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#msft

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A post on the face place reminded me that at one time back when I was still occasionally using MSFT wares I had the dominant text mincer application there tell me that

"The document is too large to save. Delete some text before saving."

(in Norwegian, evidence preserved as nxdomain.no/~peter/dokumentet_).

Now I'm a tad curious whether anyone else has been bitten by that variant. (This would have been early-noughties time if it matters)

So apparently #MSFT has begun enforcing its license (which apparently has been there forever) keeping folks from running VSCodium with Microsoft's C/C++ extension, so now folks are worried about the #python extension as well.

youtu.be/fz6XJDq8fSI?si=iEhBEk

I must admit I'm a bit mystified. I would suggest that folks either use VSCode proper, which is an amazing and very compelling tool, OR choose one of the many superlative 1000% FLOSS alternatives ... like... @neovim

#Telecom

I've had a #Skype account that I'll hardly used for YEARS & just received a notice from #MSFT that they are "retiring" it & transitioning Skype subscribers to #MicrosoftTeams, whatever that is.🤷‍♂️

Since I'm not a #TeamPlayer, I'm not going to make the transition but I've got a $9.09 credit that I've got to use before they retire it.

-------------------------------------

Dear Skype user,
In order to streamline our free consumer communications offerings, we will be retiring Skype on May 5, 2025to focus on Microsoft Teams, our modern communications and collaboration hub.

Teams helps people stay connected and engaged at work and at home. Teams users have access to many of the same core features as Skype, including 1:1 calls, group calls, messaging, and file sharing. Additionally, Teams offers enhanced features like hosting meetings, managing calendars, and building and joining communities—all for free.

Continued thread

Up now... but apparently it all went down earlier. I dunno about you, but it seems like it's open season on US cloud providers this week. Slack, Microsoft, etc. etc. etc. But this also could just be "OOPS, BAD CODE, SORRY!"

Replied in thread

@mcc @Infoseepage ah, makes sense. That's why I use Linux personally (for decades now). None of that AI stuff, unless you purposefully install it. IMHO Windows is great for gaming (tho many of my titles run on Linux now. Yay!), and in the enterprise of course (where I get my paycheck lol), and that's it.

Something to keep in mind, W10 hits EOL this October, so it won't be patched further after then. #APT groups will increase attacks using #0days once MSFT ceases official support exponentially.

You can still disable #Copilot in the registry of W11 24H3 (Pro and Enterprise SKUs, not Home as far as I can find). Not sure how long that will last though as #MSFT pushes hard to further integrate AI in everything they offer. At least on the Enterprise side they give us #sysadmins control over a lot of that. Consumers have much less control. It's either you embrace it, or change to a different platform.

Unfortunately (or fortunately), Linux is the only non-AI embedded OS left that I'm aware of. The next release of #macOS has #AppleIntelligence built in, #iOS 18.0 and later has it baked in, the latest release of #ChromeOS for Enterprise has #Gemini baked in, and #Android13 has #Gemini baked in on supported devices. As you know, W10 has Copilot optional with supporting hardware, W11 is baked in but can be toggled off. W12 will be a fully AI-OS.

Even still, if you're running any of the latest #IntelUltra processors, they have AI built-in at the hardware level. The new #AMDRyzen processors are doing the same.

I decided to embrace the AI evolution rather than fight it. I use my knowledge and skills to protect myself, my family, and my company as much as is possible, and keep abreast of developments in the sector...I also use AI for #cyberdefense. Only way to keep up with the threat landscape anymore.

For now, I still have control of my bubble lol, and that's about all I can do anymore, short of going completely dark. Not quite there yet lol.

It's encouraging that Microsoft shareholders just voted down a proposal to have the firm "invest" in #bitcoin a la #MicroStrategy etc. but what's really encouraging is the vote count:

* YES: 28 million (0.5%)
* NO: 5.1 billion (99.5%)

the bros who've been hyping the "microsoft is gonna buy all the bitcoinz!!" narrative for months will probably take this one kinda hard.

sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/78

#MSFT#Microsoft#BTC

Remember how #Skynet and #Terminators were just fine with a #nuclear devastated world? Hmmm... #BigTech is going all in on #NuclearPower as sustainability concerns around #AI grow

Yahoo Finance
Daniel Howley
October 23, 2024

"#ArtificialIntelligence has driven shares of tech companies like #Microsoft (#MSFT), #Amazon (#AMZN), #Nvidia (N#VDA), and #Google (GOOG, GOOGL) to new highs this year. But the technology, which companies promise will revolutionize our lives, is driving something else just as high as stock prices: #EnergyConsumption [and #WaterConsumption].

"#AI #DataCenters use huge amounts of power and could increase energy demand by as much as 20% over the next decade, according to a Department of Energy spokesperson. Pair that with the continued growth of the broader cloud computing market, and you’ve got an energy squeeze.

"But Big Tech has also set ambitious sustainability goals focused on the use of low-carbon and zero-carbon sources to reduce its impact on climate change. While renewable energy like solar and wind are certainly part of that equation, tech companies need uninterruptible power sources. And for that, they’re leaning into #NuclearPower.

"Tech giants aren’t just planning to hook into existing plants, either. They’re working with energy companies to bring mothballed facilities like Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island back online and looking to build small modular reactors (#SMRs) that take up less space than traditional plants and, the hope is, are cheaper to construct.

"But there are still plenty of questions as to whether these investments in nuclear energy will ever pan out, not to mention how long it will take to build any new reactors."

Read more:
aol.com/finance/big-tech-going

AOL · Big Tech is going all in on nuclear power as sustainability concerns around AI growBy Daniel Howley

Microsoft is suspending email and skype accounts of Palestinians who call home to Gaza. Multiple Palestinians mention buying Skype credits in order to make international calls home. But when they used those credits to call family in Gaza their entire decades old Skype and hotmail accounts were suspended.

bbc.com/news/articles/cger582w

www.bbc.comMicrosoft cutting crucial link to Gaza, Palestinians sayMore than 20 Palestinians say they have been kicked off Skype, a popular tool for contacting relatives.

Moto Cats!

Yesterday, Microsoft released Copilot Pro -- and it's much faster than ChatGPT4!

You can also create images -- via DALL-E 3 -- in Copilot Plus, that will take you to the new "Microsoft Designer" for more detailed editing with 100 daily credits.

I always test my favorite prompt "Cat Riding a Motorcycle" to see how these new image Bots behave, and here are the results!

Not terrible! Sort of, almost, anatomically correct.