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July 2016

Firefox 48: blocklist against plugin fingerprinting

Firefox 48, out August 2, 2016, will block known plugin fingerprinting services thanks to a new blocklist that Mozilla developed to improve user privacy.

Fingerprinting techniques use various methods to identify and distinguish devices. Anything that the browser reveals on its own is used for instance. Methods may parse the user agent header which reveals the operating system, browser version and other information.

Apart from information that is revealed on connect automatically, scripts may be used to get additional information.

SpyDetect scans Windows for monitoring spyware

SpyDetect Free is a free software program for Microsoft Windows devices that scans for spying and monitoring activity when run.

You have a couple of options when it comes to identifying monitoring and spying activity on your Windows device.

You may run manual checks for suspicious processes or network activity, rely on security software, or use third-party software that speed up the process.

Fixing Tiny Text in Windows

If you are running your Windows computer on a high resolution display, for instance one of those brand new 4K displays, you may have noticed that some text does not scale well.

While most programs and apps should work well on high resolution displays, others display text so small that you can barely read anything without binoculars.

Basically, these issues may occur on any device that is connected to displays with a resolution greater than Full HD (1080p).

Why it makes sense sometimes to run different programs

Windows users have quite the options when it comes to programs for tasks they run on their devices.

If you look at web browsers for instance, there is Internet Explorer / Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, and a truckload of others.

Most users probably stick to one program that they favor for one reason or the other, and use it exclusively or nearly exclusively.

Ubuntu Forums security breach

Canonical announced today that it detected a security breach on the Ubuntu Forums site. The company has since then taken corrective actions and restored the forums service.

According to the company, it became aware of the breach on July 14, 2016 after a member of the Ubuntu Forums Council informed the company that someone claimed to have a copy of the Forums database.

Those unbranded Firefox version? Coming

Mozilla plans to release so-called unbranded versions of Firefox Stable and Beta in the near future to provide add-on developers with tools to test add-ons in those browser versions.

When Mozilla announced that it would introduce a signing requirement for add-ons, and enforce it on Stable and Beta versions of Firefox, add-on developers were left in the dark in regards to how they would be able to test their add-ons against Stable and Beta versions.