links

The Chrome browser is getting a couple of new features that some may find useful. Sharing links and finding previous pages could both get easier. The first feature is already available in Chrome 90, the latest version of the browser for the general ... public. It works on computers, though won't appear on the iOS and Android apps till later. The feature simply lets users create a link that points to a specific location on a page, rather than just containing the URL. The idea is to make is easier to share a link to something specific in a lengthy page. This isn't the same as internal text links ( ... (view more)

Microsoft has added links to Office web apps on Windows 10 computers without asking permission. It's more of an irritation than a damaging problem, but it's certainly safe to say some folks are irritated. The links appear to have been added by an ... automatic update, with some users reporting their computer restarted without warning and they lost some work that hadn't been saved. (Users can set Windows 10 to only restart automatically at set times such as during the night to stop this happening.) The links appear in the Start Menu alongside other apps as a single tile that contains several small ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Sammy G. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a very strange problem. A few days ago my system upgraded to Firefox 67 . Now every time I click on an external link, a new Firefox window opens up instead of the link opening up in my ... existing Firefox window . Also, the new Firefox window doesn't have any of my addons enabled, which is strange. Before Firefox upgraded, all links opened up in my existing Firefox window. I have tried fixing the problem by setting Firefox as my default browser. I have also tried resetting my Windows 10 Default Programs browser to Edge, then back to ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Roger' writes: " Dear Dennis, I am using Windows 10 and my email client is Outlook 2010. Last week my computer updated itself using Windows Updates, and ever since then I can't click links in my emails in Outlook. Every time I ... try to click a link, I get an error message that says 'This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer.' I have searched Google on how to fix this error but I can't seem to figure it out. Can you help? " My response: I don't use Outlook so I asked Roger if he would like me to connect to his system using my remote ... (view more)

Facebook is testing tools to make it easier to combat "fake news" posted to the site. It's using Germany as a test bed for the tools, which will include making it harder for scammers to make money from false stories. The term "fake news" came to ... prominence last year and has been applied to all sorts of types of writing, including opinionated pieces and legitimate articles with unintended factual errors. However, what Facebook is targeting is material that has the appearance of legitimate news reporting but is largely completely fictional and designed either to spread ... (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)

A web developer has started a site which displays Google censored links, enforced by the " right to be forgotten " rules in Europe. It's another example of how such censorship rules aren't working as well as planned. The new rules came into force ... earlier this year after the European Court of Justice made a final ruling in a long-running case involving Google and a Spanish man . The man wanted Google to remove a link to a news article from the 1990s about his property being repossessed. The man said it was unfair that people who searched for his name online would see that ... (view more)

Security firm Kaspersky has released a special web browser for Windows phones aimed at blocking unwanted threats. The browser, "Kaspersky Safe Browser for Windows Phone" app, is available to download free of charge from the official Windows Phone ... Store. The main security feature is to block web links that may take a user to a harmful site. This isn't just sites that house malicious software that could damage a phone, but also "phishing" sites. (Source: kaspersky.com ) A phishing site is one that is set up to look like the real website of a legitimate company, for ... (view more)