Internet

Microsoft is offering cash back to customers who shop online using the Edge browser. The program promotes both the browser and the Bing search website. It's no secret that Edge and Bing are far less popular than their Google equivalents. Indeed, ... Microsoft even adopted an "if you can't beat them" attitude by launching a new version of Edge that uses the same open-source Chromium code that powers Google Chrome. Now Microsoft is beefing up its Bing Rebates program to make it easier to use in Microsoft Edge. The program already lets customers get cashback of up to 10 percent when they purchase ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has urged the public to use its Internet speed testing app. As with Netflix's tool, it's not just for the benefit of users. The FCC Speed Test App, which works for both WiFi and mobile data connections, ... has the usual simple "one-tap" functionality of such tools. By default is measures upload and download speeds plus latency. That's a measure of how quickly data transmission starts, which can be important for services such as online gaming. (Source: theverge.com ) Speed Maps Boosted Users can also switch on settings to measure jitter and packet loss ... (view more)

The Chrome browser is getting a couple of new features that some may find useful. Sharing links and finding previous pages could both get easier. The first feature is already available in Chrome 90, the latest version of the browser for the general ... public. It works on computers, though won't appear on the iOS and Android apps till later. The feature simply lets users create a link that points to a specific location on a page, rather than just containing the URL. The idea is to make is easier to share a link to something specific in a lengthy page. This isn't the same as internal text links ( ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Franco I. writes: " Dear Dennis, Someone is threatening to post a video of me on Facebook . A few weeks ago I was on Omegle (a chat website) and suddenly, a girl sent me a private message. After 30 minutes or so into the ... conversation, things started getting hot and heavy. That's when she requested we move over to Google Hangouts to continue. Once there, we went into video chat and she was already fully unclothed. She then asked me to participate. Not long after that, the video chat ended abruptly and that's when she made threats to ruin my life, my career, and my reputation ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Shane J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I found your article on Google after researching the Facebook blackmail scam . I desperately need help - I have fallen victim to a similar scam, known as the Google Hangouts Blackmail scam . Two ... days ago I received a friend request from a beautiful woman on Facebook who lives in my city. We started messaging back and forth, and within 20 minutes of the chat, she sent some revealing photos of herself. She then requested we go to Google Hangouts to continue chatting. I then entered into a video chat where she was fully unclothed and touching ... (view more)

Google has added a "Reading List" feature to Chrome that works a little like a second set of bookmarks. The feature may not be for everyone, and with a little effort it can be removed with some tweaking under the hood. The Reading List feature has ... been in the work for some time, originally developed under the name "Read Later", but is now available to all users since the latest Chrome update, version 89. (Source: metro.co.uk ) The idea is to let user differentiate between pages they want to bookmark permanently (such as regularly visited websites) and articles they want to read later on, even ... (view more)

Google will have to go to court to answer claims it misled users by tracking their online activity in a supposed private browsing mode. A judge agreed a lawsuit seeking $5 billion can go ahead with class action status. That status doesn't change ... Google's chances of winning or losing, but could mean much bigger consequences if it does lose. It means anyone meeting set criteria could effectively be treated as a plaintiff, eligible for any financial awards, without having to launch their own case. The case appears largely to come down to whether Google's wording is clear enough, rather than it ... (view more)

The Indian government plans to outlaw cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The measure is expected to become law, though it's unclear if it will be enforceable in practice. Politicians in the country have long been hostile to cryptocurrencies, which ... use blockchain technology. That's where all transactions are recorded on a digital "ledger" which exists as multiple copies across the Internet, removing any central control. India's government previously banned "real world" financial institutions from providing any services to cryptocurrency operators, for example in exchanging the virtual ... (view more)

Israel and Canada have the world's most affordable broadband according to a newly-published study. The rankings take into account earnings rather than just the raw broadband price. The study, published by Surfshark, also found that the parts of the ... world with the most comparatively expensive broadband also had the worst service. (Source: surfshark.com ) The overall rankings take into account the prices for the cheapest fixed-line broadband package in a country plus the cost of 1GB of mobile broadband data. The researchers then compared these sums to average earnings in the country. Note that ... (view more)

Two thirds of emails contain a "spy pixel" according to one provider. The invisible pixel could let companies discover where people live and what devices they own. At the very least, it will report back to spammers that the email has been opened, ... which then validates your email address and will result in additional spam. The figures comes from "Hey," an email provider that offers a paid service rather than scanning emails to get information for targeted advertising. That means it's possible its user base isn't reflective of the general public, though that shouldn't distort the ... (view more)