while with Windows it's usually not even an issue in the first place.
Have you been running windows 11? This was my perspective, until we moved off windows 10. If end of life wasn't next year, I'd keep using it.
I found windows 11 pushing MS365 and Copilot throughout the OS, along with what appeared to be paid ads and "recommendations". The bloat is now part of the OS. I uninstalled and hid a bunch of it, only for windows update to bring it back. We're talking on the start menu and search. Invasive. Certain parts of the system (help) repeatedly forced Edge upon me as well, even after making Firefox the default browser.
Adding to that annoyance, upon reboot - the OS refused to remember its connection to my MICROSOFT blue tooth mouse. Oh, and the motherboard came with a "performance tuning" Armoury Crate rootkit. Not only was that uninstallable and slow, it kept requesting my standard users input admin credentials upon boot.
My employer is running windows 11. It is absent this BS. So all probably solvable. I acknowledge that. But I'm also of the mindset, when someone shows you who they are, listen. Microsoft made their message clear.
One of the few truly interesting things I learned in the course of my recent graduate degree in IT/Data was that operating systems are inherently imperfectible. Roughly analogous to original sin from the perspective of scientific materialism. No escape from wrestling with the devil.
IMO Microsoft sees consumer PCs are dying. They are using the carcass to feed the future - AI enabled cloud offerings. The heavy investment with openAI and copilot is an attempt to own the future. With apple and google controlling people's phones though, the battle might already lost. The question is if chat GPT has a sustainable competitive advantage, or LLMs will be commoditized.
My money is on the latter. From what I understand, good is a question of throwing data and compute at the machine learning. Clever has been replaced with brute force. Their competition has that in spades. Google's Gemini is coming from behind, but arguably has an unparalleled data set. Meta open sourcing Llama is another hint at what's to come.
So, I think Microsoft is in the "extract" phase of their OS lifecycle. Even within corporate - our developers are heavily pushing to drop windows. Visual studio is bloated and slow. Everything else runs cross-platform. Macs run Linux underneath, which is also beneath the containerized applications used for most cloud offerings. It's unclear what the Microsoft value proposition is, beyond inertia.
Have you been running windows 11? This was my perspective, until we moved off windows 10. If end of life wasn't next year, I'd keep using it.
I haven't yet. I can't, because none of my computers is new enough to run it. I even wrote a letter to the Gates Foundation, suggesting that if they want to do some good for the world, Bill should make Microsoft continue to provide support for Win 10. This would prevent untold number of tons of electronic e-waste from people and orgs who had to replace their computers. Not to menton people in third world countries who won't be able to afford new computer, will stay on no longer safe Win 10, and their computers will be taken over by botnets. This will make their lives miserable, and Internet a worse place.
My employer is running windows 11. It is absent this BS. So all probably solvable. I acknowledge that. But I'm also of the mindset, when someone shows you who they are, listen. Microsoft made their message clear.
Probably you need an "Enterprise" (or at least "Professional") licence to get rid of the garbage.
Macs run Linux underneath.
FreeBSD, not Linux. That's why Docker support on Macs is not great (Docker requires a running Linux kernel).
FreeBSD, not Linux. That's why Docker support on Macs is not great (Docker requires a running Linux kernel).
Important clarification, thanks.
I had a pro license for Win 11. For what it's worth, looking up from my existing Windows 10 pro install, some of the same cruft has snuck in
I looked into bypass of the processor restrictions for win 11. My resistance to forcing upgrade on old hardware, is I don't trust Microsoft not to make restrictions stronger in the future.
Full agreement on extending end of life for Windows 10. The volume of waste it will unleash is astounding.
I haven't yet. I can't, because none of my computers is new enough to run it. I even wrote a letter to the Gates Foundation, suggesting that if they want to do some good for the world, Bill should make Microsoft continue to provide support for Win 10. This would prevent untold number of tons of electronic e-waste from people and orgs who had to replace their computers. Not to menton people in third world countries who won't be able to afford new computer, will stay on no longer safe Win 10, and their computers will be taken over by botnets. This will make their lives miserable, and Internet a worse place.
Unfortunately billionaires are only interested in solving problems other than ones that were caused in the process of making them money.
Forcing Win11 with display advertising everywhere is forcing a recurring revenue stream from all Windows users, which will drive bottom line and help MSFT show quarterly rev growth, hence the force. Also supporting the old OS is also large expense. So essentially they get to dump a lot of upkeep expense, while forcing all users with the ability to upgrade into one of the worlds most reliable recurring revenue streams.
IMO Windows will slowly leak marketshare as people realize how decent the basic Linux distros have become (and ad-free), and this will drive adoption and innovation into support of those distros. Same with users who were worried about security updates and don't have good enough hardware for Win11. This is overall a good thing.
Contracting ended yesterday. I am immediately relieved to have more time available. Though - I didn't get to finish solving my problem. That is annoying! They let me keep a keyboard, mouse, screen and headset. Somehow that feels more like winning than getting paid. I'm a sucker for free, even if I don't need an extra workstation.
From a financial perspective - net worth might have hit an all time, inflation adjusted high score. We've made very little use of the windfall though. I went to stop the meal service, and they offered 40% off over 4 weeks. So even though there's time to cook, my wife and I are splitting the biggest package. It's not quite cheaper than the grocery store, but that's a steal for buying back time. There's probably something there - churning meal services for time savings, when coupons are available.
In general though - I can't consume more than I do today. I mostly want hang out, hit the gym and play with computers. We're directing some money to family and might send my wife on a Mexico retreat. Travel stresses me out, so having her do a group thing probably works better for both of us.
Ubuntu has been totally fine, far better than Win 11. I'm very happy to have made the investment. We're running into things that are different, but a quick web search tends to offer an easy solution. The micro PC helped clear off our physical desktop, including switch to a 75% scale wireless keyboard. The aesthetic aligns much better with the role we like to imagine a computer plays. Even if it's not true.
Along with the switch to Linux, I made a substantial investment in our security position. We switched password managers and made arrangements for disaster continuity. The family issue we are working is ongoing, with legacy planning warranted. This stuff probably should have been done 5-10 years ago, so it's good to have done.
I continue exploring AI in parallel, primarily as a consumer. I'm still running the paid version of Chat GPT. I read a couple books on how the LLMs work. I learned how it might fit into my contracting, but aborted due to data privacy concerns. I offered to do manuscript review for a Manning MEAP on small language models. I have yet to hear back though.
I've also leaned into maximizing my phone - making heavy use of text to speech for reading, as well as features like tap to pay. I don't love google having such a heavy role in my life. Society is moving ahead regardless though, and I cannot deny the benefits.
Ritalin works great for me. I think starting the medicine will prove to be an inflection point. I laid the foundation earlier this year, introducing many ADHD related accommodations. After all that, it's hard to overstate the impact a tiny amount of stimulant makes upon my focus. I'm taking half the minimum dose, and it's like a super power. Stuff that would have dragged for months in the past, I simply do. So good. I skip some days to avoid building up a tolerance.
I've moved on to addressing my anxiety. Only now instead of thinking "I'm an anxious person" - I think I can make serious headway. While early in the learning curve, I am optimistic. I believe 40 years of unsupported autism and adhd etched negative patterns into my brain. Now that I understand how to avoid sensory overload and regulate my focus, re-patterning feels attainable. It's like the stimulant flipped a switch.
I'm too early in the learning and experimentation to offer more, but stay tuned.
With the ERE march coming up, I decided to test my walking a little. 8 miles today. Saved me $20 on a ride share home too. I'm kinda slow, but my feet held up. I've got a couple more chances to experiment. The gas tank for a loop of waterfall glen is there, but I need to sort my footwear. More feels like a bad idea. It's telling the day after my contracting ends, I'm out exploring physical limits again. Opportunity cost, indeed.
We took a short vacation - 5 nights in sunny Rockford IL. It's a bizarre place. The infrastructure for people like my wife and I is present. Forest preserves, a lake, rivers, running paths, conservatory, arbor, Japanese garden, symphony, dinosaur museum, a main street with bougie shops, vegan brewery, multiple yoga studios, etc. But the people are missing. So there's these great, yet wildly under used resources. And property prices are extremely low.
Some areas of the city are high crime. I guess it's a huge deterrent. I also think some areas are prone to flooding. They are working to bring a Metra line from Chicago out there by the end of 2027. With office workers moving to hybrid, I could see that revitalizing the area, rapidly skyrocketing property values. I'm not a real estate investor. I don't need the money or stress. But I wonder if it's a strong opportunity. The risk being if Metra falls through.
The most interesting part for me, was renting a 2 bedroom condo on the river. One level, half the square footage of our current home. Turns out living on a river offers zero value to me. I enjoyed having no stairs in my living space. I did not enjoy living under others, or having only 1 bathroom. My wife and I had mixed views on the lower square footage. I liked it, she felt like we were on top of one another. It was a good chance to see what downsizing might be like.
I went to stop the meal service, and they offered 40% off over 4 weeks.
...
We switched password managers and made arrangements for disaster continuity.
So there was a moment in time where you had the will and time to stop the meal service. When you accepted their offer you let that opportunity slide into the past. Opportunities come only so often, and the fact that they pay you to skip it means something! I've taken the position of declining all offers and I feel better for it.
I was using OnePassword thinking I could pay for something good. Except they started to lock their customers in, forcing cloud-only storage, and making exports hard. I managed an export to KeePass and I'm now using that. Paid really is worse than open source. What switch did you make?
@delay - That is what the meal service vendor hopes for. Cheaper to keep an existing customer than find a new one. I can't imagine they're running at a 40% margin though, so it's a good price. Decline by default is my general strategy, but customer retention rates are usually a consumer win. I use my digital planner to track cancellation, minimizing my overhead
1pass stood out as the right vendor for my family. I hate to even say who I was using before. It's embarrassing I didn't act sooner, given all their security incidents. Part of the switch has been extensive cleanup of our most important credentials.
Given the continuity requirement, I chose to err on the side of usability. A cloud vendor felt essential. It was down to 1pass or proton. 1pass offered the more mature product. I also could see using Proton for other services long term. The separation of concerns felt prudent.
In practice, were there a total data loss, I'm prepared to rebuild the password database somewhere else. It'd be annoying, but every site offers a reset workflow. I practice defense in depth and see the cloud storage as a fair trade for mitigation of continuity risk.
Somehow, I just don't trust those cloud-based companies with my passwords. I keep them locally with Keepass, and back the database up to a local USB drive and to a cloud drive (I encrypt it before sending to cloud). I also store a couple key passwords on me on a piece of paper, also encrypted with a simple scheme that I can run in my head, but one that's too hard to guess for a potential dumbass mugger (i.e. not rot13).
Somehow, I just don't trust those cloud-based companies
I don't trust them entirely either. Their product is one layer of the security strategy. We use a variety of redundant controls and monitoring, under the assumption any layer might be compromised. The hope is I'm not interesting enough, for an attacker sophisticated enough, to compromise all layers concurrently.
One of the reasons I don't use ETFs, is the delay on mutual fund transactions, for instance. My incentive for tap to pay, is every vendor getting a unique card number, further linked to credit instead of debit. A reason I don't hold physical metals, or anything of tangible value really, is to be a low return physical target.
I think all we can do, is make a collection of small choices, to make compromising others more compelling. A sufficiently motivated, targeted attacker, is probably getting through.
Does it mean I'm weaker in some edge cases? Yeah. If society collapses, I'm probably not making it. But I don't know that I'd be up for the challenge anyways.
The more likely scenario, is I'm incapacitated and my wife needs to pay the property taxes. I'm confident she can get that done.
I setup the leftovers from my contracting workstation as a phone dock. My pixel 8a has display port out via USB. So one plug gives me HD monitor, speakers, wireless keyboard and mouse.
The experience is mixed. Adding a keyboard beats swipe text. Casually watching video or sharing a picture is obviously easier on a giant screen. But that's attainable anyways, with screen cast and a Bluetooth keyboard.
The docked connection is more stable than wireless screen cast, at least in my experience.
The UI is my primary constraint. Android phone apps aren't ideal for productivity. They show too little information and are optimized for touch. The pixel 8a offers only a mirror, not an extend, so it's not easy to zoom out
Controls are also optimized for a portrait orientation. I don't want to rotate the monitor every time, or dedicate it as a phone dock.
So phone only is workable, but I can't see myself declining a full desktop OS at this point. IMO it's a software issue. I think the underlying hardware is sufficient.
I'll probably breakdown the dock, leaving my monitor dedicated to video games.
My jaw surgery is approved and scheduled for early December. There's a few boxes left to check, but I think it's happening.
Since I don't know how I'll be after, I've started 2025 planning now. Some findings:
Mechanics
1. Libre Office on Ubuntu works fine for my planning spreadsheets
2. I updated the process to account for contracting income and taxes
3. My process for re-balancing remains very manual and painful
Health Insurance
4. Existing ACA is highly forgiving of contracting, especially since I don't expect it next year. I repay ~$4k of 2024 subsidy. Easy.
5. With ACA being uncertain post 2025, I bought the most premium plan again, intending to heavily consume medical care. Cost is up 25%.
6. Other insurance is up 30-40%. So I'd originally have attributed the health insurance pricing to anti-selection, but I dunno.
7. I think living in IL might buy another couple years of ACA stability, regardless of federal activity. Not banking on it though.
Budgeting
8. Since markets are up, we have a ton of optional spending planned. The math works, but the total feels indulgent.
9. We're far from ERE. $10k to family. $4k for travel. $10k for discretionary. $2k housekeeper. $2k instacart. $3k for unplanned home stuff. Etc.
10. My personal doctoring and insurance alone is like $9k. Medical, dental, vision.
11. Part of the reason we're spending this year, is I expect lean years post 2025, as the CAPE of 38 unwinds and new economic policy shakes out.
12. Knowing ERE principles, we have a place for financial retreat and are prepared to cut in 2026.
Work
13. I could do about $50k of contracting next year, without messing up my ACA subsidy and cost sharing for 2026
14. I dunno if I'm going to look, but it's nice knowing I have the option without upsetting my freedom system
15. The reason would be for special interest engagement, opposed to a financial need. That might be worth it.
16. I do retain lingering and unfounded financial insecurity. Keeping my work history current could alleviate that mental dysfunction.
1. Libre Office on Ubuntu works fine for my planning spreadsheets
...
8. Since markets are up, we have a ton of optional spending planned. The math works, but the total feels indulgent.
Thanks for your journal update. LibreOffice is awesome! I'm using it on MacOS.
My budget is a boring constant independent of the markets. If I were going to make it market dependent, I wonder if it makes sense to do so counter cyclical. Spend less in good times and more in bad times. A dollar is worth more in times of recession. On the other hand you can also buy stocks more cheaply. Maybe it all cancels out.
Spend less in good times and more in bad times. A dollar is worth more in times of recession.
My real net worth dropped by about 1/3 in 2022. I did not feel inclined to spend more. I hunkered down and rode things out the best I could. I even learned some new skills to make it easier. Rather than prices going down, inflation was running hot, and I was keenly aware.
At this point, my decisions are based upon sleep well at night. Spending more when I have more feels good. As does taking the full year's cash out now, when I feel uncertain about volatility. I think there's arguments neither are optimal, but they won't stress me out.
16. I do retain lingering and unfounded financial insecurity. Keeping my work history current could alleviate that mental dysfunction.
I've been pondering this as well lately and I think perhaps that's very common, and probably what drives a lot of the psychology behind the "One More Year" savings loop that many people find themselves stuck into? It sounds like you're experimenting with less time-consuming ways to work on this, which sounds great. Good luck with the surgery.
as the CAPE of 38 unwinds and new economic policy shakes out.
The CAPE of 38 gives me the absolute heebie-jeebies. A ballpark of "fair market value" is average historical CAPE, and according to this metric, the current "fair value" of the market is around 3800. I am having a very hard time investing and staying invested at these numbers, but the interest rate just got cut, the murican regulatory framework is about to get gutted, people i read say there's no signs of credit stress, so I'm not sure how it will unwind. Interested in hearing your thoughts, of course with the understanding that we're all sharing non-professional opinions and they're just that -- opinions and not investment advice.
