Tag: Evil Bastards

Errrr No Thank You

Technology, Two-Minute Hate

I’ve already griped about the new Win11 OS from Microsoft (motto:  “It would be a great world without customers”), and now all my fears are being realized.  My laptop’s CPU (“brain” for those like me) is probably not going to be able to handle this shiny new gizmo*:

Windows 11 is arriving later this year as a free upgrade for Windows 10 users, but many are discovering that their hardware isn’t compatible. Microsoft has altered its minimum hardware requirements, and it’s the CPU changes that are most surprising here. Windows 11 will only officially support 8th Gen and newer Intel Core processors, alongside Apollo Lake and newer Pentium and Celeron processors.
That potentially rules out millions of existing Windows 10 devices from upgrading to Windows 11 with full support, and even devices like Microsoft’s own Surface Studio 2 which the company is still selling right now for $3,499. Older devices that aren’t officially supported will be met with a warning during the Windows 11 install that the upgrade is not recommended, but the OS should still install.

Nope;  not gonna do it.  I have absolutely no idea what processor I have — oh wait:  according to the little sticker on the laptop bed that I’ve never bothered to scrape off, it’s an “Intel Core17 8th Gen (whatever that means) — so maybe I’ll be okay… [scans link]  okay, there it is:  Win11 will work with the “Intel 8 (Coffee Lake)” WTF does that mean?  “Coffee Lake”?  Why the hell do I have to clutter my (own) memory with their fucking internal buzzwords for a whizbang piece of silicon or whatever it’s made of?

I also note that the Intel 8 is the oldest processor that can handle Win11, so — and forgive me for being cynical — whenever the Microsoft Tech Gods decide that Win11 v3.0 is the Best Thing Evah, guess which processor will drop off the list first?

Then there’s this gobbledygook:

Windows 11 would also require TPM capable of at least 1.2 support and UEFI Secure Boot. Both of these technologies are designed to improve the security of Windows, and prevent malware and ransomware from tampering with encryption keys and other secure elements of the operating system. Now, it appears Microsoft may be mandating TPM 2.0, but again, we’re checking on that.
While Microsoft has required TPM support for OEM hardware certification since Windows 10, it hasn’t actively required Windows to have this fully enabled. That’s changing in Windows 11, and it means if your laptop or PC shipped without these BIOS options enabled then you’re going to have to go searching for a setting to switch on.

And the last bit of fuckery:

Microsoft is also requiring a front-facing camera for all Windows 11 devices except desktop PCs from January 2023 onwards.

As it is, I cover my camera lens with tape except when doing videocalls, so I don’t really care about that — until Win11 mandates that my camera has to be on at all times when using their poxy software… and then:

Just because.

*thanks to Ace for the link

Take A Wild Guess

Crime

Read all about it.  Too bad that ordinary Brits aren’t allowed to carry guns over there, because I bet that if they were, not only might this asshole have been stopped more quickly, but a lot more of his type might think twice before getting all Stabby For Allah.

Good News

Bad News, Technology

My reaction: 

Great Caesar’s bleeding hemorrhoids… it seems like only yesterday when Sarah Hoyt’s husband upgraded me to Windows 10 (which I’d thus far refused to do, mostly as a reaction to the constant nagging every time I restarted my laptop).

But Dan got Very Stern with me, and refused to let me leave the house with whatever operating system I was still using (XP?  Vista?  I have no idea).  So I said, “Only if YOU do it, and it has to look EXACTLY the way it was, and all my files and bookmarks have to be exactly where they are right now.”

So he did, and they were.

Frankly, given that the sum of my computer use is blogging, email (not using MS’s poxy Outlook even) and searching for topless pics of Salma Hayek on the Internet, I fail to see why I need to change anything.

But I know I’m wasting my time, because all too soon I’ll get those unsolicited nagging messages every five minutes again, and then MS will say that they’ll no longer be “supporting” Win10 (like they ever did before ha ha), and then one day my laptop will refuse to start (just like Outlook Express did), and I’ll start the long drive up to Redmond with a rocket launcher, flamethrower and a thousand rounds of AK ammo to take care of the survivors.

And no doubt someone will have a problem with this.

So when the blessed event does finally occur, I’m going to need one of my tech-savvy Readers living within a few miles of my zip code to rally around and do it for me, mostly because I don’t want to drive all the way to Sarah’s house (Colorado?  Kansas?  Idaho? who knows?) to have Dan Hoyt do it all over again for me.

And by the way, Microsoft?  I don’t need a “new” Start button, Mac-style features, or Android apps on my desktop.

What I really need is to get to the range…

Truth To Power

Marxists, Resistance

The Left is all about “telling truth to power”, until THEY are the ones in power, and somebody wants to tell them some truths.  Then it’s all about “hurtful speech”, “hate speech”, “fake news”, “racism” etc., all of which should be censored because, well, you all know why.

Here are a couple examples.  In Virginia:

The Loudoun County, Virginia, school board cut off a comment period and sicced police on residents Tuesday after they criticized leaders over transgender and race policies.
Loudoun Now reported Chairwoman Brenda Sheridan repeatedly demanded silence from the packed room as members of the public spoke in favor of or in opposition to Critical Race Theory lessons and special privileges for transgender students.
After attendees cheered the remarks of former state Sen. Dick Black (R), the board ordered the room cleared then fled.
A sheriff’s deputy then took the microphone to declare it an “unlawful assembly” and told everyone to get out or be subject to arrest for “trespassing.” When at least one man refused to leave, he was arrested, according to video posted by the news site.
…
Loudoun Now reported after the room was emptied, the board reconvened in closed session, unfettered by the opinions of taxpayers.
…
The crowd’s opinions did little to sway elected officials. “We will not back down from fighting for the rights of our students and continuing our focus on equity,” Sheridan told NBC 4. She demanded an end to “politically motivated antics.”

Of course, this so-called “Critical Race Theory” has nothing to do with politics, no sirree.

And elsewhere:

Critical race theory has drawn the ire of many, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, as states look to ban teaching its concepts in schools. Similar bills have been pre-filed in Kentucky for consideration in next year’s legislative session.
Tuesday marked the first time that a school board meeting in Kentucky’s largest school district has been disrupted because of opposition to critical race theory.
About half of the board left the meeting room as members of the audience began to shout and security officers confronted them. Some protesters were asked to leave while others left voluntarily.

See, when the Left indulges in noisy, confrontational demonstrations, it’s “the voice of the people”;  but when the demonstrations are against them, they call for security.

Then someone comes along — in this case, a Brit expat (!!!) who tells a Pennsylvania school board exactly what the meaning of free speech is , and then takes them to task for their censorship (cloaked under the maskirovka  of “equity” or some such bullshit).

This is how you deal with these assholes.  And it’s hardly surprising that an immigrant should beat them up like this, because it’s often the case that we ex-furriners know what’s at stake because we left that crap behind us — for the promise of freedom.

Take That, Jews

Modernism, Seen On Campus, Wokism

Reading this wokist nonsense recently, I came across this fine sentiment:

PARC would also ban “culturally appropriative language,” such as the word “tribe,” which “was historically used in a dehumanizing way to equate indigenous people with savages.”

So… let’s hear it from my Jewish Readers*.  (When they’re done laughing.)

Were you triggered?  (And I don’t mean “Were you tempted to pick up a gun?”.)

*For Readers unfamiliar with the jargon, Jews traditionally refer to each other as “Tribe”.

Cuts Both Ways, Assholes

Media Assholes, Politics, Resistance, Two-Minute Hate

Apparently, we conservatives are Beyond The Pale.  Saith Jennifer Rubin:

There is no way to “understand” MAGA voters, nor is there is any possibility of reaching political agreement with them. They are beyond the bounds of rational political debate.

Hey, Jen:  substitute “socialist voters” for “MAGA voters”, and you’ll have an idea of what we think of you lot.  The only thing you need to understand about us is that we hate your putrid political philosophy and your criminal voting practices.

And then some other Lenin-lickspittle chimes in with:

There is no longer any reason to try to “understand” these people. Nor should there be any compunction about doing whatever we can to read them out of American politics…

…by any means available, you mean?

Noted.