The General thread for Computers And Internet

[AndyinPA]

Reminds me of MS Word. You used to be able to buy it outright. Now, you get to rent it for a year, as in MS Word 365. Unless you have an old version you paid for. And I do. And I really, really, really miss Word Perfect.

[MN-Skeptic]

Reminds me of MS Word. You used to be able to buy it outright. Now, you get to rent it for a year, as in MS Word 365. Unless you have an old version you paid for. And I do. And I really, really, really miss Word Perfect.

You can buy a non-subscription copy of Microsoft Office 2021 - What's the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 2021?

The subscription service requires an occasional connection to the internet, I believe, in order to verify the authenticity of the copy. But there are remote areas in the U.S. which do not have access to the internet and yet require Microsoft Office. Therefore a standalone version does exist.

[AndyinPA]

Thanks. I thought it might still be available, so I should have qualified my statement.

[MN-Skeptic]

I got a new laptop in Nov 2022 and had to research the subject. I went back and forth, and finally opted for the subscription service. It's in my budget and Office 365 offers Excel features that the standalone version doesn't. As a former accountant, I'm a spreadsheet person. I have a few things in Google Sheets, but I rely on Microsoft Excel.

[neonzx]

Lotus 1-2-3

That is all.

[chancery]

Google just told me that 1990 Lotus 1-2-3- for x86 Unix can be made to run natively on modern x86 Linux.

[MN-Skeptic]

Lotus 1-2-3

That is all.

x 1000

I really, really wish they had continued the Lotus 1-2-3. I also preferred Word Perfect. Oh well.

[RTH10260]

Reminds me of MS Word. You used to be able to buy it outright. Now, you get to rent it for a year, as in MS Word 365. Unless you have an old version you paid for. And I do. And I really, really, really miss Word Perfect.

You can buy a non-subscription copy of Microsoft Office 2021 - What's the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 2021?

The subscription service requires an occasional connection to the internet, I believe, in order to verify the authenticity of the copy. But there are remote areas in the U.S. which do not have access to the internet and yet require Microsoft Office. Therefore a standalone version does exist.

You can scour the web for companies that sell the plain (valid) product keys at vastly reduced prices.

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[RTH10260]

New hack clones fingerprints just by listening to fingers swipe screens
PrintListener hacking technique can steal people’s fingerprints through a smartphone’s microphone

Anthony Cuthbertson
Tuesday 20 February 2024 16:03 GMT

Researchers have figured out how to recreate a person’s fingerprints from just the sound they make while swiping a touchscreen.

The discovery, made by a team from the US and China, could have profound implications for biometric security systems that are used in everything from smartphones to door access locks.

The technique, called PrintListener, reconstructs the pattern of a finger’s papillary lines through the acoustic signals it generates as it slides across a screen.

Hackers could use the microphone found within the smartphone to record the sound and steal a victim’s fingerprint, according to the researchers.

“Due to its widespread use, fingerprint leakage may cause sensitive information theft, enormous economic and personnel losses, and even a potential compromise of national security,” the researchers noted in a paper detailing their findings.

“The attack scenario of PrintListener is extensive and covert. It only needs to record users’ fingertip friction sound and can be launched by leveraging a large number of social media platforms.”

Using PrintListener in “realistic scenarios”, the researchers were able to achieve a partial reconstruction of a person’s fingerprint 27.9 per cent of the time and a full reconstruction 9.3 per cent of the time.

The method was detailed in a research paper titled ‘PrintListener: Uncovering the vulnerability of fingerprint authentication via the finger friction sound’, written by the team from the University of Colorado in the US and Tsinghua University, Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China.



https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/fing ... 99111.html

[neonzx]

I bought a Brother laser printer and have some kind of subscription but can cancel.

I have a relative who wanted a new printer. I told him to just go with a b&w laser. His gf convinced him to go with an ink jet. So funny he has to replace his cartridges often because they dry out from non use.

Brother keeps trying get me to sign up for their monthly subscription plan. Yeah, no I'm good. Dry black toner, no wet paper, no dried out ink cartridges.

[Foggy]

We have an Epson wide format ink tank printer

Ol' Wifehorn bought one of those. Six weeks later it got a paper jam. That can't be fixed by the consumer. I won't tell a long story, but we will never buy an Epson product again. Ever.

It isn't even a good paperweight.

[Reddog]

I agree that laser is the way to go. My main printer is an over 10 year old color duplex laser printer. I don’t print as much as I had in the past; but, I can rely on it to print when I do use it. I also have an 11x17 all-in-one that I used quite a bit before I retired. It was great for a while. I could print readable schematics, (not as good as D-sized), but readable. The ink finally dried, and no amount of nozzle cleaning routines would clear the nozzles. However the scanner works great, so I keep it around. Scan to PDF and I can zoom in, etc.
I had stopped buying one brand at one time. I won’t say the name because it turned out all the manufacturers were doing the same thing, I believe. It was a CYMK (4 cartridge with black ink cartridge). One of the color cartridges was getting low. Ok, I didn’t need color. I’ll just print in black. It refused to print, with no way to bypass, even though I didn’t need e.g. yellow. I think a class action lawsuit forced manufacturers to allow low toner/ink bypass.

[pipistrelle]

I had stopped buying one brand at one time. I won’t say the name because it turned out all the manufacturers were doing the same thing, I believe. It was a CYMK (4 cartridge with black ink cartridge). One of the color cartridges was getting low. Ok, I didn’t need color. I’ll just print in black. It refused to print, with no way to bypass, even though I didn’t need e.g. yellow. I think a class action lawsuit forced manufacturers to allow low toner/ink bypass.

I had two HP inkjets that did that...

I gave up on color because of that and ink drying out.

[Volkonski]

In recent years most of what we printed was music for Mrs. V. Sometime 30 to 40 pages for one session.

Last year we got a tablet for her so she can get her music online. Got a tablet stand and a foot pedal to turn pages.

Used to print out recipes from the Internet. Now we just get them on the kitchen Google Home.

Used to send out a holiday family newsletter in December. Now we email it.

We rarely print anything anymore. Use our printers mostly for scanning.

[Shizzle Popped]

We have an Epson wide format ink tank printer

Ol' Wifehorn bought one of those. Six weeks later it got a paper jam. That can't be fixed by the consumer. I won't tell a long story, but we will never buy an Epson product again. Ever.

It isn't even a good paperweight.

Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. We've only had it for a few months so we'll see. For now it's been great. It doesn't use heated print heads so it starts printing in just a few seconds and the quality is better than the Brother it replaced. That printer had constant trouble with clogged print heads and last year got to the point where I had to run a cleaning cycle almost every time I used it. Then the black print head stopped working entirely. Replacement print heads aren't expensive or terrible difficult to replace but I'd had enough.

We have an ancient Dell color laser that our daughter is using. It was one of those spur of the moment decisions when we were in Staples one day and saw a floor model on closeout for $99. We got it home and it didn't work so they sent us a brand new one in a box to replace it. This one has worked flawlessly ever since but it's hard to find drivers that work now and I would have to look to see if I can get toner. Luckily, the toner never seems to run out.

[Frater I*I]

Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. We've only had it for a few months so we'll see. For now it's been great. It doesn't use heated print heads so it starts printing in just a few seconds and the quality is better than the Brother it replaced. That printer had constant trouble with clogged print heads and last year got to the point where I had to run a cleaning cycle almost every time I used it. Then the black print head stopped working entirely. Replacement print heads aren't expensive or terrible difficult to replace but I'd had enough.

That's no way to talk about a family member...






I'll see myself out

[MN-Skeptic]

I wish I had kept a history of the computers and printers we've owned over time.

I just finished my taxes last night. I've been using TurboTax since at least my 1988 tax return. Those were the days of dot-matrix printers. Oh my! It took a long time to print out!

I think my first laser printer was the HP LaserJet IIIP which came out in March 1990. I know I wanted it for printing out my tax returns. I can't find my copy of my 1991 tax return, but my 1992 tax return was printed on the laser printer.

While I've always been a laser printer fan, my husband liked inkjet printers which, for the stuff he printed out, made absolute sense. He used an Epson printer which, in my opinion, was more trouble than it was worth. When he passed away, I recycled it. I do have an HP inkjet printer for the times I need color, but it just doesn't do a great job with photos.

Fortunately, my brother is an amateur photographer and loves printing out quality photos, so he has a great color printer. I have no idea what it is - an Epson? - but it does a wonderful job and can print on larger format paper. If I do want a photo printed, I just ask him.

[Shizzle Popped]

Well, let's hope that doesn't happen. We've only had it for a few months so we'll see. For now it's been great. It doesn't use heated print heads so it starts printing in just a few seconds and the quality is better than the Brother it replaced. That printer had constant trouble with clogged print heads and last year got to the point where I had to run a cleaning cycle almost every time I used it. Then the black print head stopped working entirely. Replacement print heads aren't expensive or terrible difficult to replace but I'd had enough.

That's no way to talk about a family member...






I'll see myself out

My brother is high maintenance too.

[keith]

MY DESKTOP WORKSTATION ALL OF A SUDDEN, AS IN OVER NIGHT ALL OF A SUDDEN, CAN NO LONGER FIND A BOOTABLE DEVICE.

MY C DRIVE, AN SSD, IS DEAD.

ÀAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!

[Reality Check]

MY DESKTOP WORKSTATION ALL OF A SUDDEN, AS IN OVER NIGHT ALL OF A SUDDEN, CAN NO LONGER FIND A BOOTABLE DEVICE.

MY C DRIVE, AN SSD, IS DEAD.

ÀAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGG!

Oh man, that sucks bigly. Hope you have backups.

[keith]

Yeah well maybe I have a 2yo bu somewhere, but every thing important is on a separate physical drive - source code, email repository, photos, music, etc.

But it will be a drag to have to rebuild everything. Fortunately I have copious notes how I did it in the first place. Plus I'm not 100% sure whice cloud account my KeyPass database is on, but I should be able to work it out.

[Reality Check]

But it will be a drag to have to rebuild everything. Fortunately I have copious notes how I did it in the first place. Plus I'm not 100% sure whice cloud account my KeyPass database is on, but I should be able to work it out.

I watched a video recently from ExplainingComputers.com guy on the expected life of different media. For SSD's he listed 5 to 10 years. But of course that's an average. I have a SATA to USB cable so I can hook up a drive externally just to look at it. I also use it for cloning drives. You might invest in one of those and see if you can read the drive on another PC.

[John Thomas8]

My Mushroom The Computer:

[RTH10260]

story originating in Canada, but machinery is from the US

[MsDaisy 2]

I looked out the window and saw an unfamiliar white pickup truck over by the Guest House and pointed it out to my Mister. So we rode over on the 4 wheeler to see who it was and what they were doing here. AND AND AND…

► Show Spoiler

He was with the contractor who is going to start laying lines for actual hardwired internet out here!!!!

It's about fucking time! It's probably still at least a year away, but it is progress.