GeorgeBMac

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GeorgeBMac
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  • Man credits Apple Watch Fall Detection for saving his life

    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac
    pulseimages said:
    Is the ability to detect a fall automatically enabled in the Apple Watch Series 4, or later, if the owner isn’t over 65? 
    I don't think fall detection on the Apple Watch has any connection to age.
    But the healthcare system assumes you are more likely to fall if you are over 65 because they substitute chronological age generalizations for health and physical fitness.

    My PCP had to ask the standard Medicare questions at my last checkup -- including the "Have you fallen in the last 12 months".  My answer was that I tripped over a leaf covered, half buried rock while out running in the woods -- which is something none of my doctors would be able to do and, in fact, she was in a cast after breaking her ankle when she tripped over a curb).  But somehow it was me who got classified as a fall risk!

    radarthekat

  • Intel Macs can't run Windows 11 without this workaround

    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac
    I did some research into the TPM issue. None of my Windows PCs have TPM enabled. The reason is that I like to boot Windows on an external SSD to test beta versions of the OS but in order to do that you have to change the firmware to boot using legacy mode rather than UFEI. You have to enable UFEI to enable TPM. If you do enable UFEI the firmware warns that you will probably have to reinstall Windows.
    My conclusion is that a large number of users may have TPM disabled in their firmware for various reasons and enabling it may require them to reinstall Windows. That's a significant hurdle for most people. If they can do it themselves, they should expect to spend a weekend to get their system up and running again. If they can't they should expect to pay a lot of money to someone to do it for them and lose access to their system and quite possibly risk their personal data getting lost or stolen.
    The work around presented here may not last forever. Microsoft seems to be motivated to close security holes like this one.
    There is a very real possibility that users may avoid upgrading to Windows 11. This in turn may cause developers to not support the new version if there are not enough users who have upgraded to it. If users that have migrated find that their software won't run on the new version they could downgrade back to Windows 10. Microsoft could be forced to continue to support for Windows 10 in parallel with Windows 11. Imagine how big of a mess that would be.
    Excellent analysis....
    I found it interesting that on Microsoft's Windows 11 page they suggested buying a new PC!  I though that was odd for a software company.

    There will, of course, be people out there who will justify getting a new PC in order to run WIndows 11.   I say "Go for it!".   That'll just leave more used PCs out there for me.  Will they be as secure as a new PC running Windows 11?  Probably not.  But I use other methods to gain security:  mostly I use different PCs for general use versus secure stuff like financials.  My financial PC is locked down and only visits a limited number of secure sites.  It's not bullet proof - but then nothing is.

    Microsoft recommended people buy a new PC to run Windows 95. It's not unprecedented.

    I don't remember that -- but neither do I doubt it.
    Back then the system requirements of every new release of software was exceeding the ability of existing or legacy hardware to run it.   Plus, Microsoft -- a software company -- was trying to match the software of both the Macintosh as well as OS2 -- and was looking pretty shabby in comparison.

    Today the opposite is true:   existing hardware has excess power over the requirements of the OS (the requirements of Windows 11 are pretty minimal) -- EXCEPT for security and that TPM 2.0

    Could it be that, with all the hacks by government and private entities that security will start driving things just as user friendliness and functional UI's drove it in the past?
    cgWerks

  • Intel Macs can't run Windows 11 without this workaround

    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac
    Fidonet127 said:
    GeorgeBMac said:
    Fidonet127 said:
    GeorgeBMac said:
    Fidonet127 said:
    GeorgeBMac said:
    bleab said:
    sflocal said
    Many of us bought Macs with the intent of also using them to run Windows.  I am one of them, and know many that can't divorce Windows entirely.  That Macs could run Windows was key for me buying my first Mac back in 2008.  I even bought a new 2020 iMac knowing this will most likely be my last Intel machine, and can run Windows for many years to come until both ASi Macs, and maybe even Windows ARM will have been fully baked when I'm ready to get another new Mac.
    Of the 20 million Macs that sell a year, if over 2 million of those ever see bootcamp I would be shocked. Of those at most 2 million yearly that are now without bootcamp, most will just get an HP or Lenovo desktop - one with a recent Intel Core i5 and an Nvidia or AMD GPU can cost as little as $500 so not that big of a deal - to complement their primary Mac device. Of the very few remaining that will actually ditch macOS completely over this, they will be replaced several times over by the new customers that Apple Silicon will attract. So they will sell more Macs and will be able to redeploy the programmers responsible for bootcamp to much better tasks. No downside to this for Apple.

    Apple didn't get where it is by caring only and exclusively about sales and profit.
    Quite the opposite really....

    There is no downside to Apple to enable Windows to run under Bootcamp.  None.
    Just ideological hubris.
    Bull. That means Apple has to spend time and money to enable Windows to work with the hardware. Drivers and stuff must work and Apple would have to do that work. There is no magic, nor is it free for Apple to do so. That is a downside. 
    LOL...  For a company the size of Apple that wouldn't make even a tiniest blip on the P&L.   It would get lost in rounding.

    Any other excuses?

    It is still a downside, not my fault you can’t see it.  Your suggestion is for Apple to spend resources on this when it would serve lots more people on on their projects? Could Apple do it? Sure, however Apple is highly unlikely to do so. Waste of resources. 
    "I can't see it?"
    No, I can see it - and think its a ridiculous excuse
    Some would consider Windows a ridiculous waste on Macs. You can want Apple to support Windows on the Mac, however it is reason, supported by business studies, that Windows is not worth the trouble for Apple to support. Nothing wrong with wishing I guess. Yes I can understand the need, however you can take a dump in one had and wish in another hand, then see what fills up first.  It was only a side benefit, that Windows ever ram on Macs. You will turn blue in the face before Apple supports Windows on the Mac as the market is too small, even though it is important to some people. It is better for other vendors to take up that market. Business 101 says not to support Windows on the Mac for Apple. Not an excuse, but valid business reasons. 

    Sorry, but Windows is and will remain the dominant OS.  And, as such, many applications (both custom and retail) will only run on Windows.   For those who need or want to run them, Windows is necessary.

    Apple recognized that it's ability to meet all needs is limited and created BootCamp because of it.   That shows not only respect for their customers and their needs but good business sense.
    ...  Are you suggesting that they have lost both?
    cgWerks

  • Apple revives controversial Athenry, Ireland datacenter plan

    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac
    firelock said:
    Like homelessness. Everyone hates it, but no one wants housing for them in THEIR backyard. Everyone wants fast and secure local data, but . . . . 
    Those two things are not even remotely similar on nearly any level. We’ve got several data centers in the area I live in and I’ve never heard anyone express the slightest discomfort with that. Heck I’d venture to guess that most people living here don’t even know that they are there. Whereas I’m pretty sure nearly everyone I know wouldn’t want a homeless shelter nearby.
    The data center I worked at for 20 years made a point of nobody knowing what it was -- no signs or other indications.   Except for the billowing clouds of steam coming out of the chillers, it looked like a warehouse.

    That was just one (security through obscurity) of a number of its elaborate security mechanisms because it ran the data processing for a number of Fortune 100 & 500 corporations and, at least at the time, was one of the largest private datacenters in the country -- and nobody even knew it was there.

    After I retired from there I became a psych nurse working in the community and worked with a number of homeless people.   Most homeless have some form of mental illness and they are the ones most at risk of being robbed and beaten rather than the people objecting to them.   Generally speaking they were pretty gentle people.  Yes, they had street smarts.  They had to.   But mostly they just wanted a place to sleep and a bite to eat rather than trouble.
    ... Just look at the news:  there's far more stories of a homeless man being beaten & robbed than of them doing the beating and robbing.

    FileMakerFeller

  • Intel Macs can't run Windows 11 without this workaround

    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac
    sflocal said:
    mcdave said:
    Not the future of the Mac, let Windows go.
    lkrupp said:
    Accept the inevitable. The days of Windows on a Mac are coming quickly to an end. So are the days of the macOS on PC hackintosh. 
    zeus423 said:
    I can live fine without Windows.
    Fidonet127 said:
    Where is the people complaining they can’t run Windows on their Intel Mac? I’ve said it before, but Windows on a Mac was always a side benefit. 
    Many of us bought Macs with the intent of also using them to run Windows.  I am one of them, and know many that can't divorce Windows entirely.  That Macs could run Windows was key for me buying my first Mac back in 2008.  I even bought a new 2020 iMac knowing this will most likely be my last Intel machine, and can run Windows for many years to come until both ASi Macs, and maybe even Windows ARM will have been fully baked when I'm ready to get another new Mac.

    #MeToo....
    My grandson would not have made it through 8th grade without Windows on his MacBook Air.
    dysamoria