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Parts of the Microsoft Windows 10 source leaks online with a size of 32 TB. What's leaked is Microsoft's Shared Source Kit that supposedly includes the source to the base Windows 10 hardware drivers, Redmond's PnP code, USB and Wi-Fi stacks, storage drivers, and ARM-specific OneCore kernel code. Also non-public builds of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. (Betaarchive.com now says it's only 1.2 GB of data. But regardless. There is something to look for.)

However Beta Archive's administrators are in the process of removing non-public Microsoft components and builds from its FTP server and its forums. But the various bays of ships with sot colored flags will surely deliver.

So head first for https://betaarchive.com/ for treasure hunting and then to that bay.

The British government demands a fee for every single fiber you buy yourself and lay down. And make use of to the tune of 333 GBP per kilometer per year (423 US$).

So much for promoting the future digital society. Maybe the British islands were spared the extinction level event 65 million years ago? :p

A workaround is to lay cat.6 cable perhaps or at least pretending to do so..

I may have inadvertently tested the limits of free speech in England and Wales.

The road to Hell, as they say, is paved with good intentions. And if you've got nothing to hide, then you've got nothing to fear. Ha!

If you're going to give the morons space to be stupid, you must surely give space for everyone else to challenge, parody, question, lampoon...

You Americans are lucky that you have an explicit written Constitution.

Bake me a cake with a file in it.

The Outline reports that on 13 June, television reporters were asked not to conduct

[...] video or audio interviews without prior permission from the senator being interviewed and the Senate Rules Committee.

The directive was rescinded the same day.

In possibly related news, the Senate is considering a bill (PDF) (unformatted HTML) which would repeal Medicaid-related taxes. It was tabled as the Senate's version of H.R. 1628 (non-Cloudflare link) through the reconciliation process, under which debate is time-limited. Four Republican senators have expressed opposition to the bill; all other Republican senators, but no Democrats, are likely to support it.

A candidate for the House of Representatives, when questioned about the proposed legislation, pleaded guilty assaulting a reporter; the candidate was elected the day after the attack.

additional coverage (some are opinion):

• Washington Examiner (about tax bill)
• Los Angeles Times (letters to the editor about tax bill)
• Politico (about tax bill)
• NBC News (about tax bill)
• Washington Times (about tax bill)
• Associated Press via Paducah Sun (about tax bill)
• The Federalist (opinion)
• Denver Post (about TV ban)
• Politico (about TV ban)
• Washington Post (about TV ban)
• The Guardian (about TV ban)
• Washington Post (about tax bill and TV ban)
• Washington Post (earlier story about tax bill and TV ban)
• Bloomberg (about tax bill)

related stories:
FCC Guards Eject Reporter
Reporter Arrested for "Yelling Questions" at HHS Secretary Tom Price

It seems a lot of people that had not contact with previous incarnations of computers with a GUI capability completely misses how much resources that needs. So here it is:

CPU: 8-bit @ 1 MHz
RAM: 64 kB
Video: 320 x 200 bitmapped @ 1 bpp (alternative: 160 x 200 @ 2 bpp)
Storage: 170 kB
(MOS6502, VIC-II, C1541)

This setup managed to run a window system called GEOS. It is noticeable slow, but it pulled it of!

CPU: 16-bit @ 7 MHz
RAM: 512 kB @ 150 ns
Video: 640 × 256 bitmapped @ 6 bpp
Storage: 880 kB
(MC68000, Agnus, 3,5")

With this hardware a workable window system was no problem. And it actually needed no more than 256 kB system ROM to pull it off.

CPU: 32-bit @ 20-40 MHz
RAM: 8192 kB
Video: 640 × 480 bitmapped @ 8 bpp (or better..)
Storage: 1934 MB
(AMD386, "VGA", IDE)

Running a graphics FreeBSD+XFree86 environment is is no problem. Even with the NCSA mosaic web browser on top of that.

From this it can be concluded that computers that need CPU in the GHz range, RAM in the GBs, storage in the GBs etc. Simply wastes most of the resources available and that a graphics environment can be had with a lot less resources. This means that a embedded MCU with few resources *can* do graphics environment. Which is very useful for visualizing data or having interactive environments. And that your main desktop can do a lot more than it does with the present bloat.

And this also means that operating systems like KolibriOS are possible on 133 MHz x86 with 24 MB and VGA with fast boot times. Another example with a Asus computer that likely have a CPU Atom 900 MHz, RAM 1 GB, SVGA and 20 GB flash, here.

John McAfee Just Announced The Most Private Smart Phone Ever: Here’s How It Works 2017-04-28

McAfee, a pioneer in the realm of antivirus software, has a new product coming to market later this year that takes on the subject of personal privacy with an item that’s become a significant part of most people’s daily lives — smartphones.

“Do you think that when you power down your phone, that it’s actually powered down?” McAfee asked the Anti-Media audience Thursday. “I would say that 25 percent of you, everybody who’s listening, have malware that intercepts the software function that calls the power down.

He says it's a never ending security battle between security companies and hackers because it's software fighting software, which in most cases has flaws. That’s why encryption services like Signal are largely useless because they can be thwarted by a simple keylogger.

He's computer phone (smartphone) will have conditional access to location services and the ability to randomize your location. “Anonymizer” function that prevents search engines from snooping. Detector for Stingrays.

The price is 1100 US$ which McAfee thinks is high but hardware costs. It is however still a waiting list.

John McAfee announces the Chuck Norris of privacy phones
McAfee announced the phone on Twitter in 2017-04-25. With "The John McAfee Privacy Phone, by MGT - first prototype. World's first truly private smartphone. You gonna love it.". It got 951 likes.

John McAfee on the Privacy Phone: Why and How 2017-04-27

Eventually, every hackable function of smartphones was controlled by software switches, giving full access to hackers to control the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, geolocation, camera, microphone, the factory reset function, automatic system updates, etc. We have given the keys to the kingdom, blindly and willingly, to the world’s hackers.

Pleas from the cybersecurity community to smartphone manufacturers to fix this this horrific problem by returning to the less “cool” air gapped physical switches have fallen on deaf ears. In desperation, I decided to do it myself.

The John McAfee privacy phone contains a bank of switches on the back cover that allow the user to physically disconnect the battery, the antennas for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and geolocation, the camera and microphone, etc. It also will not allow the phone to connect to a Stingray or any other IMSI catcher device. In addition, it contains a web search anonymizer to prevent web searches from triggering an avalanche of ads

It is version 1. It is not hack proof. But it does give the user enormous power over his or her privacy and it is light years ahead of the Blackphone or any other phone claiming to be secure. It will be available in August of this year. Version 2 will be available early 2018. It will be as hack proof as humanly possible.

Front page at mgtci.com:

* Bank of switches allowing physical disconnection the battery, WiFi, Bluetooth and geolocation, the camera and the microphone, and more
  * Resistant to Stingray or any other IMSI catcher device
  * Web search anonymizer to prevent searches from triggering an avalanche of ads
  * Developed in the United States, designed in Denmark, and assembled in Europe
  * Version 2 coming in 2018

One can buy a voucher now for 200 US$ to be first in the queue.

The McAfee/MGT open positions 2017-06-23 are:
  * Talented C++ Programmer (C++ 11 application, Visual Studio, Qt 5.7, or other C++ GUI frameworks, familiarity with cybersecurity principles and practices including cryptography, exploitation, and application security, ability to work in a Linux or Windows development environment, experienced in Android, iOS, and OS X application development)
  * C++ Programmer with Bitcoin and Blockchain Knowledge Required (Knowledgeable with the basics of the Bitcoin / Blockchain protocol, Bitcoin industry dynamics and trends, including mining procedures, mining pools, as well as Cryptocurrency wallets, and exchanges, Interested in constructing a Bitcoin mining pool and wallet, Prior peer technology work for the Bitcoin network)

Intel concerned about name of John McAfee’s privacy phone 2017-05-10

Intel has told a court that MGT Capital Investments has gone ahead with the announcement of the “John McAfee Privacy Phone,” even though the company that proposes to change its name to “John McAfee Global Technologies” has previously said that it did not plan to launch products and services under the McAfee mark.

The chipmaker claims it acquired the mark when it bought McAfee Inc. in 2011,

  * So what do you think about this phone project?
  * Does it improve anything significantly?
  * Is it likely to be compatible such that it can run Android "apps" ?
  * Will the bootloader be locked down?

UPDATE: currently hugging it out

Message from the Buzzard: Sorry to have to issue another mod-ban but you know as well as anyone that garden variety trolling is not Spam after having already gone through this once before.

Did we Buzzard? Funny, 'cause you just said this recently: If your posts were topical they might be called satire but posting incoherent ramblings into unrelated stories is quite clearly Spam.

the comment in question

How is that not an incoherent rambling unrelated to the story??

Also, that's literally the only time I've used the SPAM mod so we haven't been through anything before.

Seems that when applying for a FCC permit all applicant parties must never been convicted for possession or distribution of drugs:

The applicant must certify that neither the applicant nor any party to the application is subject to a denial of Federal benefits, that include FCC benefits, pursuant to Section 5301 of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, 21 U.S.C. § 862 because of a conviction for possession or distribution of a controlled substance. See 47 CFR 1.2002(b) for the definition of a "party" for these purposes.

So drugs equals no FCC service for you and thus can't sell any electronic equipment in the US market. But maybe there's a time limit? It does however really mix unrelated matters.

Venezuelans flock to BTC, the digital currency as inflation has spiraled to the triple digits, debasing the the venezuelan currency, the bolivar (VEF) and depleting savings. Citizens struggle to find everything from food to medicine on store shelves. Ryan Taylor, chief executive officer of crypto currency Dash Core says "If you're going to be in something volatile, you might as well be in something that's volatile and rising than volatile and falling,". Crypto currency Dash Core is the third-largest digital coin by number of transactions. Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume in Venezuela jumped to 1.3 million US$ this week, about double the amount that changed hands two months ago, according to LocalBitcoins.com.

Venezuela's currency has become nearly worthless in the black market, where it takes more than 6000 bolivars (VEF) to buy 1 US$, while bitcoin surged 53% in May-2017 alone. But it's not just about shielding against the falling bolivar, as some Venezuelans are using crypto currencies to buy and sell everyday goods and services, according to Jorge Farias, the CEO of Cryptobuyer.

For those desiring a faster transaction time the crypto currency Ethereum exists with an average block settling time of 14 seconds since April 2016 according to themerkle.com.

Venezuela has 47e9 m³ in proven oil reserves, more than any other nation in the world. So now the only thing missing is to start the sale of oil using crypto currencies so that a military intervention can be justified..
All this happens while since at least 2014, hundreds of thousands of citizens have protested high levels of criminal violence, corruption, hyperinflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods, arrest of opposition leaders, laws to force citizens to work in agricultural fields and farms for 60 days or longer, 40 inmates dismembered and consumed three fellow inmates, 200 prison riots in Venezuela in 2016 and so on. Tourist hotels probably have an all time low now for that super bargain..