Recently i was asked for a simple & free way of transcribing audio speech into plain text. Problem was solved via Python library called [Vosk]
. It is a speech recognition toolkit working in offline environment.
To make things happen do the following:
[Install vosk]
pip install vosk [Download speech model]
of required language, larger libraries bring just marginal improvement over the smaller ones despite the fact that they are over 40 times bigger in a size.
Aside from [Github certificate issue]
, Python also showed me some teeth regarding certificate stuff. How quaint! I think that such things comes from the fact that i’m using “obsolete” Windows 7. But we don’t choose the easy way out, don’t we? I’m using [hacked Python 3.11.1]
.
After trying to install Python external module:
pip install vosk system showed me this:
WARNING: Retrying (Retry(total=4, connect=None, read=None, redirect=None, status=None)) after connection broken by 'SSLError(SSLCertVerificationErro
r(1, '[SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED] certificate verify failed: self signed certificate in certificate chain (_ssl.
Following instructions successfully tested with [Geforce RTX 3090Ti]
on recent [474.66 driver]
[October 2023]. In newer operating systems things could be entirely different.
It’s been a fair amount of time since I’ve written about privacy related stuff. In early days ~2017 nvidia was not so obsessed with telemetry. Everything you should do to block their efforts is to run [Disable Nvidia Telemetry]
.
As time goes on things changed dramatically.
Surfing web regarding Windows 7 news i’ve stumbled upon [MDGX]
site. This chaotic gold mine of various knowledge, especially regarding vintage operating systems! Immediately bookmarked it and will surely study in a closer inspection later on. Huge section [dedicated to Windows 7 tweaks]
and [plain text file]
is also available. Hope that you’ll find something previously unknown.
spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
So, you want to be a hip and would like to have the feature of SVG preview in file explorer like in fancy windows 11 of friend of yours? It is surely possible, even on such old crone like Windows 7!
[SVG See]
is an excellent application, which bring such functionality to our crony operating system.
If you are for some reason don’t observe SVG previews in explorer there are a couple of things that you could try to fix things up:
UPDATED ON: 2024-06-26 VirtualBox 7 can be [freely used on Windows 7]
machines!
For virtual emulation in most cases i use VMWare Workstation 15.5.7 dated back to 2020, which works awesomely fine. Recently i run into VirtualBox on my primary job and have to run Linux Debian on Windows 7 Enterprise.
As per official Oracle documentation all [6.x VirtualBox releases]
are compatible with Windows 7. Unfortunately it is not so true.
A couple of weeks ago i run into problem related to out-of sync time clock. Tried almost all imaginable solutions, like time service restarting, checking that internet time-sync option is turned on and so on and so forth. Of course to no avail at all. How typical! My Windows 7 installation dates back to early 2019 and i’ve plethora of software installed, and more over system is heavily customized so plain reinstall of operating system is not an option in my case.
UPDATED ON: 2024-09-05
I’m currently on Firefox 115 ESR and not using chrome at all, but this is neat news for sure. So, in addition to [Supermium]
chrome fork, we have official version also.
This is a work of Russian hackers.
Preface words from original Github page [English spelling is original]:
Dirty corporations and Hindu-managers are trying to deprive the any users of all the benefits that were created by technically more advanced people than them.
New form of retro art is here. Enjoy peacefull upgrading with chill backdrop music. Brought to you by [NTDEV]
YT channel.
Updating Windows Vista to Service Pack 2+ with ESU updates from Windows Server 2008 R2 spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
Recently, I’ve decided to install Linux for web development to make sure that i’m not missing something in terms of modern features and technologies. I chose [Manjaro]
with [XFCE]
desktop.
However, all multimedia works are staying on Windows 7. I still can’t find proper replacement for Vegas Pro and many other tools i use in my daily workflow. [Modern web is working]
, [security is updated]
, so i don’t see any reason to ditch it in favor of something more fancy.
UPDATED ON: 2023-08-24
This is a short clipping from [Complete tweaking guide for Windows 7]
article.
First of all you need to terminate autorun feature for housewives to limit auto-start of unwanted applications and viruses. I prefer fully manual control what’s starting and what is not.
To complete this tuning like a boss do the following on all external flash devices you have.
Format your Flash/HDD storage using NTFS file system Take a note that modern smartphones can’t read such storage devices.
Information confirmed by [author]
of [hacked modern USB3 AMD drivers]
.
Please, take a note, that: ASRock boards is not compatible at all, due to removed proper CSM module in latest BIOS revisions. Asus mobos are acceptable, but have some issues here and there. Gigabyte is just ok. So, consider MSI to get yourself out of unneeded troubles.
spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
UPDATED ON: 2023-09-06 Some new parameters were added.
Note that by default all [Nightly versions]
of Firefox are sending back telemetry to third-parties in extensive manner. So, to disable such malicious actions besides turning off telemetry settings via standard GUI options:
about:preferences#privacy You’ll need to use good old:
about:config To change to:
FALSE …or create following parameters in software registry:
toolkit.telemetry.archive.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.unified
toolkit.telemetry.unifiedIsOptIn
toolkit.telemetry.bhrPing.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.firstShutdownPing.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.hybridContent.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.newProfilePing.enabled
toolkit.telemetry.reportingpolicy.firstRun toolkit.
I often get asked regarding Windows 7 safety especially in 2023.
"Is it safe to use such old operating system?" "What about security?" "How about modern viruses?"
.... …. and many other similar questions.
Funny thing that people who are asking about security don’t give a damn about privacy. Yeah, that’s quite different definitions for sure, but from my point of view they always come together hand in hand.
The main and the most important security police officer is your head.
Looking back to previous couple of years and taking into perspective generic non-computer life it is quite amazing what people are capable of. I’m talking about amount of rave and chaotic mess they can produce. Artificial difficulties, overcomplicated situations, meaningless and moronic wars, you name it.
Taking into account above mentioned things it’s really easy to handle such “problem” as running Windows 7 in modern age. Despite the fact that there are plenty of people around who are mumbling about Windows 7 obsolescense and bla-bla-bla.
UPDATED ON: 2023-08-23
Despite [previous statement]
regarding Windows 7 EOL status after version 115 current nightly alpha binary [v117] works just fine. Installer threw generic mambo-jambo that program can’t work in Windows 7 environment and then artificially blocks installation. How generic & dumb. Workaround is just unzip exe-package with [7-zip]
and execute browser from unpacked Core folder.
FIREFOX 117 ABOUT WINDOW Right after installation software immediately begins to whine about inability to update.
I bet most of Firefox oldschool users hated the recent “changes” in terms of overall browser design. Rounded childish like-chrome corners, foolish restriction on what can be configured and so on. And now they crippled the look of browser tabs: to waste your workspace and spoil the design, just take a look at this:
MODERN “NORMAL” STYLE LEGACY NORMAL STYLE SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON I suppose that such “changes” were made in favor to touchscreen devices.
Say you need to run on a laptop battery vintage or simply non-demanding applications for an extremely long time. Here is a little breakdown of mandatory things to do:
turn off in BIOS unneeded devices like camera, sd-card reader, fingerprint scanner, gsm-modem, wifi, bt or whatever you are not using turn on power saving features like various C-power states turn off hyper-threading and hi-core count [if you have such ability] lower screen brightness to acceptable level check my [quick]
and [comprehensive]
optimization FAQs get rid of [unneeded services and bloat applications]
Also you can use core parking utility [Park Control]
, but in this mini-guide i’ll show you how to set power related things up via internal Windows 7 tools.
UPDATED ON: 2023-12-02
The main reason i’ve decided to write this note is indistinct default color mappings and inability to solve issue simply using GUI of software.
In main configuration file:
settings.json add following lines:
"workbench.colorCustomizations": {
"editorCursor.foreground": "#ff0000",
"terminalCursor.foreground": "#02ED3D",
"editorLineNumber.activeForeground": "#ff0000",
"editor.lineHighlightBackground": "#016119",
"editor.lineHighlightBorder": "#02ED3D",
"terminal.foreground": "#02ed3d" }, To set custom color for GREY comments drop in these lines:
"editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
"conmments": "#ff006f"
} To fast access configuration file press:
UPDATED ON: 2024-07-05 v1.81.1 is a more recent version, which can be executed without any efforts v1.89 is a hacked [FINAL version] for Windows 7 x64 So, Windows 7 users are pretty safe at this point despite artificial restrictions of big corps.
Usually i’m not feeling so delightful regarding microsoft modern programs, but this one is pretty good. And of course they tried to artificially cripple it under “obsolete” Windows 7.
Extended kernel project allows you to run some Windows 8+ applications on Windows 7.
LATEST ALPHA BUILDS
Click right mouse button to select executable properties and then switch to VxKex tab: Then cross your fingers and try to launch desired application.
Warning! Software is in very early alpha stage, so miracles almost never happen. However very basic applications can be executed.
spacedrone808 @Adobe spacedrone808 @Freepik
UPDATED ON: 2024-08-29
Node.js dropped Windows 7 “support” rigth after [version number 13]
.What a load of sh#t. Today i’ll tell you how to overcome this nonsense and run latest LTS version [Node.JS 18.x]
without any problems. More newer versions may work also. I’ll leave you some room for experiments. Recently i found excellent already [patched installer of NodeJS 18]
First of all you need to download zipped version of software, not msi one.
In my newly purchased [Lenovo X1 Carbon]
i run into screen tearing issues during web or local video playback with classic windows theme turned on.
GOOD EXAMPLE OF SCREEN TEARING PHENOMENON I messed around with different video driver settings, under the hood browser parameters, fine-tuning other various tweaks without any changes for good. To my surprise solution was pretty straightforward.
JUST TURN ON AERO THEME TO SAVE YOUR EV▓NING! Aero interface is rendered by Desktop Windows Manager [DWM].
Main highlights of [6th generation]
over [previous one]
:
very good keyboard for ultra-compact class [same quality as in 5th gen]. By the way, 6th generation is a last one to support such luxury. Generations 7th and 8th come with [crippled apple-like keys]
with reduced key travel. noticeable quality increase in terms of color gamut, even better than in 5th generation. sRGB gamut: 95% [Gen6] vs 85% [Gen 5]. multi-core performance [increased around 80%]
over 5th gen.
Despite the fact that current Firefox market share of Windows 7 users is around 13% Mozilla confirms to [drop Windows 7 support in 2024]
. Actually i don’t really understand their bold move and why they are dropping Windows 7 and keeping support for example for Android 7.1 which stopped receiving updates more than five years ago. As you may know i’m using Android 8.0 on my websurfer phone and yeah, it is running latest Firefox forks easily.
UPDATED ON: 2023-08-01 Chromium v117 [already ported]
to Windows 7
Although I’m completely uninterested in google browser and it’s siblings you have to know that there is a way to run current chromium version in Windows 7 environment, despite of all [mumblings]
that 109 is the very last version to run on Windows 7.
Backported version of chromium 112 called [CatsXP]
available at your disposal. Also, there are [other solutions]
on how to run version 110 and most recent 109 build intended for Windows Server 2012.
As you may already know, there is no official ability to execute old 16-bit software in 64-bit operating systems. So if you have favorite Windows 3.x applications such stupid restriction was a complete bummer. But only until today! At least for me. WinVDM will resolve your frustration.
For providing such valuable information thanks goes out to [NeonFloppy website]
.
► WINVDM @ GITHUB
Unpack archive anywhere, execute INSTALL with admin privileges and you are good to go After installation working state could be checked by [Windows 3.
UPDATED ON: 2023-04-20 Important update, substantial refactoring, many errors fixed
▒ PREFACE WORDS Following instruction is dedicated to flashing stock Android 8.0 firmware for Russian region, but almost all information can be applied to USA or any other region firmware. So, no restrictions here.
Remember that all commands and programs should be executed with admin privileges and your account must have administrator rights! If something goes wrong for some reason be sure to check [TROUBLESHOOTING]
section!
UPDATED ON: 2024-01-01
Good news, everyone! Count me as professor Farnsworth from [Rick and Morty]
.
Mike Kaply, current Mozilla employee [reported]
on bug-tracking forum the following:
We will not be ending support for Windows 7 / Windows 8 before the release of the Firefox 115 ESR, so the Firefox 115 ESR will support Windows 7 / Windows 8 at least until 3Q 2024. First 115 version of software will be released on July 4, 2023.