Internet

Several major technology firms have reached a deal that could make it easier for people to connect ordinary household gadgets to the Internet. That could make life easier for consumers, but it also raises concerns about security. For many years tech ... experts have talked about "the Internet of things," or the idea that it's limiting to think of the web as simply a bunch of computers connected to one another. Instead, we now have numerous devices that can use an Internet connection: from televisions that can access on-demand services such as Netflix, to heating systems that can check weather ... (view more)

A fitness trainer says she was banned from Facebook after criticizing a plus-sized lingerie firm's marketing campaign. The news has reawakened the debate about Facebook's attempt to regulate what it deems offensive content. Maria Kang is no stranger ... to controversy. In October she published a photograph of herself in a sports-style bikini, showing off a lean and toned body. The picture also showed her three young children, the oldest of whom is just three. Kang captioned the picture with the line "What's your excuse?" It was meant to be a dig at mothers who aren't in such athletic shape. ... (view more)

Facebook is loosening its controls on teenaged users. The social networking site says it will now allow the 13- to 17-year-old crowd to do most everything their older counterparts can, including sharing photos, updates, and comments with the general ... public. Teenagers will also be able to enable the 'Follow' feature, which allows friends and non-friends to track their Facebook activity. The changes also mean third parties, including advertisers, can track these young users' Facebook activity. Facebook says it has already initiated the change. But Facebook isn't dismissing all controls on its ... (view more)

The Facebook privacy plot thickens. A new report suggests the site may begin tracking the movements of your mouse cursor as you navigate the site. In a new report from the Wall Street Journal, Facebook analytics leader Ken Rudin reveals that his ... company is considering several new measures designed to help improve the system it uses to track user activity. That means monitoring how long users hover their mouse cursor over certain parts of the Facebook website. Cursor Tracking Could Help Boost Ad Revenue For Facebook management, the most valuable information will involve how long users hover ... (view more)

Mozilla's new 'Lightbeam' add-on for the Firefox Internet browser is designed to help users better understand who might be tracking their online activity. The add-on uses a unique visualization technique to bring that information to light. Lightbeam ... is a more refined version of a previous (and more experimental) add-on called 'Collusion', which was developed by Mozilla and software developer Atul Varma. Add-On Provides Real-Time Tracking of the Trackers Unlike its predecessor, Lightbeam provides users with a real-time graph showing all of the cookies being added to your browser as you surf ... (view more)

Researchers say they can figure out when two Facebook users are in a relationship just by looking at their list of 'friends'. They also say it's possible to predict when a relationship will end. Often, it's easy to tell when Facebook users are in a ... relationship because many people display this information on their profiles. However, new research says relationships can be detected even without those vital details. The research is the work of Cornell University computer scientist Jon Kleinberg and Facebook engineer Lars Backstrom. They analyzed the Facebook accounts of 1.3 million people aged ... (view more)

In a hugely controversial move, Facebook says users can once again post extremely violent videos -- including those of people being beheaded. It's a reversal of a five-month ban on such material. The social media site began blocking members from ... posting extremely violent video clips back in May, but has now changed its policies. It didn't make a major announcement of the reversal, but has confirmed the change after a user posted a video of a murder in Mexico. That clip remained online under revised rules that limit the circumstances in which violent videos can be shown. Violent Video Viewing ... (view more)

Yahoo! Mail recently received an extreme makeover that adds colourful themes and a completely new interface. Unfortunately, early reviews are anything but positive. Yahoo unveiled the new look on October 8, 2013, as part of Yahoo! Mail's sixteenth ... anniversary. Over the following week Yahoo slowly unrolled the new look to Mail's 275 million or so users. As a long-time user of Yahoo! Mail, I'll admit that I was initially impressed by the service's new look. It now allows users to choose from a wide range of custom and very colorful themes. The images, most of which feature picturesque ... (view more)