A terrifying number of big-name websites are not secure -- is yours?

Chrome security

There has been a long-standing movement trying to make the web a safer place. For some time, Google's Chrome browser has alerted people when they are visiting secure sites, but with the launch of Chrome 68, it instead warns when an insecure site is encountered.

As we warned just a couple of days ago, the latest update to Chrome means you're likely to see warnings about a lot of insecure sites -- and there are some big-name sites being shamed. Included on the non-HTTPS list are some of Google's own sites, the BBC, the Daily Mail and Fox News. And there are plenty of other recognizable offenders too, as Why No HTTPS? reveals.

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Pulling back the curtain on the dark art of SEO [Q&A]

SEO search engine optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO), making sure that websites appear high in search results, can often seem like it exists in a sort of twilight zone somewhere between science and witchcraft.

So, how does SEO work? What can it do for your business? And if you do any business at all online, can you afford not to do it? We spoke to Chris Rodgers, the founder and CEO of SEO agency Colorado SEO Pros to get answers to these and other questions.

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Brace yourself for a slew of security warnings from Chrome

Chrome warning tape

Tomorrow -- Tuesday, 24 July -- sees the release of Chrome 68. Many people will regard this as just another browser update, but the release sees an important change to the way Chrome handles unencrypted websites.

The new way in which non-HTTPS sites are handled means that Chrome is going to start throwing up warning messages whenever an insecure site is encountered -- a reversal of the way things have been up until now.

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How to edit tweets with Covfefe so you don't embarrass yourself on Twitter

Pointing at Twitter logo on phone

Twitter: you either love it or hate it. Even if you're a Twitter lover, there's probably plenty you dislike about it! People have complained about tweets being too short, and Twitter fixed this. People complained about not being verified, and Twitter (temporarily, at least) opened up verification to everyone. People have complained about not being about to edit tweets -- and Twitter has done nothing about it.

But that's not to say someone hasn't been working on a solution. Using a new Chrome extension, you can effectively gain the ability to edit your tweets and save yourself the embarrassment of a typo in your timeline.

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Google (sort of) redirects Duck.com to DuckDuckGo after complaints of anti-competitive behavior from its search rival

DuckDuckGo search engine

Google may have been slammed by Europe for using Android to dominate with its search engine, but this is not the only complaint that has been leveled at the company. Privacy-focused search rival DuckDuckGo has criticized Google for sending visitors to Duck.com to the Google search page.

Google owns Duck.com, but DuckDuckGo believes the company has been confusing users with the redirect. Now, following publicity of the issue, Google has relented and says it is introducing a new landing page that will give visitors to Duck.com the opportunity to jump to the DuckDuckGo search engine as well as other pages.

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If you want to get verified on Twitter, you'll have to wait until after the US mid-terms

Rainbow Twitter

Attaining a blue tick of verification remains a goal for many Twitter users, but it remains elusive for most. It is quite some time since Twitter paused the option for anyone to request verification, and now the company has revealed that opening it back up is far from a priority.

The idea behind pausing the application process was to give the company the opportunity to work on fixing what was seen as a broken verification system. Product lead Kayvon Beykpour says that Twitter doesn't have the "bandwidth" to sort things out right now, and instead needs to concentrate on sorting out election integrity in the run-up to the US mid-term elections.

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Ookla: T-Mobile is fastest mobile internet carrier in USA, Minneapolis is speediest city

Speed_Internet_Meter

Mobile internet speeds are blazing fast these days thanks to 4G LTE, and they are about to get even faster with the impending roll-out of 5G. Not all carriers are created equally, however. In a new study by Ookla -- of Speedtest.net fame -- it is discovered that T-Mobile offers the fastest mobile internet overall in the USA. As you can expect, Sprint is dead last.

Ookla didn't just rank carriers, but cities too. After all, speed can vary by location since performance can be impacted by number of towers, terrain, and other factors. Shockingly, the overall fastest city in the USA is not New York or Los Angeles, but Minneapolis -- located in the cold state of Minnesota.

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Instapaper is gaining independence

Instapaper logo

The bookmarking service Instapaper has announced that it is going independent. Five years after being bought by betaworks, ownership is to switch to a new company called Instant Paper, Inc.

Two years ago, Instapaper was sold to Pinterest, and the switch to independence is likely to be welcomed by its many users. Practically speaking, going independent should mean that very little changes, but the company is giving users three weeks' notice of what’s happening.

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Chrome's RAM usage is higher than ever as Google introduces Site Isolation to fight Spectre

Chrome icon with a padlock

Google's Chrome browser may be popular, but you'll find a lot of its users complain about high memory usage. With Chrome 67, things just got even worse.

If you've noticed that Chrome on the desktop is using more RAM, you're not imagining it. Google has enabled a Site Isolation feature in Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome OS to help mitigate against the Spectre vulnerability -- and it's a bit memory-hungry.

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Twitter is suspending more suspicious accounts than ever -- over 70 million in the last two months

Twitter building logo

Twitter has revealed that in May and June it suspended more than 70 million accounts as it continues its battle against trolls, fake profiles, bots and abuse.

Closing down over a million accounts a day means that Twitter has more than doubled its rate of clamping down since October, and the suspension rate is continuing into this month. The company confirmed the figures to the Washington Post, but refused to comment on what this might mean for overall user numbers.

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T-Mobile is ready to launch FamilyMode to help parents monitor and control internet and device usage

T-Mobile FamilyMode

Parents have concerns about not only how long their children spend online, but also what they are using various connected devices for. In just a few days' time, T-Mobile is launching its answer to the problem: FamilyMode.

This is a service that makes it possible to keep an eye on how long devices are being used for, and to monitor internet usage. FamilyMode uses a hardware base station and a mobile app (available for iOS and Android) to give parents monitoring and control over devices connected via either Wi-Fi or cellular.

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Google updates Android Messages so you can send texts from the web

Messages for web

Google is rolling out a series of changes to Android Messages, one of which makes it possible to send text messages from the comfort of your computer. Called "Messages for web" the feature enables users to use a desktop web browser to send SMSes rather than their phone.

While this is almost certainly the biggest and most exciting changes for Messages, Google is also pushing a number of other new features to the app, including Smart Replies, GIF search and link previews.

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95 percent of parents worry about the risks children face from online games

Child gamer

Although a large majority of parents (95 percent) say they’re concerned about the risks online gaming poses, they admit to allowing games to entertain their offspring.

A new study by McAfee finds 92 percent of parents allow their children to play at least one hour of video games every day, with eight percent admitting that they allow their children to play more than five hours a day. On average, children play video games for 2.13 hours a day or nearly 15 hours a week.

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Florida residents have the worst cybersecurity habits in the US

Risky florida

A study by cybersecurity company Webroot in conjunction with the Ponemon Institute finds Florida to be the worst state in the US for cyber-hygiene.

Ponemon surveyed 4,000 people across the US about their cybersecurity knowledge and internet safety practices. Wyoming and Montana come close behind Florida in poor internet habits. The safest online behavior is displayed in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Utah.

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Consumers' privacy concerns not backed by their actions

Data privacy

A large majority of people say they are concerned about their online privacy, but this is not reflected in their actions according to a new study.

The survey from Blue Fountain Media reveals that 90 percent of respondents are very concerned about their internet privacy and 48 percent wish 'more was being done about it'.

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