The establishment wants me to upgrade

[moonshadow]

So I open my web browser the other day and I see that Chrome is no longer going to keep Vista users updated.

Now I know... I know... Vista is this millenniums version of Windows ME... the joke of the operating system world, but it's what I've been using for years now, and you know what? It works. I haven't purchased a new computer in so long now if I were to do so, I'd have to learn how to compute all over again, since apparently modern operating system's are nothing like they were back in the "day".

I have a friend who teases me on occasion that I'm turning into a computer dinosaur. Most of my favorite software was written in the late 90's, and I still use it. I miss my after dark screen savers though. I'd love to have those back. Yeah... Carl's right. Modern computers seem like nothing more than glorified telephones. Made for communication and placing orders to buy stuff. I miss having buttons to push and features to explore.

I think the government collaborates with operating system designers to unleash bugs and viruses into the internet to force one's hand into an upgrade. I'm not saying I believe they are responsible for ALL viruses on the net, but I do think they do have it within their power to kill old systems to force you into a new purchase. I think they do the same thing with cell phones. I've had too many phones die with mysterious software "crashes".... take it in to the cell phone place and they say... "well it can't be fixed, but we'll be happy to set you up with this NEW state of the art cell phone for only $100 and a new 2 year agreement.... just sign here, here, here, and here!"

And I'm like "really?" Rotary phone's from the 70's are still working and you mean to tell me that this "state of the art" piece of human ingenuity barely last two years?

So now, in the coming years, very soon in fact, I expect all of my "modern" software to start shutting down, my computer will become infected eventually, and I'll have to break down and buy a new computer. Warning Microsoft: You're operating system is so different now, I feel I will have to relearn it from the ground up... I'm debating on switching over to a Mac. Since either way I'm pretty sure NONE of my old favorite programs will work on either anyway.

In the mean time however, I did a search on the Chrome situation and found out that some browsers are still going to be updated. Among those in the list was "Lunascape".

Lunascape? What's this? A celestial web browser? Moon Shadow? Luna? Starry nights? I must know more! So I checked it out, and downloaded it. It's got lots of bells and whistles, and lots of old fashioned buttons for me to push. This is about my third or fourth session using it. Seems pretty nice. Flickr doesn't seem to like it. I changed it over to the "Gecko" engine and Flickr piped down. Still have yet to try a photo upload. I can't believe it's been out since 2001 and I've never heard of it. Nobody seems to know about it. Kinda like me I guess.... odd and unpopular.

But I like it... it kinda has a sort of "late 90's" feel to it that I dig. Gonna run with it for a while.

Take that "establishment"! Once again, Luna saves the day! Here's to the underdogs!

[crfriend]

So I open my web browser the other day and I see that Chrome is no longer going to keep Vista users updated.

Welcome to the Brave New World.

Modern computers seem like nothing more than glorified telephones. Made for communication and placing orders to buy stuff. I miss having buttons to push and features to explore.

Computers are nothing like what they were in the past where one did interesting things with numbers and symbols, sometimes for work and profit, and sometimes for the simple sheer joy of it. Computers of today serve merely as tools to get things done -- word-processing, spreadsheets, and, most importantly, communications (which has come to ultimately mean "buying things online"). No longer is the machine a general-purpose device which the owner was expected to understand and create applications for.

I'm one of those oddballs -- an anomaly -- who actually practises what he preaches. Most of my computers are old enough to vote (and may have more intelligence than some of the voters today), and it's on those that all of my "heavy-lifting" gets done. All of the work that requires creativity, art, or deep thought happens using machines from the mid 1990s or older. Why? They do what I tell them to; they follow my instructions to the letter -- to the fault -- and that's what I demand of my machines. This means I use a keyboard -- and less frequently a mouse. I use text-based displays. not all-singing all-dancing web-browsers. I write -- and debug -- programs. The vast majority of computer users (the leading "ell" on that is silent) wouldn't know how to write a program if their lives depended on it -- nor how to diagnose a problem in a complex system; that was lost when "computers" became a commodity item.

I think the government collaborates with operating system designers to unleash bugs and viruses into the internet to force one's hand into an upgrade. I'm not saying I believe they are responsible for ALL viruses on the net, but I do think they do have it within their power to kill old systems to force you into a new purchase. I think they do the same thing with cell phones.

This isn't the government at work, this is the monopoly-level telephone companies (soon, likely, to be a single company again as AT&T in the 1970s); the government already has what it needs -- blanket access to all of one's online data, and if you think encrypting it is any cure you're deluding yourself. The day that the NSA backed away from the move to outlaw strong encryption for the citizenry was the day I realised that they'd cracked it, or slipped a subtle "flaw" into the source-stream (likely in the area of random-number generation and manipulation) yielding a back-door. The government doesn't give a whit whether you use something manufactured yesterday or something built 20 years ago (or more; I have running examples that are >40 years old). The problem is down to quality and longevity: devices made today are disposables in the truest sense of the word -- the battery dies, throw the device away and buy a new one. The notion of serviceability is as dead as the notion of owner-as-programmer.

So now, in the coming years, very soon in fact, I expect all of my "modern" software to start shutting down, my computer will become infected eventually, and I'll have to break down and buy a new computer. Warning Microsoft: You're operating system is so different now, I feel I will have to relearn it from the ground up... I'm debating on switching over to a Mac. Since either way I'm pretty sure NONE of my old favorite programs will work on either anyway.

Get a Mac if you want one, they get the same viruses as the Windows machines because they run atop the same processor. They're built to the same shoddy standards as well because all the machines commonly available today are sourced from China (and heaven knows how many back-doors are in those) and are intended to be throwaways.

Don't think that there's all that much truly new in the Windows ecosystem either. The kernel is the next generation of DEC's VMS operating system which debuted in 1977 with the VAX and remains a rock-solid performer -- and is still maintained -- today. What's changed is the user interface -- and that's what people fight with. Fighting with the kernel itself on the part of users is a very long way in the past, indeed.

I'll stick with my niche-level CPU architectures for as long as I can: read "for as long as I can scavenge parts", because parts haven't been made in 20+ years for a lot of the systems I have and 30-40+ years for the really elder ones. Just try finding a parallel-interface SCSI disk today. Good bloody luck.

So, it's not the gummint; we did this to ourselves by becoming complacent, and by allowing people who really should never be allowed in the same room as a computer "use" them. We cheapened the entire endeavour to the point where it's gotten today, which is an unsustainable drain that produces massive profits for the companies that push them, and massive amounts of electronic waste -- some of if frighteningly toxic in its component parts -- which we still cannot get a handle on.

The tragedy is what happens when people who used to be real hot-shots with the technology give up and become (l)users. I smelled a rat the day that my ex started making all sorts of demands on me to fix her Windows box on a regular basis -- this from a woman who used to be able to resurrect corrupt file-systems and databases by looking at binary patterns on disks and flipping bits. This is the sort of stuff that breaks the heart.

Computers have gone from where they were well-understood devices by the folks who interacted with them to becoming magic. Magic is fine -- up until it stops working -- and I've gotten in trouble for comments like that in the past, mainly from corporate incompetents who do not understand the technology they're working with and don't like to be reminded of the fact. I'll wear that grief proudly, and that's one of the reasons why I stay immersed in the innards of The Machine.

[Judah14]

This is one reason why I use GNU/Linux, and here are several reasons why you should use it. You will not be forced to upgrade even though you are running old software. I avoid stuff from Microsoft completely as there are many reasons to avoid them and use free and open source software instead.

[moonshadow]

The problem is down to quality and longevity: devices made today are disposables in the truest sense of the word -- the battery dies, throw the device away and buy a new one. The notion of serviceability is as dead as the notion of owner-as-programmer.

That's one big reason I don't want a new cell phone. The word is, you can't get a smart phone with a removable battery anymore. I know how you feel about smart phones, but understand my work requires it. Believe me, when I retire at the ripe old age of 130 (the accepted retirement age of those in my generation) I plan to throw what ever communication devises I have left out in the garbage.

Fashion freedom for men may be slowly on its way upward... but we've sacrificed so much in other area's since the 1960's. Yes gone are the days of the TV repair main, household appliances like washers, dryers and electric ranges are getting more and more disposable. Soon they won't be serviceable any longer. I feel in my field of commercial cooking equipment, the two major producers of such equipment seem to be the U.S. and various European countries, particularly Germany and Holland, which keeps their manufacturing cost somewhat high (a commercial chicken fryer can cost up to $15,000).

Sometimes I feel I'm seeing in my field TODAY what you were seeing in yours Carl two, maybe three decades ago. That being, that it seems like everybody and their brother is opening a restaurant or a coffee shop these days. That means higher demand for commercial cooking appliances, and that means that it's about to step into the realm of "mass production", similar to computers and television sets. I'm starting to see a few equipment pieces trickle in from China. And yes, those pieces are so inexpensive in general that the cost to repair generally out weights the cost of replacement, even with in house maintenance. China doesn't do things onzie twozie... they are a mass production nation.

It's a brave new world out there, where money talks, and that other stuff... walks. And everybody bows to the All mighty dollar.

As for me, I don't know much about the innards of computers. In fact, I can't say as that I know much about anything. But... I do know how to unplug now and then. That's why I like Nature so much. No matter what is going on in the world, a tree is still a tree, and the stars are still out there, even if we can't see them half the time through the pollution. But they are still there. Some may like to do this or do that on a Saturday night... as for me, I could sit and stare at this forever and never get bored...

Night Sky of Draper Mountain Overlook by Moon Shadow, on Flickr

An expert? I am not. But I've traveled the universe and beyond in my mind. It's the one thing they can't take. But they are trying... with all these new drugs that cause brain disease.

One nice thing about technology is it made this camera somewhat affordable. I do enjoy using it. It's a nice hobby. My co-worker friend one upped me and purchased the next model line up. One of the features he boasted about was it's "wi-fi" enabled, allowing him to transfer his photo's online to his computer on the fly.

I fired back.... "just what I need, and internet camera to download a virus, and I'll have to throw it away too because nobody will know how to fix it".

Nah.... I'll stick with this camera... like my 8 year old computer, and my old standard def TV set in the bedroom, and my old hard cover encyclopedia set from 1989... they work! The encyclopedia set will probably be around long after all of my electronics have long since bitten the dust. A snap shot of the world I lived in at the age of 8 that can't be corrupted, or hacked, or deemed "at risk". The only thing that could ruin it is the forces of Nature... fire, flood, etc. Right on.... Blessed Be!

[Judah14]

Here in the Philippines third-party service centers for just about anything are very common, and stuff like appliances and electronic devices last long because we will always find a way to fix them if they break. As for smartphones with removable batteries being not available anymore, I don't think that's true as I can see plenty of new smartphone models with removable batteries when I visit electronics stores. And for those with non-removable batteries, you can have the battery replaced in a third-party repair shop (or yourself if you know what you are doing), you might just break the warranty.

[Charlie]

This is one reason why I use GNU/Linux, and here are several reasons why you should use it. You will not be forced to upgrade even though you are running old software. I avoid stuff from Microsoft completely as there are many reasons to avoid them and use free and open source software instead.

I absolutely agree.
Some years ago I wanted to load windows on to a PC, but couldn't find the registration key. Rather than give microsoft the pleasure of selling me a new operating sysem, I downloaded Ubuntu (linux) for free Occasionally I have to go back to windows 7 on Mrs C's laptop and frankly, its awful.
For the occasional windows program I want to run on the linux machine, such as Paint Shop Pro and the amateur radio digital comms program Digipan, the Wine emulator works perfectly.
Charlie

[partlyscot]

For those of you wanting to try Linux, most distributions, (flavours) of Linux allow you to burn the system to a CD, or DVD for install, but you get the option of trying it as Live distribution first. That is, it doesn't install, and you can reboot and go back to where you were. that way, if you want, you can try several different versions and see which one you like best.

[skirted_in_SF]

The vast majority of computer users (the leading "ell" on that is silent) wouldn't know how to write a program if their lives depended on it -- nor how to diagnose a problem in a complex system; that was lost when "computers" became a commodity item.

Actually, the problem is I'm a lousy programmer (based on the work I did in college many years ago). I can work my my through most any problem that surfaces in the accounting system I administer though. I do tease out IT people for having to deal with some (l)users who really shouldn't be allowed to have a computer. For example: the person who sent an e-mail to every user in the company by adding the group that includes everyone to the To: line. That was bad enough, but then 15 or 20 users hit reply all asking to be removed from the conversation. My IT friend finally disabled the all users group to stop things.

[crfriend]

Actually, the problem is I'm a lousy programmer (based on the work I did in college many years ago). I can work my my through most any problem that surfaces in the accounting system I administer though.

Note that I never intimated that one had to be any good at programming, but merely that one should be aware of the concept and know the difference between an assignment and a "goto". Nowadays, even that has been lost.

I've seen (and written) some truly horrific pieces of offal; sometimes one does what needs to be done to get the ruddy thing done quickest so one can get away from it. Pascal comes to mind. And some of its later incarnations. B&D languages are not my favourite; I like to be "close to the iron" so I tend towards assembler -- at least in the architectures that can still be programmed so by human minds.

But, this is now badly off-topic when it comes to blokes in skirts -- unless they wear them whilst programming.

[pelmut]

...I've seen (and written) some truly horrific pieces of offal; sometimes one does what needs to be done to get the ruddy thing done quickest so one can get away from it. Pascal comes to mind. And some of its later incarnations.

I started with AlgolW, not the easiest of languages for a beginner, but very good for learning the discipline of programming and understanding the concept of multi-dimensional arrays. When I looked into Pascal, 15 years later, I thought that if Pascal had been written first, Algol would have been hailed as an improved development of it.

When I recently had to learn PHP, I could not understand their 'simplified' explanation of database handling, so in desperation I wrote some multi-dimensional arrays in Algol and found that they worked in PHP. There were 40 years of development between the two languages and the only major difference was that the user's instructions had been re-written in impenetrable gobbledeygook.

[crfriend]

I started with AlgolW, not the easiest of languages for a beginner, but very good for learning the discipline of programming and understanding the concept of multi-dimensional arrays. When I looked into Pascal, 15 years later, I thought that if Pascal had been written first, Algol would have been hailed as an improved development of it.

C.A.R. Hoare on ALGOL: "Here is a language so far ahead of its time that it was not only an improvement on its predecessors but also on nearly all its successors."

I taught myself ALGOL (60) in the late 1970s whilst still in secondary school. I was supposed to be being taught FORTRAN at the time, but had already tested out on that and discovered that the DG NOVA we had had an ALGOL compiler on it. I dove in and learned it, and I still love the language to this day. Its syntax and structure just fell naturally to hand.

When I recently had to learn PHP, I could not understand their 'simplified' explanation of database handling, so in desperation I wrote some multi-dimensional arrays in Algol and found that they worked in PHP. There were 40 years of development between the two languages and the only major difference was that the user's instructions had been re-written in impenetrable gobbledeygook.

That's something else that's disappeared from the landscape -- well-written documentation that actually describes how to use something and how to be creative with it instead of page after page of annoying screenshots and the occasional dollop of inane text. It used to be that the manual was actually useful; nowadays they're not even useful as doorstops.

[Sinned]

Carl, I think that the phrase " .... every assistance short of actual help .... " useful in describing modern destruction documentation. You can't describe them as manuals as manuals are generally useful not useless. Nowadays I have probably forgotten more about Ada, Algol, C, Pascal and other programming languages than most modern compooter scientists are even taught. Siiiigh.

[Judah14]

Carl, I think that the phrase " .... every assistance short of actual help .... " useful in describing modern destruction documentation. You can't describe them as manuals as manuals are generally useful not useless. Nowadays I have probably forgotten more about Ada, Algol, C, Pascal and other programming languages than most modern compooter scientists are even taught. Siiiigh.

Of course there are useful manuals/documentation such as the GNU C Reference Manual (which I use) as well as other manuals for programming languages published by the groups tasked with maintaining those languages, such as the documentation for Python.

[moonshadow]

This isn't the government at work, this is the monopoly-level telephone companies (soon, likely, to be a single company again as AT&T in the 1970s); the government already has what it needs -- blanket access to all of one's online data, and if you think encrypting it is any cure you're deluding yourself.

Actually (and I thought about this while driving the other day, so pardon the late responce),

I still believe the government does have a vested interest in keeping us (the people) as connected as possible to the latest gadgetry. The economics of always buying something new (sales tax money moving) aside, the more plugged in we are to the newest and greatest high tech gadgets the easier we are to track. Consider newer cars that are internet connected, with GPS capability. While the issue reported is that hackers can gain access to your car and basically shut it down, what's not being mentioned is that I'm sure the government is also able to track your every move, your driving habits, where you go, how much weight you are carrying.

No need to shoot out the tires, or lay a spike strip, when one mouse click by the "authorities" will shut your engine down.

Phones are no different, with this smart phone, countless number of people have so much access to my life, my bank accounts, who I text, who I email, what sites I go to, who I call, where I go, and what's being said. There are certain words, and phrases I won't say on the phone, or online.

They say it's all fine and good.... they say it's what we need to keep us safe. Pfft.. whatever. All's I know is the 4th amendment is dead, just like so many others. (16th is alive and well) Toilet paper for cops and politicians. The real issue, is our government is out of control and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Most people are brainwashed, and the rest, they have by the balls. All they have to do is call you a terrorist, and the bill of rights no longer apply to you.

We could never rise up and take our nation back, because one flick of a switch, or a click of a mouse, and everything we have grinds to a halt. They can shut the whole internet down and not bat an eye. Stop vehicles dead in the tracks, kill our cell phones, and track us anywhere we try to hide. We are very close to having implants placed in our bodies, the only thing stopping that now is the conservative zealots (at least they got one thing right).

But I'll tell you right now.... if they ever place a chip in my brain, the next thing that will go in my head will be a bullet. I'm not playin. Imagine a world where if anyone tries an uprising, one mouse click, and we all just fall to the floor!

Be careful boys... don't swallow that bulls__t they feed you. Spit it out when they're not looking.

My only allegiance is to liberty, not to any "nation". Nations become corrupted.... liberty is always pure.

[Judah14]

This isn't the government at work, this is the monopoly-level telephone companies (soon, likely, to be a single company again as AT&T in the 1970s); the government already has what it needs -- blanket access to all of one's online data, and if you think encrypting it is any cure you're deluding yourself.

Actually (and I thought about this while driving the other day, so pardon the late responce),

I still believe the government does have a vested interest in keeping us (the people) as connected as possible to the latest gadgetry. The economics of always buying something new (sales tax money moving) aside, the more plugged in we are to the newest and greatest high tech gadgets the easier we are to track. Consider newer cars that are internet connected, with GPS capability. While the issue reported is that hackers can gain access to your car and basically shut it down, what's not being mentioned is that I'm sure the government is also able to track your every move, your driving habits, where you go, how much weight you are carrying.

No need to shoot out the tires, or lay a spike strip, when one mouse click by the "authorities" will shut your engine down.

Phones are no different, with this smart phone, countless number of people have so much access to my life, my bank accounts, who I text, who I email, what sites I go to, who I call, where I go, and what's being said. There are certain words, and phrases I won't say on the phone, or online.

They say it's all fine and good.... they say it's what we need to keep us safe. Pfft.. whatever. All's I know is the 4th amendment is dead, just like so many others. (16th is alive and well) Toilet paper for cops and politicians. The real issue, is our government is out of control and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. Most people are brainwashed, and the rest, they have by the balls. All they have to do is call you a terrorist, and the bill of rights no longer apply to you.

We could never rise up and take our nation back, because one flick of a switch, or a click of a mouse, and everything we have grinds to a halt. They can shut the whole internet down and not bat an eye. Stop vehicles dead in the tracks, kill our cell phones, and track us anywhere we try to hide. We are very close to having implants placed in our bodies, the only thing stopping that now is the conservative zealots (at least they got one thing right).

But I'll tell you right now.... if they ever place a chip in my brain, the next thing that will go in my head will be a bullet. I'm not playin. Imagine a world where if anyone tries an uprising, one mouse click, and we all just fall to the floor!

Be careful boys... don't swallow that bulls__t they feed you. Spit it out when they're not looking.

My only allegiance is to liberty, not to any "nation". Nations become corrupted.... liberty is always pure.

Those could only happen if the software running them is propietary, as written here. That is why I only run free and open source software, as I have access to the software's source code I can be sure it is not doing anything wrong like spying on me for example.

And also, no one can shut the whole internet down as it is a decentralized worldwide network. Restricting internet access within one country's borders is the worst they could do.