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steve2470
steve2470's Journal
steve2470's Journal
June 27, 2021
Here is a link on compatibility by Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/windows-11/
There's been a lot of discussion about MS forcing Windows 11 users to have a TPM 2.0 chip on their motherboard. If your PC is recent, you will probably have this chip, which you can access and turn on via your BIOS/UEFI menu. If your PC is more than 7 years old, your motherboard might not have this TPM 2.0 chip.
How to see if you have the TPM 2.0 motherboard chip: First, go into your BIOS/UEFI and make sure to activate it. AMD motherboards call it "AMD PSP fTPM" and Intel motherboards call it ""Intel PTT", per David Weston, Microsoft Director of Enterprise and OS Security.
Also, do this: 1- Click Start button; 2- Click Run; 3- type tpm.msc into the run dialogue and click OK; 4- You will then see a big page with the TPM information. Scroll down to "TPM Manufacturer Information". Specification Version should say 2.0.
To make things very simple, MS put out a downloadable tool called PC Health Check. I have seen reports that this app is bugged. Another simple tool to use is called WhyNotWin11.
If your TPM 2.0 chip is not activated in the BIOS/UEFI, you will get an incompatible response.
Also, if you have Secure Boot disabled in the BIOS/UEFI, you will also get an incompatible response.
To reiterate: IF YOU DO NOT WANT WINDOWS 11, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE IT!
If you still want Windows 11 (available later in 2021 unless you are in Windows Insider program) and have questions/problems, feel free to reply to this post.
A polite request from the CHaS Host (me): If you hate Windows and/or Microsoft, please do not post to this thread. This thread is really for people who might wish to change to Windows 11. Thank you for your cooperation in advance!
Steve
eta:
Per John Cable of Microsoft:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-lifecycle-and-servicing-update/ba-p/2493043
Stated another way, if you do not ACTIVELY SEEK to update your computer to Windows 11 from Windows 10, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE WINDOWS 11. So, you can rest easy that, at least for now, MS will not "force" Windows 11 upon you. Also, if your computer does not meet their hardware requirements (still confused at this point), you will not even be eligible to receive it.
Can your computer run Windows 11 ?
Note: Before anyone responds to this post, if you do NOT want to use Windows 11, you do NOT have to. My understanding is Windows 10 will be supported through 2025, at least for security bugs. If you are offered Windows 11 via the Update page, just refuse it and only accept the security updates. If you are a Linux or Mac devotee, feel free to ignore this entire post
Here is a link on compatibility by Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/windows-11/
There's been a lot of discussion about MS forcing Windows 11 users to have a TPM 2.0 chip on their motherboard. If your PC is recent, you will probably have this chip, which you can access and turn on via your BIOS/UEFI menu. If your PC is more than 7 years old, your motherboard might not have this TPM 2.0 chip.
How to see if you have the TPM 2.0 motherboard chip: First, go into your BIOS/UEFI and make sure to activate it. AMD motherboards call it "AMD PSP fTPM" and Intel motherboards call it ""Intel PTT", per David Weston, Microsoft Director of Enterprise and OS Security.
Also, do this: 1- Click Start button; 2- Click Run; 3- type tpm.msc into the run dialogue and click OK; 4- You will then see a big page with the TPM information. Scroll down to "TPM Manufacturer Information". Specification Version should say 2.0.
To make things very simple, MS put out a downloadable tool called PC Health Check. I have seen reports that this app is bugged. Another simple tool to use is called WhyNotWin11.
If your TPM 2.0 chip is not activated in the BIOS/UEFI, you will get an incompatible response.
Also, if you have Secure Boot disabled in the BIOS/UEFI, you will also get an incompatible response.
To reiterate: IF YOU DO NOT WANT WINDOWS 11, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE IT!
If you still want Windows 11 (available later in 2021 unless you are in Windows Insider program) and have questions/problems, feel free to reply to this post.
A polite request from the CHaS Host (me): If you hate Windows and/or Microsoft, please do not post to this thread. This thread is really for people who might wish to change to Windows 11. Thank you for your cooperation in advance!
Steve
eta:
Per John Cable of Microsoft:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/windows-lifecycle-and-servicing-update/ba-p/2493043
The feature update process for Windows 10 to Windows 11 will be a user-initiated ‘seeker’ process to choose to update to Windows 11. For users who are not eligible for Windows 11 due to the hardware requirements, the seeking experience will not be available.
Stated another way, if you do not ACTIVELY SEEK to update your computer to Windows 11 from Windows 10, YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE WINDOWS 11. So, you can rest easy that, at least for now, MS will not "force" Windows 11 upon you. Also, if your computer does not meet their hardware requirements (still confused at this point), you will not even be eligible to receive it.
June 27, 2021
https://www.reviewgeek.com/89441/listen-to-the-sounds-of-classic-tech-at-the-museum-of-endangered-sounds/
?width=1200
Listen to the Sounds of Classic Tech at The Museum of Endangered Sounds
http://savethesounds.info/https://www.reviewgeek.com/89441/listen-to-the-sounds-of-classic-tech-at-the-museum-of-endangered-sounds/
?width=1200
Are you missing the golden sounds of yesteryear? Do you keep waking up in the middle of the night lamenting that today’s youth will never know the sounds of dial-up internet? Fret no more, for The Museum of Endangered Sounds has indeed preserved these audio relics.
This fantastic site was created by Brendan Chilcutt in January 2021 as a college project. He insists that sounds like “the textured rattle and hum of a VHS tape being sucked into the womb of a 1983 JVC HR-7100 VCR,” “the symphonic startup of a Windows 95 machine,” and “the chattering of angels lodged deep within the recesses of an old cathode ray tube TV” are absolutely worth preserving so that future generations may remember them.
You can check out awesome retro hardware audio clips, like a payphone, a VCR rewinding, a Speak & Spell, a Dot Matrix printer, and an Olympus camera, on The Museum of Endangered Sounds. Of course, there are also classic video game sounds like a Tamagotchi, Pac-Man, a Nintendo cartridge, Tetris, and MindMaze.
Such a collection would also be incomplete without iconic sounds like movie countdowns, the Mac warning, AIM, TV snow, inserting a floppy disk, and cassette tape static. While the site could certainly stand to have a more robust collection (especially because it tends to focus on tech from the ‘80s and ‘90s), Chilcutt stated that these are his favorite old technology sounds. It’s also still a darn good catalog and a great starting point for anyone who has never heard them.
This fantastic site was created by Brendan Chilcutt in January 2021 as a college project. He insists that sounds like “the textured rattle and hum of a VHS tape being sucked into the womb of a 1983 JVC HR-7100 VCR,” “the symphonic startup of a Windows 95 machine,” and “the chattering of angels lodged deep within the recesses of an old cathode ray tube TV” are absolutely worth preserving so that future generations may remember them.
You can check out awesome retro hardware audio clips, like a payphone, a VCR rewinding, a Speak & Spell, a Dot Matrix printer, and an Olympus camera, on The Museum of Endangered Sounds. Of course, there are also classic video game sounds like a Tamagotchi, Pac-Man, a Nintendo cartridge, Tetris, and MindMaze.
Such a collection would also be incomplete without iconic sounds like movie countdowns, the Mac warning, AIM, TV snow, inserting a floppy disk, and cassette tape static. While the site could certainly stand to have a more robust collection (especially because it tends to focus on tech from the ‘80s and ‘90s), Chilcutt stated that these are his favorite old technology sounds. It’s also still a darn good catalog and a great starting point for anyone who has never heard them.
June 27, 2021
One wonders if Trump and/or his far right followers got any ideas from this horrible event.
August 29, 2020: Germany's far right attempts storming at the Reichstag Parliament building
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/25/world/europe/germany-nazi-far-right.htmlAug. 29, 2020: Far-right protesters attempt to storm the German Parliament
Hundreds of far-right activists waving the black, white and red flag of the pre-1918 German Empire broke through a police barrier and tried to force their way into the German Parliament building during a protest against Germany’s pandemic response.
It took only a few tense minutes before the police, soon aided by reinforcements, managed to push them back. But the events were an alarming escalation of pandemic protests that have grown steadily bigger and — on the fringes at least — angrier. The AfD has tried to exploit the pandemic in the same way it used the refugee crisis in 2015.
Hundreds of far-right activists waving the black, white and red flag of the pre-1918 German Empire broke through a police barrier and tried to force their way into the German Parliament building during a protest against Germany’s pandemic response.
It took only a few tense minutes before the police, soon aided by reinforcements, managed to push them back. But the events were an alarming escalation of pandemic protests that have grown steadily bigger and — on the fringes at least — angrier. The AfD has tried to exploit the pandemic in the same way it used the refugee crisis in 2015.
One wonders if Trump and/or his far right followers got any ideas from this horrible event.
June 24, 2021
Nazi analogy yet ? OAN news personality calls for the execution of "tens of thousands" of..."
OAN calls for the execution of “tens of thousands” of Americans who “stole” the 2020 election from Trump.
The execution part is at the very end.
https://twitter.com/aravosis/status/1408049366036844544
Traitors ? Based on the Big Trump Lie ? Execution for traitors....
This is really dangerous speech. This guy needs to be shouted down and shoved back under his rock. Hitler and Goebbels would be proud.
June 23, 2021
Aeroport Charles de Gaulle, a 6 hour layover, and a question, please.....
Hello all fellow DU travel lovers and aspirants,
Some of you know my love of travel. Next year, I will be transiting through Paris' Aéroport Charles de Gaulle as part of my trip. Sadly, I only have a 6 hour layover there. Yes, I could alter my plans to spend more time in Paris, but that would increase my overall costs (and I've already been to Paris twice).
Question: Given the security and logistical concerns of getting in and out of the airport there, is there any practical and comfortable way to have lunch outside that airport during the 6 hour layover ? I know security demands that you show up early (2 to 3 hours early in the USA, at least an hour early at Paris per another website).
The airport website is not a lot of help ( https://www.parisaeroport.fr/en/passengers/flight-preparation/your-trip/check-in ).
Lunch in Paris (outside of the airport) with my relatives an impossible dream this time ? Thank you so much for your help !
Steve
June 12, 2021
Need advice on using credit cards outside of the USA, fraud alerts...
Hello kind readers,
Some of you know that I love travel very much. In February 2022, I am doing another round-the-world trip (as in 1997) to South Korea, New Zealand, India, South Africa, and Colombia. I will be using some local currency, of course, but also my credit cards when I need to.
Question: I know the most important thing to do, is to call the bank/credit union and inform them exactly what you're doing, where you are going, and what you will be purchasing (as much as you can). Yesterday, I did just that. I called my credit union, went through all the airfares and hotel reservations I would be purchasing, and asked explicitly what else I could do to fend off the fraud department. An hour later, the fraud department demanded I call them. I was a tad frustrated.
My impression (perhaps faulty) is that American Express is the most friendly credit card to international travel and what you have to buy.
Any more advice ? I just don't want any problems or have to make any phone calls. Thank you in advance !
Steve
P.S. Yes, I am fully aware of COVID-19 issues. I will deal with those. Hopefully by February, the COVID-19 threat worldwide will be either dead or on its last legs.
June 9, 2021
To summarize from this lengthy article:
Now... who would have thought this former Austrian World War One corporal would be relevant and come to power LEGALLY in January 1933 ? Less than ten years later.
Caveat: Yes, yes, there are many differences between the 1923 Nazis and the 2021 Trumpublicans/white supremacists/QAnon gang. The biggest difference, of course, is that anti-semitism is not overt or a major issue for these people.
January 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. What's next ?
eta:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/feb25/hitler-becomes-german/#:~:text=3.0%20Germany%20license.-,On%20February%2025%2C%201932%2C%20Adolf%20Hitler%20became%20a%20citizen%20of,his%20Austrian%20citizenship%20in%201925.
A parallel: November 1923, Munich Germany, Beer Hall Putsch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Hall_PutschTo summarize from this lengthy article:
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,[1][note 1] was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Generalquartiermeister Erich Ludendorff and other Kampfbund leaders in Munich, Bavaria, on 8–9 November 1923, during the Weimar Republic. Approximately two thousand Nazis marched on the Feldherrnhalle, in the city centre, but were confronted by a police cordon, which resulted in the deaths of 16 Nazi Party members and four police officers.[2]
Hitler, who was wounded during the clash, escaped immediate arrest and was spirited off to safety in the countryside. After two days, he was arrested and charged with treason.[3]
The putsch brought Hitler to the attention of the German nation for the first time and generated front-page headlines in newspapers around the world. His arrest was followed by a 24-day trial, which was widely publicised and gave him a platform to express his nationalist sentiments to the nation. Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison,[note 2] where he dictated Mein Kampf to fellow prisoners Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess. On 20 December 1924, having served only nine months, Hitler was released.[4][5] Once released, Hitler redirected his focus towards obtaining power through legal means rather than by revolution or force, and accordingly changed his tactics, further developing Nazi propaganda.[6]
Hitler, who was wounded during the clash, escaped immediate arrest and was spirited off to safety in the countryside. After two days, he was arrested and charged with treason.[3]
The putsch brought Hitler to the attention of the German nation for the first time and generated front-page headlines in newspapers around the world. His arrest was followed by a 24-day trial, which was widely publicised and gave him a platform to express his nationalist sentiments to the nation. Hitler was found guilty of treason and sentenced to five years in Landsberg Prison,[note 2] where he dictated Mein Kampf to fellow prisoners Emil Maurice and Rudolf Hess. On 20 December 1924, having served only nine months, Hitler was released.[4][5] Once released, Hitler redirected his focus towards obtaining power through legal means rather than by revolution or force, and accordingly changed his tactics, further developing Nazi propaganda.[6]
Now... who would have thought this former Austrian World War One corporal would be relevant and come to power LEGALLY in January 1933 ? Less than ten years later.
Caveat: Yes, yes, there are many differences between the 1923 Nazis and the 2021 Trumpublicans/white supremacists/QAnon gang. The biggest difference, of course, is that anti-semitism is not overt or a major issue for these people.
January 2021 insurrection at the Capitol. What's next ?
eta:
On February 25, 1932, Adolf Hitler became a citizen of Germany. Hitler, who was born in Austria, had immigrated to Germany in 1913, and renounced his Austrian citizenship in 1925. After years of being stateless, a fellow member of the Nazi Party appointed Hitler to a low-level government job that came with automatic citizenship.
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/feb25/hitler-becomes-german/#:~:text=3.0%20Germany%20license.-,On%20February%2025%2C%201932%2C%20Adolf%20Hitler%20became%20a%20citizen%20of,his%20Austrian%20citizenship%20in%201925.
June 9, 2021
It is 6 years old but it seems extremely relevant to 2021's issues.
Good long article to rebut anti-vaccination arguments
https://thelogicofscience.com/2015/10/12/100-bad-arguments-against-vaccines/It is 6 years old but it seems extremely relevant to 2021's issues.
June 8, 2021
This lady tells it like it is, about the fight for democracy
https://twitter.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1402078244916977664
June 7, 2021
Both DeSantis supporters and Glenn Greenwald are happy about it. F**** DeSantis and Greenwald.
Rebekah Jones (former DoH whistleblower) suspended off Twitter for "platform manipulation and spam"
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-rebekah-jones-twitter-suspended-20210607-xrnoahhqhjhkhfz7yk2e3zx23u-story.htmlRebekah Jones — one of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ most vocal internet critics — has been suspended from Twitter.
The social media platform has not provided a public explanation for its action, but a screenshot of Twitter’s notification to Jones cites “platform manipulation and spam.” Jones said her account was flagged for spam because she was “overzealous” in sharing a Miami Herald article.
“I am appealing it now,” she said Monday. “I shouldn’t be locked out for long.”
Jones, a former Department of Health data manager fired for alleged insubordination, emerged as a political lightning rod as COVID-19 cases spiked in Florida last year.
Supporters see her as a whistleblower speaking truth to power and exposing an effort by the state to paint a rosier picture of the pandemic. Her detractors say she has peddled disinformation for her own financial benefit, unfairly casting doubt on the reliability of Florida’s COVID-19 statistics.
The social media platform has not provided a public explanation for its action, but a screenshot of Twitter’s notification to Jones cites “platform manipulation and spam.” Jones said her account was flagged for spam because she was “overzealous” in sharing a Miami Herald article.
“I am appealing it now,” she said Monday. “I shouldn’t be locked out for long.”
Jones, a former Department of Health data manager fired for alleged insubordination, emerged as a political lightning rod as COVID-19 cases spiked in Florida last year.
Supporters see her as a whistleblower speaking truth to power and exposing an effort by the state to paint a rosier picture of the pandemic. Her detractors say she has peddled disinformation for her own financial benefit, unfairly casting doubt on the reliability of Florida’s COVID-19 statistics.
Both DeSantis supporters and Glenn Greenwald are happy about it. F**** DeSantis and Greenwald.
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