We’re happy to announce that Mastodon 4.5 is now ready for prime time! Quote posts, async fetching of replies, server timeline visibility settings, more moderation tools, and lots and lots of other tweaks and improvements.
For a user-focused highlight of these changes, see https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/mastodon-4.5/
For changes of particular interest to application developers, see https://blog.joinmastodon.or...
I have spent the better part of a decade in the bug bounty industry, and my perspective on this industry is shaped by this experience. The first five year...
Updated! The debloat Gist for LTSC I created, now has check and uncheck items for what we turn off and on. 6 checkboxes so people can decide what they want. Adding more of these over time. Like now. I did add a 7th option for search tweaks. gist.github.com/tgeczy/2d847e2…
@jpellis2008 oh yeah it would work for pro just fine, butt pro woould need additional ones like the win11debloat script that removes the user-consumer packages this might not touch. Otherwise the tweaks work fine on all editions.
We're #hiring a new Head of the Sovereign Tech Fund! 🚀
The Sovereign Tech Fund is the flagship program of the Sovereign Tech Agency. Since 2022, we've invested in critical open source infrastructure—from curl to FreeBSD to technologies like DNS that power the web—to strengthen digital sovereignty. Now we're in a pivotal phase of growth and scaling, and we're looking for an experienced leader for this key role.
Ich möchte eine Empfehlung aussprechen. Ich habe mit StreetComplete eine App gefunden, mit der man auf einfache und spielerische Art und Weise zu @openstreetmap beitragen kann. Die App zeigt dir um deinen Standort herum an, wo noch Daten fehlen und mit der Beantwortung von einfachen Fragen kannst du helfen, die Kartendaten zu vervollständigen. Sehr cool! Und total easy.
the year is 2005. PHP is the easiest language to deploy on my apache server, since I just need to drop some files in, and not have to set up any new services.
the year is 2025. PHP is somehow the easiest language to deploy on my apache server, since I just need to drop some files in, and not have to set up any new services.
After like 15 years, Dutch banks have finally caught up and started issuing ordinary debit cards just like banks do in every other country. Dutch people are now slowly finding out that they don't need a _creditcard_ to buy things online or to book a hotel.
Also not everyone knows, but I have backups. Anytime one of these scripts nukes my system, a virus scan finds something, back to the clean set-up system image I go. Not everyone has or does this. But for me, squeezing my 30 GB fresh Windows install into a 13 GB back-up file with maximum compression works out. terabyteunlimited.com/download… What I did to run it and restore an image? Simple! Copy your working folder of TeraByte from Program Files into a Windows 11 installation media that you know has audio. Then, shift+f10 into the command prompt of that booted image and run it. Restore your TBI file from the external or other drive. Simple, no fuss. The file you need to run? Imagew64.exe. Sometimes the drive letter mounting can change, so just CD around until you find the folder you pasted at the drive root, and then run it. Trust me, it runs under WinPE fine without any dependency needs.
@neurrone oooh yeah, there's probably a good chance it would work since that copy can run in WinPE in general, so yes, in that case you'd also be able to turn Narrator off and install Windows with NVDA, never thought of it but doable with flash drives (not ISO files obviously unless you re-created it again)
So on a fresh Windows 11 install, I would need to now run at least 4 GitHub scripts just to make it behave and tamed down to the process plus ram usage of Windows 10. Unbelievable. I'm going to provide links here, you use these at your own risk. I'm also favoriting this post for myself so this is a bit for me, too. All of these require that Defender's "realtime protection" and possibly "tampor protection" stay off. Defender is very yelly.
First thing I do: github.com/ShadowWhisperer/Rem… This removes Microsoft Edge, and I use the WebView remover. If you use JAWS, this one might not be for you, since I believe JAWS relies on the webView. 2. Spicy: Remove defender. Not for everyone, but if you have a 3rd-party scanner and AV you use that's light, or just want to manually scan files and do daily quick scans with a tool of your choice, it's good. Using WSL will reinstall the hypervisor bits. It does a lot, so be cautious. github.com/ionuttbara/windows-… 3. New to the list: github.com/zoicware/RemoveWind… - for getting rid of all AI features. Again, large script, read and consult carefully. 4. My own quick debloat Gist for LTSC: gist.github.com/tgeczy/2d847e2… This does a lot more plumming removal, and disables your search box, so don't be surprised. 5. For search box: Open Menu: github.com/Open-Shell/Open-She… - works really well. Bonus: github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloa…
So regarding search box, what do I need to do to use open shell menu properly? For me, NVDA with Win 10 LTSC that is, it feels rather laggy and inaccessible rather than helpful. What's the trick?
@jonathan859 I just install it, when you first press the windows key it should open the settings for it, then I pick "2-column" view which does the recents + classic menus like the XP days. The only inaccessible (and really triggers my OCD sometimes) is the lack of a label on the search box itself, but search results read as they appear so it's not broken fully.
Hmm, yeah. I never knew which setting to pick there, good to know. And yes, that bothers me as well, like pressing win key and not having that instant feel that it opens, the menu when you searched itself was ok though yes. thanks
Thanks bunches! Taming is under way here - LOL! Glad I went with 32GB of RAM this time around. Guess next time it'll be 64GB to keep up with Microsoft, which is MacroHard on RAM.
@amir oh yeah, 32 GB is very respectible even now, I have 2 laptops here on Win11 with that amount. I think under 32, like 16, can also work because the OS scales back RAM usage a bit, by about 500-600 MB or more, so less aggressive caching policies on the 8 or 16 GB systems help mitigate anything you'd feel. Windows works in misterious ways. Ah wait...
On my side Microsoft 365 generates NDR when I send the message to non existing email address using outlook online but does not generate NDR when sending a message to same non existing email address from thunderbird or other app sending emails through microsoft 365 SMTP server. This sounds strange to me and I can't find a way to make it generate NDR aka bounce messages for messages submitted through SMTP.
Oh, those NDR message are actually generated but they are delivered to spam folder. Even after disabling backscatter protection under advanced antispam settings it's working like that. These automatically generated messages can't be manipulated using transport rules, so I have no workaround for this issue.
yeah, it's annoying, I remember one saturday morning when someone from office called me because i forgot to send something. I actually did but by made mistake in email address. Then I realized that I have delivery status notification in spam.
For years, Single Page Applications (SPAs) built with frameworks like React have dominated the web development landscape. They promised fluid transitions, dynamic interfaces, and app-like experiences.
The fact that “people too sick to work” is spun as an economic crisis instead of a public health crisis tells you everything you need to know. And the fact this coincides with the pandemic for which public health seems to not take seriously…
Thinking and dreaming hard about my trip to Vienna and Paris in March, to research late 18th century musicians Friederich Dulon and Maria Von Paradis. My colleague will be doing archival and historical research. I want to focus on the music scene today. I go to a lot of live music, and make live music with friends in Toronto. How can I explore the musical life where I’m going? If you have any recommendations or connections to the music community or the Blind community in Vienna or Paris please reach out. We’ll also be in Innsbrook for 1 night, for a Dead South show I’m thrilled to report!
zoicware/RemoveWindowsAI. Aha, just what I neded, the actual Repo package for this thing. Now time to poke around whether it breaks things for Windows updates, not sure. But they have a Discord for this project? Really. Now I feel less alone. github.com/zoicware/RemoveWind… It says: "Prevent Windows Update from Reinstalling AI Packages" - so I guess it won't break them, but worth doing a backup or restore point anyway. Ok, to back up mode start it: & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm "raw.githubusercontent.com/zoic…"))) -nonInteractive -backupMode
@startrek2025 ahaha, "Process Complete dialog AI removal process completed successfully!
Would you like to restart your computer now to ensure all changes take effect?" LOL. It's a neat little script and the repo evn has a single command that runs it for you.
And don't even get me started about Microsoft bundling the Click to Do AI app for everyone, even if you don't have a copilot PC. Click to Do is now a baked-in system component, and on non-Copilot+ PCs it’s basically a decorative brick that throws an error. You’re meant to look at it and feel “AI future”, even if your hardware can’t use it. Wow Microsoft. there’s no clean, supported “Uninstall” button in normal builds. So, S.O.L. Look at it in your start menu always and forever, or randomly brush up against it in search results. Yes, even on LTSC Win11. Yes. Wow maybe not. Someone wrote a script. It's quite large. raw.githubusercontent.com/zoic…
I still think the ultimate example of microsoft logic is this. Oh, we require a bios feature for our newest operating system, which is on your computer. I the user downgrade to 10 for better usability. Now it's time to go back to 11. Wait, my pc can't run it? But you said earlier..... Yeah, that whole TPM thing we spoke about? The installer should be able to turn that on or off if needed. If it can be stopped when downgrading, surely it can be restarted when upgrading
@startrek2025 sadly you must these days maybe use the LTSC 26100 build because of them breaking sound on the consumer installer ISOs. I think that combined with what you're seeing is pretty dumb, but perhaps you'd be able to get a start with 11 by using that instead. I'm not sure if there's a clean 26100 ISO floating around that does not have updats applied, you could get a consumer one of those if there is and use Rufus to disable that stupid TPM requirement, upgrade. Probs doable if you really, really wanted 11. Sadly though it may not offer you upgrades since with Rufus you'd boot from the disk to install it. I know the upgrade path checks for it. For your case, if you want upgrades, I recommend looking at this repo: github.com/Windows-Dev/Windows…
Windows 11 Version 25H2 (OS Build 26200.7019) has a super-irritating bug — or actually, two. Sometimes, or rather most of the time, search results in the Start menu take a few seconds to load. They used to appear instantly. And often, the suggested results are completely irrelevant. If I type U, instead of Unigram which I always launch that way, I have to wait and then get Uniswap (some crypto thing). With F, I get Facebook (which I don’t even have) instead of Foobar2000. With G, I get Game Bar instead of Google Chrome, which I launch all the time. Microsoft is driving me up a wall. I can’t get rid of this insanity.
@amir oof yeah. On that same build myself! I replaced Start Menu with OpenShell Menu. It's great. no more shittyness. ugh. I ripped out StartMenuExperienceHost.exe (well, renamed the file) so it won't run ever, ever again. OK, maybe a Windows Update will reinstall that package. Gosh darn. But still. It's not the most accessible in terms of labels on the search box, butt search itself is so snappy again, and I do the 2-column layout which just takes me back to the XP days so well, combined with a search box :D
Interesting! I didn’t realize OpenShell still runs that smoothly on 25H2. Renaming StartMenuExperienceHost.exe is bold, but honestly, I get it. The new Start menu feels like it’s pulling results from another galaxy. I might give your setup a try.
@amir oof yeah, sadly even with that start menu, it kept pulling it in. StartMenuExperienceHost.exe. 100 or more MB. So I nuked it. I said, enough is enough. xD What's interesting is, StartMenu.exe (OpenShell's) can still run without StartMenuExperienceHost, it's just that Windows would still keep pulling it up when I would press the Windows Key. By design, of course.
That’s classic Microsoft. Even when you kill it, it refuses to die. I swear StartMenuExperienceHost.exe has more lives than Task Manager itself. Maybe they should just rename it to StartMenuPersistenceHost at this point. It’s wild how much memory that thing eats just to show a few shortcuts and ads.
Windows Health and Optimized Experiences service. Get rid of it from services.msc. Disable it in startup type, and stop the service. Now. Here’s what that Windows Health and Optimized Experiences thing actually is, in plain language. Short version: it’s a new-ish system service (whesvc) Microsoft is testing/rolling out. Watch system “health” and usage. Run little scripts that tweak performance, power behaviors. It’s built on a tiny Lua runtime inside whesvc_assets.dll so Microsoft can push logic as scripts instead of shipping a full new binary each time. It’s “smart tuning + health/telemetry/AI-adjacent fluff” more than a core OS pillar. It exists to constantly “observe and adjust”. And, bonus: it already picked up an elevation-of-privilege CVE (2025-59241) before it even earned anyone’s trust. Good job Microsoft. If you're on Windows 11, get rid of this shit.
Windows 11 has crept the same way Vista did—just at a different scale: More “helpful” services, More “health” watchers, More stuff wired into Copilot/Store/Cloud. To someone who actually looks at process lists and services, it feels like being slowly surrounded.
@startrek2025 probably not that one, but it's another thing that just sits there. I'm for sure adding this one into the debloat LTSC script as while it's a fair point, it doesn't constantly do stuff, it's just there monitoring and collecting data. Ugh.
This means "we know the true reason for this message, but we can't tell you the true reason for this message."
In most cases, the true reason is "your password doesn't match", but we will display the same message in other situations in which the login fails, e.g. trying to brute force a password and having your IP address blocked.
If there was a different message for that scenario, it would tell the attacker exactly when to dispose of that IP address and change to a new one. Having a single message for both cases makes a brute force attack a lot more complicated.
While driving, users can now ask Gemini to answer questions about places of interest on their route, return results about other topics (like sports or news), and even perform tasks like adding events to their calendar.
But nobody in our open source world likes or wants to collect the data we need to do this... until someone takes on this task it's going stay almost impossible to get normal users to switch.
Hey folks, I'm considering to #selfhost my mastodon again, only I'm looking at #GoToSocial because it's soooo lightweight. Is anyone using it full time of their instance? How does it feel admin/maintenance wise?
Mozilla forces AI on its own community translators, what could go wrong? 
Râu Cao ⚡
in reply to Daniel Gultsch • • •