u/Tricky_Instruction63

I have read the rules, and I'm interested in getting into opsec and setting up an old ThinkPad with this in mind, but I'm not sure where to start or how to learn.

I have an old ThinkPad with Windows 7 installed. I plan on wiping and installing Linux (if recommended). If so, what distro?

What steps do I need to take? I understand the behavior rules of not doing anything from my personal life on this device, but how do I learn the hardware ideas and know whether or not im installing the right things?

Context: I am in incoming freshmen at Tufts, and I am feeling a little lost when it comes to what I should study and put my time towards right now. I have lots of interests, one of which being the ai space right now (frontier models), along with locally hosting models. The problem is I don’t really have a technical background. I’ve taken a few courses in python and java, but that’s it. My major I’m going for is quantitative economics, but I can change pretty easily.

My dilemma is that given the ai space, and the rate of improvement, I want to put myself in a good position if we continue to improve at this rate. That would render CS obsolete. However all jobs / internships right now require some sort of technical experience.

I’m just confused: What do I study or put my effort into now so that if we reach AGI or ASI I will be valuable (one of my strengths being young I haven’t committed a lot of time to one niche.)

Any guidance would be helpful, I feel that no one in previous generations has been in my position so it’s difficult and confusing to navigate.

Context: I am in incoming freshmen at Tufts, and I am feeling a little lost when it comes to what I should study and put my time towards right now. I have lots of interests, one of which being the ai space right now (frontier models), along with locally hosting models. The problem is I don’t really have a technical background. I’ve taken a few courses in python and java, but that’s it. My major I’m going for is quantitative economics, but I can change pretty easily.

My dilemma is that given the ai space, and the rate of improvement, I want to put myself in a good position if we continue to improve at this rate. That would render CS obsolete. However all jobs / internships right now require some sort of technical experience.

I’m just confused: What do I study or put my effort into now so that if we reach AGI or ASI I will be valuable (one of my strengths being young I haven’t committed a lot of time to one niche.)

Any guidance would be helpful, I feel that no one in previous generations has been in my position so it’s difficult and confusing to navigate.

I’m trying to completely wipe and factory reset an old corporate Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 so I can repurpose it as a Linux server for some projects, but I’m completely locked out.
The backstory: My dad used to work at Engie, and due to a mix-up with his IT department, they issued him a new computer and he kept this old one. The problem is he can no longer log into it. Whenever we turn it on, it continually asks for a fingerprint, but his fingerprint no longer registers. We can't get past the lock screen at all.
I know these modern enterprise machines have intense hardware-level security, and I'm aware we are likely up against BIOS-level protections and corporate MDM locks. But I’m wondering if there are any extreme, hardware-level, or brute-force methods to bypass this so I can wipe the drive. Are there any physical chips I can short, EEPROM flashing methods, or specialized tools to clear a BIOS supervisor password on a Gen 4?
I really just want to install a fresh Linux distro on it instead of letting it sit around as a paperweight. Any advice or direction on getting past these corporate locks would be hugely appreciated!

I’m trying to completely wipe and factory reset an old corporate Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 4 so I can repurpose it as a Linux server for some projects, but I’m completely locked out.
The backstory: My dad used to work at Engie, and due to a mix-up with his IT department, they issued him a new computer and he kept this old one. The problem is he can no longer log into it. Whenever we turn it on, it continually asks for a fingerprint, but his fingerprint no longer registers. We can't get past the lock screen at all.
I know these modern enterprise machines have intense hardware-level security, and I'm aware we are likely up against BIOS-level protections and corporate MDM locks. But I’m wondering if there are any extreme, hardware-level, or brute-force methods to bypass this so I can wipe the drive. Are there any physical chips I can short, EEPROM flashing methods, or specialized tools to clear a BIOS supervisor password on a Gen 4?
I really just want to install a fresh Linux distro on it instead of letting it sit around as a paperweight. Any advice or direction on getting past these corporate locks would be hugely appreciated!

I drill country quizzes on Sporcle a lot and built my own version because I wanted a few things done differently. Sharing it here because this is the right crowd to tell me what I got wrong.

Atlas covers all 197 sovereigns in 6 regions, same partition as Sporcle's primary listings (Russia in Europe, Turkey in Europe, Egypt in Africa, etc.). Three modes per region:

- Find on map: random prompts, click the right country, two wrong clicks reveal it.

- Type all: continuous typing into one box, alphabetical sidebar shows what you've got.

- Study: no score, no timer, hover for facts, click to pin labels.

Things I did differently from Sporcle:

- All the microstates are actually clickable. Tuvalu, Vatican, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino. They get small visible dots so you can hit them on a real map instead of guessing where to aim.

- No ads, no signup gate, no upsells. Optional Google sign-in if you want cross-device best scores.

- Study mode is its own thing, not a "practice round." You can just explore the map without being tested.

Honest asks for this crowd:

- Anywhere a typed answer should've been accepted but wasn't (aliases I missed)

- Any region partition that feels wrong

- Any feature you've wanted on Sporcle that I should add

https://atlas-three-iota.vercel.app/

(M) For context I got into both schools, I live in California and the out of state money at tufts isn’t a problem. I come from a big high school and prioritize my education but also my social life so I’m feeling super stuck. I have until Friday to decide so please help me. I would also probably rush, definitely at tufts and maybe ucsb.

Tufts:

Small classes, everyone motivated, rigorous load, professors available, mid sized, not super active social life? Cold and snows

UCSB

Not seen as good academically, have lots of friends there already and who are going, everyone seems happy, amazing social life, still good school. Closer to home not sure if that’s good or bad. Way better weather