Computers and related demonic devices

24

Comments

  • KarlLB wrote: »
    Google-fu

    Oh yeah? Well google-fu too, pal!
  • Ummm, to the best of my knowledge, Bill Gates has nothing to do with Google. OTOH, he probably is one of the first people who comes to mind when thinking about tech super-companies.
  • Hugal wrote: »
    Unfortunately computer people rule the world.

    I wish.
  • Hugal wrote: »
    Unfortunately computer people rule the world.

    I wish.

    I'm thinking the number of computer people in the Forbes 500 is well less than half.
  • PatdysPatdys Shipmate
    Not even a nibble - what a waste of a dad joke.
  • Patdys wrote: »
    Not even a nibble - what a waste of a dad joke.

    But a nibble is only half a byte.
  • PatdysPatdys Shipmate
    I laughed.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host
    I much prefer DuckDuckGo.com - I’ve never found a useful difference in the results, but, unlike Google, DDG doesn’t track or bubble you. I prefer perusing the internet without being pursued by the same tedious, creepy ads, or having certain content blocked in a particular search because Big Brother doesn’t think I really want to see it.

    I couldn’t do my job without computers (or a cellphone), not just now, but ever. Life is a series of trade-offs, and this is one I can deal with.
  • Rossweisse wrote: »
    I much prefer DuckDuckGo.com - I’ve never found a useful difference in the results, but, unlike Google, DDG doesn’t track or bubble you. I prefer perusing the internet without being pursued by the same tedious, creepy ads, or having certain content blocked in a particular search because Big Brother doesn’t think I really want to see it.

    I couldn’t do my job without computers (or a cellphone), not just now, but ever. Life is a series of trade-offs, and this is one I can deal with.

    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
  • mousethief wrote: »
    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
    Is Google Scholar any better?
  • cgichard wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
    Is Google Scholar any better?

    When researching for my PhD I used Google Scholar. The results are limited, but it does often provide the results needs.

    If nothing else, it gives enough to then find the right article using DDG.
  • We Appled up some years ago. We’ve never regretted it. We have an iPad which is now four years old and just as fast as another one of ours that’s six months old. They don’t need anti virus software and they never run slow.

    I have an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil - there isn’t anything I can’t do on it that I didn’t do on my old laptop.

    🍏
  • RuthRuth Shipmate
    I hate Apple's vertical integration and proprietary everything.
  • Ruth wrote: »
    I hate Apple's vertical integration and proprietary everything.

    These are the reasons its machines work smoothly and well. Worth it, I think.



  • Does anybody remember that Google's motto back in 2000-14 used to be 'Don't be evil'

    In 2015 it was changed to 'Do the right thing'

    Moral relativism allows military contracts?
  • Duckduckgo aggregates a whole bunch of search program results. It'll give different results than Google because Google is one a multitude of sources. It is possible to buy services which will make a search result rise to the top of first page of Google results. So actually it is evil about objectivity.

    Startpage anonymously searches Google. Same results.

  • JuanaCruzJuanaCruz Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    /Geek mode on/
    I'm serious on my security and privacy ... I don't have Chrome or anything "Google" on my laptop at all. Nor do I use Facebook, Bing etc

    Browser - CLIQZ privacy browser (if you were super-serious, TOR browser is the one)
    * Anti-tracking add-ons (3) Ghostery, Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin
    * "DNS over HTTPS" enabled
    * "HTTPS everywhere" enabled
    Search Engine - Duckduckgogo

    Anti-malware/anti-exploit scanners (3) -MalawareBytes, and ESET and Emisoft
    Firewall - Glasswire
    Additional 'hardening' - OSArmour and Keyscrambler
    Disabled all the data telemetry and Cortana that Microsoft embeds in Windows 10 - Debotnet

    Probably more I can't recall as I'm working on converting the house into a Faraday cage soon. I'll get my (tin) hat now ...

  • I don't object to computers and electronic devices, as such. Far from it. My mobile phone does so many jobs for me - tracking my bank balance, being a calculator, converting measurements into/from metric, distracting me with crosswords, etc etc. I even use it sometimes for making phone calls!

    But where I have problems is with some of the software. There is a particular place in hell for anything produced by Microsoft. I have nothing against Bill Gates as such, but MS software is the absolute pits. It continually tries to force you to work in certain ways because (apparently) Only Our Way Is The Right Way.

    My diocese has recently arranged for all parishes to be part of the diocesan-wide Office365 account. It's awful - especially Outlook365. I have NEVER willingly used MS software (I currently use LibreOffice for most functions) and being forced to work with Outlook365 is like have root-canal work done without anaesthetic.
  • What a lovely, soothing thread to read through!:) I let all the technical words slide gracefully in one ear and out the other and rejoice that I know a Tech chap who can generally set up most thingsin a way that suits me and Dolphin do their best to keep up with the constant web site changes. But there are times when I wish I didn't find the computer to be something that is an essential in my life ...
  • JuanaCruzJuanaCruz Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    @SusanDoris and others - given the title of the thread, perhaps you could try converting to Rudolph Steiner's Anthroposophy?

    From memory, Anthroposophists believe TV and computers embody a materialistic spirit (aka devil) named "Ahriman". Perhaps they were ahead of the game :wink:

    Waldorf/Steiner school teachers are known to try and enforce a total ban on electronic media in any form for younger children. Some of the schools seem more devout/potty (select one) than others to be fair ...
    https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/14/steiner-schools-children-tablets-tech

    Steiner's biodynamic principles are quite popular in organic farming and winemaking, which how I came across this philosophy accidentally a few years back.

  • I don't object to computers and electronic devices, as such. Far from it. My mobile phone does so many jobs for me - tracking my bank balance, being a calculator, converting measurements into/from metric, distracting me with crosswords, etc etc. I even use it sometimes for making phone calls!

    But where I have problems is with some of the software. There is a particular place in hell for anything produced by Microsoft. I have nothing against Bill Gates as such, but MS software is the absolute pits. It continually tries to force you to work in certain ways because (apparently) Only Our Way Is The Right Way.

    My diocese has recently arranged for all parishes to be part of the diocesan-wide Office365 account. It's awful - especially Outlook365. I have NEVER willingly used MS software (I currently use LibreOffice for most functions) and being forced to work with Outlook365 is like have root-canal work done without anaesthetic.

    See, I think there is a deeper pit of OOWITRW: Apple. Every time I use an iPad I'm stuck thinking Just. Let. Me. Do. The. Thing. At least with Windows or Android there are a dozen ways to do something. With Apple if it's not on their List Of Things That Should Be Done then you're shit out of luck.
  • With Apple if it's not on their List Of Things That Should Be Done then you're shit out of luck.

    Ah. I wouldn't know about that. Never used an Apple product.

  • With Apple if it's not on their List Of Things That Should Be Done then you're shit out of luck.

    Ah. I wouldn't know about that. Never used an Apple product.

    Oh blessed life you have led.
  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    /Geek mode on/
    I'm serious on my security and privacy ... I don't have Chrome or anything "Google" on my laptop at all. Nor do I use Facebook, Bing etc

    Browser - CLIQZ privacy browser (if you were super-serious, TOR browser is the one)
    * Anti-tracking add-ons (3) Ghostery, Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin
    * "DNS over HTTPS" enabled
    * "HTTPS everywhere" enabled
    Search Engine - Duckduckgogo

    Anti-malware/anti-exploit scanners (3) -MalawareBytes, and ESET and Emisoft
    Firewall - Glasswire
    Additional 'hardening' - OSArmour and Keyscrambler
    Disabled all the data telemetry and Cortana that Microsoft embeds in Windows 10 - Debotnet

    Probably more I can't recall as I'm working on converting the house into a Faraday cage soon. I'll get my (tin) hat now ...
    For Android phones:
    Blokada app. Blocks all the trackers.

    Firefox Klar browser with dumps all cookies when tab is closed.

    Tinfoil for Facebook and Tinfoil for Twitter. Both allow the app to be totally shut down.

    I also use the Tor Browser for some things. Signal is good for messaging and calls. Psiphon allows running the entire phone through Tor. For those who don't know, Tor connects you to other computers and anonymises your phone or computer by your's appearing to be another.

    I also like Fake Traveller app. You can pretend your phone is an another country. Which is useful but I'm not going to say why specifically as some content providers would dislike that.
  • I don't object to computers and electronic devices, as such. Far from it. My mobile phone does so many jobs for me - tracking my bank balance, being a calculator, converting measurements into/from metric, distracting me with crosswords, etc etc. I even use it sometimes for making phone calls!

    But where I have problems is with some of the software. There is a particular place in hell for anything produced by Microsoft. I have nothing against Bill Gates as such, but MS software is the absolute pits. It continually tries to force you to work in certain ways because (apparently) Only Our Way Is The Right Way.

    My diocese has recently arranged for all parishes to be part of the diocesan-wide Office365 account. It's awful - especially Outlook365. I have NEVER willingly used MS software (I currently use LibreOffice for most functions) and being forced to work with Outlook365 is like have root-canal work done without anaesthetic.

    I will check out LibreOffice (thanks!) but imho Microsoft USED to make some super software with really nice design aesthetics Alas the whole trend is towards cloud-based subscription software (i.e. its not really on your computer) designed to run across platforms i.e. computer, tablet or phone.

    As a result is it's dumbed-down to the lowest common technology/usability denominator. Flexibility, functionality and nicer design/graphics can be, and normally are, sacrificed to make software run on a phone and tablet, to maximize battery life and so on. Which is why Windows 7 looks much nicers tan Windows 8/10. Or alternatively for something free like Skype (which MS purchased) they go cloud-based AND also monetarise it with ads :angry:

    Of course it's all about profitability, and a huge selling point of the multi-platform cloud software is that it significantly cuts costs in IT teams/departments because essentially it's outsourced to MS. This direction is not just MS, it's the whole industry ...

    fwiw I still run MS Office 2010 locally because it's lovely.
    I'd still be on Windows 7 if I could because it's graphically beautiful with effects turned up to max. I run an older (desktop) version of Skype without advertising ....

    And yes Apple works and has always worked (very very well) in Apple's way but as @Arethosemyfeet says - if you want it your way then ... good luck

  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    /Geek mode on/
    I'm serious on my security and privacy ... I don't have Chrome or anything "Google" on my laptop at all. Nor do I use Facebook, Bing etc

    Browser - CLIQZ privacy browser (if you were super-serious, TOR browser is the one)
    * Anti-tracking add-ons (3) Ghostery, Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin
    * "DNS over HTTPS" enabled
    * "HTTPS everywhere" enabled
    Search Engine - Duckduckgogo

    Anti-malware/anti-exploit scanners (3) -MalawareBytes, and ESET and Emisoft
    Firewall - Glasswire
    Additional 'hardening' - OSArmour and Keyscrambler
    Disabled all the data telemetry and Cortana that Microsoft embeds in Windows 10 - Debotnet

    Probably more I can't recall as I'm working on converting the house into a Faraday cage soon. I'll get my (tin) hat now ...
    For Android phones:
    Blokada app. Blocks all the trackers.

    Firefox Klar browser with dumps all cookies when tab is closed.

    Tinfoil for Facebook and Tinfoil for Twitter. Both allow the app to be totally shut down.

    I also use the Tor Browser for some things. Signal is good for messaging and calls. Psiphon allows running the entire phone through Tor. For those who don't know, Tor connects you to other computers and anonymises your phone or computer by your's appearing to be another.

    I also like Fake Traveller app. You can pretend your phone is an another country. Which is useful but I'm not going to say why specifically as some content providers would dislike that.

    @NOprophet_NØprofit - I like you, you're hardcore :wink:

    Having worked in to senior-ish levels in corporate IT I know the hugely increasing power of big data, AI, and upcoming tech like facial recognition ... I have nothing to hide per se, but just have a huge aversion to Google and Microsoft and Facebook et al. selling my data and potentially contact network and more onwards to 100-200+ advertisers (or just about anyone at all if Facebook) who are profiling me.

    I found out a bit about of Cambridge Analytics and saw a scandal coming at least 18 months before it broke ...

    China is already using all this data now in terms of societal control via "social credits"

    It's my privacy and to be polite, big tech have almost zero morals when the $$$ is right or if pushed and can f**k right off from using my data (I can say that in Hell, right?)

  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    f**k right off from using my data (I can say that in Hell, right?)

    You don't even have to use the asterisks.
  • We're of a mind.

    The curious thing is that people just freely give away info. Like they're not really vegan, they have fake tans, trouble on the toilet, their kids have asthma, they've got a good marriage but look at porn alone, aspire to go camping, bought wine yesterday and more today, are behind on their credit card, but are likely to buy a car, took 8234 steps yesterday. That sort of thing.
  • cgichard wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
    Is Google Scholar any better?

    Yes. Much much much better.
  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    As a result is it's dumbed-down to the lowest common technology/usability denominator. Flexibility, functionality and nicer design/graphics can be, and normally are, sacrificed to make software run on a phone and tablet, to maximize battery life and so on. Which is why Windows 7 looks much nicers tan Windows 8/10.

    I cannot see at all how Win 7 is nicer than Win 10. In fact I can't see much of a difference. I have Win 7 at work and Win 10 on my home machines, and go back and forth without noticing. The start menu is significantly easier to use on Win 10, I will insist. Win 8 was a miserable user experience, but then every other Windows release usually is crap, then they plug the holes and come out with a good one.

  • I recently had to get a new phone and decided to finally get a smartphone which has been useful for having a camera and satnav, and a couple of weeks ago when we were sans PC. (I'm using it now).

    My work laptop was gladly returned to the office a couple of weeks ago as I'm on maternity leave. It was something of a nursing job getting it to survive since March as it is out of the tech ark. Hopefully someone will cough up the money to replace it and my manager's antediluvian machine, as they can barely manage Teams and will not cope with Windows 10.

    My particular software hate is Adobe. PDFs are fine but sometimes I want to just edit them without paying a fortune to do so. We had to do some formatting on one that had been sent from the national screening programme for screening subjects about resuming clinics. Working out that headache was left to me as the tech-savvy member of the admin team. Thankfully Google docs came to my rescue as I was at home with access to my own PC to edit and save it back in PDF format.


  • We're of a mind.

    The curious thing is that people just freely give away info. Like they're not really vegan, they have fake tans, trouble on the toilet, their kids have asthma, they've got a good marriage but look at porn alone, aspire to go camping, bought wine yesterday and more today, are behind on their credit card, but are likely to buy a car, took 8234 steps yesterday. That sort of thing.

    Yep.

    I worry in the UK if we have a succession of authoritarian governments with an absence of morals (as we do now I feel), we'll progressively edge towards a China-like use of big data. Of course it will be sold to us nicely as a way to stop illegal immigrants working or similar ... in fact ...

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/digital-id-cards-lead-the-dominic-cummings-data-revolution-v750fn3kt (sorry, it's behind a paywall)
  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    Does anybody remember that Google's motto back in 2000-14 used to be 'Don't be evil'
    Many years ago (20? could be...) I attended a Linux users group meeting here in the valley. A Google rep was there and he told us that they had a team counting bytes on the search page to make sure that it loaded as quickly as possible. He got a warm round of applause from a room of clued-in techs.

    Impossible to imagine such a response today.
  • mousethief wrote: »
    JuanaCruz wrote: »
    As a result is it's dumbed-down to the lowest common technology/usability denominator. Flexibility, functionality and nicer design/graphics can be, and normally are, sacrificed to make software run on a phone and tablet, to maximize battery life and so on. Which is why Windows 7 looks much nicers tan Windows 8/10.

    I cannot see at all how Win 7 is nicer than Win 10. In fact I can't see much of a difference. I have Win 7 at work and Win 10 on my home machines, and go back and forth without noticing. The start menu is significantly easier to use on Win 10, I will insist. Win 8 was a miserable user experience, but then every other Windows release usually is crap, then they plug the holes and come out with a good one.

    You're right, Vista and Windows 8 were both cr*p!! Windows 10 is functionally great and what I use but I find the whole look and feel in Win 7 "nicer" and also consistent.

    First there are a whole series of effects under what was called Windows "Aero" .... transparent borders / start menu / taskbar, overlaying of transparency and shadow effects under open windows, fade in and out effects on widows, taskbar previews, Aero Flip 3D, and so on - a general subtle "3D-ness". However, you'd only see this from memory if -
    (1) You have Windows 7 Home Premium, Pro or Ultimate (it's NOT on Win 7 Home) and have it turned on (2) Your PC is sufficiently specced, else Aero and all those effects are automatically disabled anyway.
    https://gizmodo.com/how-to-use-windows-7s-new-interface-5147665
    https://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-7/switch-between-desktops-apps-alt-tab-windows/

    Secondly the start menu in Win 10 is unnecessarily complex and bloated on a PC and obscures the screen, until you remove all the tiles. It's well known it was really more designed for tablet devices.

    And finally in Win 10, Microsoft re-wrote about half of the maintenance screens and utilities e.g. settings, task manager in a new very flat 2D UI while leaving the other half as they were in the Win 7 UI e.g. control panel ... so the user experience comes across as a real mishmash, even if under the bonnet in Win 10 MS did a great job

    It's purely a matter of personal taste ... I installed a few excellent freeware programs which restore most of the eye-candy, the start menu, and give a Win 7-like experience on Win 10.

    All this written over a glass of WINE :smile:
  • Personally I have no Windows nor Apple anything. It's all Linux and open source on computers.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host
    Ruth wrote: »
    I hate Apple's vertical integration and proprietary everything.
    Agreed. I wish I been better informed before I put the contents of several hundred compact discs on an Apple device, because now they own it, essentially.

  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host
    mousethief wrote: »
    cgichard wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
    Is Google Scholar any better?
    Yes. Much much much better.
    ...but they’re still tracking you, and all the rest of it. DuckDuckGo.com is far better for most searches.


  • Rossweisse wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    cgichard wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    Duck Duck Go is crap at finding technical articles.
    Is Google Scholar any better?
    Yes. Much much much better.
    ...but they’re still tracking you, and all the rest of it. DuckDuckGo.com is far better for most searches.

    And it's what I use as my default search engine.
  • JuanaCruz wrote: »
    mousethief wrote: »
    JuanaCruz wrote: »
    As a result is it's dumbed-down to the lowest common technology/usability denominator. Flexibility, functionality and nicer design/graphics can be, and normally are, sacrificed to make software run on a phone and tablet, to maximize battery life and so on. Which is why Windows 7 looks much nicers tan Windows 8/10.

    I cannot see at all how Win 7 is nicer than Win 10. In fact I can't see much of a difference. I have Win 7 at work and Win 10 on my home machines, and go back and forth without noticing. The start menu is significantly easier to use on Win 10, I will insist. Win 8 was a miserable user experience, but then every other Windows release usually is crap, then they plug the holes and come out with a good one.

    You're right, Vista and Windows 8 were both cr*p!! Windows 10 is functionally great and what I use but I find the whole look and feel in Win 7 "nicer" and also consistent.

    There is a theory that alternate versions of Windows are decent. My experience only goes back to 95 but it seems to bear out. 95 was unstable drek, but Windows 98 sorted most of the issues. Windows ME was not well thought of but XP was solid. Vista was execrable but 7 was decent. My current hypothesis is that after the poor reception for 8 Microsoft realised the pattern, knew they were due a good one so hit upon the idea of the "eternal 10" so they need never have a bad edition of Windows ever again.
  • I remain happy with all my Apple devices. I used a friend’s laptop recently to help her out. It was like going from high speed inter city trains to the local amateur steam railway.

    I don’t care what ‘they’ know about me, it’s totally uninteresting. There are zero ads popping up on my machines, so that’s not an issue.

    Until you try it you don’t realise what dinosaurs you’ve been driving. 🦕

    My husband is converted too and he’s an utter Luddite.
  • You do have to compare like with like. Apple do not produce budget devices, so you need to compare the iPhone with something like a Pixel 4, and the Macbook with a high-end MS Surface or similar. If you're comparing with Acer's latest student deal at £299.99 (or whatever) then it's going to come up short.
  • BoogieBoogie Shipmate
    edited September 2020
    You do have to compare like with like. Apple do not produce budget devices, so you need to compare the iPhone with something like a Pixel 4, and the Macbook with a high-end MS Surface or similar. If you're comparing with Acer's latest student deal at £299.99 (or whatever) then it's going to come up short.

    Except that you buy an Apple once. My son’s Macbook is now six years old and going just as well as when it was new. Laptops (whatever the price) don’t last, or - if they do - they all become slow and infuriating.

    Like Sam Vimes walking boots.



  • Boogie wrote: »
    Except that you buy an Apple once. My son’s Macbook is now six years old and going just as well as when it was new. Laptops (whatever the price) don’t last, or - if they do - they all become slow and infuriating.

    If you spend as much on a laptop as you do on a macbook then they do last.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    Except that you buy an Apple once. My son’s Macbook is now six years old and going just as well as when it was new. Laptops (whatever the price) don’t last, or - if they do - they all become slow and infuriating.

    If you spend as much on a laptop as you do on a macbook then they do last.

    I did, it didn’t.

  • A couple of years ago I needed to find a new solution in a hurry (my almost new laptop started to crash with every single update to Windows 10). I bought a MacBook on recommendations from family and friends: reliable hardware, intuitive software, it will work well with your iPad, they said. That's closely related to a free lunch, I found. I'm sticking with it, as once I can get it to work it's great, but those who recommended it are having to pay in support hours to get me there.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    You do have to compare like with like. Apple do not produce budget devices, so you need to compare the iPhone with something like a Pixel 4, and the Macbook with a high-end MS Surface or similar. If you're comparing with Acer's latest student deal at £299.99 (or whatever) then it's going to come up short.

    Except that you buy an Apple once. My son’s Macbook is now six years old and going just as well as when it was new. Laptops (whatever the price) don’t last, or - if they do - they all become slow and infuriating.

    Like Sam Vimes walking boots.



    My 2nd hand Dell workstation (6-7 years old) begs to differ. As, incidentally, does my 13 year old Toshiba.
  • That’s fine @Arethosemyfeet - if your machines are doing what you need that’s great. But the OP of this thread is about those that don’t.

    My solution is simple and worth saving up for. 🙂
  • Boogie wrote: »
    That’s fine @Arethosemyfeet - if your machines are doing what you need that’s great. But the OP of this thread is about those that don’t.

    My solution is simple and worth saving up for. 🙂

    My solution (buying reconditioned CAD workstations) is just as simple and less than half the price and more powerful to boot.
  • Boogie wrote: »
    Boogie wrote: »
    Except that you buy an Apple once. My son’s Macbook is now six years old and going just as well as when it was new. Laptops (whatever the price) don’t last, or - if they do - they all become slow and infuriating.

    If you spend as much on a laptop as you do on a macbook then they do last.

    I did, it didn’t.

    IME most people who make this complaint are rarely comparing like with like, but if it works for you, it works for you.
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