wizardbeard

This didn't go through Windows Update. It went through the ctowdstrike software directly.

Yep, and it's harder to fix Windows VMs in Azure that are effected because you can't boot them into safe mode the same way you can with a physical machine.

The company is not Windows based, they offer clients and agents for Linux and Mac as well (and there are some scattered reports they fucked up some of their Linux customers like this last month).

The Windows version of their software is what is broken.

Your computer was likely not powered on during the time window between the fucked update pushing out and when they stopped pushing it out.

It's not a flaw with Windows causing this.

The issue is with a widely used third party security software that installs as a kernel level driver. It had an auto update that causes bluescreening moments after booting into the OS.

This same software is available for Linux and Mac, and had similar issues with specific Linux distros a month ago. It just didn't get reported on because it didn't have as wide of an impact.

Nah man. If you care about your CDs you should already have them ripped to flac format, so the disc rot can't kill them. Convert to mp3 vbr0 for tossing them on a player or your phone. Listen with whatever ear buds you like.

It's not like vinyl or casette tape, where the analog nature of the storage medium is going to effect the sound. CDs are pure digital, just a carrying case for the files on them.

At least on my android, if I tap the numbers at the top it allows me to just type it in.

Because that can make you stand out even more.

As an example: No point using high contrast makeup to break up the patterns of your face from facial recognition if all they have to do is look for the guy with wacky makeup on in their footage.

Gotta say, I don't think most peoples' threat models make worrying about IRL privacy a concern, but that's obviously not the point.

For the record, I don't use any of these techniques myself, it's just stuff I've read.

For facial recognition, a lot of CCTV cameras don't have IR filters, and can be blinded with Infrared LEDs, so there have been some promising experiments with shoving a bunch of them into hats. You'll glow real bright in any footage, but they won't be able to see your face.

Beyond that, there's always prosthetics (think like what is used in movies) to alter your facial characteristics.

All that said, I believe the main way of identifying individuals in camera footage now is by gait analysis. Supposedly a rock in your shoe can change it enough to not match up between different footage.

You'd also want to ditch your phone or put it in a signal blocking bag, as it can be uniquely identified by the saved wifi SSIDs that it tries to connect to, and by its bluetooth unique identifier (might just be the MAC address), that can be tracked by low energy bluetooth beacons (how stores track customer movement within and how most places did covid exposure tracing with the apps).

As far as fingerprints go, maybe a light layer of superglue on your fingertips to disrupt the print patterns? That's a complete guess though.

Man, there is a whole megathread and wiki as the pinned post on this community. Please go read it.

there's also an audience that, post-Covid, won't go to the cinema

I'm not quite in that camp, but I'm damn close. There just aren't a lot of movies coming out anymore that I am interested in enough to not want to wait, and where I feel that seeing it in the theater would add to the experience.

I'm privileged enough to have a damn good and big OLED screen at home, and the convenience of having complete control over my viewing experience can't be ignored.

For me, going to the theater is for when I get something significant from the experience that I can't get at home. That can be IMAX, 3D (on occasion), if the scale of the action is more immersive on a big screen, if it's a film where the audio mixing shines with a theater's atmos setup, or if it's the kind of thinking film that gets more out of full focus and immersion (but I can still get this last one at home after the family is in bed).

The big problem is that outside of movies from franchises and directors I already know, I don't usually know if it will hit any of those marks before I see it for the first time, and at that point it's out of the theater. I use an ad blocker everywhere I can, and even when I do catch trailers, I've been burned before by misleading marketing.

I hope that studios start looking more at the long tail than opening week statistics, and that more movies start coming back to theaters after their initial run. I love the various "#th anniversary screenings happening lately". I personally think that the opening week box office sales being the end all be all is an entirely outdated business practice that hasn't adapted to modern times, lives, and changes in the media consumption landscape over the last 20 years.

Oh look, it's the semi-annual "we fucked up" press release. Please take us back, we promise we'll only be abusive when you really deserve it. 🤮