Microsoft and "Edge" have just tried to hijack my computer. Ot took a while to get Google Chrome back,up and running.

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Bob DeWoody

My motto: Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow as it may not be required. This no longer applies in light of current events.

Edge delights in making a mess of computers, it succeeds in making IEx look like a "good" browser, well done MS.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

It's just a change from "Internet Exploder" to just plain "Exploder" IMHO. ;-)

But then I have very little to do with M$ past Win7 with Firefox installed these days and most is spent with Linux Mint, though I do have my 3750K rig on Win7 again ATM doing comparison tests between it and my 2500K rig with my current projects.

Cheers.

And you thought having you banking info exposed was bad.

Website security breach exposes 1 million DNA profiles

Edge delights in making a mess of computers, it succeeds in making IEx look like a "good" browser, well done MS.

Yep. IIRC, with every new O/S version IE wouldn't work with previous O/S's, i.e., IE 11 would not work with XP, I believe that IE8 was the last version to work with XP. So, I, wonder why MS did Edge for win 7.
Had that update some time ago, didn't like it as it messed up all my favourites & bookmarks, so used MS own tools to remove it. Just did a system restore & when the update cropped up again, hid it.

(Sarcasm mode on)
Just chip us all - job done.
(Sarcasm mode off)
Google probe

ROFLMAO.
Ain't technology grand
Had a similar issue approx. 25 years ago. Had a night out so set video up to record a film I wanted.
Getting home next day, sat down to watch it.
Approx. every 20 minutes or so would get a buzzing on audio & some "snow" on screen.
This continued to happen regularly so contacted Eastern Electricity who sent out an engineer.
He couldn't track it & laughed at me for suggesting rfi. Months later while chatting to neighbour, she called her husband who told me they had the very same problem.
They found the problem disappeared when they upgraded their heating controls/ thermostat to digital.
Did the same, problem gone. :-)

The Director of Public Prosecutions is also considering whether there should be charges of perjury against officials who claimed in court there were no problems with Horizon, even though emails and other documents now suggest they knew there were.

So much for technology
21 years of grief so it is decided to not contest the appeals.
Will the Post Office top brass do a Boeing - pass the buck?

Wonder what the queues will be like with Covid-19 rules in place?
Apple unveils new bionic phone

Cont...
The best one ever received was approx a year or 2 ago.
A live call from a Co called Webroot (a real co).
"Can I speak to the business owner please".
After asking some relevant questions, she went back to her script, so asked the same questions again.
She got upset & said I was quite rude, them again went back to her script, so asked why she was calling from Nigeria instead of London.
Said I was very rude & hung up. :-)
Stupidity & technology, not a very good mix.

... "Can I speak to the business owner please".
After asking some relevant questions, she went back to her script, so asked the same questions again.
She got upset & said I was quite rude, them again went back to her script, so asked why she was calling from Nigeria instead of London.
Said I was very rude & hung up. :-)
Stupidity & technology, not a very good mix.

That's more a game of technology being ever more easily abused for exploitation and scams.

Wherever it is in the world where the COVID restrictions have been relaxed or removed for whichever noisome call centres, I'm now oncemore getting a too regular dose of scam calls. There has been up until now a very good lull in such silliness.

To be fair, my last 3 scam calls have all been with the same accent and the same supposed "IT Support - You Have A Problem With Your Internet Connection" very likely from the same wrogue call centre.


Stay sharp!
Martin

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See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Human genius has its limits, but stupidity does not.

It seems it's that time of year again. :-(
For the past few years during Sept/October get scam calls. Must admit, they are getting clued up, instead of live calls, they've resorted to automated calls.
Shame they don't use computers to research better. :-)
The one just received minutes ago:
"Your BT contract will soon be ended.
This is Jason from Fibretel investigations
Your BT contract will end tomorrow (hung up at that point laughing)".
Mustn't have liked that as rang back near enough straight away.
Couldn't report those online as no number available.

Was surprised with the one received last week.
02036214417
Found that it was used as an insurance co
Telecom co
Survey co

Normally do an area code search on the number. Did not need to do it for that number as I knew it to be a London no. However I was surprised to find out that it may not be, there is a Co out there called eReception which provides a London no that can be used anywhere n the country.

Note that the telephone "Caller ID" is easily faked/forged, just as with email addresses...


Strangely, the Telcos seem to not wish to do anything about that scam.

Might there be a connection with charging their customers 'extras' to supposedly block such calls?...


All in our greedy world...
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Sadly aware of that. Also received another 4 calls since originally posting. All had number withheld. On those just waited for the other person to speak 1st, they hung up within a second or 2. :-)

I only posted the eReception comment as it came up while googling phone scams & area codes. It seems to be a genuine co.

... I only posted the eReception comment as it came up while googling phone scams & area codes. It seems to be a genuine co.

And therein lies a costly problem of collateral damage...

The innocents that have their genuine details scammed by the scammers then get the fallout from those annoyed victims that turn vigilante.

Some genuine companies might be sharp or hard enough or enterprising enough to profit from the inadvertent 'free' advertising.

However, the scammers can all too easily destroy a perfectly good innocent brand and business.


Going vigilante is never a good way to go...

All in our greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

All too true sadly. In various incidents, suggestions of better education was brought up. A very valid point. Unfortunately, it is difficult to educate against stupidity.
However, the dangers lay in the fact that if the scammers get really intelligent...
...Haven't been with BT for over 2 decades. :-)

...Haven't been with BT for over 2 decades. :-)

Similarly so here.

Especially so when BT went on a campaign to add a LOT more telephone poles in all areas after being forced to raise the minimum height for their overhead wires to homes and other buildings. Rather than raise an existing pole, or put the wires in ducts out of sight and safely reliably away from the prevailing weather, instead it was cheap and quick and dirty to add individual poles often for just a single wire. Damnably unsightly and crass. Some areas now have a blizzard of BT telephone poles, to blight those areas forevermore.

Are not telephone poles also rated as toxic waste and so supposedly must never be removed?...


An extra BT pole was to be installed/imposed for my old phone line...

Except with their arrogant cheapness, the pole was to be placed in my front garden! And they boomed and insisted that they have a Statutory Right to do that, without restriction, and no recourse, all at their arbitrary 'discretion'.

Much silliness ensued including involving my neighbors and even eventually my MP! Strangely (not!) my neighbors were likewise adverse to a BT pole in their gardens...

Fortuitously, a competing provider was able to connect everyone up using, as standard, underground ducting and cabling that isn't affected by the weather and phase of moon.

We eventually dodged any new BT poles by insisting that we were to be disconnected. However, BT policy is not to remove their equipment and supposedly, it is still their property, even when on your own property unused yet it must not be disturbed!

Noone here has gone back to BT since.


All very bad anti-competitive silliness and the environment and people be damned.

All in our destructively greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)

Been getting them since 2014 & pretty sure how my landline was exposed. Went to a "no win, no fee" law firm here in town. Shortly after we got contacted from a law firm in Bristol. We won the case but shortly after being awarded compensation the calls started. Pretty sure it was sold by the law firm in town. Won't give my reasons for that but aware of the culture involved.

Over here they call numbers from 000000001 to 9999999999 No number is immune.

Except with their arrogant cheapness, the pole was to be placed in my front garden! And they boomed and insisted that they have a Statutory Right to do that, without restriction, and no recourse, all at their arbitrary 'discretion'.

As one of the original 4 Public Utilities they do retain certain rights. But they have to issue an official Wayleave, and pay you annual rent for the use of your land. Whether the pole id operational is irrelevant.

Yes, spoke to the BT surveyor at the time about that after opportunistically catching him remeasuring the job... (To move the intended pole over onto one of my neighbors!)

The 'annual rent' was (and very likely still is) a 'joke' and there is no payment or concern for inconvenience or for consequential costs/devaluation for that inconvenience and unsightliness. That is all the more abhorrent for the sake that such things are totally unnecessary.

Also, I got the reason why the new pole was to be put in place: 'Easier' (cheaper for BT) to raise the one wire with an extra pole imposed just for that one wire, rather than raise the old original pole across the street that would then require a bundle of wires to be rewired... All other concerns were supposedly of no consequence!

Total abuse of power. Except, they can and that abuse has never been rescinded.


Greedy arbitrary 'bureaucracy' at its worst.

And a blight upon us all for polluting the environment and holding us back on 1990's supposed 'stop-gap' old fragile tech.


There has to be a better way...

All in our greedy world,
Martin

---

See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)