One of the things that's hard for non-technical people to gauge is when is it time to upgrade to something newer. I myself still use much of the older items listed to be upgraded. On Linux there isn't as much of a rush for us but even then our components do age out.

The best rule of thumb for when to replace with new is what tasks you are doing. If you are doing some intensive work and it's not being done without hiccups then it might be time to replace.

https://www.xda-developers.com/aging-components-to-upgrade-from-asap/

Not going to call it excitement, but we have to wonder where the wall is. The modern CPU is getting to a point where like display technologies it's hitting a wall of diminishing returns. Heat remains a constant issue for CPUs and GPUs alike.

https://www.xda-developers.com/intel-nova-lake-rumors-you-should-be-excited-about/

Case in point about heat and components.

https://www.xda-developers.com/why-doesnt-nvidia-stick-to-8-pin-pcie-cables/

Any Android ni🅱️🅱️as should do this...

1. Go to apps in the settings menu.
2. Click the 3 button menu or the filter menu and enable show system apps.
3. Search for 'safetycore'
4. Uninstall that shit.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2025/02/25/google-starts-scanning-your-photos-without-any-warning/

It's some gay shit that scans and censors all images with “harmful content.” I'm sure they'll eventually change “harmful images” to “problematic images” before too long.

And why are they scanning the content of my private phone in the first place? (I know, I know…)

h/t: Solstice

@AltSkull48
@TheParanormiesPresent

Microsoft Is In The Business of Data Mining, Beware of Windows 11 -
https://leonlagreyentry.blog/2022/06/12/microsoft-is-in-the-business-of-data-mining-beware-of-windows-11/

So, hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had seen this Article yesterday. I helped a good friend take a new Win11 Machine and initialize it last night, preparing to dual boot Linux. The amount of Data-mining during the Windows Setup process was absolutely disgusting! All of the former "skip" or "Ill do this later" Links were gone, and in true data-nazi fashion, the Install 100% REFUSED to continue until it had collected at least two Email Addresses. It wanted a Full Name, and even Birthdate! All if those Fields are now mandatory in Win11 Setup Routine, and even if you don't have Internet, there is ZERO way to continue (until this Video).

On the good note, the Post Install prep of Cleaning, Optimizing, and Error Checking, and then Shrinking the Primary OS Partition went very smoothly. The Install of Fedora 41 into the Unallocated Space left by the shrink, and its initialization, went flawlessly, with ZERO Data-mining. The secondary 1TB Drive in the Machine was reformatted to Fat32 from NTFS, and will be used as a shared Storage Device, accessible to both Windows or Fedora, for my friends Data. If something happens to the primary (drive0) OS Drive, her Data will remain safe on the secondary (drive1) Drive. It will also make it easier to run a sync program from either Windows, Linux, or both, to keep the Secondary Drive synced (backed up) to an External, LOCALLY, without using "the cloud" (someone elses computer).

Linux Hardware Database
https://linux-hardware.org/

Certified hardware | Ubuntu
https://ubuntu.com/certified

I went through GraphineGoat's instructions, I think about:config is for Firefox. brave://flags is for Brave. Here is the link to text instructions: https://graphenegoat.com/linux-operating-systems/hardening-linux/webrtc/

Chinese tech firm Huawei unveils first tri-folding phone

First, boot it, but dont connect to rje internet. Next, go through the settings, and turn off all the tracking you can find. Uninstall any and all bloat you can.

Next, bookmark this

https://github.com/awesome-windows11/windows11

And this

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/grc-incontrol-install-security-update-only

Then go get the grc InControl, here

https://www.grc.com/incontrol.htm

Download it to a Thumb Drive, and now go to your new Computer, and install and configure it.

After doing so, NOW connect the new Computer to the Internet, and use it.

If you wish to dual boot with Linux, let me know via DM, and Ill walk you through it.

Gmail users warned as phishing attacks become more advanced: Do Not Click on Anything
https://www.gizchina.com/2025/02/10/gmail-users-warned-as-phishing-attacks-become-more-advanced-do-not-click-on-anything/

PS5 users frustrated by PSN outage but get some good news which includes compensation
https://www.gizchina.com/2025/02/10/psn-outage-resolution-compensation/