The only way to win is not to play. Inviting the internet to control our home still seems as crappy an idea now as it was when it first came about. Our recommendation still remains ditch the smart home products.

https://www.xda-developers.com/ways-improve-smart-home-security/

These lists almost never change. Unlike Windows which steadily gets worse, Linux Distros mature and get better with development. Many of our favorites still top these lists because they are a polished experience that are well maintained.

https://linuxhint.com/best-linux-distro-in-2025/

When Big Tech joins forces does it ever work out for their users?

https://www.maketecheasier.com/project-waterworth-aims-better-connect-world/

A recent question asked in chat may help others who have been curious about setting up a Virtual Machine. Rather than dual boot keep that Microsoft Spyware on a leash.

https://www.makeuseof.com/create-windows-virtual-machine-in-linux-with-kvm/

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).