Cartoon of the Day

 

Taken at the Happy Vixen. For those who don't know, Black Dragon's a third-party viewer, known for crisp graphics. 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

Windows 10 "Warning" Users Not To Use Firefox, Chrome, Pushes Edge Browser

By Bixyl Shuftan

While PC users have been frequently using Microsoft's Windows 10, most pass up it's web browser, Microsoft Edge, in favor of the popular Firefox and Chrome. It's used less than Apple Safari, which is limited to the much smaller Apple computer market. Microsoft's old browser Internet Explorer has gotten a reputation for being slow and buggy, so besides people being used to the more familiar browsers, they may be a little too wary of the old "E"'s problems to try the new one. But rather than try an advertising campaign to convince people to use their browser, it seems Microsoft has instead decided to take advantage of it's operating system to push it's other product.

Lately when Windows 10 users try to download Firefox or Chrome, their installation is interrupted by a popup reminding the user they already have Microsoft Edge, "the safer, faster browser for Windows 10." While Edge may be a fast browser, this popup is not only annoying and frustrating, but it may confuse some less than experienced computer users into thinking the more popular browsers are unsafe.

This isn't the only time Microsoft has been pushy with computer users about choices of browsers. Last year, it's debut of Windows 10 S would not allow users to instal other browsers on laptops.

Microsoft's move isn't just annoying computer owners, but also people in online computer magazines. Matthew Humphries of PC Magazine was polite, "Microsoft, please don't do this. Focus on making your software better, prove to us that it is, and market it as such. You already have the advantage of Windows 10 shipping with Edge." Joel Hruska of Extreme Tech was more blunt, "You are training your end users to expect that with each new Windows release, they must spend time digging through settings to find all the things you stealthily changed and shut them off again. This kind of subterfuge encourages customers to view the update process as fundamentally adversarial, because it requires us to spend time shutting things off rather than giving them a chance to function as intended. It encourages end users to believe the worst about your company’s practices and behaviors. When Microsoft chose to make Windows 10’s upgrade advisor pushier and more aggressive, it didn’t just make people angry; it fed a narrative of distrust and deceit, priming people to believe that MS wanted them to use Windows 10 so it could collect and monetize data based on how individuals use their computers. If you ever wonder why people harbor such suspicion towards Microsoft, take a look in the mirror. It’s because you’ve taught them to. ..."

In the meantime, Windows 10 users grumble about this latest annoyance, which for some may make them wonder if it was worth upgrading from 7 or 8.


Sources, PC Magazine, Daily Mail, Extreme Tech

Bixyl Shuftan

Proposal for UN Agency to Control the Internet

It was almost a year ago in which the proposed SOPA bill threatened do away with the Internet as we know it, including places such as Youtube, Facebook, and Second Life. Today, there's something else that's gotten the attention of Internet advocates: a proposal turn control of the Internet to an agency of the UN.

The ITU, or International Telecommunication Union, is an agency of the United Nations dealing with information and communication technologies. At this time, there is an international meeting of delegates in the Persian Gulf Emirate of Dubai to discuss a plan that would hand the ITU control over the Internet. Currently the entity in charge of the Internet is ICANN which does so through an agreement with the US Government with "a mandate requiring that it operate in a bottom up, consensus driven, democratic manner). A leaked document suggested the delegates of some nations were pushing for a global Internet tax. While worrisome in itself, what got Internet freedom activists more worried was that the plan would allow nations full control of how the Internet operates within their country. For repressive nations, this would mean full power of censorship over online communications. Undemocratic countries such as Iran and China, which already censor websites their rulers don't like, would this time have the blessing of international law.

Vint Cerf, the Vice-President of Google, spoke out against the proposed regulations, "only governments have a vote. Some proposals coulees allow governments to justify the censorship of legitimate speech, or even cut off Internet access." Openness, he argued, was a founding principle of the Internet, "Our protocols were designed to make the networks of the Internet non-propietary and interoperable. … allowed for contributions from many sources. This openness is why the Interned creates so much value today."


Google has also launched a petition against the ITU proposals, "A free and open world depends on a free and open Internet." As of December 3rd, about one million had already signed, the results shown on an interactive map.  Mozilla, the company behind Firefox, has also acted against the ITU plan with a commentary calling for it's rejection, "Why is ITU Governance of the Internet a Bad Idea," and providing "a kit of tools and resources to support people in making their voices heard at the ITU."

The European Parliament has already rejected the plan for the UN agency to take control of the Internet.

To sign Google's petition, Click Here. 

For Mozilla's tool kit Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan