Backups: they are always in season and never go out of style.
It’s always a question of “when” not “if” your computer will fail.
Tag: computing
Agents of our own destruction
A great video describing humanity’s most likely self-inflicted existential threats:
In case you were wondering…
Tim Cook never responded to my email. Not that I actually expected him to. Why would anybody at Apple care what I (or anyone else) think?
The Sad State of Macintosh Hardware
I originally sent this to a good friend who, like me, is a Mac user. Then I sent this to Tim Cook at Apple. And I have decided to post it here as well…
If you are a Mac user, you should definitely read the linked commentary.
Great commentary by a long-time Mac software developer:
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Additional thoughts:
A couple weeks ago, when the last macOS software update left my computer (and many, many others) unbootable and I wasn’t sure at first if something major had died hardware-wise, as I pondered possible replacement scenarios I came to the conclusion that my machine dying might be a long-term blessing by almost forcing me to ditch Apple hardware. I could have gone the Hackintosh route (using off-the-shelf hardware) or could have just switched to Linux (with a huge range of options for hardware). I know such a switch is not the right thing for everyone, I don’t need to use Adobe CC for instance, but I feel Apple is so focused on squeezing money out of music streaming and watch sales, they have forgotten how they got to where they are. I no longer feel any loyalty to them as I see they have little if any interest in their computer customers.
I love my Mac Pro, though it has a limitation or two, and I am glad it is working well again. But I have it set up to dual-boot with Ubuntu Linux, keep that software up to date daily, and continue to explore the software that is available for that platform. If something happens, I will be ready to walk away for good.
Your voice assistant is very easily hacked.
Using frequencies you cannot hear, but heard by Siri, Cortana, Google Assistant, and Alexa (to name some), your assistants can be controlled by others. Those taking control of your device this way can load malware, load malicious web pages, call telephone numbers, and more.
There is not, as yet, a fix for this. But you should be aware of the problem.
Goodbye Opera Browser.
The Opera web browser has been sold to a Chinese company, which means it is now controlled by the Chinese government. So, I have taken the logical step of deleting the Opera browser from my system.
Thinking aloud. 