Parents who rely on browser history to keep an eye on kids' Web-surfing habits might want to know that stealth browsing is getting easier - at least for Windows PC families. Internet Explorer 8, now available in beta, "lets users surf without having a list of sites they visit get stored on their computers," CNN reports. "The program also covers other footprints, including temporary Internet files … [Read more...] about Stealth surfing further enabled
Risk & Safety
Important decision on fair use
It was an important decision for all those digital video producers and YouTube users out there. The Los Angeles Times called a San Jose federal court decision last week "a victory for fair use." Judge Jeremy refused to dismiss a lawsuit that a Pennsylvania woman filed after Universal Music Publishing forced YouTube to remove a video of her children cavorting to an old Prince hit," the Times … [Read more...] about Important decision on fair use
Everybody’s ‘digital dossiers’
Most people have no idea how many details of their lives are out there on the Net - copious detail, increasingly easy for anyone to find and put together. "These data points, some publicly accessible, others safeguarded to various degrees by companies and agencies that collect and store this data 'make' Andy's identity - as it forms, even before he himself begins to shape it," starting with the … [Read more...] about Everybody’s ‘digital dossiers’
West slow to take on Net addiction: Psychiatrist
Nine computer games are purchased every second in the US; two-thirds of Americans, or around 200 million people, play videogames; 2% of US gamers, or about 4 million people, "are heavy users" averaging around 40 hours of play a week; and 66 million (a third) play around 20 hours/week. That's data cited by Jerald Block, an Oregon-based psychiatrist, in British cultural and political magazine The … [Read more...] about West slow to take on Net addiction: Psychiatrist
Facebook controlling ‘wall spam’
Yup, yet another new term for malware on the social Web. "Wall spam" is comments on your Facebook wall purporting to be from a friend but which usually contain a link to some bad Web page that puts malicious code on your PC. The term "rose to notoriety earlier this month, when members started noticing the phenomenon, and security firms started flagging worms that were spreading via Facebook … [Read more...] about Facebook controlling ‘wall spam’