Internet

A recent article published by Facebook suggests that less than 40 percent of the world's population has an Internet connection. While that figure continues to increase each year, the rate of growth has now slowed for four consecutive years. The ... figure combines data from multiple sources around the world, plus Facebook's own activity logs. The data suggest that as of December 2014, approximately 37.9 percent of people in the world use the Internet, even if that involves going online as little as once a year. In 2010, the number of people using the Internet grew by 14.7 percent year on ... (view more)

Facebook is to implement a new feature to help cut down on the number of fake news stories that appear on the site, but says 'genuine parodies' will be unaffected. The report system won't lead to stories being removed from Facebook altogether; ... instead, it will make them less likely to appear on user newsfeeds. Links to news stories are becoming increasingly important on Facebook. A 2014 study by the Pew Research Center found that 30 percent of Americans say they get some of their daily news from Facebook, which is more than three times the figure for any other site. (Source: pewresearch. ... (view more)

Facebook is to issue missing child alerts in user news feeds to US citizens. The alerts will be based on the user's location and will tie in with existing alert systems. The updates will be based on the AMBER Alert program that has been run for 20 ... years in the United States. AMBER Alert updates already go out via a range of media including: radio and television, highway electronic billboards, electronic signs outside participating retailers, and text alerts to users who have chosen to receive such messages. Whether and when to send an alert is the decision of local police, using their own ... (view more)

How often do you check your email each day? A new study suggests that consulting your inbox more than three times a day could significantly increase your stress levels. The study, which comes from researchers at the University of British Columbia, ... involved asking 124 adults to restrict their inbox-checking to just three times a day for a one-week period. Once that week was over, study participants were allowed to check their email as much as they liked. Less Email, Less Stress, Study Suggests Throughout the process participants were asked to fill out daily 10-minute questionnaires about their ... (view more)

It's been less than a year since Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom appeared on CBS to discuss his controversial file-sharing business and show off a sprawling, 60-acre estate located just outside beautiful Auckland, New Zealand. Now, it appears that ... after a three-year legal fight, things could be coming to an end. Dotcom says he has lost everything in an attempt to defend himself against accusations of copyright infringement. With over 50 million visitors a day, Megaupload was one of the biggest file-sharing services established on the Internet. It's estimated that Megaupload at one time ... (view more)

A new report suggests that Americans pay more for their Internet plans than residents of most other industrialized nations. Not only that, but Americans also pay more for slower service. The report was produced by the New America Foundation's Open ... Technology Institute, which compared Internet service in major US cities -- like Kansas City, Missouri, and Bristol, Virginia -- with large European and Asian metropolises, including London, Seoul, Paris, Tokyo, and Copenhagen. Internet Cost Comparisons of USA, Europe and Asia The report found that the estimated monthly cost for a plan featuring ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Dave' writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a question which I can't seem to find a clear-cut answer to. Can you tell me: is it possible to view a web site / web page and determine when it was last updated? " My Response: The simple ... answer is that there is no easy way to know when a page was last updated - which is most likely why you're having trouble finding the answer. Information regarding the 'last modified date' of a page is usually reserved for web site owners (via direct access to the web site files / database with their associated time stamps). However, there are ways to ... (view more)

Facebook's Privacy Checkup is finally being rolled out in an effort to help users understand and control their privacy settings. It's a step-by-step process - interestingly, led by a nameless blue dinosaur - that shows users who can see their data ... and how they can customize their privacy settings to their liking. While some critics view the new Privacy Checkup system as a step in the right direction, others suggest that its impact will directly affect Facebook's bottom line. Privacy Checkup Guides Users Step-by-Step The program was first announced back in the spring of 2014. It's a three- ... (view more)

Twitter says it will remove some images of deceased people upon request from members of family. But the new policy has limitations and may not cover two high-profile situations that brought attention to the issue. Following the death of Robin ... Williams last week, his daughter Zelda announced she would no longer use Twitter. She claims to have been abused by " Internet trolls " that produced digitally altered images of her father, and then posted them on Twitter, along with her name tagged in the post. It's believed the images depicted her father's death based on media reports ... (view more)

A new report reveals the states with the fastest and slowest Internet speeds -- and the results are quite surprising. According to information technology and communications firm Broadview Networks, the fastest Internet service in the United States ... can be found in Virginia, which boasts an average speed of 13.7 megabits per second (Mbps), or approximately 1625 kilobytes per second. In fact, the eastern seaboard is home to many states with fast Internet: Delaware and Massachusetts tied for second (13.1 Mbps), followed by Rhode Island (12.9 Mbps) and Washington, DC (12.8 Mbps). Of course, there ... (view more)