In case anyone is following here and not on FB:

I've created a GoFundMe for the extra expenses in saving stuff from Lunacon. Please help if you can, because at the moment, I am out over $950.

https://www.gofundme.com/manage/help-pay-for-saving-the-lunacon-art-show-gear

Thanks!

So, it seems that Microsoft KB2952664 may actually be more invasive than (I) previously thought. This is the Microsoft snooping / reporting configuration patch that calls home allegedly to facilitate win10 upgrades ( Read more... )

Be careful out there!

I received the following email which almost caught me:

From: John Worley 
Date: Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 2:54 PM
Subject: Quick Boston question
To:

Hi Richard, 
My name's John Worley and I'm reaching out because I noticed you're in the Boston area on your LinkedIn.

I recently completed my Masters at Stanford and have started a new ( Read more... )

I already posted this to Facebook, but I'm posting it here for a wider / different distribution ...

This came from an email message I received from Elcomsoft.  I have no reason to doubt them.

( Read more... )

In the process of putting together some "new" Windows 7 machines, I managed to install some of the Microsoft "Fixes" that activated the Telemetry "Stuff" that would eat a CPU or so sending data back to Microsoft. (If you start Task Manager and see compattelrunner.exe eating CPU or running at all, you have this problem.) After investigating ( Read more... )

I've been trying to figure out why one of the Dell E6410s that I provided to Arisia was much slower than the others. The two in question are both being reported by the Dell BIOS and Win7 and i5-M520s running at 2.40GHz. One is coming up with Novabench numbers of in the mid 400s and one is coming up with Novabench numbers in the mid 500s. The ( Read more... )

KB3035583 is back as an "Important Update" even if is isn't selected by default. This is one of the ones to "Update installs Get Windows 10 app in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 SP1". I recommend everyone be careful not to install it.

I've been going through the excess office supplies from this year's World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon), Sasquan, in preparation for making a list of them and repackaging them to send on to next year's Worldcon, Midamericon II, in KC. It appears we have done our fannish duty to increase entropy by adding to the number of paper clips, ( Read more... )

This article has some information about Windows 10 misfeatures that M$ is now pushing back into Windows 7 and Windows 8 ( Read more... )

So, on Sunday the MBTA was reporting hosed service on the D Branch of the Green Line due to a disabled train at Longwood. Their twitter feed talks about various options like busing, taking the C branch, or using commuter rail to Yawkey. However, I have at least one eyewitness report (L's BF) of a train that stopped at Kenmore, announced that ( Read more... )