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February 2018

Disable "What do you want to do with" in Microsoft Edge

Microsoft's Edge web browser displays a "what do you want to do with" prompt when you download files in the browser by default. The prompt lists options to open, save or cancel the download, and another option to save the download to another location.

You may also get options to run the download if it is an executable file. While that is certainly useful in some situations, say you download a new program that you want to install on your system, it may be inconvenient at other times.

Tools for GNU/Linux: Third party screenshot utilities

I take screenshots more than I do real photos, and I’m a reporter for my college newspaper, as well as have my portfolio etc. That said, I’ve had my share of ups and downs with different software, and have come to find two programs that adore, when using a GNU/Linux system; Shutter and Gyazo.

Both of these programs take screenshots, and do various things with them, but they are drastically different and therefore serve quite different purpose in why I use them.

Apply custom colors to your Windows Explorer folders with Folder Colorizer 2

Folder Colorizer 2 is a free program for Microsoft Windows devices that adds options to Windows Explorer to apply custom colors to any folder on any hard drive.

The default folder color is yellow in Windows Explorer and there is no obvious option to customize it to distinguish one folder from the other based on looks or make important folders stick out.

Windows Explorer supports assigning other icons to folders but that is not the same as changing the folder color and the operating itself is not overly comfortable either.

3P Request Blocker blocks all third-party requests in Firefox

3P Request Blocker is a new add-on for the Firefox web browser designed to block all third-party requests by default in the browser.

The description sounds a lot like NoScript, and while the core functionality is the same, both extensions offer features that the other does not provide.

Third-party requests are all requests that a site makes that load content from third-party domains. The connection can be a subdomain of the domain or an unrelated domain name.

Chrome 68 marks all HTTP websites as Not Secure

Google announced yesterday that the company's web browser Google Chrome will mark HTTP sites as insecure in Chrome 68 Stable.

The current stable version of Chrome displays an i-icon next to the website address if the site uses HTTP and not HTTPS. HTTPS sites are marked as "secure" in the web browser currently.

Chrome users who click on the icon receive the message "your connection to this site is not secure" and that they should not enter any sensitive data because it can be stolen by attackers.

How to enable extensions in Microsoft Edge's InPrivate Browsing mode

Microsoft introduced support for extensions in Microsoft Edge in the Windows 10 Creators Update. Less than 100 extensions are available officially at the time for Microsoft Edge and that is likely not going to change anytime soon.

While you can download and install several content blockers or password managers, you won't find most smaller helper extensions that Chrome or Firefox users have access to.

Winamp2-js is a web-based version of audio player Winamp

Winamp2-js is a web-based version of audio player Winamp which you can access directly or host locally or on your own web space to play audio files using it.

Winamp is still a popular audio player even though its development stopped a long time ago. While Winamp fans hope for a revival of the player, the player has changed companies more frequently than it has been released in an updated version.

Tech Support Scammers may freeze your browser

Tech support scams come in many forms; from basic popup messages or fake screenshots posted on websites to sophisticated operations that try to block users from leaving a site or closing a popup.

Malwarebytes discovered a new sophisticated tech support scam operation recently that affects Chrome, Firefox, Brave and probably other web browsers as well.

Find out why you can't access a website or service on the Internet

Even the most prominent websites or services may go down. While the downtime of sites like Facebook, YouTube or Twitter is measured in seconds usually, other sites may be down for hours or even days at a time.

But downtime is not the only reason why you may not be able to access a website. Maybe it is blocked in your country, blocked by security software, or you cannot access it because of ISP routing issues.