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**possessor** · 10 December 2024, 01:24

Originally posted by chuft

. Not sure why anyone uses Wordpad.

Because it's the exact same as Notepad except you can add images & color to your text, you can add drawings straight from MS Paint without opening MS Paint.

**chuft** · 10 December 2024, 02:17

Not anymore.

**possessor** · 10 December 2024, 04:47

Originally posted by chuft

Not anymore.

You know what I meant.

**boredjedi** · 10 December 2024, 05:10

Word up

**boredjedi** · 22 December 2024, 22:37

I almost forgot about this one saw it last night couldn't resist and watched it

Skip the intro to 0:19 There's that Photonic name again.

Title: Seagate reinvented the hard drive!

More storage space!!!

**chuft** · 22 December 2024, 23:16

I don't need more storage space.

**boredjedi** · 24 December 2024, 06:08

Another thing I forgot to mention they brought it back after everyone complained

What a pain the arse that was having to go into a second option (show more options)
to do all that listed on the top of that window. All the file stuff everyone uses everyday.

**boredjedi** · 28 January 2025, 23:43

Avast Antivirus busted for selling user data and other info

I found 4:37 quite interesting for how open source definitions have a 30 day wait period

**chuft** · 29 January 2025, 00:14

When the product is free, you're the product.

I always pay for antivirus. Using BitDefender at the moment. Got rid of Kaspersky when the Russians invaded Ukraine. It was later banned by the US government as a security risk.

I do know people who use Windows Defender (comes with Windows) and think it's fine. Maybe they're right, maybe not.

**boredjedi** · 29 January 2025, 01:35

Originally posted by chuft

When the product is free, you're the product.

The reason why Avast got into trouble was their own TOS. The company stated
quite clearly they will never sell you personal data. It was a selling point to get
you to use their product. They got around that by using sneakily using a subsidiary.
Sure, Avast can claim they didn't sell your date but not their subsidiary.

What's ridiculous are these tiny fines. $16.5 million for a $8.91 Billion valued company.
Those tiny fines won't dissuade any of these companies from scamming their customers.
The money they make outweighs the fear of any of these fines.

Hmmm, then again you usually don't see this. Another country hauled them over the coals.

The Czech Republic’s data protection authority (DPA) issued a fine of 351 million Czech koruna (U.S. $15 million) against antivirus software vendor Avast for alleged violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

https://www.complianceweek.com/regul.../34703.article

**chuft** · 29 January 2025, 02:12

Well their subsidiary thing didn't let them get around it, they got fined anyway. This is for 2014-2020 by the way. Would be surprised if they were still doing it.

The real damage is to their reputation. Who wants to use an AV that is selling identifiable web data from its users. It's basically a malware.

**boredjedi** · 29 January 2025, 06:18

I meant to post the article that's in the video

The Federal Trade Commission has finalized an order banning software provider Avast from selling, disclosing, or licensing any web browsing data for advertising purposes to settle charges the company and its subsidiaries sold such information after promising that its products would protect consumers from online tracking. The company also must pay $16.5 million, which is expected to be used to provide redress to consumers.

In a complaint, first announced in February, the FTC alleged that UK-based Avast Limited via its Czech subsidiary, unfairly collected consumers’ browsing information through the company’s browser extensions and antivirus software, stored it indefinitely, and sold it without adequate notice and without consumer consent. The FTC also charged that Avast deceived users by claiming that the software would protect consumers’ privacy by blocking third party tracking, but it failed to adequately inform consumers that it would sell their detailed, re-identifiable browsing data. The FTC alleged Avast sold that data to more than 100 third parties through its subsidiary, Jumpshot.

Under the order, Avast and its subsidiaries also must delete the web browsing information transferred to Jumpshot and any products or algorithms derived from that data; must obtain affirmative express consent from consumers before selling or licensing browsing data from non-Avast products to third parties for advertising purposes; notify consumers whose browsing information was sold to third parties without their consent about the FTC’s actions against the company; and implement a comprehensive privacy program that addresses the misconduct highlighted by the FTC.

After receiving two comments, the Commission voted 3-0-2 to give final approval to the settlement. Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Andrew N. Ferguson did not participate.

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news...g-requiring-it

I finally got around to actually digging into this company. It's slightly convoluted at first.

Parent Company is Gen (NASDAQ: GEN) "a global company dedicated to powering Digital Freedom through its trusted Cyber Safety brands, Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner". Has dual headquarters in Tempe, Arizona and Prague, Czech Republic

Avast is a Czech company, with its headquarters based in Prague, Czech Republic. Origin: Founded in Czechoslovakia. Headquarters: Prague, Czech Republic.

In August 2021, NortonLifeLock announced its agreement to acquire Avast in a deal worth between $8.1 and $8.6 billion.

Avast's representative established in the UK is NortonLifeLock UK Limited. The company itself is considered Czech.

Explains how the Czech Republic got involved too.

I think I made it as simple as possible. There's a lot of wheeling and dealing with Avast over the years.

**boredjedi** · 20 February 2025, 22:58

A peek into the new Generation of CPUs. Quantum Chips.
You would think Intel and AMD would be leading in all this.

Microsoft today introduced Majorana 1, the world’s first quantum chip powered by a new Topological Core architecture that it expects will realize quantum computers capable of solving meaningful, industrial-scale problems in years, not decades.

All the world’s current computers operating together can’t do what a one-million-qubit quantum computer will be able to do.

https://news.microsoft.com/source/fe...tum-computing/

Published February 19, 2025

**BRBFBI** · 22 February 2025, 05:06

Originally posted by boredjedi

A peek into the new Generation of CPUs. Quantum Chips.
You would think Intel and AMD would be leading in all this.

I won't pretend I understood it all, but that's pretty insane. The article addressed the combination of quantum computing and AI, which was one of my first thoughts.

"Most of all, quantum computing could allow engineers, scientists, companies and others to simply design things right the first time – which would be transformative for everything from healthcare to product development. The power of quantum computing, combined with AI tools, would allow someone to describe what kind of new material or molecule they want to create in plain language and get an answer that works straightaway – no guesswork or years of trial and error."

**chuft** · 22 February 2025, 05:49

"Make me a human-only virus that is 100% lethal against those not vaccinated, easily transmitted, with a week of presymptomatic spread followed by death five days after flu-like symptoms appear, persistent for years in the environment, resistant to UV light, and which can be aerosolized and delivered via a stealth long range missile system. Also design the missile system."

Great.