Internet

Mozilla says the next edition of its popular Firefox browser, Firefox 18, will be the fastest version of the browser yet released. The company also says the new Firefox's security capabilities have been significantly improved over previous versions. ... In a recent blog post, Mozilla vice president of engineering Johnathan Nightingale took some time to outline improvements to the Firefox formula for version 18, which is currently available for free download and use. "The Firefox of today is significantly better than the Firefox of a year ago in every way," Nightingale said. (Source: pcmag.com ) ... (view more)

An Oregon teenager involved in a hit-and-run crash was recently arrested for the deed. His arrest appears to have resulted directly from him bragging about driving drunk on the popular social networking site Facebook. According to reports, on New ... Year's Eve 18-year-old Jacob Cox-Brown of Astoria, Oregon, posted this as his Facebook status: "Drivin drunk ... classic ;) but to whoever's vehicle i hit i am sorry. :P" Facebook Message Prompts Investigation A long and complex sequence of events then followed: First, someone on Cox-Brown's 'friends' list sent the "confession" to Astoria ... (view more)

Facebook was recently forced to temporarily switch off a New Year's Eve messaging feature after a report suggested that private messages could be easily accessed and read by strangers. The feature is called "Midnight Delivery." It allowed Facebook ... users to send a 'Happy New Year' message to a friend. Unlike a normal message, however, the New Year's message would be "delivered" at precisely midnight. Furthermore, the message wouldn't arrive in the usual Facebook inbox. Instead, the recipient would get a link taking them to a special website called "Facebook Stories," where ... (view more)

Michigan has joined several other US states in passing legislation that prevents employers and school officials from asking people for their social networking login data. Breaking this new law could bring a three-month jail term or a $1,000 fine. On ... Friday, December 28, 2012, Michigan governor Rick Snyder signed the new law, House bill 5523, into effect. In part, the law says "potential employees and students should be judged on their skills and abilities, not private online activity," and blocks any employer from requesting login or password data for social networks like Facebook, Twitter, ... (view more)

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a new report allowing the use of improved satellite antennas on commercial aircraft. The new hardware will significantly improve in-flight wireless Internet (WiFi) service on many US airline ... flights. Right now, few US airlines have outfitted their planes with hardware capable of offering their passengers fast and reliable wireless Internet service. For many passengers, the result is significantly reduced productivity during the time they spend in the air. FCC: Americans Want Better In-Flight WiFi Apparently, that's about to change. A ... (view more)

Streaming video service Netflix suffered an international service outage on December 24-25, 2012, that left perhaps 90 per cent of its subscribers unable to access the company's massive catalog of TV shows and films. According to Netflix, Amazon was ... responsible for the problem. Netflix users intent on spending Christmas Eve in front of the boob tube were upset to find the service completely unavailable. One subscriber told The Wall Street Journal that they "came home to relax and watch movies," but after trying to access the Netflix catalog "several times" they simply "gave up" and turned to ... (view more)

Facebook is testing a new messaging system that will cost people $1 to send a message to a stranger. It's designed to deter spammers from using the site to annoy Facebook members, but some analysts have suggested Facebook could also be looking to ... profit from the new system. Right now you can send a Facebook message to another user for free, even if they aren't your 'friend' on the site. However, in most cases, this message will not find its way into the recipient's 'Inbox.' Instead, it will go into a separate message folder marked 'Other.' Because you won't get alerted in the same way as you ... (view more)

Yahoo has now given its free email service, Yahoo Mail, a major overhaul. Not only does the service look different, but Yahoo says it's also much faster than in the past. Yahoo Mail users, among whom you can include yours truly, were greeted with a ... brand new interface last week when logging into their accounts. The goal of the overhaul, according to Yahoo chief executive officer Marissa Mayer, was to simplify the email experience. Interface More Intuitive, Yahoo CEO Says "You've told us loud and clear that you want fewer distractions when it comes to email. You want to quickly login, ... (view more)

Facebook has implemented changes designed to simplify users control over their privacy on the site. The move follows complaints about, and even a government investigation into, the site's treatment of its members' personal data. According to ... Facebook, the changes are intended to improve privacy three ways: giving information when most needed; showing how data will appear; and improving removal of data that is already online. (Source: fb.com ) Privacy Information Easy to Find Because of the changes, you need no longer hunt through settings pages to find the most relevant privacy options. A ... (view more)

Video streaming service Netflix has named Google Fiber the fastest Internet Service Provider (ISP) in America. Unfortunately, at the moment Google Fiber's service remains limited to the Kansas City area. High installation costs make it likely that ... Google will take its time about expanding its super-fast service to other geographical areas. Netflix has an interest and expertise in high-speed Internet service because it sells access to its huge catalog of movies and television shows only through Internet-connected computers, video game consoles, DVD or Blu-ray players, and streaming set-top ... (view more)