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#PSA - I recently stopped my windows based computer backing every document and photo to the #Cloud because fuck #Microsoft and their #LLM - I never asked for their fucking cloud storage in the first place. Or their LLM that they incorrectly call AI - it is not AI and can’t even add up.

Anyway, as part of this process, Microsoft then automatically deleted all my files - *including* the versions on my own computer. Fuck Microsoft.

As it happens, I back up all my computer files on an external HardDisk on the first day of every month. As a result, I was able to copy the files and directories back to my computer with little disruption.

If you are going to disconnect from your cloud storage - be warned in advance … back up all your files and directories on an external Hard Disk first.

Microsoft in court for allegedly misleading Australians over 365 subscriptions

Link: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/microsoft-in-court-for-allegedly-misleading-millions-of-australians-over-microsoft-365-subscriptions
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45721682

#microsoft

Microsoft's folds losses from OpenAI into $4.7B expense line – "other"

Link: https://www.theverge.com/news/806880/microsofts-not-very-open-about-openai
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45719669

#microsoft

@audAsta [AMP]

Here's a full list of donors, for anyone who might want to consider upcoming purchases:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c891yxgj44ko

As well as #Microsoft, #Amazon, #Apple, #Google, #HewlettPackard and #Meta are on the list.

#EpsteinBallroom

Microsoft 365 Copilot – Arbitrary Data Exfiltration via Mermaid Diagrams

Link: https://www.adamlogue.com/microsoft-365-copilot-arbitrary-data-exfiltration-via-mermaid-diagrams-fixed/
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45715837

#microsoft

I am not a fan of Microsoft Recall. I have not found many that are. Now, Microsoft has introduced another angle to using Recall and seemingly enabled it by default. Are you going to use it?

#Microsoft #Windows #Copilot #Recall #Xbox #Gaming #Spyware #AI #Linux

https://doublepulsar.com/microsoft-builds-on-recall-with-gaming-copilot-fails-basic-privacy-tests-52988576bcc8

If you subscribe to #Microsoft365 and they just sent you email telling you they're raising your subscription fee, click the " #Microsoft account" link in the email, log in, and tell it that you want to cancel your subscription. It will then offer to let you switch back to your current, cheaper subscription, without the included #Copilot #AI crap, which you probably don't want to pay for and shouldn't be using anyway.
h/t https://cosocial.ca/@f_beaudet/115428785470087164

A bit of good news, thanks to the journalists who investigated and reported on this, the Microsoft employees who lead the No Azure For Apartheid movement (and lost they're jobs for it), and all the other activists who protested against Microsoft's complicity!

No fucking way Microsoft would have canned a lucrative contract on it's own without pressure

@palestinePalestine_Group

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/25/microsoft-blocks-israels-use-of-its-technology-in-mass-surveillance-of-palestinians

#NoAzureForApartheid #surveillance #microsoft #azure #gaza #westbank #warcrimes #unit8200

"Activists have staged a protest on the roof of a Microsoft datacentre in the Netherlands ...

By July this year 11,500 terabytes of Israeli military data ... was stored in Azure’s servers in the Netherlands.

In a statement, the activists said they were “calling on all employees of the datacentre to lay down their work until all Israeli intelligence has been removed from the servers”

@palestinepalestine group

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/10/activists-in-netherlands-protest-on-roof-of-microsoft-site-storing-israeli-military-data

#NoAzureForApartheid #activism #microsoft #netherlands #gaza #westbank

"Unit 8200 sources said intelligence drawn from the enormous repositories of phone calls held in Azure had been used to research and identify bombing targets in Gaza ... the information stored in Azure amounted to a rich repository of intelligence about its population that some in the unit claimed had been used to blackmail people, place them in detention, or even justify their killing after the fact"

@palestinepalestine group

#NoAzureForApartheid #surveillance #microsoft #azure

Microsoft's complicity in apartheid and genocide is already well documented at this point, but more and more details and damning evidence of they're close relationship with Israeli forces continues to surface.

@palestinepalestine group

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/06/microsoft-israeli-military-palestinian-phone-calls-cloud

#NoAzureForApartheid #surveillance #microsoft #gaza #westbank #warcrimes #unit8200

@catsaladCatSalad🐈🥗 (D.Burch) #Microsoft could bring back the Zune 2. Zunes still "Play For Sure", right?

Hot take: #Microsoft should’ve had the balls to just revive #Clippy instead of introducing #Mico.

Now everyone’s laughing that it’s Clippy 2.0 anyway, but if MS had been the ones calling it Clippy, they would’ve been able to preempt the fun making. And they could’ve spinned it by saying the original Clippy was just ahead of its time and now they have the tech to make it good.

It would’ve shown confidence instead of their usual confusing messaging that no one can keep up with.

#Marketing

Microsoft Teams will start tracking office attendance

Link: https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/office-software/microsoft-teams-will-start-snitching-to-your-boss-when-youre-not-in-the-office-and-this-update-is-coming-in-december
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45698930

#microsoft

#Microsoft knallhart: Schmeißt eure #Windows10 /
PCs endlich weg ! 🤡
Oder Installiert einfach #Linux !! 🐧

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZnlK5KF1Gg

#Windows11
#Windows
#Cloud
#Kontozwang
#Datenschutz
#Nachhaltigkeit

Wundert das Jemanden?

"Der vor Kurzem vorgestellte KI-Assistent Gaming Copilot in Windows 11 nimmt offenbar Bildinhalte, Screenshots, Textnachrichten und sogar gesprochene Konversationen auf und schickt daraus gewonnene Informationen an Microsoft-Server. Sie werden anschließend wohl genutzt, um Spielern bei ihren Abenteuern zu helfen und KI-Modelle mit Daten zu trainieren."

https://www.golem.de/news/gaming-copilot-windows-11-sendet-ungefragt-spieldaten-an-microsoft-2510-201455.html

Ich empfehle:
https://www.oo-software.com/de/shutup10

#microsoft #spyware

#Microsoft can simply make arbitrary nonsense decisions from Recall to Copilot buttons and the whole world has to put up with any humiliation they come up with.

No, we don't.

Let's kick them out already.

Introduction

Redoing my #introduction as it was a bit of a sparse one when I joined.

I am a lifelong #technology enthusiast, having worked in Financial Services IT for more than 25 years, across multiple disciplines including:
* #Unisys #MCP-based #mainframe platforms (A17/A19/HMP NX 6800/Libra 180/Libra 6xx/Libra 890)
* #EMC #Symmetrix storage arrays (DMX 3/4 and most recently VMAX) including experience of #SRDF(S), SRDF(A), BCV
* #WindowsServer (2000 through 2019) including #ActiveDirectory
* Various #Linux/ #Unix OSes (#HPUX/ #RHEL/ #Centos/ #Ubuntu/ #Raspbian) including experience of #GFS/#GFS2 SAN storage clustering
* Virtual Tape Server technology (B&L/Crossroads/ETI Net SPHiNX, #TSM)
* Automation/Scripting (#PowerShell, #NT #Batch, #DOS, #Bash, #OPAL)
* #Security (#PrivilegedAccessManagement, #LeastPrivilege, #IAM, #Firewalls, #EDR)
* #BusinessContinuity/#DisasterRecovery (Design/Implementation/Operations)

I’m focused on learning and getting hands-on with #RaspberryPi at home and #cloud computing solutions both at work and at home.

I moved into a #SecurityEngineering role in 2020, so a lot of my focus is now more security focussed across all tech stacks.

My main focus at present when it comes to cloud is predominately #Microsoft #Azure, with Google and AWS of interest also, as well as other cloud infrastructure services such as those provided by CloudFlare, though I’m planning a move away from them due to their moral/ethical choices.

Away from work and tech, I love to #travel the world with my wife and enjoy very amateur #photography to record our adventures.

I also love most genres of #music, live in concert when I can, with a particular love of #Rock/ #Metal and also #Trance (coincidentally, given the profession of a somewhat more well known namesake of mine!).

What is it with #templating languages and math? Does a string-injecting system _really_ need full-blown mathematical operator set? I’m looking at multiple templating langs, and they all seem to be far from an optimal state where the emergent behavior appears:

- #Liquid: No math, relies on #JavaScript and benevolence of #Shopify / #Microsoft

- Liquor (by @whitequark✧✦Catherine✦✧): Includes math and lots of operators in general, too powerful to be interesting

- #Handlebars: require #JS

- #Mustache: No arguments to partials, thus no abstraction and data passing

- Server Side Includes: Have everything I need, but are #Apache -specific in many ways

Uuuuuuugh. I would’ve gone with either of these for my website and day-to-day programming, but I don’t want to commit to either an explicitly Turing-complete system or non-portable JS-heavy one.

I guess I’m still staying with #ed (1) until the state of templating improves. Or until I write a #Lisp version for any of these, likely SSI.

Unpopular opinion: the silver lining in server outages is that they pull the curtain & reveal some hard truths about who is really behind some services we use... especially stuff we think are alternatives to Big Tech (spoiler: maybe they aren't).

Case in point: last year's #Microsoft outage took out #DuckDuckGo (https://mashable.com/article/microsoft-outage-affects-bing-copilot-duckduckgo-chatgpt).

Today's Amazon's AWS outage took out #Signal in some areas: https://mastodon.world/@Mer__edith/115405436746725236

Oh my, is this time to convince my family & friends to move to Matrix? 🥲

"#Microsoft built a data centre in the northwestern Netherlands despite opposition from local farmers, promising it would only need between 12 and 20 million litres of water annually. Dutch media later revealed the data centre was consuming more than four times that — as locals were being asked to limit their own water use. " #Tech #Environment #ClimateChange cc: @cbcnews https://www.cbc.ca/news/ai-data-centre-canada-water-use-9.6939684

#Windows11 so far seems like it's the best #marketing tool and product to encourage #people to switch to #Linux or #FreeBSD.

Not only is it great to see new people exploring these OSes, it's awesome to see them #discover #joy in using them.

I stumbled across this gem of an article yesterday about Microsoft's continued "excellent" QA track record. Great marketing indeed. 🤣

https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/16/windows_11_update_localhost/

#news #windows #microsoft #quality #tech #technews #funny #ditchwindows

@nixCraftnixCraft 🐧 You just reminded me of the time I got banned from GitHub. It was about a year ago - for no reason at all 🤷‍♂️ Back then, I barely committed anything, and I used the social features even less. One day, I logged in to activate the Student Pack and saw that my account was banned

Luckily, I contacted support 🛠️, and if I remember correctly, everything was back to normal the next day. They told me their moderation algorithms (yes, they use AI 🤖) had made a mistake, and my account was reactivated.

Still, GitHub has been drifting away from my values for some time now, and that trend hasn't stopped. At the same time, my standards have been gradually getting stricter. So now I'm seriously considering switching to 🏔️ @CodebergCodeberg.org. I just need to sort out a few things with my current projects on GitHub, especially the ones I'm not working on alone.

#GitHub #Codeberg #Microsoft #Code #Programming #Privacy

I just dumped and shared pristine disk images and 300dpi scans of the "Sound, Graphics & Aircraft Upgrade" for Microsoft's Flight Simulator 4.0 for MS-DOS. Both 3.5 and 5.25 inch diskettes are now avaiable on the Internet Archive:

720K, 3.5 inch: https://archive.org/details/fltsim4_sound-graphics-aircraft-upgrade_35
1.2MB, 5.25 inch: https://archive.org/details/fltsim4_sound-graphics-aircraft-upgrade_525

Have fun! 😃

#KryoFlux #Microsoft #FlightSimulator #MSDOS #PCGaming #RetroGaming #RetroGames #DOSGaming #DOSGames #Mallard #FloppyDisk #Diskette

It's 14 October … but #EndOf10 is not ending. We now have another 12 months and we are only getting started! 🚀

#Microsoft has delayed #Windows10 End of Life to 13 October 2026.

They say it is "free", but really it's at the cost of your data while tying you to a corporate ecosystem. It'll only be harder later when the time comes to move on.

Why wait to try 🐧 #Linux? Find a place/event near you to liberate your hardware today: https://endof10.org/

More info: https://endof10.org/press/2025-10-04-extended-campaign/

#FOSS

Microsoft wird ca. 30 km westlich von #Köln insg. drei Hyperscaler-Rechenzentren (RZ) bauen und zwar in #Bedburg, #Bergheim und #Elsdorf ( ca. > 3 Mrd €).

Microsoft hatte geplant bis Juni 2025 80 Mrd $ in KI-RZ zu investieren.

Die Erschließung des neuen Gewerbegebiets in Bergheim-#Paffendorf / #Glesch wurde gerade begonnen.

Bauplan:
https://www.bund-nrw.de/fileadmin/nrw/bilder/Braunkohle/Strukturwandel_Biotopverbund/2025-02-Hyperscaler-Bergheim.png
Beschluss:
https://www.bergheim.de/aktuelles/news/der-bebauungsplan-fuer-das-rechenzentrum-von-microsoft-ist-beschlossen.php
BUND:
https://www.bund-nrw.de/themen/braunkohle/strukturwandel-im-revier/stoppt-den-flaechenfrass-im-rheinischen-revier/
Budgets:
https://www.computerbase.de/news/wirtschaft/ai-rechenzentren-microsoft-will-bis-juni-2025-80-milliarden-usd-investiert-haben.90883/

#Hyperscaler #Microsoft #Bergheim #KI

Microsoft Office 2016 and Office 2019 are no longer receiving software updates, technical support, or bug and security fixes.

Consider migrating to LibreOffice.

Microsoft recommends migrating to a Microsoft 365 subscription.

LibreOffice supports the features that a majority of users need for free.

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org
Mastodon: @libreoffice

4/4

#Microsoft #Office2016 #Office2019 #Office #LibreOffice #Privacy #InfoSec #CyberSecurity #Encryption #FOSS #FreeSoftware #OpenSource

Microsoft Office 2016 and Office 2019 will no longer receive software updates, technical support, or bug and security fixes after 14.10.2025.

Consider migrating to LibreOffice.

Supports encryption and digital signatures.

RESOURCE
https://mastodon.online/@blueghost/111515323806273370
https://mastodon.online/@blueghost/113083429177251269
https://mastodon.online/@blueghost/112279507315049711

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org
Mastodon: @libreoffice

3/4

#Microsoft #Office2016 #Office2019 #Office #LibreOffice #Privacy #InfoSec #CyberSecurity #Encryption #FOSS #FreeSoftware #OpenSource

Microsoft Office 2016 and Office 2019 will no longer receive software updates, technical support, or bug and security fixes after 14.10.2025.

Consider migrating to LibreOffice.

400 million downloads.
Used by businesses, governments, and individuals.

SOURCE
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2025/01/30/400-million-downloads-and-counting/
https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/who-uses-libreoffice/
https://blog.documentfoundation.org/blog/2025/03/13/updates-on-schleswig-holstein-moving-to-libreoffice/

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org
Mastodon: @libreoffice

2/4

#Microsoft #Office2016 #Office2019 #Office #LibreOffice #Privacy #InfoSec #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #FOSS

Microsoft Office 2016 and Office 2019 will no longer receive software updates, technical support, or bug and security fixes after 14.10.2025.

Consider migrating to LibreOffice.

LibreOffice is free to use.
LibreOffice supports Office file formats.

Install LibreOffice and compare it with your version of Office.

Website: https://www.libreoffice.org
Mastodon: @libreoffice

1/4

#Microsoft #Office2016 #Office2019 #Office #LibreOffice #CyberSecurity #Privacy #InfoSec #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #FOSS

This morning when trying to sign onto work, my laptop kicked off an automated upgrade for #windows11

Whoa. All I can say is this:

We can't go back to #Windows2000 fast enough.

#Microsoft #tech #OperatingSystems

As free Windows 10 support ends today, consider upgrading to a Linux operating system! You will continue to be protected with security updates, but you will also gain total freedom for your device.

Doesn't have to be Fedora - look around for the Linux distro that works for you. :)

Learn more: https://endof10.org
@Endof10End Of 10 Campaign

#EndOf10 #Windows #Microsoft #Linux #Fedora #OpenSource

Microsoft, the corporation that just 13 days ago implored customers to bring their Copilot to work, has now published a report warning of the dangers of Shadow AI.
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/14/microsoft_warns_of_the_dangers/

#ai @stupidity #microsoft

@nixCraftnixCraft 🐧 you can also use #wine to run the few #microsoft #windows applications that have no alternatives, such as #heidisql 👍

@itsfossIt's FOSS Cancel culture at it‘s finest. People have to stop putting all of the weight in single persons political or personal views.
That sucks sooooo hard!
@frameworkcomputerFramework is cool, @hyprlandHyprland Desktop Environment is probably cool (don’t use it), #FOSS is cool, #Linux is cool. Even #microsoft is cool from time to time, even though their products are mostly not.

Stop bitching around for every shitty detail.

📰🧒 "The DSB, #Austria’s data protection authority, has ruled that #Microsoft is illegally #tracking students with Microsoft 365 Education and uses student data for its own purposes."

Read the full article, including a comment by Max Schrems here 👉 https://cybernews.com/privacy/microsoft-may-not-track-school-children-austrian-dpa-says/

@itsfossIt's FOSS everyone focuses on Windows support ending, but no one is focused on everyone ending support for Microsoft. #Microsoft

Bisher ist das KI-Feature automatisch eingeschaltet. Es ist nicht klar, wo genau offensichtlich personenbezogene Daten gespeichert werden.
https://www.golem.de/news/onedrive-microsoft-testet-ki-gesichtserkennung-in-familienfotos-2510-201080.html
#Datenschutz #Microsoft #Gesichtserkennung

Honey, I invested $100 billion in AI, and all I got was 1 + 2 + 3 = 15

#ai #microsoft

Microsoft only lets you opt out of AI photo scanning 3x a year

Link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/10/11/0238213/microsofts-onedrive-begins-testing-face-recognizing-ai-for-photos-for-some-preview-users
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45551504

#microsoft

#Microsoft are working as hard as they can to stop people using a piece of machinery without giving away your #privacy

I love my laptop and desktop but imagine sourcing your own components and assembling it all yourself. And after all that effort you are told 'You cant use it without our express consent'.

I have hated Microsoft for over 30 years. This just confirms i was always in the right.

"You must have an account to use a machine?" In what world is this ok? #linux

Microsoft Amplifier

Link: https://github.com/microsoft/amplifier
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45549848

#microsoft

As if opt-out policies for privacy-sensitive practices were not bad enough... by limiting the number of times one can change a setting like "face recognition in photos" to "3 times per year" Microsoft appears to sell privacy is a privilege.

People should consider getting out of there.

#AI #privacy #Microsoft

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/10/11/0238213/microsofts-onedrive-begins-testing-face-recognizing-ai-for-photos-for-some-preview-users

So apparently an #Introduction is the thing to do here.

Terminally married (been together 32 years, married for 30 of them), 3 kids (all now actually young adults), 1 #Cat. Content likely to be heavy on #Cat pictures.

I run my own business, mostly writing #Code on the #Microsoft stack although I've been known to dabble in other places.

I play the #Guitar (mediocrely) and insist on singing (badly) in accompaniment.

The Hanselminutes Podcast - Competence builds confidence with .NET Principal Engineer Safia Abdalla and host Scott Hanselman.

https://www.hanselminutes.com/1018/competence-builds-confidence-with-net-principal-engineer-safia-abdalla

#podcast #dotnet #microsoft #devcommunity #career

Google, Meta and Microsoft opts to stop showing political ads in EU

Link: https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-political-ad-rules-google-meta-microsoft-big-tech-kick-in/
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45542145

#google #microsoft

Microsoft lets bosses spot teams that are dodging Copilot

Link: https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/10/microsoft_copilot_viva_insights/
Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45540174

#microsoft

Ich erkenne hier keinen Fehler ...

Microsoft Defender stuft SQL Server als End of Life ein. Der Fehler betrifft SQL Server 2017 und 2019.
https://www.golem.de/news/false-positive-microsoft-defender-stuft-sql-server-als-end-of-life-ein-2510-201032.html
#shitpost #microsoft

# Microsoft is making Word automatically save new documents to OneDrive by default

LibreOffice Writer doesn't.

And it is free.

And really rather good.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/technology/software/microsoft-is-making-word-automatically-save-new-documents-to-onedrive-by-default/ar-AA1O6Bkw

#Microsoft #LibreOffice #FOSS

🎉 Big #WIN for student privacy! 🔒 Austria’s DPA has issued a decision finding that #Microsoft 365 Education illegally tracks pupils and uses student data for Microsoft's own purposes.

📰 Read the full blog post, including a comment by Max #Schrems 👉 https://noyb.eu/en/noyb-win-microsoft-365-education-tracks-school-children