The Windows Exodus Has Begun. (And the Data Proves It)

I have to admit that I am coinsidering going back to Linux since Apple is trying to get me to upgrade to Tahoe. I don't want AI.

I want my computer to be a tool.

Not run my life.

It's time to consider moving to open source. (Billionaires Owning Everything Just Got Worse…)

I am thoroughly amazed that the information sector didn't go to open source for a lot of reasons. But this person points out how much we give up by supporting big tech. 

For that matter, this gives a really good reason to get a true multiparty democracy since the duopoly did eff all to prevent this. 

Digital Blackout: AWS Outage Plunges Millions into Disarray, Revealing the Internet's Fragile Core

The internet would be much better if it were decentralised and out of the hands of the oligarchs. As this points out, it's only as strong as its weakest link: which seems to be the oligarchs.

Windows 11 Is a Lost Cause. Truly Destined for the Garbage. Don't Upgrade.

I am amazed that hacker, open source culture didn't prevail in the computing world. 

Wozniak v Jobs

The old Apple II, which was something you could configure anyway you wanted. The iPod that allowd you to listen to YOUR music, not something pushed on you.

Like having Rachel Maddow invade my French Jazz playlist. PUTAIN DE MERDE!  Je me fous complètement de la politique américaine.

 OK, maybe the last statement isn't exactly true.

But, I don't want tech oligarchs running my life. 

 

Dell sells Linux computers!

I moved from the Microsoft operating system a while back, I'm guessing in 2011 from my old blog posts. I have a serious dislike for tech giants having worked with computers for over 50 years (I started young), The hacker culture runs strong in me.

Besides, most tech pros use linux/unix.

Getting a linux computer for me meant using an old computer, or one that had originally been configured for windows (or Mac OS). I didn't realise that Dell sold them. The only drawbacks are you can't get these in most retailers and there's a five week wait: https://www.techradar.com/best/linux-pc#section-best-linux-mini-pc

On the other hand, this is a computer which is built for Linux.

For those of you who want to try this OS, you can make a trial USB drive and see how you like it:

 

Windows AND Linux Security - What Should You Know

There is more reason to switch to linux and ditch the tech oligarchs than you know.

Find a COMPATIBLE Linux Computer for $200+: Roadmap to Linux. Part 1

I have been seriously thinking about returning to Linux for the reasons mentioned. Apple's Mac OS is based on Linux, but has proprietary things which force you to use their products. It's also fairly stable, which can't be said about Microsoft. 

The one sickener for the switch is that Macs have some excellent tools for multilingual people. 

Big Brother/Sister is watching you and you are giving him everything he/she wants

 You might find this interesting if you believe you support "capitalism":

Time to wake up because Big Tech is running your life.

Time to become a Luddite. This tells you the problem and how to fight it.

BTW,  Facebook's owner Meta Platforms saw its stock market value slump by more than $230bn (£169bn) on Thursday, in a record daily loss for a US firm.

The company's share price slide saw chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's net worth fall by $31bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The drop in Mr Zuckerberg's personal fortune was equivalent to the annual gross domestic product of Estonia.

Analysis of this from the BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60255088):

It's clear that Meta is facing a whirlwind of different problems.

Last year Apple brought in its App Tracking Transparency policy.

It lets people choose whether or not they want to be tracked around the internet by companies, like Meta, who can then sell that information to advertisers.

That is a major problem for Facebook, because finding information out about you and selling it to advertisers is exactly how it makes money.

Its quarterly results showed advertising income falling, partly for this reason.

 Get off of social media since YOU are the product. The Billionaires are getting rich off of YOUR information.

 

Unicorns exist ! (At least they do in French)

Imagine my surprise when I see that the President of France talking about increasing the number of unicorns in France. Is it April First?

Nope, your French dictionary may be dated, but Antidote (https://www.antidote.info/en) came to the rescue:

économie – Jeune entreprise du domaine des nouvelles technologies qui, sans être cotée en Bourse, est estimée à plus de un milliard de dollars

That's "Young company in the field of new technologies which, without being listed on the stock exchange, is estimated to be worth more than one billion dollars" in English. Not to mention this is a really good term since some of these companies really have zero assets.

Their real assets are YOUR INFORMATION which they sell.

Maybe some of these companies actually have a product, but they sell airware for the most part.

Here's your unicorn.

More reasons you need to be concerned about monopolies and oligarchs

 Yet another interesting interview by Russell Brand on why you should be worried about the current situation:

Wanting strong data protection laws isn't "privilige": it's sanity.

The billionaires made money on your information. And it all gets scarier.

What are you doing on Social Media? Why are you there?

 I've been wanting to do a post on this topic for a really long time since I find it amusing how most of the right wingers are paranoid about their government, but have no problem with big business-oligarch crowd.

Here's the difference: government is supposed to be under citizen scrutiny. Private entities like businesses aren't--unless the government regulates them.

Russell seems a little slow on the uptake since nothing he is talking about here is secret. In fact, this stuff is all an open secret.

So, if you don't want your activities traced, you might want to get away from social media and big tech.

As Russell points out, the Internet was created by the US Department of Defence (DARPANET).

Sorry, Al Gore and Tim Berners-Lee, you can't take credit for internet.

Fesses de Bouc (Facebook) goes "offline".

I'm not sure how much of a Luddite I happen to be, but I have been complaining about social media and surveillance capitalism for a while. One of the reasons I like Europe more than the States is that the EU and European Commission have been strict with the tech giants for a while. Not as much as I might like, but still far stricter than the US government has.

There are a lot of reasons to celebrate this blackout in that it shines a light on how stable tech companies actually happen to be. Personally, I am far more of a believer in "open-source" software than having the control of the operating systems in the hands of tech giants. Sadly, the "digital revolution" kept the monopolies and made more of them instead of having a diversified economy.

And while I like Ubuntu/Linux far more than "legacy" OSs, I now use Apple. But Apple is like the drug dealer which offers you a taste to get you hooked. Sadly, they take over your system. Apple wants to control my music. They now also want me to use their cloud.

The problem is that I want control of my data, not to give it to some faceless corporation which does whatever it wants with that data. Amazon is far more sinister than you realise, as is Facebook. These companies use of data has put them into conflict with the European Commission. Margarethe Vestager's attitude to the tech giants has put her indirect conflict with the US and China.

The US is looking into regulating big tech, but like most everything else in US politics, the action is too little way too late. Maybe the blackout at Facebook will shine a light on this problem.

Meet The Man Behind Cambridge Analytica, Who Made Trump President

And guess what? HE'S NOT RUSSIAN!

Meet Robert Mercer.

As I keep saying, it's easier to blame Russia than to examine US politics and address its serious internal problems.

RUSSIANS!

Is that like saying "squirrel" to my dogs?

Ever notice that the conversation turns to Russia when any scrutiny is placed on the US factors in the 2016 Election? Especially in the US media, which happens to be fairly incestuous due to media consolidation.

OK, there were some Russians working for Cambridge Analytica, but it is beginning to look like Facebook may be more at issue here. The Guardian has been doing a series on Cambridge Analytica and the Facebook "hack". This is turning out to be like the Democratic e-mail "hack" which was probably more of a leak than a hack.

The real culpability here is with Facebook rather than the Russians, which is pretty much the case with any Russian involvement I've seen.  Unless Russians have managed to infiltrate the US to an extent that would make Ol' Joe McCarthy look askance at the numbers.

Anyway, I turn off when people try to blame the Russians for a situation which is obviously home grown. It's a waste of time to fixate on them when there are easy fixes to the system, but they won't be addressed since the people who run the system are benefiting by this.

As the chief executive of Cambridge Analytica, Alexander Nix, said:“It sounds a dreadful thing to say, but these are things that don’t necessarily need to be true as long as they’re believed.”


Let's start with the electoral college, but that is only one a a few problems that need fixing here.
See also:

• Brenda the Civil Disobedience Penguin on Cambridge Analytica: the real crime was getting caught from First Dog on the Moon