The best browsers for surfing the web

Picking a web browser isn’t like picking an operating system or smartphone ecosystem. Unlike choosing MacOS, Windows, or Android where your choices are mutually exclusive, switching between browsers isn’t quite so jarring. Picking the best browsers is comparatively easy — in fact, by the time you finish reading this paragraph, you could download each major browser on the market today.

Really. You can read all the stats, benchmarks, and speed tests, but the right browser for you is the one that feels right. The one that provides everything you want, where you want it.

If you’re still undecided, or if you’re in the early stages of browser-curiosity, read on. We’ve broken down the best browsers on the market today and boiled them down to their bare bones.

The best browser: Google Chrome

Chrome is ubiquitous, and for good reason. With a robust feature set, full Google Account integration, a thriving extension ecosystem, and a reliable suite of mobile apps, it’s easy to see why Chrome is the new gold standard for web browsers. Chrome has even started blocking ads that don’t conform to accepted industry standards.

It also boasts some of the best mobile integration available. With a mobile app available on every major platform, it’s easy to keep your data in sync, so seamlessly browsing between multiple devices is a breeze. Sign into your Google account on one device and all your Chrome bookmarks, saved data, and preferences come right along. It’s a standard feature you can find on other platforms, but Chrome’s integration is second to none.

What’s the bottom line? Chrome is fast, free, and light. With a thriving extension ecosystem, it’s as fully featured or as pared down as you want it to be. Everything is right where it should be, privacy and security controls are laid out in plain English, and the browser just gets out of your way.

If you’re not sure which browser you should be using, you should be using Chrome.

The best of the rest: Mozilla Firefox

Firefox comes in a close second — a very close second after its most recent update dubbed ‘Firefox Quantum.’ The latest version of Mozilla’s familiar old standby rebuilds the browser’s UI from the ground up, offering a cleaner, more modern take on what a web browser should be.

The changes aren’t just skin deep, though. There’s some impressive engineering going on behind the scenes. See, the new Firefox Quantum is designed to leverage multi-core processors in ways that its competitors just aren’t. It’s not going to make a huge difference in your day-to-day browsing, but the Mozilla Corporation hopes it’s going to give them an edge going forward. By engineering for the future now, Firefox Quantum is in a better position to take advantage of quicker and quicker processors as they come out year-after-year.

Beneath those changes, it’s still the same Firefox we all know and love. It’s a capable browser, with a deep catalog of extensions and user interface customizations. The new Firefox Mobile app also received the Quantum treatment, so it’s quicker and more streamlined than ever before. Grab the mobile Firefox app and you’ll be able to share bookmarks between devices, but you have to sign up for a separate Firefox account, and managing settings across platforms isn’t as seamless as it is in Chrome.

Even with the recent overhaul, Firefox is a comfortable, familiar standby. There’s a bit of a fringe benefit, too. Because it’s been around longer than Chrome, some older web apps — the likes of which you might encounter at your university or workplace — work better on Firefox than they do on Chrome. For that reason, it never hurts to keep it around.

As a primary browser, Firefox doesn’t offer much that Chrome doesn’t, but its latest update is making it a very compelling alternative if you’re in the mood for something a little different.

An attractive alternative to Chrome: Opera

Also a venerable browser and popular alternative, Opera shares much of Chrome’s DNA. Both browsers are built on Google’s Chromium engine, and as a result, they have a very similar user experience. Both feature a hybrid URL/search bar, and both are relatively light and fast.

The differences appear when you start to look at Opera’s built-in features. Where Chrome relies on an extension ecosystem to provide functionality users might want, Opera has a few more features baked right into the browser itself.

For instance, Opera features a built-in “Stash” for saving pages to read later. There’s no need to sign up for a Pocket or Evernote account to save a page for later reading. Similarly, Opera features a speed dial menu which puts all your most frequently visited pages in one place. Chrome also does this, but only on a blank new tab.

You can see that we’re well into hair-splitting territory, which is why it’s important to remember that browsers are, more than any other service or app you use on a daily basis, entirely dependent on your personal preferences — what feels most right for you. Opera has a unique look and feel, and it combines some of the best features of Firefox and Chrome.

The default choice that still struggles: Microsoft Edge

Edge resembles Internet Explorer 11, though with even smaller borders, fewer icons, and a streamlined toolbar designed to mirror Microsoft’s new Windows 10 UI aesthetic. A solitary address-search bar also runs the width of the page, along with a trio of headline features that include markups, reading view, and Cortana integration.

It’s ultimately the next generation of Internet Explorer, in that it’s the default Windows web browser. With Edge, Microsoft continues to roll out new platform-specific features, like support for its AI-assistant Cortana. Rather than just leaving it to languish and tossing out an occasional security patch, Edge receives a lot of TLC from Microsoft.

On the downside, Edge has relatively slim extension support, and it doesn’t allow for much customization. While quick, its pared-down interface can feel a little too bare-bones at times. Microsoft has even added iOS and Android versions, and so keeping your bookmarks and passwords in sync while you’re on the go is finally a possibility with Edge.

If you’re looking for something a bit more experimental than Chrome or Firefox, just fire up Edge and see what it can do. You might be surprised. And with each major Windows 10 update, such as the recent Fall Creators Update, Edge gains new features that are worth a look.

An up-and-comer that needs to grow: Vivaldi

Vivaldi is unique. No two Vivaldi users will have the same setup. When you run it for the first time, you’re guided through a setup process that lays out your browser in a way that makes sense for you. You get to choose where your tabs and address bar go, and you get to choose if you want browser tabs displayed at the top of the page or in a separate side-panel. This is a browser built from the ground up to deliver a unique user experience, and for the most part, it succeeds.

This browser excels at customization, and you can choose from a variety of tasteful themes that don’t feel dated or out-of-place on a modern PC in addition to the aforementioned UI choices. If you’re tired of the usual suspects, and want to try a browser that takes a different approach to web browsing, then check out Vivaldi. We certainly enjoyed Vivaldi when we gave it a go.

That said, there is a big caveat: it’s limited to desktop use for the time being. With support on Windows 10, MacOS, and Linux, Vivaldi is currently only available on desktop platforms, or tablets running full versions of Windows. No mobile browsing means no shared settings, and that’s a problem for a lot of users.

It’s also meant for power users, so a lot of people might feel confused or let down by the browser. Vivaldi is unapologetic about this, but it’s hard to recommend Vivaldi when it can overwhelm first-time users with its wide selection of options.

‘Bitcoin Tycoon’ lets anyone experience the joyless grind of crypto mining

Remember Rollercoaster Tycoon? Imagine a game like that, but instead of building a theme park full of thrilling roller-coasters and awe-inspiring attractions, you decorate a basement and fill it with Bitcoin mining equipment. That is what you get with Bitcoin Tycoon, a tongue-in-cheek Bitcoin mining simulator from independent developer 99 Game Studio.

“The early access version will contain a basic mining system, which includes PC building, hardware store and a mining pool. Later on, we may keep working on hardware, running an exchange website, and cloud mining builds,” the developer states on the game’s Steam page.

In Bitcoin Tycoon, you play as a person who jumped into the cryptocurrency market in early 2014, when things were moving quickly for early investors. The protagonist learns knowledge from “elders” and grows to understand the bitterness behind bitcoin mining, according to the developer’s synopsis on the Steam store. Not only do you get to build a crypto mining setup, but it appears you’ll be able to customize your hardware, and maybe even join different mining pools.

There is not a lot to go on here, but that is partially because the game is still in Steam Early Access. Very Early Access, it seems.

“Due to some issues with time and cost, we have to publish the early access. We apologize that this game is not well-polished, can only be called playable, but please be kind to an early access game, we are still working on it,” the developer states on the Steam page. “Currently, we are halfway done of the system design. We don’t have a save/load system yet, which is a pain.”

Clearly, the game is in its infancy but could shape up to be a fun look at the sometimes grim realities of industrial-scale Bitcoin mining, especially at its early peak back in 2014. Bitcoin Tycoon is currently in Early Access and it looks like you will be able to get your hands on it in May. Whether or not it will actually teach you enough about crypto mining to give it a go yourself remains to be seen. From what we can tell, it might serve as something of a cautionary tale.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The best bitcoin alternatives
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• Mining Bitcoin in the cloud is like renting a money printer and yes, it’s bizarre
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• What is bitcoin? Here’s what you need to know about it

Hackers target Windows clipboard to steal cryptocurrency wallet addresses

New email-based malware dubbed as ComboJack is targeting Japanese and American web surfers to steal cryptocurrency during transactions. Once installed and lurking in the background, the malware grabs the victim’s long cryptocurrency wallet address stored in the Windows clipboard. Due to their extreme length, many users simply copy and paste that string of characters, and that is when ComboJack attacks. 

Discovered by researchers at the Palo Alto Networks, it’s a variant of a cryptocurrency stealer called CryptoJack. It grabs the address of a victim’s cryptocurrency wallet coped to the clipboard and replaces it with the address of the hacker’s wallet. Thus, victims believe they are transferring digital currency to their personal virtual wallets when instead they’re unknowingly pasting a different destination into the transaction prior to completion. 

CryptoShuffler was the first malware to use this stealing agent in 2017, but solely focused on Bitcoin. In 2018, ComboJack arrives to target not only Bitcoin investors, but Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, and many other digital currencies. But the route this malware takes can be avoided by simply not opening an emailed attachment from untrusted sources.  

According to the report, victims receive emails regarding a lost passport. The shady message requests that the victim view an attachment that’s supposedly a scanned passport in a PDF format for identification purposes. But once victims open the PDF, they are presented with a single line to open an embedded document. Inside this secondary file is an embedded remote object that attacks a security hole in Windows. 

“An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when DirectX improperly handles objects in memory,” Microsoft’s database states. “An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in kernel mode. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.” 

The embedded remote object downloads a two-part file, one part containing a self-extracting executable, and a second part containing password-protected components to create and install the final payload: ComboJack. The malware then uses a built-in Windows tool to give it system-level privileges, edits the registry to make sure it remains running in the background and enters into an infinite loop. ComboJack then checks the system clipboard every half second for a cryptocurrency wallet address. 

So why aren’t cryptocurrency users simply manually entering their wallet addresses? Because it’s a pain. Ethereum addresses are 42 characters long while Bitcoin uses 34 characters. The longest is likely Monero, which relies on addresses with characters counts between 95 and 106. This is why users typically copy and paste their addresses, which serves as a virtual gold mine for hackers. 

While the suggestion of manually entering addresses during transactions is out of the question, opening files attached to emails sent from unknown parties is an extremely bad idea. In this case, the big clue starts with the actual poorly written message along with its suspicious attachment. But even after opening the PDF, the request to open another file should be another huge red flag.

Editors’ Recommendations

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Google Home and Home Mini get hands-free calling in the UK

The Home Mini is also on sale for £39.

I use my Google Home every single day for a variety of things, but one feature that continues to put a smile on my face each time I use it is the ability to makes hands-free voice calls. This is something that’s been available in the United States since last August, and now it’s finally making its way to the UK.

Whether you have a Google Home or Google Home Mini, you can now use your voice to call any of your contacts or businesses that are listed on Google Search/Maps. Also, after you make your first call with Google Home, you can open the Home app on your phone and link your mobile number so that’s what people see when you make a hands-free call.

Placing a call is as easy as saying “Hey Google, call Mum”, and because Google Home knows your voice, it’ll know to call your mum rather than your partner’s or your roommate’s.

Hands-free calling is rolling out to users across the UK over the coming week, and in celebration of its launch and Mother’s Day in the country, you can pick up the Google Home Mini for just £39 (£10 off) between March 5th and the 12th at the Google Store, Currys PC World, John Lewis, and Argos.

See at Google Store

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Google is helping US military train AI to study drone footage

The US military’s Project Maven is getting some help using AI to interpret drone footage from a not-entirely-unexpected source: Google. The company has confirmed a Gizmodo report that it’s offering TensorFlow programming kits to the Defense Department as part of a pilot that helps Project Maven process the glut of drone footage quickly. Google stresses that the machine learning technology is involved in “non-offensive uses only,” and that it’s flagging material for “human review.” This isn’t helping with drone strikes, then, but it has still raised concerns inside Google’s ranks.

According to Gizmodo sources, some Google staffers were “outraged” that the company would contribute AI tech for drone operations. Others, meanwhile, said it prompted ethical questions about the subjects machine learning should cover. This doesn’t involve killer robots, but it may be uncomfortably close for some.

A tipster for The Verge added that Google was helping the military configure TensorFlow for use, although it’s not clear whether that’s active development or just the basic setup process.

The Defense Department has declined to comment on whether or not Google is its only partner in Project Maven. However, it’s not surprising that Google would be involved. Where many military initiatives take years to get rolling, Project Maven was expected to swing into action within 6 months (it reportedly saw first use against ISIS in December). That didn’t leave the military a lot of time, and a combination of private and academic assistance was necessary to help meet the ambitious goal. Like it or not, a private-public AI partnership with the military was more a matter of “when” than “if.”

Via: The Verge

Source: Gizmodo

Even Merriam-Webster realizes the world is a dumpster fire

Every year, the vocabulary druids at Merriam-Webster decide which words bubbling to the top of the cultural consensus should be immortalized forever in its dictionary. In early 2017, the list of over 1,000 additions included CRISPR and botnet, a clear reflection of the scientific and election-related terms buzzing around society. But now, Merriam-Webster has added the words that so clearly defined last year — and at the top of the list is ‘dumpster fire.’

After considering its widespread and meaningful evidence of use, we’ve put ‘dumpster fire’ in the dictionary. Feel free to GIF it as you like. https://t.co/XImxk6c0EY

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 5, 2018

As NY Mag pointed out, dumpster fire was named the ‘meme of 2016’ by Mother Jones, and last year certainly followed suit. The term certainly blew up during the 2016 election, but the term is far older, as Huffington Post revealed in a deep dive. Still, Merriam-Webster clearly understood its important use as communal catharsis when it chose to include it.

Merriam-Webster added 849 other now-relevant words to the dictionary this year, including self-care, welp, cryptocurrency, initial coin offering and…chiweenie. The list also contains a 20-year-old Simpsons gag, embiggens, which has recently become a catchphrase for comic and media versions of the wonderful Ms. Marvel.

A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

Also, ’embiggen’ is now a word we enter. https://t.co/3XmkZO0ral pic.twitter.com/wLUDsWIAga

— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) March 5, 2018

Via: NY Mag

Source: Merriam-Webster

Google Lens is now available for non-Pixel Android phones

Google Lens is making it way from the Pixel to Android devices and iPhones alike starting today. In a roundabout way, that is. The AI-powered photo analyzing app will live inside Assistant in Google Photos, as spotted by 9to5 Gooogle. The announcement was first made at Mobile World Congress. You should see an overlay on your photos indicating that it’s available for the Lens treatment. The Android roll-out is happening right now, so if you don’t see the update you might need to be patient. Apple fans, however, will have to make do with an ambiguous “coming soon.”

Rolling out today, Android users can try Google Lens to do things like create a contact from a business card or get more info about a famous landmark. To start, make sure you have the latest version of the Google Photos app for Android: https://t.co/KCChxQG6Qm
Coming soon to iOS pic.twitter.com/FmX1ipvN62

— Google Photos (@googlephotos) March 5, 2018

Via: 9to5 Google

Source: Google Photos (Twitter)

Pepe The Frog’s creator sues Infowars for copyright infringement

Despite artist Matt Furie’s attempts to reclaim his Pepe The Frog character from neo-Nazis, his cartoon is still being used by the far-right. He created Pepe in the early 2000s and has described the character as a “peaceful frog-dude” whose true nature “celebrates peace, togetherness and fun.” But in 2015, the far-right began to appropriate Pepe, using him as a representation of hate, white supremacy and anti-Semitism and the character became tied to racists and conspiracy theorists like Richard Spencer and Mike Cernovich. Furie has tried to reclaim Pepe through a #SavePepe campaign and by issuing cease-and-desist notices to those using its image and companies like Amazon, Google and Reddit whose sites hosted infringing content. He even tried to kill off the character last year. Now, he’s going after Infowars.

As the Hollywood Reporter notes, Infowars is currently selling a poster that features Pepe The Frog alongside likenesses of Donald Trump, Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, Matt Drudge, Roger Stone, Paul Joseph Watson, Kellyanne Conway and two Trump supporters known as Diamond and Silk. Trump’s “MAGA” slogan is written on the bottom. Furie has filed a lawsuit against Infowars for its use of Pepe in the poster saying in his complaint that he “did not authorize the use of the Pepe image or character in this poster, and does not approve of the association of Pepe with Alex Jones or any of the other figures in this poster, or with the ‘MAGA’ slogan.”

Furie is seeking damages and any profits made from the poster. He’s also asking for an injunction that would prohibit Infowars and anyone working with the site from using Pepe’s likeness.

Via: AV Club

Source: Copyright Infringement Complaint

Honda’s Urban EV pre-orders start in early 2019

Honda said it wanted to sell its Urban EV Concept sometime in 2019, and now it’s official. The automaker has announced that it will start taking orders for a production version of the tiny retro electric car in early 2019, with a European launch in late 2019. There’s no mention of launches in other areas, or an official version of the Sports EV Concept.

Don’t expect to get the exact vehicle you saw in September 2017. While the cheerful-looking design is likely to remain largely intact, the Urban EV was a concept car — Honda is likely to scale back a lot of the technology as the practical realities of manufacturing take over. You probably won’t get the cute external displays or the ultra-wide touchscreen. We’d also expect Honda to tone down certain flourishes, like the square-like steering wheel and wooden dash. Still, it’s notable that Honda is making the Urban EV in the first place — you won’t have to give up that iconic look just to drive an emissions-free Honda machine.

Via: CNET

Source: Honda

Apple Updates Apple Music for Android With Music Video Improvements

Apple today released a new update for its Apple Music app designed to be used on Android devices, which Apple says significantly improves stability to make music playback more reliable.

Apple says today’s Apple Music Android update also introduces “new experiences” for music videos. Users can now watch music videos in fullscreen or inside Now Playing and music videos will continue to play while browsing other areas of the app.

Music videos can also be added to playlists to watch them back to back, and you can listen to music videos in the background while using other apps.

Apple has offered an Apple Music for Android app since November of 2015, and the company regularly updates the app with new features to keep it on par with the iOS versions of Apple Music. The app’s last major update came in April of 2017, when Apple introduced major design changes.

Apple Music for Android can be downloaded from Google Play for free.

Tags: Android, Apple Music
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