ptz

I mean, at least get your news from the radio in Grand Theft Auto /s

Note: Tagged "general" because the fediverse is disproportionately in favor of Linux/FOSS.

In the past, I wouldn't hold this opinion, but as Windows has become increasingly dumbed down and clouded up, it's become something of a sore spot to deal with Windows folks.

If something goes wrong and you ask a Windows admin for logs? Good luck. In all fairness, Windows logging is pretty terrible if the software uses the Event logger. Still, pulling logs or checking for obvious issues along those lines is a foreign concept to 90+% of them. Their first action is to reboot. If that doesn't fix it, go crying to the vendor.

I liken them to "button pushers" who don't know or care how the button works, why the button works, etc. Is it possible, or even likely, that Windows creates more clueless badmins by sheer size of their market share? Absolutely. But the real problem is that few of them seem intent to actually learn what's going on under the hood, how, or why. By and large, they care only that when they click "this" button, "that" happens.

The crux of it can basically be summarized from two paragraphs:

The reason for the resurgence of ad sales appears to be tied to Musk’s prominent position in the Trump administration—a fact that can really cut both ways for companies. On one hand, the Trump administration has always come off as quite transactional, so if you put some money in the right coffers, you just might gain some benefit. On the other hand, it can be severely vindictive (particularly Musk, who seems to cast aside anyone over the slightest criticism) and unafraid to use its levers of power to punish.

...

It’s difficult attribute the uptick in ad spends to anything other than favor trading. It’s not as though platform has gotten better since advertisers first started boycotting it. A recent study published in PLOS One found that hate speech increased by 50% following Musk’s takeover, with no meaningful reduction in bots or other inauthentic accounts that Musk once railed against as the platform’s biggest problem. Meanwhile, the site is losing users, seeing activity drop 22% since Election Day while rivals Threads and Bluesky have seen a jump in activity.

I had one of these! And I had completely forgotten it ever existed until I saw this article. I lived in the boonies, so reception was terrible, though it was really cool when it worked.

Like the contributor, I also took mine apart when it stopped working. Unlike the contributor, I probably stand no chance of ever putting it back together (assuming I still had it).

The first nag was on the google.com/chrome download page. Edge/Windows injects a toast message in the corner nagging you that "We're the same as Chrome, but you can trust us!" The only button takes you out of the Chrome download page while they play "Hide the close button" in the system dialog.

"With the added trust of Microsoft". Oh, fuck off! I'm not using Microsoft anything because I want to let alone because I trust them. In this case, it's because the shitty software vendor only develops for Windows. And in other people's cases, it's because it's the OS that came with the PC or corporate IT mandates it.

Edge's whole fucking shtick is "AI Powered Browser" which, by it's very fucking nature, sucks up every bit of information it can and feeds it back to the mothership. That's on top of the default Edge experience assaulting your senses with every fucking thing in the world crammed onto the new tab page. The default new tab page looks like what your grandma's computer in the mid 2010s looked like when it was infested with every adware/toolbar ever made.

The second nag was when you go to set anything but Edge as the default browser. The action you went there to perform demoted to a tiny secondary link.

Just goes to show: if you can't compete and provide something people want, just abuse your position to trick people into sticking with your garbage.

Note: I'm not defending Chrome here, but it's a hell of a lot less shitty than Edge and is the only other approved browser in my org.

Boeing is seeking to withdraw an earlier agreement to plead guilty in a long-running criminal case that blamed the company for deceiving regulators before two deadly crashes of 737 MAX jets, WSJ is reporting, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report:

The aerospace giant is seeking more lenient treatment from the Justice Department, which under the Trump administration is reviewing numerous pending criminal cases that haven't yet gone to trial or been approved by courts. Boeing nearly sealed its fate last year, agreeing in July to plead guilty to defrauding the Federal Aviation Administration. But a federal judge in Texas rejected the proposed deal in December, pushing the resolution beyond the Biden administration.

Now Boeing stands to benefit from fresh eyes at Trump's Justice Department, which is inclined to at least modify parts of the agreement, some of the people said. Allowing Boeing to rescind its plea agreement, or lightening the company's punishment, would mark one of the most prominent examples of the Trump administration's lighter-touch approach to some white-collar enforcement. There were 346 people killed in the two 737 MAX crashes, in 2018 and 2019. The two sides are still negotiating how to propose changes to the deal, expected by April 11, to U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor, who oversees the case. One possible change under discussion: whether Boeing can forgo hiring an outside monitor to ensure its compliance with the law, the people said.

Shoutout to Mr. and Mrs. "E" for their upstairs and downstairs VCRs always set to the correct time.

Related Question: What is the 2025 equivalent to this?

Cross-posted from "There is a mysterious black slime in Venezuela called "La Mancha Negra"" by @The_[email protected] in [email protected]

Wikipedia link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Mancha_Negra

He's not dead but probably isn't coming back, either. If he does, he better have a second stomach full of latinum.