Get. Off. Windows.

That's not a suggestion, it's just become an order.

I changed careers a quarter century ago to get away from Microsoft Messes™, a move I have never regretted. I used to select tools base on the idea that volunteers were going to show up with mostly Mac or Windows, maybe some Linux. That thinking lapsed about ten years ago, and I’ve gone from non-committal to vehemently opposed.

If you are using Microsoft’s Messes™ you are exposing yourself to things like an exploit used by GRU’s Unit 26165, the group that did the 2016 DNC intrusion, remaining …

UNPATCHED FOR FOUR YEARS

Do you have anything more serious than games on your Windows system? If your answer is yes, I shart in your general direction.

Acceptable Alternatives:

Apple products are not subject to this abysmal disinterest in security. They are not hardened, but you’re immediately above all Android/Windows users if you have an iPhone and a MacBook.

I have published copious information about how to compartmentalize using inexpensive hardware and services. That’s roughly half of the content in Tool Time.

There’s an older iPhone on my desk, for which nobody knows the carrier number, and an AT&T Calypse 4 burner is lurking nearby. There are some other burners in a drawer. Obviously, you do you, but more than one device and not sharing the carrier number for either should be part of that. If you like Mac you can probably adapt to Ubuntu Budgie - this offspring of the most used Linux distro is focused on providing a smooth experience.

Futureshock:

I’ve been talking about it since I rebooted this Substack last August but May is the month it’s all gonna happen.

My 2012 vintage desktop has been behaving erratically so I’m using the Qubes laptop I got at the start of the year. My spare desktop arrived from storage a couple days ago and Ubuntu 24.04 Noble Numbat was released today. I am rearranging storage devices so I can’t do the changes today, but I anticipate starting May with Qubes in place for most work and the laptop is going to stay Ubuntu, due to some AI requirements.

Donations piled up, then April was slow. May is not slow and a Google Pixel 8 with GrapheneOS will be in testing for the month, then production starting in June. On the server side some Very Good Things™ happened, and I’m on the lookout for a package like this, but it’s coming from someone else’s Amazon, not mine.

The AI upgrade has NOT happened yet. I am limping along with the laptop’s GTX 1080 equivalent GPU and watching to see if the recent announcement of the Nvidia RTX5090 is going to change the market at all.

Conclusion:

Last year you had to be half crazy to run Qubes and GrapheneOS. This years I think not running it qualifies as half crazy. I never imagined I’d have a professional use for this meme, but 2024 is nothing if not constantly surprising.