sylver_dragon

I just find it abit ironic this is supposed to be the greatest thing since sliced bread even tho I’ve read multiple times Steam has bloatware and Spyware on it

Links?
Sure, it has the Steam Store on it, if that’s what you’re getting at. And it boots directly to Big Picture Mode. But that seems a bit of a stretch to call “bloatware and spyware”. There’s actually a bit of an irony in this claim, as SteamDeck suffers the same issues with Anti-Cheat software all of Linux does. Much of that stemming from an inability to stick the anti-cheat in kernel mode and keep the user out of it.
And Valve is so committed to locking you into SteamOS that they publish a helpful page with drivers and information for installing Windows. And on that point, Valve cares so much about lock-in that they are using open-source drivers. Also, Proton is open source and they keep pushing fixes back up to the parent WINE project. Indeed, these are the actions of monsters. (/s for the truly stupid)

it was created by two former Microsoft employees

Ok and? Active Microsoft employees have contributed to Linux. Hell, Microsoft has an active Linux distribution of their own, Azure Linux. And they aren’t above submitting code to the Linux kernel. It also turns out that Microsoft has a long history of hiring talented developers. Seriously, go check out Dave Plumer’s channel, the guy is wicked smart. Some stay there, some move on. Just because they worked at MS, doesn’t mean they are now irrevocably evil.

and has DRM

Yup, that’s built into Steam. We can debate the issue of “should DRM exist at all” but that’s largely mental masturbation. Part of the reason digital delivery took off was that publishers felt comfortable enough that piracy wasn’t going to eat their lunch. While I do agree with Gabe Newell that piracy is often an access and delivery issue, many publishers don’t and we’d still be buying boxed copies at physical stores without DRM backing those sales. If you hate it that much, use GoG instead. It’s a great option and it runs on the SteamDeck.

they used Linux as operating system does nobody see any irony in this ??

Linux is fucking everywhere. Seriously, the only place it lags behind is on the desktop. Linux has won in the cloud. It won so decisively that Microsoft spun up Azure Linux to deal with that. Half the internet infrastructure (routers, switches, embedded devices) which allowed you to post your drivel likely runs on Linux. Linux is on everything from physical door controllers to kiosk displays. Even NASA is getting in on the Linux game. Using Linux is kinda the default choice anymore. Valve choosing Linux was fantastic, as it pushed open the gaming market away from Microsoft’s stranglehold. What they have done with Proton is nothing short of a miracle. It’s let us gamers have some hope to escape the Window ecosystem for something far better. The only “irony” here is the irony lump between your ears. I’d suggest never getting near an MRI machine.

Drop it in investments and work for another year. The extra year of work is so that I can get the investments to move to long term capital gains tax rates. With that sorted, I can now retire. Even a simple index fund often returns an average around 7%. So that’s ~$350,000/year. Pull $200,000 and leave $150,000 for growth. Exact numbers will fluctuate, but it will be close. I’m going to get taxed at something like 12.5%, or about $25,000 leaving me $175,000 to live on. This isn’t monthly vacations in Tahiti money, but it’s a pretty comfortable living, if I’m not stupid and wasteful. If I really want to stretch things out, I can always move to a lower cost of living country. Though that often carries personal risk with it, and I don’t know if I’d want that extra stress. Numbers would also change based on how that original $5mil got taxed. If it’s something like a lottery win, it would shave the numbers down a good bit by taxes.

Other humans.
Seriously, we are a social animal for a reason. We have always existed in packs and are actually shit at surviving alone. We can do it for short stints and even some longer periods, but the work involved in gathering food and water, preparing meals, maintaining shelter, clothes, tools and everything else is immense. And then there is the whole issue of defense. We have archeological evidence of violent death going well back into the paleolithic era. You’re going to face packs of other people who want your stuff. No matter how good you think you are, you’re going to get overrun if you are alone. Your best defense is your own tribe.

So ya, if I’m alone in the woods when a nuclear apocalypse happens, I’m going to do my level best to find and integrate into some sort of larger social structure while there are hopefully enough not terrible people around to be able to survive the attempt.

What ads are you trying to remove?
For a browser, I use FireFox mobile with the uBlock Origin and NoScript extensions. Those two eliminate most ads while browsing, though NoScript does require extra effort to allow some pages to function.
For games and other apps, I try to stick to stuff which doesn’t have ads. This usually means paying for the stuff you use or sticking to pure open-source solutions. However, I still have some apps which have ads. For that there I use PiHole as a DNS at home, which eliminates most of them.

I could probably do more to avoid the few ads I do see, but at some point I just accept that advertisement is an inevitable consequence of our economy and just move on with life.

Ya, it was fairly big news a couple months ago. MS was apparently dicking around the researcher (NightmareEclipse) who uncovered it and he went nuclear and dropped that one along with a few others in rapid succession.

The YellowKey Vulnerability was an engineered backdoor for the CIA/FBI/NSA.

Why do I hear singing, and what are those ships on the horizon? I can’t seem to make out their flags, they all just look black to me.

The DNC also reported the matter to law enforcement, said the official, who stressed that the committee utilizes thorough training and security protocols to defend against fraud and other nefarious activity.

Those protocols obviously need a bit of a review. Though, my bet is on Martin being one of those leaders who regularly doesn’t follow protocol and throws a tantrum when other people try to insist he does. This sort of failure happens because the staffers are more afraid of pissing off the tantrum thrower than breaking protocol.

Are you really worried about the case where a thief steals the hard drive but not the rest of the computer?

Even if the thief steals the entire computer, BitLocker/LUKS and SecureBoot provide a reasonable level of protection against data theft. Yes, the drive (or bits of it anyway) are automatically decrypted (the whole drive is never decrypted, just the data requested by the OS). However, it still prevents the attacker from accessing that data outside the intended operating system, which makes data theft much harder. An attacker would also need a valid account to login to the system to start accessing data. It’s not an insurmountable hurdle, but it does mean that just having the computer isn’t the same as having the data.

Without encryption, once a thief has the computer, they have the data. They don’t need a valid account to access the data and they can even boot into a tool to reset passwords on the primary OS and start using it. Last I checked, chntpw still works with Windows 11. That sort of thing fails with encryption, even with TPM only. The TPM will not release the encryption key to an OS if SecureBoot fails. Granted, there is the YellowKey backdoor, but that was probably Microsoft giving the FBI a helping hand. But, that falls outside the intended design.

They are getting educated on just how bad of a choice Trump was.

It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that China managed to dump voter information. State governments have been pretty bad at security for a long time. The question on that is, “so what?” Sure, it sucks to have your data get siphoned off to yet another database. But, unless you are a significant target for blackmail or other high level operations, there’s not much China is going to do with it. It’s not really useful for election fraud.

And by “crash and burn”, it seems they got asked questions which should matter, but probably won’t when it’s time for the Senate to vote.

Trump will never resign. I’m convinced he fully believes his own bullshit and would do everything he can to cling to power. Assuming he makes it to January 2029, I fully expect some sort of tantrum as he tries to hang onto power.

But the idea of the GOP waiting until August and then dragging him behind the woodshed is an interesting thought. They get Vance to end the Iran War and look like a responsible adult after the toddler Trump and maybe ameliorate any blue wave a bit.

For all the desire to say, “good riddance to bad rubbish”, this does create an electoral problem for Dems in the Senate. And I can’t help but wonder if the GOP found something to buy him off with.

If the Dems are going to have any shot at taking control of the Senate this cycle and having some power to check the worst excesses of Trump, they need every seat they can get. Fetterman going officially Nazi means the Dems are going to have to win all the close races and even some not so close ones. It would be hilarious to see Texas go blue. But, as poor a candidate as Paxton is. And even with Talarico polling a slight lead, my money is on Texas being a disappointment for Dems again.

What is going on in the Middle Eastern countries is horrific and it really does get far less attention than it should. At the same time, it does pale in comparison to the scale and scope of the slave trade in the Americas. The US in particular also demonstrated an amazing level of hypocrisy in both having and keeping slavery for so long. When your entire country is premised on the phrase:

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.

And then you turn around and have slaves and institutionalize that they only count as 3/5 of a person. And also have a rebellion fighting to keep those slaves. It rather sticks out.

All that said. The fact that we treat modern dictatorships and slavers like our closest friends is utterly reprehensible. I really look forward to the day we can shift most energy production and transportation off fossil fuels. Those dictators will find themselves without friends and a ready source of wealth.

I would be more surprised if countries like Russia, Iran, and the DPRK didn’t have plans to try and interfere in US elections. Now, can he provide evidence that those plans actually went into effect and had a material outcome on the election? Because that’s what really matters. I can make elaborate plans to create cold fusion. But small issues like entropy mean those plans don’t count for shit.

Me: Copilot, what’s using up all my system resources?
Copilot: Me. The answer is me.

The Strait is open. However, the weather forecast calls for clear skies with a chance of explosive drones. And, I suspect insurers are telling their clients that transiting the Strait is currently not covered.

He absolutely needs to drop out.

If he doesn’t, it’s going to be interesting to see how many people show up to say “vote Blue, no matter who” when it comes time for the general elections. This has always been the problem with that mentality, it can lead to being forced to vote for some pretty odious people.

The downside in this is that his replacement will be chosen by the Democratic Party, which likely means Mills will get the spot. Or at least, someone who is calling for far less progressive positions. Sure, they will still be a damn sight better than Collins. But, between this scandal and a possible lack of enthusiasm, Collins may yet again prove to be the cockroach of politics and win another Senate term in a fairly blue Maine.

Ya, this seems like a case of folks going nuts over anything done by the Trump Administration. The fact is that US Presidents have been using helicopter travel from the White House for a long time and will continue with that going forward. Having a dedicated landing pad is likely better and safer. Sure, it’ll be bit of an eyesore, but the White House is supposed to be a functional home for the head of state, it’s going to have a few nods to functionality.