6730b

A good read... https://www.androidheadlines.com/2026/02/heres-where-meta-platforms-expose-users-to-scams-the-most.html

Got a new toy (sh, great price drops for 'old' tech), Xiaomi 14 Ultra with the Photography kit add-on. Not any daily driver yet, got to learn more about xiaomi's os, but used for photography, damn impressive. As good as this review says https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_14_ultra-review-2683.php That Photography kit box, thought it was just a gimmick, but provides truly useful camera controls (+ some xtra battery inside).

Now the end is really near. Got 2 old laptops still running perfect with 8.1, one 11 years, the other 12 years, both with their original 8.1 install. Pretty great, both hard- and software. But things start to break in contact with the real world (like it's owner? lol). Old Vivaldi and Firefox 'esr' got more and more troubles with current websites, symptoms like my Xiaomi Ultra phone usb not recognized (unknown device, nothing in file manager), etc. One impressive thing from MS (it's possible!), Defender still getting daily updates. So already bought replacements, 2x recent Thinpads, starting to set them up (like installing the good old Windows Photo Viewer, Open Shell etc lol) and migrating content. 8.1, been a very, very good friend, done so much together, will be sad to say goodbye.

Still a nice community !

lol, my very old Dell E7440 had coating that disintegrated. Looked and felt horrible > time to throw the laptop in the bin :O) But scratched it away with a piece of plastic (softer than the main plastic frame under the coating). Long ago, maybe ? also used some elctronic contact cleaner, which did not attack anything other than the coating. Then polished with fine 800 (or was it 400) sandpaper. Was a job over time, nice finish in the end.

^^^ Local account win install ftm no problem, 5 minutes googling found all needed info. And should I ever need \ want any cloud for storage \ file access \ backup, will not be microsoft, google etc. but some standalone service. Like this f.ex. https://proton.me/drive

1st 1 Thinkpad (E14 low spec, SH as new, low price) to get an impression of the range, very positive. And then came across a more high spec one (P14s) on Lenovo's online shop at 45% off . To replace 2 old win 8.1 laptops. 5 years since last acquired any machinery, so very satisfying to see something new on the table :O) Some use now, both very good stuff for the money.

Dark Tranquility - Forward Momentum

^^^ Local account \ zero cloud storage\backup fixes that ? ...or do they manage to harvest (steal) such things from any win installation. But difficult matter... Accessing stuff belonging to some crime \ drug boss or a terrorist \ murderer etc is a very good thing. While breaching personal privacy or dealing with a political opponent etc this way is completely unacceptable.

In Flames - Stay With Me

Lately came across 2 Thinkpads at interesting prices, both landed on my table. Nice to have something new to look at, and re-awake my humble skills in os installation \ setup \ tweaking etc, long time not done anything in that dept. Set to replace 2 ageing (10+ years) win 8.1 laptops. E14 gen5, Ryzen 3, 300 nits\45%, 16\250 GB, w11 pro. No power champion but very capable for all light tasks, browsing, streaming, music etc. SH but never used, only 200 usd. P14s gen5, Ryzen 7, 400 nits\100%, 16\1 TB, key light, fingerprint, w10 iot ltsc. Nice machinery for 1000 usd (nearly 50% off, Lenovo webshop). Both: cool & silent (normal \ light use), excellent keyboard, build quality feels good, lightweight, great battery times, fast charging.

! :O) 10 ltsc iot 2021 installed & alive. On a brand new Lenovo P14s. 2nd 14" Thinkpad in 3 weeks, appreciate format \ weight \ keyboard etc. Both at great discounted price. No OS when bought, used Rufus & iso. One single hurdle, no wifi !? Apparently no compatible driver in this 10 ltsc iso. As having no wired router available right here, fixed using usb internet tethering from a phone, downloaded initial updates\drivers, wifi came to life. After the usual zillion :O) downloads \ updates \ restarts, everything fine. Immediate activation with valid key. Local account & O&O shutup, of course.

Going to try 10 ltsc iot 2021, with "grey" keys, on 2 laptops. Will report how it goes.

Twun Peaks

Recent small job, swapping those 'candlelight' halogen H4's to led H4's, which needs 'acceptance' from the electronics. Not a normal canbus on this old van, but some rough sensor that detected a total lamp failure. After some funny experiments found out the car was happy with just one single resistor (67 ohm, so no heat\drain) in parallel on one circuit. The Philips H4, not the strongest among leds but standard size so fits wo trouble (the stronger H4 leds got a large fan at the connector end). Now got light like if bought a new 50.000 $ car :O)