opportunity to push your ~~religion~~ OS of choice.
If you can manage Linux, I promise that "fixing" a Windows install is well within your reach. Plenty of problems with it, but "broken"? "Unusable"? Take a look outside at the majority of the world, or even the fucking Steam user statistics and get back to me on that. More than good enough for the overwhelming majority.
I still spend 30 minutes as an adult when I can, except now it's just enjoying the warm and stretching. Extra time with the humidity helps my sinuses too.
If you ever are inclined, Stardew has a very strong modding community. I don't play it without using one of the handful of mods for extending the time.
I'd treat this like one of those "pay us in gift card" scams, and get the bank involved.
If they cannot/will not provide the contract terms, then there's no way this is valid. I would start with your parents' bank, see if they have a fraud or consumer advocacy group. Ask about your options for a chargeback or a stop payment. I would strongly reccomend you go in person to a bank location to run this down so you can just lay out the situation to a human being rather than trying to find the right resources yourself from the outside. It will likely take multiple in person trips.
It may also legitimately be cheaper to hire some legal services (a lawyer) to fight this for you, if you're looking at 4 years worth of charge for cancellation.
Glad to see another voice of sanity regarding Windows.
If you haven't learned by now, on Lemmy the only valid option for dealing with Windows configuration and basic Windows admin tasks is to yeet Windows and go to Linux.
And the Police won't investigate because of whatever mental gymnastics of the day they come up with to avoid the paperwork.
"You never actually recieved it, so it was never your property to be stolen." Or something.
Everyone knows that if you don't eat the cork then you aren't getting your money's worth.
New Yorker put out an article on how AI use is homogenizing thought processes and writing ability.
Our friends on the orange site have clambored over each other to all make very similar counteraguments. Kind of proves the article, no?
I love this one:
All connection technology is a force for homogeneity. Television was the death of the regional accent, for example.
Holy shit. Yes, TV has reduced the strength of accents. But "the death"? Tell me again how little you pay attention to the people you inevitably interact with day to day.
Silverhand is explicitly a high functioning cyberpsycho in the tabletop RPG books. His "breaks" manifest as his hand talking to him. It's one of his notable character tics. In the books it's a big part of why he thought he could pull off the Arasaka bombing.
More info than anyone needs:
Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the setting, has said that cyberpsychosis shouldn't be treated like a pure numbers game set of RPG rules. It's intentionally modeled after real world drug addiciton. Some people will naturally have higher or lower tolerances, and having a strong support system around you like V's usually blunts the effects. It's countered by a stat called humanity, and Pondsmith has stated that a person's own beliefs about how human they are can impact it.
Cyberware was slightly rarer when Johnny was running around, he's an AWOL soldier with untreated PTSD, and he has a pretty shit "support system" mostly due to his own actions. Given the views he already spouts about corporations, people, and the world in general it's not hard to imagine that he's not stable without the arm. He doesn't have a high opinion of his own humanity. The arm then becomes a constant reminder of the humanity he's lost/given up.
Adam Smasher is explicitly a socio/psychopath already, before cyberware, so there's no humanity for him to lose.
V has Johnny in his brain to effectively act as a second "person" to help soak up the negative effects. Plus, videogame. Bend the rules to allow a better power fantasy.