Honestly?

Nothing still worth using. Everything newer than a Pentium IV has hidden features in it and almost all software has some form of call home code- either by voluntary 'user registration' with penalties for failing to do so, or by forced and hidden 'call home on program start or crash with a fake error'

If you're that worried about being snooped on, you need to install Arch Linux on a computer built from scratch wire by wire without using ANY bought in hardware larger than a 74LS47 Integrated Circuit.

Well, at least I know my processor and motherboard aren't going to rat me out to the government for piracy then. Too bad they didn't make USB wireless receivers 10 years ago... :/

Anyway, as long as you can determine that there is absolutely no way for the equipment to access the internet or phone line, it should be fine. But then, that assumes you can live in a world that doesn't involve any sort of electronic communication. Good luck with that.

Can i get moar info on this plox?

How is everything hardwired tracked?

>>99

Search: Intel AMT
Read the manuals, browse Wikipedia, etc...
Sure, it *claims* to be "voluntary" or "installed", but if the capability is there, who says there isn't a silent backdoor that's always running? I mean, you can't really tell if it's OOB or some sort of integrated wireless/satellite transmitter...

I wonder if using something like Coreboot to replace the BIOS would mess with hardware features like Intel AMT?

Stop paying Intel money to build factories on Palestinian land stolen by Israeli war criminals and get an ARM, MIPS, or other non-x86 computer. No gimped CPUs or paying $50 to use something that the manufacturer tested and know already works (Intel's "upgrade service"). No "Trusted" Computing bullshit. About 1/100 the power consumption and a fraction of the cost. And a superior assembly language.

The x86 assembly language was ugly shit even when it was invented. It rots your brain, teaching you to do retarded things like use XOR to clear registers (but not memory because x86 is accumulator-based crap) instead of a proper CLR instruction or moving a 0. The hideous 1-argument MUL and DIV, the horrible x87 floating point extension. Disgusting hacks like SAHF and LAHF created to be compatible with Z80's AF register. Fanboys kissing Intel's ass when they come out with extensions that other architectures have had for 30 years. It gives the words CISC and assembly a bad name.

So throw off the shackles of Intel's 16-bit Datapoint 2200 extension which was chosen by IBM because it was cheap and wouldn't compete with their quality hardware and get a real CPU.

The only laptops I know of that run a MIPS processor are built and bought in China, although I believe Dell sells laptops with ARM. I'm told ASUSTek sells MIPS motherboards, but a check on their website (http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/) shows only Intel or AMD motherboards. I haven't checked on PPC processors.

Really, if you're going to get something that's not embedded, it's hard to break from Intel.

>>105
http://www.lemote.com/en/products/Notebook/2010/0310/112.html
>All system source files(BIOS, kernel, drivers etc.) are free software, no close firmware needed.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/Toshiba-AC100_Laptop_review
http://lkcl.net/laptop.html
There are a few out there.

If ARM Ltd. (1,700 employees) or MIPS Technologies (146 employees) had even half the cash and manpower of Intel (82,500 employees), they would absolutely crush x86. That's one of the few things Intel fanboys (the people who think Intel Integrated Graphics is as good as ATI or Nvidia and that charging people an "upgrade" fee for hardware they already own is doing them a favor) don't seem to understand. AMD (11,100 employees) was able to beat Intel despite having a larger process size, using the awful x86 architecture, and losing money each quarter. They were eventually able to turn a profit while still selling chips for cheaper than Intel.

I think it's important to break away from the Intel x86 monopoly and bring back the kind of real computing freedom that let companies like Microsoft and Apple exist in the first place. Intel is a major proponent of Trusted Computing and created "Intel Insider" (a scheme to get hardware DRM/spyware onto people's computers under the guise of movies). I can't believe anyone would fall for that. People play movies from Netflix or Blu-Ray just fine without anything like that. Their TPM "Fritz chip" will make any /hack/ activities impossible because instead of your computer being a tool to do the will of the user, your computer will be a tool to do the will of government spy organizations and "Trusted" companies like Intel.

>Countries where TPM cannot be legally deployed
>Russia (RU)
>China (CN)
>Belarus (BY)
>Kazakstan (KZ)
>Uzbekistan (UZ)
>Azerbaidjan (AZ)

http://techreport.com/discussions/8547
http://www.betanews.com/article/Suit-Intel-Sabotaged-Compiler-for-AMD/1121274628
>Suit: Intel Sabotaged Compiler for AMD
Intel added "GenuineIntel" checks to their compiler to make it slower on AMD's processors, instead of using CPUID to test for SSE. As you could probably guess, removing those checks made their special Intel-optimized code faster on AMD than on Intel.

http://pwn3d.com/2010/08/27/dells-fraud-settlement-reveals-intel-bribery
http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/dell-pays-65million-to-settle-intel-bribe-probe-8577
>Dell will pay $100 million to settle a probe into claims it took bribes from Intel not to use AMD chips
Intel makes deals and bribes with computer manufacturers like Dell. They buy only Intel? They get discounts. They buy even one non-Intel CPU? They pay more.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/18/intel-wants-to-charge-50-to-unlock-stuff-your-cpu-can-already-d/
>Intel wants to charge $50 to unlock stuff your CPU can already do
Intel is charging $50 for an "upgrade" that is already included in the CPU and already tested by Intel and proven to work. It's just a scam to make Intel more money and proof that their CPUs are overpriced. Intel fanboys say it will "save power" which is absolute bullshit. If they wanted to save power, it would be a BIOS setting or driver program option, not something that costs the user more money.

http://stopfundingisrael.com/intel.html
Intel built a plant on stolen Palestinian land. The Israelis ethnically cleansed the village and tore down the buildings. On a lighter note, you would think all of those Israeli Einsteins would at least be able to keep up with AMD.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2339629,00.asp
>How the Itanium Killed the Computer Industry
HP gave Intel the Alpha technology and engineers in exchange for developing the Itanic. The Alpha was the fastest CPU in the world at the time until it was unnaturally murdered by Intel.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20090413143345_Intel_Larrabee_s_x86_Compatibility_Is_Drawback__Chief_Scientist_of_Nvidia.html
>Intel Larrabee�s x86 Compatibility Is Drawback � Chief Scientist of Nvidia
Intel made a presentation about how Larrabee (Itanium 2: Electric Boogaloo) is better than GPUs because it's x86 and can run legacy crap like DOS. Who needs to run DOS or Windows 95 on their GPU? But it doesn't matter since Intel never even built any.

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/19489
>With McAfee purchase, Intel could become #1 bloatware vendor
Then Intel blew $7.68 billion on McAfee, who makes the only non-game, non-scientific program that would ever make use of a hex-core CPU (lol, but Norton comes close).

Itanium? Didn't deliver. Larrabee? Didn't deliver. Buying the shittiest bloatware developer on the planet? Delivered. If I was an Intel shareholder, I would be pissed. Instead, I'm just pissed at how quickly people forget these things Intel has done and fall for their marketing bullshit every time.

>>105
Embedded isn't bad, I've been playing with OpenWRT in anticipation of getting a wireless mesh network up and running and am seriously considering playing with one of these routers as a general purpose machine.

>>108
When you say "general purpose", what in particular would you use the router for? I checked OpenWRT's website, and the processors are generally 700Mhz or lower, and most have less than 64MB of RAM. Would you use it as an email machine, or perhaps a webserver? These things don't seem to have enough horsepower for a full-blown desktop environment like Gnome or KDE.

>>109
I mean general purpose in the sense that the routers are normally used as a network device and little else. There's no reason why you couldn't use one in the same role that any cli machine could fill. It's pretty safe to say that you won't get a gui running on one.

The hardware isn't astounding in its capabilities but it's completely on par with the desktop machines from not so long ago. I currently do experiments using desktop machines that are completely blown away by a router's specs.

Wireless routers are also super cheap to pick up, whether you get one at a yard sale or on clearance from some big box store. Ideally I'll find one with a usb port but telnet/ssh is perfectly fine for now.

>>110
Hmm...

They should be just powerful enough to run a small web server on them. One of the pages served up could be a control page, providing a basic gui for specific tasks... And with the ports you could just hook them up to one or more network drives.

This actually sounds like a quick-n-easy way to test ideas for new protocols or services. Pretty portable, too. Just pick up and go (NAS notwithstanding...)

>>111
With their low power requirements they might be useful for carputers or robotics too.

Not sure how the hardware would interface but with ethernet, wifi and possibly usb there's a good start.

A small machine like this lends itself to hacking too. You start thinking about things like adding controllers for new functionality, wondering whether it is possible.