TechBytes Episode 89: Chromebooks, Privacy, and Vista 10

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2015-09-03 08:35:06 UTC
Modified: 2015-09-03 08:40:46 UTC

TechBytes 2015
Direct download as Ogg (2:14:03, 59.0 MB) | High-quality MP3 (30.7 MB)

Summary: An episode which focuses on the rise of Chromebooks, serious issues pertaining to privacy, media bias, and the demise of Windows

This is the first show to have been recorded this year and hopefully the resumption of TechBytes as a weekly of bi-weekly show. We are hoping to facilitate live broadcasting of the show as well (coming soon). The show officially turns 5 in just 4 weeks from now.

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We Need Less Gadgets, More Humanity: If people are being honest with themselves, many of the gadgets they claim they "cannot live without" are just excesses and distractions they could definitely leave behind
Daniel Pocock in The Guardian This Morning: There is an opportunity here to spread a message, even if Pocock won't win a seat
What a Difference Six Years Make...: We are also beta-testing a new feature for the site; we plan to announce it some time soon
When It Comes to Slop, Richard Stallman is Opposite of Linus Torvalds: When it comes to computing, Dr. Stallman has long been a voice of reason
Daniel Pocock is in Mainstream Media This Week: Pocock's haters will absolutely hate this
In His Departure Post, Poul-Henning Kamp (phk) Explains Why Linus Torvalds is Full of "Hot Air" and Slop Bubbles: Having lived through previous bubbles as a UNIX geek, phk cannot be ignored
Whistleblowers Keep Flowing: Later today a police investigator should phone us regarding death threats we've received
Technology and Gadgets Got Obese, Just Like Their Users: They now sell us so-called 'phones' for slop
"Samsung Recently Projected a 19-fold Surge in Second-Quarter Operating Profit", Now There Are Mass Layoffs: In a 9-month period Samsung's debt rose by about 80%
Gemini Links 20/07/2026: Dungeon Meshi/Undertale Crossover, "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Dark Web and Beyond": Links for the day
IBM's Control of the Media "Just Showed What Taking Accountability Does Not Look Like": It is no secret that IBM pays the media
Microsoft Loses XBox Lawsuit, But There Are More: The collapse of studios continues
GNU/Linux Approaching International Average in Djibouti: One can envisage further gains for GNU/Linux, seeing Microsoft is in such a bad shape
Daniel Pocock "[t]he Australian Taking on Nigel Farage — from Down Under": This can help raise awareness of some issues
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 19, 2026: IRC logs for Sunday, July 19, 2026
Misleading Coverage in Slashdot Promotes and Openwashes Slop: Piggybacking RMS for the headline seems like a PR stunt of sorts
As Envisioned, a Rebellion and Many Whistleblowers at Microsoft: Whistleblowers ensure Microsoft has totally lost control of the "narrative" (face-saving PR)
Microsoft is a Right-Wing Company: Just remember that when people call Microsoft "woke"
GNU/Linux "Market Share" Rises to About a Quarter in Sudan: Can anyone explain to us why?
Gemini Links 19/07/2026: Visiting Ethiopia, Two Dreams, and Price of Skinnerboxes: Links for the day
Tears in IBM, Company Falls Apart While Management Fakes "Performance" to Take Bonuses: Wall Street is a naked emperor
Telling Our Story: In the coming years we'll have some high-impact stories to share and generally tell without fear of reprisal
Microsoft XBox Studio Leaders Upset at What the New CEO Did: From what we can gather, in 2024 XBox was already entering what's known as a "death spiral". Now it's literally moving down the drain/pipe.
IRC Started in Finland, GNU/Linux Did Not: History is like that
GNU/Linux Rises to 8% in Bhutan, Same as the International Average: Taking note of estimated GNU/Linux share in that country, we see it hovering around the international median/average this month
Links 19/07/2026: "The Voice of Google" and "Chinese Surveillance Tech a Threat to Privacy": Links for the day
Keep Both Eyes on the Ball: At the moment we have six series running in parallel; two of them concern the EPO
'Journalists' Who Help IBM Cover Up Fraud: Journalistic malpractice
The "Modern Linux" Song: Join us now, make the kernel
XBox Layoffs Vastly Bigger Than Microsoft Told the Press, Microsoft Keeps Trying to Change the Subject: Many so-called "XBox fans" are no more
Microsoft Lost 1,200 Billion Dollars in "Market Value", Take a Look at What Happened to Windows: while Windows continues to fall unstoppably GNU/Linux is surging
Links 19/07/2026: People in China Are Buying Feelings and 404 Media Has Third Anniversary: Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/07/2026: Camping, Health, and Hardware: Links for the day
The State of Slopfarms: Slopfarms or LLM slopfarms are a menace and a problem on the Web
GNU/Linux Rising to 6% in Brunei: seventh in the world for GDP (PPP) per capita
Free Software is Like an 'Activist Movement': People who argue strongly in favour of something (even very good things) will attract the wrath of those whom they oppose
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 18, 2026: IRC logs for Saturday, July 18, 2026
UKIP TV (GBNoise) Covers Challengers to UKIP Nigel, Daniel Pocock Mentioned: Way to get noticed
Links 18/07/2026: Chinese State Media Depicting Neighbours as Monkeys, US "Stocks Sink on Anxiety About Tech and Hey Hi (AI) Spending": Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/07/2026: "Business Idiots Everywhere", "The Siren Song of DePIN", and Entering Geminispace: Links for the day
GNU/Linux in Lithuanian Desktops/Laptops Climbs to 8%, the Global Average: For its own national security it would be wise to abandon Windows
This Bubble is Bursting, Piecewise: It's nice to see Wall Street getting some reality checks
It's Not About XBox, Microsoft is Already Firing Hundreds of People Who Do "Security [sic] Engineering" [sic]: The official reason/excuse/lie told is something about slop, but no sane person would buy it (not even insiders who are impacted)
Can We Finally All Agree That UEFI 'Secure Boot' is a Sham That Harms Security and Gives Microsoft Remote Control Over All PCs and Servers (Even Those That Don't Run Any Microsoft Software)?: Cui bono?
Bolivian People Adopt GNU/Linux (They Have a Domestic Distro Too, PluriOS): Notice Windows falling to an all-time low
No Technical People Write About UK Parliamentary Elections: Almost none of them work in the media, which seems to favour parrots, slop, or parrots that use slop
"But Stallman is Scaring Away Women...": Such dishonest projections (projection tactics) needs to be called out and refuted
First Female Debian Project Leader (DPL) Affirms Low Profile and Inferior Status of Women in GAFAM: 3 months ago Sruthi Chandran was elected as Debian Project Leader (DPL) for a period of 12 months
After 5 Years Vista 11 Still Adopted Less Than Its Predecessor (Orphaned, End of Life Since Last Year): Notice Windows going down to 40%
We Don't Depend on Google (or Search Engines in General): there's a lesson here and it extends beyond sites
Only "Torvaldos" (Linus Torvalds) Can Use the F-Word, CoC Does Not Apply to the Enforcer, and Richard Stallman Punished for Using the Other F-Word ("Freedom"): "Linus Torvalds tells AI haters to fork off"
Explaining the Culture of Bulletin Board-Style Chat: Only desperate detractors would try to present something (cherry-picked) from IRC as some sort of official statement for Techrights
Independent, But Not Fringe: "Daniel Pocock is an Independent Candidate."
In Free Software, Nobody Gets Fired: Way to own one's code and project
PIP-Styled Mass Layoffs Allegedly Coming to Microsoft by 12 August 2026: Microsoft has been doing "silent layoffs" (PIPs and more) for quite some time
Daniel Pocock's Candidacy (Election of Member of Parliament) Mentioned in BBC and Over a Dozen News Sites Since Yesterday: Funnily enough, albeit not surprisingly, the same people who attack Pocock also attack us
Links 18/07/2026: Spotify Uses Slop Song Descriptions, "San Francisco Demands Removal of Nudify Apps": Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 17, 2026: IRC logs for Friday, July 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/07/2026: A Manifesto by The Dissident, Shokz Headphones, and Gemini Tinylog Reader (GTL): Links for the day

TechBytes Episode 89: Chromebooks, Privacy, and Vista 10

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