Free Republic

Microsoft has confirmed that Windows has a previously unknown Global Device ID (GDID), a permanent, unique digital identifier assigned to Windows devices that can tie a user's actions to their device. This came to light when an alleged member of a notorious hacking group was caught at an airport after Microsoft handed over his GDID to the authorities. Microsoft describes the GDID in a published complaint (via Windows Latest) as "a persistent, device-level identifier designed to uniquely identify an installation of a Windows operating system on a device, either a physical device (e.g., a mobile phone or laptop) or virtual...

Desktop Linux has seen a massive surge in popularity in the past few years alone, which, ironically enough, is in no small part thanks to Microsoft. The recent string of Windows hiccups has forced folks to migrate to Linux, and the number seems to be ever-increasing. ... Microsoft has no one to blame but itself for this mess. Windows had all the advantages and the correct formula for success, and being bundled in almost all personal computers certainly helped. Linux, in comparison, had always been a niche “alternative” operating system for hobbyists. Not anymore, though. However, their recent track record...

Strange to relate, in last night’s speech to the nation on election chicanery, President Trump managed to both overwhelm and underwhelm public expectation. He touched on voting machine shenanigans, registration skullduggery, cyber-fuckery, labor union toolery, ballot fraud, and especially China meddling.Internal CIA / FBI docs at the time said that China’s policy around the 2020 US election was to “leverage all domestic and foreign elements” opposed to the President to prevent his re-election. The Intel bunch never sent that memo to the White House. They were too busy pushing fake Russia meddling, fake impeachment, and a fake Covid-19 pandemic. Then...

A new Google Search setting can save Lens images, voice searches and uploaded files. Here’s how to turn it off ... There are few emails that make your stomach drop faster than one about "new privacy settings." That usually means a company has moved another data switch, renamed a control or tucked a new choice inside an account menu you rarely visit. Google is now rolling out one of those changes for Search services. The setting is called Search Services History. It controls whether Google saves your activity from Search services when you are signed into your Google Account. That...

They put a bug on my computer that has a 500GB appetite for free space. My computer is 469GB. By the time I was made aware of what's happening my free space was down to ~5GB. MS released a patch, but it requires ~6GB to install and run. By the time I was made aware of the patch, my free space was down to ~2GB. I tried to download the patch several times but it aborted each time for lack of space. I deleted programs and files but as soon as I did, the bug ate the free space. Now,...

Project Jade, Wyoming’s largest data center, is now Project Tembo, and the company behind the 2.7-gigawatt facility is a mystery no longer. The data center will be owned and operated by none other than Google, giving Cheyenne yet another of the world’s largest tech companies in what is fast becoming an emerging tech frontier. Cheyenne has hosted Microsoft data centers for the past decade or so and that company has announced plans for a major expansion on a 3,500-acre tract of land whose annexation is pending before the Cheyenne City Council. Meta announced last year it was joining the Wyoming...

1 in 5 survey respondents said they used it to research a potential partner For years, LinkedIn, the oft-derided networking site, has been used to boast about professional achievements, apply to jobs that may or may not be real, and observe inane ramblings from out-of-touch tech CEOs. Now, according to a recent report, some are also using it to suss out potential dating partners, making it an “unexpected space for romance.”After gathering responses from more than 1,000 U.S. workers in April of this year, researchers at Zety, a resume-building site, found that 1 in 8 respondents said they formed romantic...

American farmer, Julius Ray Tucker, just tested his soil & found 5X more aluminum than last year. His GMO seeds grow perfectly, but his heirloom crops are dying. — Meanwhile, Bill Gates is pushing GMO seeds engineered to thrive in aluminum-rich soil. And geoengineering delivering that aluminum from our skies. We are being ruled by extremely evil people who want ONLY their GMO seeds to grow. They want total control of our food, our skies, the air, our soil & what gets injected into our bodies.

The tech industry faces a paradoxical crisis: companies are shedding human jobs to invest in AI tools that are currently more costly than the workers they replace. Major players like Uber and Microsoft report exorbitant AI spending, with budgets exhausted rapidly and little correlation to tangible value. This "tokenmaxxing" culture, where AI usage is incentivized over actual productivity, fuels massive waste. Despite widespread layoffs justified by AI reallocation, studies indicate AI is economically viable in only a fraction of roles. The unsustainable model of subsidized AI pricing is unwinding, forcing a market correction. The industry must now shift from indiscriminate...

The transcript from the video would be too long to post here, but the gist of the video is about how Microsoft is extending the ESU program until Oct 2027, and maybe even into 2028. I thought maybe folks here would want to know because it makes getting new hardware to support Windows 11 unnecessary as long your IT device still runs good and has Windows 10, like mine. I was going to put together a system to dual boot W11 and Linux but I'm putting that off for now.

Nvidia is fully committed to transforming Windows on Arm into an agentic AI platform. Along with its first-generation RTX Spark platform for desktop and laptop PCs, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed the company's commitment to future generations of those platforms on its future roadmaps. The company is committed to producing at least two additional generations of Spark platforms for its partners. Beyond the Grace Blackwell RTX Spark chips (the top-end RTX Spark Superchip and an as-yet-undetailed smaller chip), Huang promised that every future generation of the company's platforms will include a Spark chip. That means there will be a Vera...

Key Points Nvidia’s announced entry into the PC chip market sent shares of AMD, Intel and Qualcomm lower on Monday as Wall Street recognized the threat. Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO, signaled his intent to “reinvent the PC.” Analysts see Nvidia moving beyond the data center and to the so-called edge, as smaller devices become capable of running AI workloads without tapping the cloud. ============================================================= As important as Nvidia has become to the tech industry, its entire run-up in recent years has been tied to the data center. Now the chipmaker is going after the PC market, and Wall Street is...

Windows PCs Are Spying On Their UsersI have spent over two decades investigating corporate surveillance and the erosion of digital privacy. After years of watching Microsoft’s behavior, I believe Windows is no longer simply an operating system but a surveillance platform designed to extract data from every user. From telemetry that can’t be turned off to a built-in screenshot keylogger called Recall, Microsoft has made spying a core feature. Here’s why this matters: your privacy is not an inconvenience to be traded for convenience — it’s a fundamental right that Microsoft is systematically violating.Back in 2015, I warned that Windows...

Nvidia launched the RTX Spark chip in Taiwan, bringing AI capabilities directly into laptops and desktops. The chip, developed with Microsoft, is aimed at transforming how users interact with AI by running agents locally rather than through the cloud. Nvidia launches PC chip to bring AI directly to PCs | 1:37 Reuters | 4.21M subscribers | 1,667 views | June 1, 2026

The Biden Justice Department’s former second-in-command, Lisa Monaco, is facing a referral to the Department of Justice over allegations that she buried investigations into Microsoft’s cybersecurity failures before landing a top job at the tech giant, according to a letter from the American Accountability Foundation. Monaco, who served as Deputy Attorney General under former Attorney General Merrick Garland, joined Microsoft in May 2025 as President of Global Affairs just months after leaving government. Her hiring drew immediate criticism from President Donald Trump, who blasted Monaco in a Truth Social post last September. “Corrupt and Totally Trump Deranged Lisa Monaco,” Trump...

After less than two hours of deliberations, a jury rejected Elon Musk’s claims against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, ending a dramatic chapter in the bitter rivalry between the two tech billionaires, who were once close friends. The court, led by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, agreed with the advisory jury’s determination that Altman and OpenAI were not liable, and that “claims of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment are dismissed as untimely.” Addressing the judge, Musk’s lead counsel, Steven Molo, reserved his client’s right to appeal, though Gonzales Rogers said she’s prepared to dismiss an appeal “on the...

...1.6 billion Windows users -- most of whom are affected by its decision to terminate critical Secure Boot certificates for the first time since 2011. April's various Windows updates included new status updates and refreshed certificates for all eligible PCs. Check yours now.Microsoft says that following these changes to Windows Update, the security app will "show whether devices have received these updates, their current status, and whether action is needed" under Device Security... This escalates to a "red (critical)" warning in 10 days, affecting all PCs where action is needed.The original Secure Boot certificates start expiring in June, by which...

The warnings about AI’s impact on jobs echo from Silicon Valley to Wall Street to Washington, D.C. But Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang thinks you should worry less about the robots and more about your coworker, the one quietly “tokenmaxxing,” or using AI to do in minutes what takes you hours. In a recent interview with former National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster at the Stanford Graduate School of Business alongside Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Huang said AI won’t exactly replace you. Instead, it’s possible you’ll be replaced by the worker who’s boosted their productivity by using AI. “It is unlikely most...

https://x.com/Real_RobN/status/2047008750608023938 RealRobert@Real_RobN·2hThis is:The President of the United States:—Just signed an order revoking Chris Krebs’s security clearance and has directed DOJ to investigate him for his role in the overthrow of the U.S. government on November 3, 2020.Krebs was the head of CISA, who weaponized his position and conspired with the FBI and Big Tech to censor—truth, evidence, proof, and testimony about the 2020 election—and who designated November 3, 2020, as the most “secure election in American history.”———————Freedom of Information Act:Documents obtained by investigative journalist @yehuda_miller through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal:—A secret meeting organized on election day, November...

This is perfect!