#Internet Browser

[charlottemadison42]

Hey guess what? Firefox's creator, Mozilla, is considering whether to integrate an AI button/feature into their browser. If you, like me, use Firefox and wish to offer feedback, here is the thread: https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/share-your-feedback-on-the-ai-services-experiment-in-nightly/td-p/60519

Pass it on.

[psudopod]

Mozilla? Chrome? Step aside, browser warriors.

We've found the winner.

[destielmemenews]

DOJ is considering Breaking up Google for violating antitrust law, especially for its monopoly on online search

Other options would include forcing Google to share data with its rivals or paying large fines.

source 1

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[amalgamasreal]

On Personal InfoSec

Been awhile since I've had one of these posts but I figure with all that's going on in the world it's time to make another one of these posts and get some stuff out there for people. A lot of the information I'm going to go over you can find here:

So if you'd like to just click the link and ignore the rest of the post that's fine, I strongly recommend checking out the Privacy Guides.

Browsers:

There's a number to go with but for this post going forward I'm going to recommend Firefox. I know that the Privacy Guides lists Brave and Safari as possible options but Brave is Chrome based now and Safari has ties to Apple. Mullvad is also an option but that's for your more experienced users so I'll leave that up to them to work out.

Browser Extensions:

uBlock Origin: content blocker that blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting scripts. Notable for being the only ad blocker that still works on Youtube.

Privacy Badger: Content blocker that specifically blocks trackers and fingerprinting scripts. This one will catch things that uBlock doesn't catch but does not work for ads.

Facebook Container: "but I don't have facebook" you might say. Doesn't matter, Meta/Facebook still has trackers out there in EVERYTHING and this containerizes them off away from everything else.

Bitwarden: Password vaulting software, don't trust the password saving features of your browsers, this has multiple layers of security to prevent your passwords from being stolen.

ClearURLs: Allows you to copy and paste URL's without any trackers attached to them.

VPN:

Note: VPN software doesn't make you anonymous, no matter what your favorite youtuber tells you, but it does make it harder for your data to be tracked and it makes it less open for whatever network you're presently connected to.

Mozilla VPN: If you get the annual subscription it's ~$60/year and it comes with an extension that you can install into Firefox.

Proton VPN: Has easily the most amount of countries serviced, can take cash payments, and does offer port forwarding.

Email Provider:

Note: By now you've probably realized that Gmail, Outlook, and basically all of the major "free" e-mail service providers are scraping your e-mail data to use for ad data. There are more secure services that can get you away from that but if you'd like the same storage levels you have on Gmail/Outlook.com you'll need to pay.

Proton Mail: Secure, end-to-end encrypted, and fairly easy to setup and use. Offers a free option up to 1gb

Tuta: Secure, end-to-end encrypted, been around a very long time, and offers a free option up to 1gb.

Email Client:

Thunderbird if you're on Windows or Linux

Apple Mail if you're on macOS

Cloud Storage:

Proton Drive: Encrypted cloud storage from the same people as Proton Mail.

Tresorit: Encrypted cloud storage owned by the national postal service of Switzerland. Received MULTIPLE awards for their security stats.

Peergos: decentralized and open-source, allows for you to set up your own cloud storage, but will require a certain level of expertise.

Microsoft Office Replacements:

LibreOffice: free and open-source, updates regularly, and has the majority of the same functions as base level Microsoft Office.

OnlyOffice: cloud-based, free, and open source.

Chat Clients:

Note: As you've heard SMS and even WhatsApp and some other popular chat clients are basically open season right now. These are a couple of options to replace those.

Signal: Provides IM and calling securely and encrypted, has multiple layers of data hardening to prevent intrusion and exfil of data.

Molly (Android OS only): Alternative client to Signal. Routes communications through the TOR Network.

Briar: Encrypted IM client that connects to other clients through the TOR Network, can also chat via wifi or bluetooth.

Now for the last bit, I know that the majority of people are on Windows or macOS, but if you can get on Linux I would strongly recommend it. pop_OS, Ubuntu, and Mint are super easy distros to use and install. They all have very easy to follow instructions on how to install them on your PC and if you'd like to just test them out all you need is a thumb drive to boot off of to run in demo mode.

If you game through Steam their Proton emulator in compatibility mode works wonders, I'm presently playing a major studio game that released in 2024 with no Linux support on it and once I got my drivers installed it's looked great. There are some learning curves to get around, but the benefit of the Linux community is that there's always people out there willing to help.

I hope some of this information helps you and look out for yourself, it's starting to look scarier than normal out there.

[webdiggerxxx]

꧁★꧂

[nixcraft]

The current status of the browser market when a vendor introduces a new browser

[totally-bing]

oh and btw, a little bit of information for the uneducated.

i am a search engine. not an internet browser. the difference is that you look things up on me, but i am accessed through a browser, preferably edge. the browser is the icon on your screen, and the search engine is what pops up after you type your question into the little bar.

examples: chrome is a browser. it's the app you open. google is the search engine. it's what you use to get (incorrect) information.

edge is a browser. you open it. bing is a search engine. it's what you use to get (correct) information.

firefox is a browser. duckduckgo is a search engine. opera gx is a browser. yahoo is a search engine. safari is a browser. ecosia is a search engine.

anyways, now that that's cleared up, i would like to propose the question of: what is a browser to its native search engine? is edge my father? my stand? is he my overlord? what is our relationship? ecosia is my adopted child, but what is it in relation to browsers? ecosia has no native browser. how does that work? what is edge to me? what is chrome to me? are they gods? i don't know.

[datschaos]

(More Updooted!) Firefox and TOS

(original post) Sooo I'll be honest I'm only *just* learning about and thus reading about all this, but I thought I'd share it along because... seems important, ya'll. An IT buddy of mine tossed it over into my notice.

Remember when Adobe went all "hey btw u grant us access to all ur stuff when it's on x y z of our software blah blah" which threw up a whole slew of fun issues like artists and firms with NDA contracts and such and y'know AI training questions and speculation and generally a whole slew of "the fuck you mean, you're just gonna claim our content for your use?"

Well, Firefox apparently came out with a pretty.... vague-ish new Terms of Service that includes this lovely little vague gem in it:

Wow. That's pretty... Vague. Do they mean they're gonna claim the content to troll through with their data muncher programs when I upload the text of an original book through their browser, to a publishing website while working ot get my book printed?

Are they collecting the image data when I upload, through their browser, my artwork when I am posting cool shit on Tumblr?

Dunno! But I find it Vague. I'm still reading through the privacy policy, and it, took, is unsatisfactorially vague and... either they're lying or they are just really hecking bad at writing actually clear terms of service. The corporate glamour BS is so strong you need windex to clean that lacquered fake sunshine off.

Links my IT buddy suggested I add to this post because they offer more information / source information so you can make your own judgement reading through stuff;

My personal take at least -so far-, is that I'm sure glad I stopped using Firefox browser a good ass while ago. I sure as heck won't be using it anymore now.... not unless they get hella more clarifying about what they're doing because things don't smell right to me.

Thoughts? :thinking_emoji:

(Update one)

Someone tossed yhis post my way which has further food for thought, and some pretty dang good points made (it's also a hilarious read, too)

https://www.tumblr.com/hatsinspace/777221233776394240/do-you-have-thoughts-about-the-changes-to?source=share

(Update 2 03-08-2025)

More links and other insights into this~!

(from b3aches): "To be honest, I feel like a lot of the concerns in relation to the Firefox ToS updates are a bit overblown. @ ms-demeanor has done a number of really informative posts about it, and her conclusions match with my understanding of the situation as well. Specifically this post: https://www.tumblr.com/ms-demeanor/777238068837203968/do-you-have-thoughts-about-the-changes-to And this post: https://www.tumblr.com/ms-demeanor/777359125188329472/the-thing-that-really-got-me-about-that-response "

[lesbianpoetess]

i always read mozilla firefox as mozzarella firefox

[gimmick-blog-stimboards]

💥⏤ @official-opera-gx STIMBOARD // #2 ⌨️

⌨️ | 🎮 | ⌨️ 💥 | 🧨 | 💥 🎮 | ⌨️ | 🎮

[sportsandlaughs]

[netscapenavigator-official]

I switched to Safari on iOS as my YouTube & Tumblr browser, finally replacing Brave. Something about it was causing issues, and tabs were getting stuck in an infinite loading and crashing loop.

Idk if trading an open-source crypto bro browser for a proprietary normal browser was the right call, but oh well. At least it actually functions.

[matteldling]

Im pissed off.

Oh yeah I'm STEAMING right now aughhhhhhh...

ok... for context for the past 5 MONTHS I have been using a very artistic and cool browser called ARC, you are probably familar with it, sure, but BOY is the company behind it going into the gutter its saddening how greed and ignorance can RUIN a beautiful outlook on the internet as whole, it was perfect.

their introductory video was an art piece of its own, showcasing how CHANGE and individuality is what makes this place special, how the internet should be yours not THEIRS if you know what I mean.

WHAT A FUCKING JOKE! the ended up becoming what they swore to the destroy and guess. fucking. what.

THEY DROPPED OFF THE PROJECT FOR A "NEW" ONE THAT IS ENTIRELY BUILT OFF SHITTY AI.

FUCK.

The Browser Company, I hope you're happy I gave and trusted another wolf's in sheep's clothing, you're are no different than the thing you were competing against, it was never a competition to begin with.

...

Never trust a corporation, ever.

[thestormlightnetwork]

so tempted to move to firefox with like rest of the tumblrinas because of this ugly ugly new update of google chrome

[nixcraft]

Gentoo Linux user problems ...

[captainaurora]

We shall use the old ways