Bonum Certa Men Certa

2023 Will be a Pivotal Year for Techrights

Summary: As we quickly approach the last month of the year, here's a look back at a wonderful year for Techrights (but not for the world in general) and a look at the year ahead

WE recently published the 35,000th blog post and celebrated 16 years.

This long weekend (owing to Thanksgiving) has given plenty of time for reflection and planning. It's not a secret that there are many changes afoot, but overall those are positive changes and they will make this site better. Not just a Web site, but so much more...

In-Depth Investigations



Site migrations are already underway, but it takes time as we still focus on publication of material too (we don't want to halt that). The GitHub/Microsoft series will go on next year; there's plenty of material we're eager to publish. There are several other "big stories" (or series) in the making, but they take time to properly prepare and fact-check. Stay tuned.

Tor, GNUnet, and More



If all goes according to plan, Tor/Onion will be supported next year. IPFS and Gemini have good resilience already and are robust to downtime (with spare nodes and hardware). GNUnet is still being considered. It's a promising project. It seems like Mumble too is gaining adoption (it's mentioned a lot online this year) and at the time of writing there are "514 known IRC networks" of significant size with a third of a million people online (counted across those networks).

Personal Life



As a researcher by training (and profession too; I was a postdoc for a few years) I like to examine the facts for myself and properly assess the evidence rather than blindly rely on what corporate press keeps saying. The media gets a lot of things wrong, but it tends to get away with it.

The way things are looking right now, this post-Brexit economy in a state of pandemic (that many are already in denial of) won't recover any time soon. Maybe there will be an upswing -- however small -- rather than ongoing downturn some time in the next 5 years. Maybe. In the meantime, for a lot of people there's a daily fight over necessities; it's about survival. The national health service (NHS) is under perpetual attacks (aside from privatisation), the press is rapidly collapsing (not many people are still willing to pay for news; some cannot afford such a "luxury"), so we're left with tabloids and oligarchs-owned "news" (sometimes the same as those tabloids).

Then there's the health crisis, aside from mental health crisis.

How Deaths Have Soared This Year (Compared to Pre-COVID-19 Levels)



A topic I typically write about in my personal site is worth echoing here, at least in passing. There's a mortality and morbidity crisis, which many are aware of while the media is suppressing or stonewalling or vainly gaslighting.

The relevant data is available from official (government) sources:

ONS data download

Recent weeks' total deaths in England and Wales:

Recent weeks

These numbers are very high, especially so in recent months.

This affects ALL age groups and has come to the point where some weeks have have more than 2,000 additional deaths compared to the 2015-2019 average (in week 20 it was more than 2,500 higher).

Here's 2022 (the unit in the X grid is week number):

Difference in deaths in 2022: 2022 deaths (England & Wales):  Above 2015-2019 average; Below 2015-2019 average

The high numbers (or very tall vertical bars) are number of deaths higher than pre-COVID-19 average number of deaths (for any given week).

Data: All deaths by week 45 versus pre-COVID-19 average (ODF)

That's just based on the data. No need to argue with the data, unlike interpretations of it. Stay cautious regardless.

With more time spent indoors, and with more time available in general, Techrights will grow and thrive.

Recent Techrights' Posts

Linux is Already Dominant (Android), Let's Make GNU/Linux Dominant in Desktops/Laptops as Well
"Dr. Stallman recently warned everybody about Microsoft."
 
Our Case is a Very Easy Win, the SLAPPs From Microsofters Were a Grave Error, and Censoring Information Won't Work (It'll Only Ever Backfire)
Censoring is what people do when they lose the argument
Say the Truth, the Rest Will Follow
There's no guarantee that writing the truth will result in an audience (or readership), but over time - in the long run - people generally gravitate towards what they know or feel to be crude truth, not just what's comforting (albeit false or self-deluding, usually groupthink dictated from above)
How to Expose High-Level Corruption Without Getting in (Too Much) Trouble
Democracy depends on free press and freedom of the press depends on being able to safely publish (and keep available) material that bad people don't want to be known to anybody
In-Depth EPO Coverage at Techrights Turns Eleven
11 years is a very long time
Windows Measured Below 10% in Afghanistan, GNU/Linux Gaining a Lot
about 80% are Android (Linux) users, compared to only about 10% for Windows
Poland's Political Predicament and Social Control Media
Democracy and fake "tech" don't mix well; the latter tends to interfere with the former and that's why we get more "Putins" out there
EPO: Taking Away From the Staff to Give More to the Rich
The Central Staff Committee (CSC) wrote to EPO staff earlier this week
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 03, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 03, 2025
Abuse Inside the Polish Patent Office (UPRP) - Part I: It's a Lot Like the EPO
we can commence a series soon
Gemini Links 04/06/2025: Inescapable Questions and Quitting All "Oligarch Tech"
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Linux FUD From Slopfarms, Blaming Linux for Microsoft Issues; Even WebProNews Has Become a Slopfarm (Googlebombing "Linux" With Slop Images and Fake/Plagiarised Text)
The Web is really getting bad; it's also overwhelmed by fake material or plagiarised material, wherein the plagiarism gets disguised/hidden by LLM sausage factories
Links 03/06/2025: Tiananmen Square Massacre Censorship and Growing Military Activities Around Taiwan
Links for the day
The Loyalty to Microsoft and the Salaries From Microsoft (Funding SLAPPs Against Techrights and Tux Machines)
Garrett always knows better. He knows everything best.
Windows Falls in Italy as GNU/Linux Jumps to 5%
Italy knows a thing or two about digital autonomy
Nigeria is All Android and Google
Windows down to almost nothing in Africa's largest population
Mass Layoffs at Microsoft (Second Wave) Not Limited to Redmond
"More layoffs at Microsoft as axe falls in Washington and California"
Gemini Links 03/06/2025: Forth System and "Common Lisp is a Dumpster"
Links for the day
The Leaks Were Right: Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in May, Then Another Wave in June
Just as we've been saying for over a month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 02, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 02, 2025
Last Article From Australia's Sam Varghese Was a Year Ago and It Covered the Release of Julian Assange, Who Will Apparently Come Back as 'Politician'
It'll soon be exactly 12 months
Hungary Seems Hungry for Linux
Windows down by a lot
Like in Europe, Bad News for Microsoft in US and Canada
If it loses those "regions", then what's left?
About 8 Waves of Mass Layoffs at Microsoft in 2025 (in Less Than 5 Months), Now Vista 11 "Market Share" Decreases
Really bad news for shareholders of Microsoft
statCounter Sees Bing "Share" Falling Over 0.5% in One Month, Now Lower Than Before the ChatGPT/Bing Chat Hype
Bing has been part of the mass layoffs for quite some time
After Microsoft's Bankruptcy in Russia Android (Linux) Will Dominate Asia Completely
Windows probably peaked in "XP" or "2000"
Microsoft's Demise is a Global Phenomenon
mass layoffs justified using mindless buzzwords
All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux in EU and the UK, All-Time Lows for Microsoft
Combining ChromeOS and GNU/Linux, it adds up to and almost reaches 6%
India: Windows Falls to 50% in Desktops/Laptops and 8% Overall
laptops/desktops fell to 16% of the whole
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 4.7% "Market Share" This Month
30,000 Microsoft jobs may be eliminated by year's end
Microsoft is in Trouble and Microsofters Know It
"I've been happy on Win 3.11 for years."
[Video] New Introduction to Richard Stallman's Contributions Including GNU Emacs, GNU/Linux, and Software Freedom
from the channel previously bullied for supporting RMS
Links 02/06/2025: South Korea to Vote, Russia Blitzed From Within
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Political Leftovers, DRM, and Patents
Links for the day
Links 02/06/2025: Microsoft Spins Layoffs as "Slop", Frontier Settles Lawsuit
Links for the day
When You Publicly Boast About Wanting to Violently Attack People (Even Colleagues) Finding a Job Will Prove Difficult
there's a lesson to be learned here
The Web We Lost, the Information Lost Due to Microsoft's Attacks on Companies Like Yahoo! (Before the LLM Slop Frenzy)
When it comes to news sites, what can we say?
Covering Corruption in Poland, Including a War on Science (Due to Bad Politicians)
What we're about to show is that skilled and experienced scientists in Poland are besieged by bureaucrats
Gemini Links 02/06/2025: "Star Wars Day" and "Security Day"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 01, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 01, 2025