Articles about Internet

It seems like mere moments since an updated version of Tor for the desktop was released, and now there's great news for owners of Android smartphones. The Tor Project has released an Android version of the Tor browser, and it's available to download either directly from its website, or from Google Play.

Currently in alpha -- so expect there to be a few issues -- this is the only mobile Tor browser that's supported by the Tor Project, and the developers promise that it will block trackers, protect against surveillance and ensure privacy.

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Almost one in four Brits (23 percent) have been victims of fraud when shopping online -- with eight percent duped more than once, according to a new study

The inaugural Fraud Tracker report from online payment service Shieldpay  shows that the average victim loses £608, yet receives only £55 back from their bank.

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For many consumers, dial-up internet is a distant memory. Broadband has long replaced the slow and unreliable telephone-based internet connection. Believe it or not, some people in rural areas still utilize it -- ugh, those unfortunate people.

Surprisingly, TiVo still offers dial-up access to some of its users, allowing them to download program guide information. Yes, really. Sadly, today, the company began alerting those users that it will be discontinuing dial-up connectivity later this month -- the end of an era.

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Google has announced the release of a new Content Safety API with the aim of helping to combat child sexual abuse material (CSAM) online.

The announcement comes as UK home secretary Sajid Javid called on technology companies to do more to tackle the problem of child abuse imagery on the internet, and the API has two main aims. The first is to make it quicker and easier to detect and remove CSAM, while the second is to do so without having to expose human content-checkers to so much abuse content.

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Mozilla has announced some of its plans for Firefox, and there's a strong focus on privacy. At an as-yet unspecified point in the "near future" the browser will block all tracking by default, although it is being trialed this month.

In addition to this -- which is a change from the current Do Not Track option -- Firefox will include a new set of options which Mozilla says will give users greater control over the information they share with websites. As well as helping to improve privacy, Mozilla is also hoping to improve the performance of its web browser with a new set of controls that it says will empower users and give them a voice.

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Following a successful launch in the US a year ago, Facebook is launching its Watch service globally. Competing directly with the likes of YouTube, Facebook Watch is the social network's platform for original video content, including Major League Baseball games and entertainment news.

Just 12 months after launching in the US, the service enjoys 50 million monthly viewers and Facebook will be hoping to continue this success in other parts of the world. The company is pushing the social aspect of Facebook Watch as a major draw.

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Oath -- the owner of Yahoo -- is in talks with advertisers, promoting a service that scans the content of emails and provides a wealth of information about users.

The service would give advertisers access to data contained in over 200 million Yahoo Mail inboxes. Email scanning would also apply to AOL Mail inboxes, also owned by Oath. As noted by the Wall Street Journal, Oath is now the only major US email provider than scans emails in this way -- and the way to opt out is well-hidden.

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Live streaming is increasingly popular, not just for entertainment but for business use too. However, poor quality streaming with pauses and drop outs can rapidly lose you an audience.

Live streaming specialist Mux is aiming to address these problems with the launch of its new Real-Time Streaming Dashboard, designed to help video engineers and product managers detect live stream issues in real-time.

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Three people have been killed and several injured in a shooting at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida. A gunman shot two participants dead before killing himself at the event which was livestreamed on Twitch.

Police say that in addition to the three fatalities, eleven people were injured in the shooting. The shooter has been named as David Katz from Baltimore; he is said to have become angry after losing the tournament and pulled out a handgun.

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We recently wrote about a browser extension which added Windows' Timeline support for Chrome and Firefox -- the aptly-named Windows Timeline Support.

While we loved the addon for making Windows 10's Timeline rather more useful, the use of the word "Windows" in its name meant that the extension was taken down due to copyright violation. Now it's back with a new name.

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Alex Jones and Infowars are being banned, suspended and removed from the internet left, right and center. But while YouTube, Facebook, Apple and others have come down hard on the right-wing conspiracy theorist for peddling hate speech, Twitter is standing by him.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has defended his company's decision not to follow the lead of its Silicon Valley counterparts, saying that Alex Jones "hasn't violated our rules". In a series of tweets, Dorsey explains that Twitter enforces its rules "impartially, regardless of political viewpoints".

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Since switching all of its sites to secure HTTPS rather than plain old HTTP, the BBC has found that it is completely blocked online in China.

The corporation has issued a statement recommending that people in the region looking to access its services should turn to either a VPN, or the censorship-busting app Psiphon.

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A leaked document suggests that Google is planning on making a return to China, launching a censored version of its search engine to comply with strict Chinese laws.

Going by the codename of Dragonfly, the project has been in the works since 2017 and has led to the creation of China-specific Android apps with the internal testing names Maotai and Longfei. But while the documents and people familiar with the matter say that the launch date could be just six to nine months away, China says the reports are not true.

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When is the most popular time for ordering pizza, Chinese food, or other forms of takeout? You might think there's no set answer, but it turns out that wherever you are in the world there’s a particular time when most people think about getting food.

Actually, that’s not completely true. There are two times.

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There have been a number of sites and apps that have gained dark modes in the last year -- macOS and YouTube to name but two -- and Microsoft doesn't want to miss the trend. The company has heard the pleas of Outlook.com users and added a new Dark Mode option to its web-based email service.

The feature is one of the most frequently requested, and users got a preview of the new Dark Mode earlier in the month. Now it's rolling out to everyone, and Microsoft is using it as an excuse to try to push Outlook.com users to its Edge browser.

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