Team Firestorm Warns About Scammers

 

 

 On the Firestorm Viewer today, there was a popup message, warning about scam activity. 

Please be aware that there are currently no Firestorm versions 8, 9, or 10. The latest official release is Firestorm 7.1.9 (74745). For your safety, always download Firestorm from the official source: main firestormviewer.org domain. Make sure to type this address directly into your web browser or click the version number in the top-left corner of the Firestorm splash screen. Do not trust download links shared by non-team members. You can verify if someone is a Firestorm team member by checking their profile and looking for "Firestorm Support/Developer/[Staff]" in the payment information field - the "description" fields, groups list or "picks" do not count. This message will be displayed for a few days due to a recent increase in scam activity - please do not ask in support groups to remove it, or when exactly it will be gone.

While this message is just a temporary one, it's a reminder that scammers are always trying to ways to get into peoples' computers, either to try to find a way to steal something, such as Linden dollars, or just to wreck systems. So one needs to be careful. So as the warning says, don't download any viewer that says "Firestorm" anyplace else but https://www.firestormviewer.org/ . And be aware of other kinds of trickery as well, including friends suddenly acting strangely, repeatedly telling you to click on fishy-looking links - they've been hacked and the hacker is trying to hack you as well.

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