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Wordle 1,075 5/6
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Ok, I have had my coffee, so you can all come out now!
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So my wife is out looking for patterns - she's a crafter - and has managed to pick up a rather insidious ad dohicky that pops up, claims the end of the world, you need McAffeee (really?), etc. Call this number. In doing my research, I came across this gem on the Microsoft "community" forums:
"Edge can now run in the background due to a new feature, you may wish to turn this off."
Are you elephanting kidding me? Turning this off fixed the issue, but wow. Microsoft, take Edge and stick it where the sun don't shine.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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I've learned more. More info to come. Microsoft blows. 4.5 weeks.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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wow, turns out those Microsoft peckerheads have embedded Edge as sort of a default user interface. I've come across postings on support where Edge runs in the background by default. I suspect it is how they push their ad bs to the desktop. So, if your desktop gets hijacked, and you are getting popups demanding you install mcafee, it's because Edge is running in the background. Another example of Microsoft nonsense about security and what not.
I run professional and I f'ing refuse to create a network account so that "all of my devices" are in sync. Hell no. Windows 11 Home makes it hard to do this, Pro is a little better. This weekend's task is to switch SWMBO back to a local account and replace office 365. Doing a quick google search for "how to switch a windows 11 home laptop back to local login" the second result is "Change from a local account to a Microsoft account" 
Consider this a PSA. By the end of the summer, I'll be all unix unless someone tosses me a basket full of cash.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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I'm not sure I'm getting the full picture.
Edge can run as a background task even though you might not have launched it yourself. Ok, given how pervasive browsers are nowadays, I can't say I'm surprised. Even back in 1997, Gates himself was claiming in front of a judge that it was impossible to remove IE from Windows.
Every McAfee ad I've ever seen (and there's been plenty) was hosted on some web page, but I've never seen a standalone ad for it (if that's what you're describing). Or could that system have come with the typical McAfee 60-day trial, after which time it becomes even more of an annoyance. And if that's the case, then that's even worse than some browser-hosted pop-up ad, as this means McAfee has an actual EXE running on that system (and running with full admin rights, as AVs do).
And I'm not sure where a local account vs a Microsoft account comes into play or might fix anything.
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A couple of thoughts, first:
"And I'm not sure where a local account vs a Microsoft account comes into play or might fix anything."
Correct, I was ranting. I don't like Apple syncing everywhere, but I sure as hell don't want MS doing it. Moving on, it's clear to me that there is a mission for MS to integrate - not the browser, not the apps, but the entire the computer into the AI and browser bs. Of course, you agreed to this when your computer force rebooted with the last update.
Pay attention now - because of MS changes, adware can hijack your task bar. Ponder that. MS has canned responses on their support comments saying this is all okay, blah blah blah. Edge now runs in the background without your knowing consent. You can turn it off, but these assholes have not learned anything in the last few decades. Remember, the talking heads gave us forced reboots and BS answers about Windows 11 being more secure. Utter BS.
Decades ago, you could never get a virus from reading email - unless you clicked/downloaded/ran an attachment. Then MS released an update to Outlook Express that "helped users have a more interactive and entertaining environment." Now we're back to this again? Really?
I'd argue that MS as well as an app maker that phones home needs to be held liable, no exceptions. I'll go get my beer and popcorn.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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charlieg wrote: Pay attention now - because of MS changes, adware can hijack your task bar. Ponder that.
Well that's gotta be the key phrase right here. I've used Windows 11 on VMs for 3-4 minutes at a time, here and there, but I don't have a system I use all the time running 11, so I can't speak for what you're describing.
If MS is intentionally letting adware hijack your task bar...then, well, I don't know what "hijacking the taskbar" means (or entails), but it sounds bad.
The syncing, I can live with, and I've found it to be useful in some instances. But so far that's been limited to my browser, and at least I know I get to decide when I'm logging into it, and what profile to use.
Are you really gonna dredge up Outlook Express, which went out of support, what, a decade ago? How are we "back to this again"?
I'm not going out of my way to disagree here, I'm just trying to understand where you're coming from. Most rants against MS are justified, and very well so. I know I've posted my share...
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I agree on the syncing - meh - it just irritates me. However, it represents an ever more invasive approach that Microsoft has been aggressively pursuing. Worse, Microsoft is - by design - opening up your desktop to more and more "advertising". Most of my machines are Windows 10 Pro- VMs included. I have one Windows 11 Pro laptop, but my wife and other family members are using Windows 11 home, and it just simply sucks. Invite the Windows 11 manager to a meeting, and I'll happily kick him or her in the balls and leave them hanging over their shoulders. Ask me how I really feel.
A browser - due it's nature - has NO elephanting excuse being a core part of the "operating system." That's utter bull$hit, and we all know it. If this is Microsoft's opinion and position, there should be thousands of heads exploding in any organization or government that uses Windows whatever. Microsoft sold all of their Windows 11 bs on security. Then they launch Edge in the background that latched onto adware that even if a user never deliberately stated edge still got "scary" popups? I have in-laws in their 80s. I have told them - do not click - call me. It makes me wonder if maybe MS is making money off the spammers?
Outlook Express represents deliberate and incredibly stupid changes by Microsoft in email. By allowing an email - when you open it - to actually do stuff on your computer or dial home resulted in HUGE virus infections. Up until that time, no one ever got a virus from reading an email. PERIOD. Now, 20+ years later, we have edge running in the background. If I wrote code like this, I would be sued out of existence.
Now, this same stupid $hit is coming back. Edge now runs in the background when 11 boots (don't know about 10). Microsoft has stated this on their support forums.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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charlieg wrote: However, it represents an ever more invasive approach that Microsoft has been aggressively pursuing.
Nailed it. It's the pervasive invasiveness that stinks to high hell. I swear it is one of the reasons I'm in no rush to move any of my systems to 11. It might otherwise be a fine operating system. Windows 12 being promised to be all about AI sounds even less appealing to me.
charlieg wrote: A browser - due it's nature - has NO elephanting excuse being a core part of the "operating system." That's utter bull$hit, and we all know it.
It was BS when MS was dragged through the courts for it nearly 30 years ago, but I'm afraid nowadays The Powers That Be(tm) have come around and are actually embracing what was MS's position back then. In other words, it's not only Microsoft.
I mean, not to defend them, I hate this as much as you do, but the reality is, is anything designed nowadays to even function offline? Browsers are an integral part of any OS, no matter how much you and I might despise the idea.
What "every day OS" ships without a browser in 2024? Embedded OSes, server OSes that only have command-line environments, but those aren't the general-purpose systems people use for their daily tasks. ChromeOS is an abomination of computer science from my perspective: The way it's being pushed is, if Google had its way, there would be no such thing as an OS, and the only thing you'd be interacting with (all the time) is the browser and whatever browser apps are exposed through it. Are you about to run out of disk space? No matter, it all goes online. How much RAM does it have? Don't worry your pretty little head, those are archaic concepts relegated to the history books. Stop thinking about it in those terms, boomer.
It's infuriating. All part of the dumbing down of everything, where everybody's expected to just be a happy little consumer and nothing more.
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I'm pretty sure lots of Windows things used to depend on Internet Explorer. Nothing new under the MS sun.
There are no solutions, only trade-offs. - Thomas Sowell
A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.
- Calvin (Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes)
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they tried this a long long time ago, and the United States Government - that I don't really care for - called BS on it. Years later, we're back to this BS?
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Similar to what i mentioned a few days ago.
I get this message 'Edge is using your webcam', this is with Egde not even being opened.
Makes me feel whether Edge is sending these webcam images to some server, for further use as image dataset for AI.
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going to go find my blue tape. I've never seen a message like that but holy f**k batman comes to mind.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Interesting exercise (best on a VM):
Install Chrome/Vivaldi and make it the default browser.
Then open File Explorer and go to: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application and rename msedge.exe (I named it msedge.exe.FO)
See what works and what doesn't. 
>64
It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
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In July.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Last time I tried something like that (it wasn't Edge but I had the same idea), some Windows monitoring component undid that after a while, if not the next reboot.
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funny, and that tells you all you need to know. Why do I find my life looking like I am in conflict with the Borg? I refuse to be assimilated 
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Well, I do see some good in that.
I wouldn't want some random process to easily be able to change an EXE or DLL somewhere in the Windows folder hierarchy.
The Program Files folder becoming locked down through ACLs was a painful change at first, but it makes sense to prevent apps from writing data files to those folders.
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I'm not sure what "good" you are referring too- being assimilated by the borg or locking down the Programs Folder?
Seriously, your point is valid. I guess what galls me is MS pulling this stuff again. I guess the first group that lost the battle with IE being "an integral part of the operating system" nonsense has moved on.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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charlieg wrote: locking down the Programs Folder?
You don't agree locking down the Program Files folder is a good idea? This is where you put your binaries (things that don't change). The data belongs elsewhere. The Unix guys had figured that out long before Microsoft.
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No, your point is valid, I was just laughing your first comment - borg or MS. All good.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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Is it just me or is it time developers stopped adding those annoying GOT IT? popups everywhere. You're trying to use an app you've used a million times. You open it up, start diving in and..
Did you know you can change
the colour of the menu bar
to a slightly lighter shade of
purple!?!
[ Got it ]
And you can't do anything until you click "Got it". And then another pops up telling you that you can announce you can connect your spreadsheets to your social media account, and you can get notifications you don't want. And that they changed the menus to third-person plural.
I don't care, and you're stopping me from using the thing I'm paying for. And none of this is even vaguely important enough to stop me from doing anything until I acknowledge you.
Has anyone implemented these types of announcements, and if so, has there been a case where, in all honesty, it's important enough that someone acknowledges before they can do anything?
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Is there a hidden option to have the app not show these "helpful" tips?
/ravi
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