MSN replaced journalists with AI publishing fake news about mermaids and Bigfoot
futurism.com
futurism.com
I used to have high hopes for some of Microsoft’s innovations like Zune, Windows Phone, connect, Rosalyn—that glimmer of open-source-hope from the Evil Empire.
But it’s obvious now they are not really good at anything in the consumer space anymore: Hopping on the ad bandwagon because that’s what Google does; stealing the OS X taskbar placement for no good reason; turning the OS into the spyware folks used to dread at the turn of the millennium; now we need apps to remove Windows features just to use our computers.
I'm a long time Linux user but I've recently started using Windows for development. It's actually surprisingly decent. It's disgusting all the spam you get in a fresh install but after 5 mins of turning that off youre left with a clean feeling OS
The biggest thing that brings me back to windows is that Linux _still_ completely halts when hitting low memory situations. It's just embarrassing. Accidentally add an infinite memory leak to a program I'm building or open one to many tabs and your system grinds yo a halt while thrashing pages in and out of memory. Windows is capable of figuring out which processes I'm actively trying to use and somehow prevent trashing from making the system unusable.
Had this issue on a low-memory laptop but it got better after I enabled zram. A leak will eventually exhaust memory, but I guess it should compress well depending on the leak.
But it is not a complete solution (once exhaustion is reached it a freeze would probably still happen) and not very user-friendly either.
Either the the kernel oom or the systemd oom-killer take care of it.
Sure, but at least you can hack the random file, and you can easily document and back that up.
I much prefer that to having to edit some weirdly named registry key that has unexpected interactions with some unrelated settings panel, but only in one of the two settings places. Oh, and bonus points for that key being removed and / or changed by a random upgrade.
Most Windows GUI stuff breaks down badly when you try to do more advanced things. You quickly start needing to edit at least the group policy, if not applying powershell scripts.
Define "more advanced."
I hear what you're saying. The upgrade path in both can be very broken when you change things. But I find that in windows more of the options you need are provided by the settings GUIs and handle upgrades well. Most linux packages and OS settings start and stop with the text file config, or provide GUIs as loose wrappers over text configs which rarely support upgrade flows.
Providing upgrade support for user's arbitrary text configs is significantly harder than for a more restrictive and structured settings database.
The most basic: tell Windows the hardware clock uses UTC because I dual boot with Linux (registry).
A bit more advanced: Enable TPM + PIN for BitLocker (group policy).
At work: set up split-view DNS on a Windows Server (PowerShell).
> But I find that in windows more of the options you need are provided by the settings GUIs and handle upgrades well.
I beg to differ. I feel like every other month I have to go back and tell Windows that no, I don't want it to consider tabs in Edge as different windows when I alt-tab. It's one of the first things I change. Yesterday I had to go do it again on my gaming PC. Sure, this can be done comfortably in the settings GUI, but it doesn't seem to stick for some reason.
> Providing upgrade support for user's arbitrary text configs is significantly harder than for a more restrictive and structured settings database.
Oh, I definitely agree with this, and I think that Apple's approach to configuration (as in "there's none") is probably based on this.
But I think that Windows is pretty much the poster child for configuration broken up in a zillion different places. I mean, the registry is a meme for a reason, right?
The combination of Ubuntu and Mate is one of the worse to start with. Sure, it feels familiar but it's just Linux kiddie edition. Users tend to out grow it quickly or get frustrated with it breaking down from all the Linux goodness.
Don't get ne started on trying to use Ubuntu on any hardware released in the last 3 years...
-No obvious way to make a filetype .xxx be opened always by program YYY
-An update can easily break things. Sometimes everything.
-Mouse doesn't work properly by default: sensitivity seems so weird, and there is no option in Settings to adjust number of lines mouse scroll skips. I have spent hours in the past (some years ago) to try and make mouse just like windows, but I wasn't able to do it.
-Not a single good alternative for notepad++
I'm gonna try windows 11 when I have the time. Dual boot is not comfortable at all and maybe I can stop using ubuntu interface forever and use Windows Terminal to do the stuff I need linux.
I had the same pain, using np++ in wine was not really working, but maybe this has improved.
SciTE works and is what I used years ago, but was not on par with Notepad++.
But Sublime Text works on linux and it works nice, though it is not free, but when you consider windows, that seems not to be a problem.
Answer: In Caja, Go to properties dialogue and choose the "open with" tab. You can edit the option there. This is a method consistent basic GUI guidelines as they've existed for 20 yeas.
-An update can easily break things. Sometimes everything.
Answer: I've used cheap laptops with Ubuntu for 10 years. Literally never had that problem.
-Mouse doesn't work properly by default: sensitivity seems so weird, and there is no option in Settings to adjust number of lines mouse scroll skips. I have spent hours in the past (some years ago) to try and make mouse just like windows, but I wasn't able to do it.
Answer: Pointer speed is set in the control center, under mouse preferences. The control center is a standard menu option. It sets most simple UI choices.
-Not a single good alternative for notepad++
Answer: Pluma is default for editing simple text files. Many commercial programmers editors are available (I use QT Creator). Notepad++ is halfway between simple editor and programmers product that doesn't come with Windows but some people. Lots of people swear by vi and emacs too, standards of the Linux world. And naturally, someone actually has setup notepad++ itself for Linux: https://itsfoss.com/notepad-plus-plus-linux/
Windows just feels smoother and applying settings is more straightforward in most cases.
And just consider Windows has two different command bars.
The other option, which I'm lukewarm about is what I think is called Windows 365 where I can pay monthly to access a windows VM in a browser. The challenge is needing constant, good internet access to access trivial stuff like Word.
Yes, you can do it legally and yes, you need a license. I'm not sure how that works if your physical computer came with a license (like moste PCs do).
> The other option, which I'm lukewarm about is what I think is called Windows 365 where I can pay monthly to access a windows VM in a browser. The challenge is needing constant, good internet access to access trivial stuff like Word.
I've never tried that, but for my basic Office 365 needs (for work) I've found that the actual apps running in a browser are great. I actually find outlook works much better than the local version.
Microsoft 365 is prolly what you're thinking of. It's all browser apps or PWAs (or whatever you may call online cloud shit), not a windows VM. If you've heard of Google Workspaces you have the right idea. Comes with Windows versions of the office apps that can be installed and run locally instead of using the online cloud shit, they tend to be more feature complete than the online cloud shit, and, unlike the online cloud shit, obviously don't work on Linux without some creativity.
Installing a VM, and then installing licensed Windows over that, isn't an option, because I don't want Win11, and you can't buy Win10 licences any more.
It is supposed to be a professional operating system but really you're being force fed dog shit because you have no choice.
I spent a couple of weeks migrating all my stuff away and will sell the bloody thing on ebay when I get around to it.
I'll spare you the details of my work machines.
But, I bought an Aya Neo as a mobile gaming PC, which never worked right with Win10. Like, really fucking weird shit that should never happen. External keyboards and mice not being able to load a driver kind of weird shit. I considered doing a fresh install of Win10, but decided, hey, Maybe I'll upgrade it to Win10 Pro via my ample MSDN licenses I get through work, and then do the Win11 upgrade.
Worked like a charm. Fixed every issue I had. Who knows why!
Anyways.
Win11 isn't bad after a year+. The stuff that gets in the way is the dumb shit they do with Windows Explorer to move options out of the way for power users. Think: All the cool shit you have set up when you right-click on something in Explorer.
I have also turned off all the telemetry options using WPD. No ads anywhere, and some of the stuff which is built in is pretty great: Windows Terminal, Tabs in Windows Explorer.
I find it to be a mixed bag. I don't hate it. I still prefer Win10 so far, but far less so than a year ago when compatibility issues were there.
If I needed a Windows machine I would stick to 7. That feels like before MS went Google.
I, too, found that start menu has degraded in utility, mostly that it's not deterministic anymore so I can't just type windows key + prefix + enter to open the program, but I have to type more letters in and wait for the AI to stop re-ordering entries before I hit enter. Jeez. Found this solution, good way to spend 5 bucks:
The weather widget now also serves this and stock market tickers. Making it slower and annoying.
Works in Win10, yay.
;-)
Linux is never really going to succeed on the desktop because it isn't really well suited for it. The BSD's have a better shot should anyone put the effort in to one.
It definitely got better since times when you needed CLI to install it (for example)
I've got some late-2021 HP laptops, nothing particularly fancy, standard fare "enterprise" things. They both have weird issues on Windows. They both worked absolutely perfectly on Linux ever since I got them, brand new, almost a year ago.
One of them required me to do an absurd plug/unplug dance with my external monitor and HP dock to get 4k@60 working. Some Intel driver updates fixed this a month or so ago (so one year in). It still won't drive 4k@60 on another dock (cheap Chinese model, though). Linux doesn't care and just works. The cheap dock also works perfectly on the other laptop (AMD instead of Intel) with Windows.
One year in, the windows install (11 22h2) still doesn't recognize the touchpad nor track point. Worked OOB on Linux.
On the other laptop, only recently did Windows start to recognize my webcam. Sometimes. It worked since day one on Linux, IR and all.
The other day, I've tried a newer model, with an Intel 12th gen. The thing's fan would be constantly on while sitting on the Windows desktop doing nothing. Completely silent under Linux.
There's also my favorite: notifications appear with a bubble to the right of the clock. When you dismiss them, the bubble goes away and the clock moves to the right. Occasionally, it moves a bit too much, so you can only see half of it.
"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products."
-Steve Jobs
Now of course everyone steals stuff, and Jobs did do his share of stealing, but I suppose people can agree he had a sense of taste.
I think with MS it's like when people write stories, a lot of what people write are ideas taken elsewhere littered with stuff that is original to them. But some people you get the idea that they are cookie-cutter writers, they think stories about alligators are big in the market right now (no idea why that is) so I am going to write a story about an alligator that attacks (spins wheel) people on a plane! And then because they know something about writing they identify parts where they need to put some kind of thing in and they sort of choose at random between many things other people have done.
And that's how MS works I think, although things are not totally random because they're a corporation so are decisions weighted to "can it make money?".
So they think "we need something here in this area that is dynamic, not always the same" what do we put in there? (spin the wheel) News Stories and Ads!
Software is supposed to ease and help the work we have to do, not making it harder! They seems to be careless and arrogant (forcing their choice without self critique), which is very dangerous combination.
All other usual things like incompletely reorganizing functionality/settings into yet another different form and location again and gain just to distract the known workflow, the continuous damaging refactoring pile on the top of these. But this taskbar thing, the very essential first door into the system, its destruction into inadequate pile of sh&t is a serious crime. Unluckily I am (yet) forced to use this in work, at home I free myself from Windows. Some friends, who can do, demanded to stay on the earlier verion than 11 from their organization until they finaly complete the taskbar to the usability level already achieved more than 10 years ago.
I only use Windows for playing games. Other irreplaceable software would be DAWs.
I don't see why I should have to buy a new computer, a "cheap" AMD-only system would cost 2.5k eur. An Intel/Nvidia system 5k, because of the ridiculous Nvidia GPU price and the high (600+ eur) motherboard price if you want ECC RAM.
What do I gain? A computer that is potentially controlled by external sources. Where someone else decides what I can and can't do with it.
Why hasn't there been an outrage when they said TPM 2.0 was required?
I will not "upgrade". I'm sure they'll find a way to force me. The games that I play don't require top notch hardware. Those "AAA" titles are honestly 100% completely uninteresting. 80 eur for NFS unbound where they removed the coop aspect of the story game vs the previous version? Are they on crack? A bunch of remakes and remasters? Pokémon, Mario aka console titles? I don't feel like they're even trying anymore. I'm probably too old and no longer part of the target audience.
MSN, I never read it anyway.
I will not install a consumer OS that requires a TPM chip.
Real or not, Bigfoot gets clicks.
And that’s different from meatbag publishers how exactly?
"Oh that malfunctioning server that caused an outage to hospital infrastructure? Yeah, Software is hard, isn't it?"
Somehow shitty software is acceptable as an explanation for things, and as soon they are explained, they are understandable, and somehow we decided that makes them okay.
Take the current ‘Putin fell down the stairs and pooped himself’ story, search around for any evidence that’s actually true and it’s you who will be having a shitty time.
I guess we're supposed to be alarmed here because MSN was once not a tabloid? Not that I would know, I've never read it.
Filling grandma's trusted news page with nonsense is elder abuse, and could be much worse if they hit her with, say, antivax conspiracies at the right time.
I certainly agree that grandma is not the only kind of person who could be harmed by this.
(I read the article twice, the website being unknown to me I thought it was fake news, and it still seems weird to me that MSN uses AI generated content, otoh why not, the mess MSN forces on me in windows has been distopian for years, and the mentioned article appears on MSN. Sad times that these days I'm sceptical of anything. I honestly feel this is one of the biggest dangers of our times, the ease with which populations can be influenced and truth is just a matter of alternative facts, the common argument is that it is of all times but that neglects how much easier, more sophisticated, and larger the reach is)
I do think there's some confusion here over exactly what's happening. MSN's AI isn't generating entire articles like GPT-3; it's just using AI to curate articles for republication from across the web, but accidentally (or perhaps intentionally, in a sort of wink-wink situation for clickbait traffic) selecting ones that are clearly fake news (including literal stuff about mermaids and bigfoot.)
Seems like it would be good to have more nonprofit news organizations with credible dedication to integrity.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996
However, now the vernacular use seems to be totally undifferentiated, yes.
Also censorship is bad and all that.
Thank you fake news!
- Mark Twain
That style of English looks to me like Twain.
Hysterical to me how the generation that fought REAL NAZIS were not concerned with any of this.
If you weren't a fan of big name teams you'd inevitably find with your team: coaches mentioned who weren't there anymore, players who weren't there anymore, and various outdated factoids / concerns thrown in. Some "concerns" almost felt like an AI trained on fan forums where issues fans had, but had no place in reality were raised, with even local fan forum lingo tossed in ...
If it was a person, or a script that generated content that got doctored by a person I don't know, but the patter was very clear.
if MSN has been human-curated all this time, that's a little bit embarrasing for the humans. turning it over to the AI is hardly going to make it worse
It lacks a sufficiently insidious motive to be considered “fake” news, although an argument could be made that it erodes trust in traditional media outlets when a publication with significant reach goes fallow.
It has all the trappings of a media outlet but none of the editorial brains.
Maybe they should bring back the print edition of the Weekly World News.
MSN might also consider adding The Onion since it seems about as accurate as many published news sources.
Everything that can attach it will have cryptographic identity.
Everything will likely evolve into some (weighted/probabilistic?) crypto-tree of trust. There won't be absolute truth, only truth scores according to some defined trust sets/trees.
Imagine fake news, pictures, videos, voice generated at scale, indistinguishable by humans from real information. It's easy when we talk about monsters on Mars, but not so much if it talked about some spectral analysis of organic compound deposits etc.
We're going to be flooded with this stuff very soon and people will have to employ flat-earther's approach to rationality [0] if we don't decorate information with crypto-metadata or find another solution to this problem.
Imagine if we're making mistake in 1 fake out of 1mln cases now and what we'll do if we start having 1 true out of 1mln fake pieces of information available. Generating fake information will be very cheap and generation available to anybody.
You won't know anymore if this new Gruffalo book was written by authors or generated by AI. You can only guess that this new Beatles song about twitter is probably fake (but looks so real) etc.
It used to be their dialup service, what a weird relic to keep floating around.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/msn-dial-up-internet-acces...
[written by ChatGPT]