Once made the mistake of keeping some personal photos in the ‘pictures’ directory of my own laptop.
Then started a course at uni, installed the free student version of MS365 or whatever it’s called, including onedrive.
Next thing i know, I get a popup notification displaying the ‘best of’ my private photos on screen, while I’m showing colleagues something on my laptop!
I bought Windows laptops for my elderly parents a couple of years ago. The default screen saver was something that just showed a rotation of pictures. This seemed innocent enough until my parents started saving pictures on their computers … and these pictures started showing up in the screensaver rotation, unbidden. They’re far too old for this to have produced anything embarrassing, but jesus fucking christ Microsoft!
This is not the future we were promised. I never would have thought that we would have to be our own security experts to save ourselves from the companies we depend on.
Ha ha ha, I get what you’re putting down. It’s just another thing I have to deal with and I have no idea on how to start. You guys seem great, I just can’t even begin to think about it. I’m procrastinating enough on my paid projects.
yeah i know exactly the feeling, i want to get into coding, but there is just so much information out there, some of it conflicting, much of it incomprehensible to a layman like me, it feels overwhelming, impossible
but i do think linux is much easier, in the last 5-10 years it has become much more welcoming
if you have a bit of time, and an 4+ gig usb stick, you can see it for yourself
download etcher
download linux mint (i like to get the torrents, to feel like i give back a bit)
use etcher to write the iso image on the usb
restart and select the usb in the bios boot menu (it usually shows a key to get into the bios, usually f1 or f2 or delete, and a separate one for just the boot device selection, f11 or f12, the latter only temporarily changes the boot device. if it goes by too quick, next restart you can hold the key before it even shows)(oh also on newer pcs windows can “cover up” the bios boot process, in that case you need to go through windows settings>recovery>“restart now”)
wait a minute for the usb to boot (it won’t be quick, especially if you’re used to ssd speeds)
try mint out, see how it works. you can install stuff with the “software manager”, it won’t remember anything, it’s all temporary (unless you delete/edit stuff from your hard drives, so be mindful of that)
watch a movie, browse the internet, try libreoffice etc, maybe see what’s available of what you need for your paid projects
i imagine it won’t happen immediately but if you feel okay with what you see, i’d recommend installing mint on a separate, empty ssd, set the bios to boot from that drive, install everything on there (you can put the boot partition on other drives, but i would advise against that)
this way the installer will recognise windows, and you can choose which operating system to use, when you turn on your pc, so you don’t lose windows, you can get used to linux at your own pace.
i did the same thing, i had a linux (ubuntu) install for 15+ years on all my pcs, i booted it up every now and then, but there was always something that put me off, but then, about 5 years ago i tried linux mint, and slowly but surely i spent more and more time with it, until it became the default instead of windows
reading back this wall of text, i too think “simple huh”, but i try to prepare for eventualities and assume little to no knowledge. i didn’t even write about how to install a new ssd
and i want to be helpful not just to you, pelespirit, but anyone who might come across this
yeah i know exactly the feeling, i want to get into coding, but there is just so much information out there
Pick a problem, then pick the python library/framework that solves it, follow the tutorial, and adapt it to solve your problem.
It will be a bad piece of code that barely works. That’s how you start, there’s no other way. After it, pick another problem or an improvement, solve it again, and so on.
After a while abandon python, because only bad programmers stay with a single language. Or don’t if you want to stop there, because not everybody has to become good at everything.
Onedrive is a nightmare.
Once made the mistake of keeping some personal photos in the ‘pictures’ directory of my own laptop.
Then started a course at uni, installed the free student version of MS365 or whatever it’s called, including onedrive.
Next thing i know, I get a popup notification displaying the ‘best of’ my private photos on screen, while I’m showing colleagues something on my laptop!
Personal photos, or personal photos?
I bought Windows laptops for my elderly parents a couple of years ago. The default screen saver was something that just showed a rotation of pictures. This seemed innocent enough until my parents started saving pictures on their computers … and these pictures started showing up in the screensaver rotation, unbidden. They’re far too old for this to have produced anything embarrassing, but jesus fucking christ Microsoft!
They deleted pics I saved. I have everything in my own drives and shut one drive out of my computer. POS
At this point, any file you store in Windows is temporary only. Backup it to your phone if you want to be sure.
And, of course, neither of them is private. Expect them to be sent to everybody you know with your name attached.
This is not the future we were promised. I never would have thought that we would have to be our own security experts to save ourselves from the companies we depend on.
not to be “the guy” … but there are alternatives, surprisingly simple, if you just give it a try
Ha ha ha, I get what you’re putting down. It’s just another thing I have to deal with and I have no idea on how to start. You guys seem great, I just can’t even begin to think about it. I’m procrastinating enough on my paid projects.
yeah i know exactly the feeling, i want to get into coding, but there is just so much information out there, some of it conflicting, much of it incomprehensible to a layman like me, it feels overwhelming, impossible
but i do think linux is much easier, in the last 5-10 years it has become much more welcoming
if you have a bit of time, and an 4+ gig usb stick, you can see it for yourself
download etcher
download linux mint (i like to get the torrents, to feel like i give back a bit)
use etcher to write the iso image on the usb
restart and select the usb in the bios boot menu (it usually shows a key to get into the bios, usually f1 or f2 or delete, and a separate one for just the boot device selection, f11 or f12, the latter only temporarily changes the boot device. if it goes by too quick, next restart you can hold the key before it even shows)(oh also on newer pcs windows can “cover up” the bios boot process, in that case you need to go through windows settings>recovery>“restart now”)
wait a minute for the usb to boot (it won’t be quick, especially if you’re used to ssd speeds)
try mint out, see how it works. you can install stuff with the “software manager”, it won’t remember anything, it’s all temporary (unless you delete/edit stuff from your hard drives, so be mindful of that)
watch a movie, browse the internet, try libreoffice etc, maybe see what’s available of what you need for your paid projects
i imagine it won’t happen immediately but if you feel okay with what you see, i’d recommend installing mint on a separate, empty ssd, set the bios to boot from that drive, install everything on there (you can put the boot partition on other drives, but i would advise against that)
this way the installer will recognise windows, and you can choose which operating system to use, when you turn on your pc, so you don’t lose windows, you can get used to linux at your own pace.
i did the same thing, i had a linux (ubuntu) install for 15+ years on all my pcs, i booted it up every now and then, but there was always something that put me off, but then, about 5 years ago i tried linux mint, and slowly but surely i spent more and more time with it, until it became the default instead of windows
reading back this wall of text, i too think “simple huh”, but i try to prepare for eventualities and assume little to no knowledge. i didn’t even write about how to install a new ssd
and i want to be helpful not just to you, pelespirit, but anyone who might come across this
Pick a problem, then pick the python library/framework that solves it, follow the tutorial, and adapt it to solve your problem.
It will be a bad piece of code that barely works. That’s how you start, there’s no other way. After it, pick another problem or an improvement, solve it again, and so on.
After a while abandon python, because only bad programmers stay with a single language. Or don’t if you want to stop there, because not everybody has to become good at everything.
I appreciate you typing all that out and I saved it. I can’t make any promises though.
Every single file you put in onedrive is stolen by m$ to train their shitty AI.
😳