Netflix has millions of users around the world, but how many of these are actually paying customers? Many of us either know (or are) people who share their Netflix account with friends and family, or leech off the one person they know that's willing to pay for a subscription.

But Netflix free rides could be coming to an end. At CES, UK-based firm Synamedia revealed artificial intelligence software that could be used by Netflix and other companies to detect and block the sharing of account credentials.

Continue reading →

Responding to a forum post that accused it of "fingerprinting users", privacy-centric search engine DuckDuckGo says that fears are unfounded and that it is not tracking its users.

The allegation was made after the Firefox extension CanvasBlocker showed a warning to users. The suggestion of fingerprinting -- gathering as much information as possible about a user through their browser to create a unique identifier that can be used for tracking -- is clearly something that would seem to sit in opposition to what DuckDuckGo claims to stand for. The company CEO says the accusation is simply wrong.

Continue reading →

An increasing number of apps and websites are gaining dark modes, often simply for the sake of aesthetics, but also because of power-saving considerations. Having added eye-saving dark modes to numerous Android apps, Google has confirmed that it is doing the same for the Windows 10 version of Chrome.

While there is no particular time frame in which we can expect to see Chrome's dark mode, a Chrome developer has confirmed that the feature is in progress.

Continue reading →

A number of major US newspapers -- including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal and New York Times -- have been hit by a cyberattack that is said to originate from another country.

Malware was first detected on Thursday by Tribune Publishing, the owner of some of the affected titles, but unsuccessful attempts at quarantining meant that there was disruption well into Saturday. The Department of Homeland Security is currently investigating the incident which is not thought to have exposed any personal customer details.

Continue reading →

It may well just be coincidental timing, but shortly after DuckDuckGo accused Google of personalizing search results even for people not signed into their account, Google has handed control of the Duck.com domain over to its rival.

The concession comes after years of frustration for DuckDuckGo, with Google having acquired Duck.com after buying On2 Technologies (previously The Duck Corporation) in 2010. The privacy-focused search engine has long asked Google to point the address at its website, and this has finally happened. Duck.com now redirects to DuckDuckGo.

Continue reading →

The news that Microsoft is going to create a Chromium-based version of its Edge browser has been met with a mixed reaction, but there is some good news for users. The company has confirmed that the adoption of Chromium means that Edge will support Chrome extensions.

Microsoft Edge has been much maligned for its lack of features when compared to Firefox, Chrome and Opera, and the number of extensions currently supported by the browser is laughably small. For this reason, the confirmation that Chrome extensions will be supported will be warmly welcomed by users.

Continue reading →

After the rumors, confirmation came from Microsoft that it plans to move its Edge browser from the EdgeHTML engine to Chromium. Reaction from users has been largely positive, but it's not the same story across the technology industry as a whole.

While Google is understandably happy about the change, the CEO of Mozilla, Chris Beard, says it is bad for competition and will help to make Google even more powerful.

Continue reading →

Just a couple of days ago, news crept out about Microsoft's project Anaheim -- a Chromium-based web browser said to be a replacement for Microsoft Edge. This understandably generated a great deal of interest... So much, in fact, that Microsoft has been compelled to speak out and confirm what its plans are.

Microsoft says that it is not building a replacement for Edge, but confirms that it will be embracing Chromium in the development of the browser. It is part of the company's increasing involvement in the open source community, and is driven by a desire to improve web compatibility and reduce fragmentation

Continue reading →

You might well expect that if you perform a Google search while signed into your Google account that the results will be tailored according to what that company has learned about you over the years. But what about when you're not signed into your account?

A study carried out by the privacy-centric search engine DuckDuckGo yielded some slightly surprising results. In tests earlier in the year, it was found that even when people searched without logging into a Google account -- or when they used private browsing mode --  "most participants saw results unique to them", suggesting there was still personalization of results.

Continue reading →

If Microsoft isn't careful, it is going to start getting through web browsers faster than Google gets through messaging tools. Having moved on from Internet Explorer to Edge, the company is now said to be looking to transition to a Chromium-based browser for Windows 10.

It's fair to say that Edge hasn't won itself too many fans since it first appeared three years ago, so the suggestion that Microsoft may ditch EdgeHTML in favour of a browser based on Chromium is likely to be widely welcomed. Said to be codenamed Anaheim, the news Microsoft has a new rendering engine on the horizon will go down well with those who have been disappointed by Edge.

Continue reading →

By 2022 more IP traffic will be created on global networks than in the entire 32 year life of the internet to date.

This rather startling prediction comes from network infrastructure specialist Cisco which reckons that by 2022, 60 percent of the global population will be internet users. More than 28 billion devices and connections will be online, and video will make up 82 percent of all IP traffic.

Continue reading →

Forget Black Friday, Cyber Monday is now the biggest shopping day of the year. Amazon is shipping millions of packages per day and many other companies are offering deals, including some you may not expect.

One you may not have thought of concerns your family history. I’m not talking about sending you to cemeteries, archives and historical societies, although I recommend that if you really want to dig into things. We’re just talking the basics here, which is where in the world your family originated from.

Continue reading →

YouTube only very recently gave people the option to watch big-name movies free of charge -- the only price to pay is enduring a few ads. Now, to celebrate Black Friday and to promote the upcoming release of The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, you'll have the chance to watch the first film (The LEGO Movie) for free.

While the previously-announced free option means you have to watch ads, in this instance The LEGO Movie is itself an ad.

Continue reading →

If you haven’t been marooned on a desert island for the past couple of years, you’ll be aware of the Colin Kaepernick saga. As a refresher, the quarterback was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers. He started for them as a rookie and had a good season, though he dropped off slightly in the following seasons. When his contract expired it was not renewed.

You can have your own views of why he is no longer in the NFL. It could be his play, though he’s more than qualified to, at least, get a second string job on many teams. However, most think it was his protests that did him in. When he chose to stay on the bench during the National Anthem it caused an outcry. People claimed he hated the country, hated the military and all sorts of more bizarre things. The fact was, he was protesting violence and, after talking to a military officer, he learned to get up from the bench and take a knee.

Continue reading →

Startpage.com is a privacy-focused alternative to the likes of Google (although the search results are provided by Google -- minus all the ads and stripped of tracking), and the search engine has just relaunched with a new look and new features. The visual changes will be apparent to anyone who has used the site before, but for anyone who is concerned about their online privacy, it is new options such as Anonymous View that will be of greater interest.

This new feature makes it possible to visit websites completely privately, essentially using Startpage.com as a proxy. Importantly, this extra level of privacy and protection does not come at the expense of speed, meaning you can browse the web anonymously without compromise.

Continue reading →