Your browsing history may be up for sale soon. Here"s what you need to know

A vote could kill privacy rules that would prevent service providers from selling browsing histories and app usage histories to advertisers – here’s why it matters

A US House committee is set to vote today on whether to kill privacy rules that would prevent internet service providers (ISPs) from selling users’ web browsing histories and app usage histories to advertisers. Planned protections, proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that would have forced ISPs to get people’s consent before hawking their data – are now at risk. Here’s why it matters.

What kind of personal data do internet service providers want to use?

Your web browsing patterns contain a treasure trove of data, including your health concerns, shopping habits and visits to porn sites. ISPs can find out where you bank, your political views and sexual orientation simply based on the websites you visit. The fact that you’re looking at a website at all can also reveal when you’re at home and when you’re not.

If you ask the ISPs, it’s about showing the user more relevant advertising. They argue that web browsing history and app usage should not count as “sensitive” information.

What’s changed?

The FCC has privacy rules for phones and cable television, but they didn’t apply to internet service providers. In October 2016 the agency introduced broad new privacy rules that prevent companies such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from collecting and selling digital information about individuals including the websites they visited and the apps they used.

The new rules – dubbed the Broadband Consumer Privacy Proposal – would require broadband providers to get permission from subscribers before collecting and selling this data. Currently broadband providers can track users unless individuals opt out. The new rules were due to come into play as early as December 2017.

“Getting these rules was probably the biggest win in consumer privacy in years. If the repeal succeeds it would be pretty bad,” said Jeremy Gillula, from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

How could ISPs use my personal data?

They sell it to advertisers. Having all the data relating to your browsing behavior allows them to offer highly personalized targeted advertising at a premium to big brands, which are injected into your browsing experience. AT&T already tried such a program but killed it just before the FCC introduced the new privacy rules.

Meanwhile, Verizon attempted to insert undetectable “supercookies” into all of its mobile customers’ traffic, which allowed them to track all their browsing behavior – even if a web user was browsing in incognito mode or clearing their cookies and history. The company was sued for $1.35m by the FCC for not getting customer permission to track them.

Do all ISPs want to harvest our data?

No, not all ISPs want to abolish the privacy protections. A list of several smaller providers – including Monkeybrains.net, Cruzio Internet and Credo Mobile – have written to representatives to oppose the decision. “One of the cornerstones of our businesses is respecting the privacy of our customers,” they said.

How does this differ from the way Google and Facebook use our data?

It’s much harder to prevent ISPs from tracking your data. You can choose not to use Facebook or Google’s search engine, and there are lots of tools you can use to block their tracking on other parts of the web, for example EFF’s Privacy Badger.

Consumers are generally much more limited for choice of ISP, in some cases only having one option in a given geographical area. This means they can’t choose one of the ISPs pledging to protect user data.

Are any rules keeping ISPs in check?

In January the major ISPs signed a voluntary set of privacy principles, pledging to insist on opt-in consent before sharing “sensitive” information such as social security numbers and opt-out choice for “non-sensitive” customer information. Unfortunately, browsing history was included as “non-sensitive”.

These principles are based on rules created by the Federal Trade Commission, which used to be able to punish ISPs for violating customers’ privacy but is prohibited from regulating common carriers.

So how can users protect their browsing history?

You need to encrypt all your internet traffic. Some websites (like the Guardian) are already encrypted – marked out with HTTPS at the beginning of the URL – but ISPs would still be able to see which websites you have visited, just not the individual pages.

To mask all of your browsing behavior you can use a VPN service (which incurs a subscription cost) or try using Tor.

“Both make everyday browsing more complicated,” Gillula said.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

 

Hackers claim to have compromised 300 million iCloud accounts, demand money from Apple

A group of hackers calling themselves the Turkish Crime Family claim that they will wipe millions of stolen iCloud accounts if Apple doesn"t meet their demands.

A group of hackers claim to have access to hundreds of millions of iCloud user accounts, and they"re threatening to wipe the data if Apple doesn"t pay up. Originally reported by Motherboard, the group wants Apple to turn over $75,000 worth of Bitcoin or $100,000 in order for them to delete their copy of the data.

The hackers call themselves the "Turkish Crime Family," Motherboard reported. According to the outlet, the hackers also provided them with email correspondence they conducted with Apple, as well as a link to a YouTube video of them signing into one of the accounts with the compromised credentials.

The actual number of accounts the group alleges to have access to isn"t clear. One hacker claims that "over 300 million Apple email accounts" are in their possession, while another said "they had 559 million accounts in all," according to Motherboard"s article. If Apple refuses to pay the ransom, the group is threatening to reset or wipe some of the accounts on April 7, the article said.

The big question is whether or not the claims from the Turkish Crime Family carry any weight. In a statement provided, Apple said that no security breaches had affected its systems and that "The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services." According to a report, a press email sent by the group seemed to confirm Apple"s assertions.

To investigate the claims, ZDNet obtained a set of credentials for some icloud.com, me.com, and mac.com accounts. Although it was able to verify some of the passwords as accurate, there was much evidence to suggest that the group is disorganized and lacks experience.

Still, iCloud users should take steps to further secure their accounts, just in case. Users should change their password and potentially enable two-factor authentication for their account, which they can learn how to do here.

The 3 big takeaways for TechViral readers

1. A hacker group calling itself the "Turkish Crime Family," claims to have access to some hundreds of millions of compromised iCloud accounts.

2. Apple claims that its systems have not been breached, and evidence exists that the group is disorganized and inexperienced.

3. To be safe, iCloud users should reset their passwords and consider enabling two-factor authentication.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Apple iCloud ransom demands: The facts you need to know

Hackers are demanding Apple pay a ransom in bitcoin or they"ll blow the lid off millions of iCloud account credentials.

Beyond the primary headline, however, there are a bevy of loose ends and nuances to ponder.

So far, we know that a London-based hacker group, calling itself the Turkish Crime Family, has claimed to have access to 250 million accounts (at the time of writing). The hackers are threatening to reset the passwords on those iCloud accounts and remotely wipe iPhones if Apple doesn"t pay a ransom by April 7. Those demands have since changed and increased. Motherboard, which first reported the story, noted that the media-hungry group has approached multiple outlets, possibly to help its extortion efforts.

For its part, Apple has said it hasn"t been hacked. In a brief statement, the company said the data came from "previously compromised third-party services," and that it is "actively monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to user accounts."

That seems to tie in with what the hackers said in an email to some members of the press late on Wednesday. The hackers denied any direct breach of Apple systems. What muddies the water is that the hackers also appear in some cases to have passwords that have been only used for iCloud. Welcome to the wonderful world of security nuance.

We have worked for the past few days to get to the bottom of this. Here"s what we"ve learned.

ZDNet obtained a set of 54 credentials from the hacker group for verification. All the 54 accounts were valid, based on a check using the site"s password reset function.

These accounts include "icloud.com," dating back to 2011, and legacy "me.com" and "mac.com" domains from as early as 2000. The list of credentials contained just email addresses and plain-text passwords, separated by a colon, which according to Troy Hunt, data breach expert and owner of notification site Have I Been Pwned, makes it likely that the data "could be aggregated from various sources."

We started working to contact each person, one by one, to confirm their password. Most of the accounts are no longer registered with iMessage and could not be immediately reached.

However, 10 people in total confirmed that their passwords were accurate, and have now changed them.

Those 10 people we spoke to were based in the UK, and had UK cell phone numbers. All the people we spoke to were on different cell networks. (A person representing the hacker group, who is allegedly no longer a member, told me that the data is "handled in groups" but would not explain how or why. The hackers refused to hand over a US-based sample of accounts.)

The same 10 people confirmed that they had used the same password since opening their iCloud accounts.

According to the responses, most of the people had the same passwords on their accounts for "about four or five years" since iCloud"s debut. One person said specifically that the password he confirmed with us was no longer in use as of about two years ago, which narrows down the possible date of a breach or multiple breaches to somewhere between 2011 and 2015.

Some of the people we spoke to only own iPhones, while others own Macs and iPads but do not own an iPhone. That may rule out if an individual Apple product line was compromised in some way.

We also asked if their accounts were used on other services to potentially verify if another site had been compromised.

Most of the people we spoke to confirmed that they used their iCloud email address and password on other sites, such as Facebook and Twitter.

However, three people said that their iCloud email address and password were unique to iCloud, and were not used on any other site -- a key anomaly that, if accurate, we can"t explain.

Two of the people we spoke to confirmed that someone had tried to reset their iCloud accounts in the past day. One of the people said that they had received login notifications on Twitter, which used the same iCloud email address and password. This seems fitting with the hackers" apparent desires to reset accounts as they claim.

"All from London [where the hackers claim to be located], from different browsers at the same time," confirmed the iCloud account holder.

It"s clear that there"s something to the hackers" claims, given that they have some working iCloud account credentials. But it"s not known exactly how many, or if the sample that was sent was representative of the wider pool or was carefully selected.

Based on our experience and our interactions with the group and its members, it"s evident that the group is naïve and inexperienced. Based on its grandiose claims and its cherry-picking media outlets to cover its claims, it"s also clear that the group is gunning for publicity. When we began asking the group questions, the conversation quickly turned to whether or not CBS News (which like ZDNet is also owned by CBS), would also cover the group"s claims.

The group also appears disorganized, and unable to maintain order within its own ranks -- seen by the apparent "firing" of one of its members, who ran the Twitter account. It also can"t seem to stay on message, as evidenced by the need to correct the record after reporters "misunderstood the situation."

"A breach means nothing in 2017 when you can just pull the exact same user information in smaller scales through companies that aren"t as secure," said the group in a Pastebin post.

We can"t be sure that this is something big, but based on our reporting, we can"t say that it"s nothing.

Those using two-factor authentication or Apple"s trusted device system should be protected.

But concerned users should change their Apple iCloud password through this link. Look for the green padlock icon in the address bar and that the web address clearly says "iforgot.apple.com".

Change your password to a long password with differently-cased letters and numbers with special characters. Using a password manager can considerably help in generating strong passwords, as well as storing them. We have more security advice here.

Apple did not respond to questions we sent earlier on Thursday.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Apple reportedly target of shakedown over iCloud accounts

A group of hackers is reportedly trying to put the squeeze on Apple over a large trove of credentials to iCloud and other Apple email accounts.

The hackers, who call themselves the "Turkish Crime Family," say they have access to more than 300 million breached accounts, according to a report Wednesday by Motherboard. The hackers have threatened to begin resetting passwords on iCloud accounts and remotely wiping iPhones if Apple doesn"t pay them $75,000 in bitcoin by April 7.

But they say they will also settle for $100,000 in iTunes gift cards.

"I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing," a member of the Turkish Crime Family told the publication.

The hackers uploaded a video to YouTube that shows them purportedly logging into iCloud accounts using the stolen credentials. The hackers shared screenshots of their communication with the Apple security team.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was the target of an extortion attempt related to the alleged trove of credentials. It did say its systems had not been the victim of any security breaches.

"The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services," Apple said in a statement. The company went on to say it is working with law enforcement officials to identify the hackers.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Apple reportedly target of shakedown over iCloud accounts

A group of hackers is reportedly trying to put the squeeze on Apple over a large trove of credentials to iCloud and other Apple email accounts.

The hackers, who call themselves the "Turkish Crime Family," say they have access to more than 300 million breached accounts, according to a report Wednesday by Motherboard. The hackers have threatened to begin resetting passwords on iCloud accounts and remotely wiping iPhones if Apple doesn"t pay them $75,000 in bitcoin by April 7.

But they say they will also settle for $100,000 in iTunes gift cards.

"I just want my money and thought this would be an interesting report that a lot of Apple customers would be interested in reading and hearing," a member of the Turkish Crime Family told the publication.

The hackers uploaded a video to YouTube that shows them purportedly logging into iCloud accounts using the stolen credentials. The hackers shared screenshots of their communication with the Apple security team.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether it was the target of an extortion attempt related to the alleged trove of credentials. It did say its systems had not been the victim of any security breaches.

"The alleged list of email addresses and passwords appears to have been obtained from previously compromised third-party services," Apple said in a statement. The company went on to say it is working with law enforcement officials to identify the hackers.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Google Chrome to Distrust Symantec SSLs for Mis-issuing 30,000 EV Certificates

Google announced its plans to punish Symantec by gradually distrusting its SSL certificates after the company was caught improperly issuing 30,000 Extended Validation (EV) certificates over the past few years.

The Extended Validation (EV) status of all certificates issued by Symantec-owned certificate authorities will no longer be recognized by the Chrome browser for at least a year until Symantec fixes its certificate issuance processes so that it can be trusted again.

Extended validation certificates are supposed to provide the highest level of trust and authentication, where before issuing a certificate, Certificate Authority must verify the requesting entity"s legal existence and identity.

The move came into effect immediately after Ryan Sleevi, a software engineer on the Google Chrome team, made this announcement on Thursday in an online forum.

"This is also coupled with a series of failures following the previous set of misissued certificates from Symantec, causing us to no longer have confidence in the certificate issuance policies and practices of Symantec over the past several years," says Sleevi.

One of the important parts of the SSL ecosystem is Trust, but if CAs will not properly verifying the legal existence and identity before issuing EV certificates for domains, the credibility of those certificates would be compromised.

Google Chrome Team started its investigation on January 19 and found that the certificate issuance policies and practices of Symantec from past several years are dishonest that could threaten the integrity of the TLS system used to authenticate and secure data and connections over the Internet.

Also Read: Top 10 Android Security Apps

Under this move, the Google Chrome team has proposed following steps as punishment:

1. EV certificates issued by Symantec till today will be downgraded to less-secure domain-validated certs, which means Chrome browser will immediately stop displaying the name of the validated domain name holder in the address bar for a period of at least a year.

2. To limit the risk of any further misissuance, all newly-issued certificates must have validity periods of no greater than nine months (effective from Chrome 61 release) to be trusted in Google Chrome.

3. Google proposes an incremental distrust, by gradually reducing the "maximum age" of Symantec certificates over the course of several Chrome releases, requiring them to be reissued and revalidated.

Chrome 59 (Dev, Beta, Stable): 33 months validity (1023 days)
Chrome 60 (Dev, Beta, Stable): 27 months validity (837 days)
Chrome 61 (Dev, Beta, Stable): 21 months validity (651 days)
Chrome 62 (Dev, Beta, Stable): 15 months validity (465 days)
Chrome 63 (Dev, Beta): 9 months validity (279 days)
Chrome 63 (Stable): 15 months validity (465 days)
Chrome 64 (Dev, Beta, Stable): 9 months validity (279 days)

This means, starting with Chrome 64, which is expected to come out in early 2018, the Chrome browser will only trust Symantec certificates issued for nine months (279 days) or less.

Google believes this move will ensure that web developers are aware of the risk of future distrust of Symantec-issued certs, should additional misissuance events occur, while also giving them "the flexibility to continue using such certificates should it be necessary."

Symantec Response – Google"s Claims Are "Exaggerated and Misleading"

Symantec has responded and stated that the claim of mis-issuing 30,000 SSL certificates made by Google are "Exaggerated and Misleading".

We strongly object to the action Google has taken to target Symantec SSL/TLS certificates in the Chrome browser. This action was unexpected, and we believe the blog post was irresponsible."

"While all major CAs have experienced SSL/TLS certificate mis-issuance events, Google has singled out the Symantec Certificate Authority in its proposal even though the mis-issuance event identified in Google’s blog post involved several CAs."

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Free Online Word Processors

The Office 2.0 movement brings with it some great free online word processors, many of which that are as feature-rich as their desktop counterparts. An online word processor offers data security since documents can be stored online as well as on your computer, and they also excel in the area of collaboration.

Most of these online word processors are still in beta, but the good part is that most of them are free and plan to continue being free after they get out of beta.

Zoho Writer

Features: Lists, images, tables, styles, almost twenty fonts, spell checker, form fields, emotions, export to supported blogs, and save as a Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, DOCX, SXW, ODT, HTML, rich text or plain text document.

Description: A very feature-rich online word processor, Zoho Writer can do just about anything a normal word processor can do and more. One very nice extra is the ability to export to blogs, which makes it a nice blog editor if your blog software supports the Blogger or metaWeblog API.

Buzzword

Features: Lists, images, tables, seven different fonts, spell checker, and save as a Microsoft Word, Rich Text, HTML or plain text document.

Description:Buzzword is an Office 2.0 word processor being created by Virtual Ubiquity, an Adobe company. While still in beta, it promises to be an amazing product. As a flash-based online word processor, it offers a look-and-feel that rivals desktop applications while being completely web-based.

iNetWord

Features: Lists, images, tables, styles, a host of fonts, insert videos, track changes, spell checker, and save as a Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, or HTML document.

Description: iNetWord has all the capabilities you would expect from a word processor including the ability to track changes and to share folders with others. Still in beta, it is already a highly-functional online word processor.

Thinkfree

Features: Lists, images, tables, styles, all local fonts, spell checker, form fields, and save as a Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, XML, rich text or an HTML document.

Description: Thinkfree offers a powerful Office 2.0 word processor that is Java-based with all the features you would expect in a desktop word processor including as-you-type spell checking. Since it is Java-based, it also has access to all of your fonts. It also offers a quick edit version without as many features but with a faster load time.

Google Docs

Features: Lists, images, tables, styles, almost a dozen fonts, spell checker, and save as a Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, OpenOffice Doc, HTML, rich text or plain text document. You can also save the document as a Google Docs compatible presentation.

Description: As one might expect from the no-thrills search company, Google"s answer to Office 2.0 is a no-thrills online word processor, but it is surprisingly feature rich and easy to use. It includes most of what you want out of a word processor, though the simplistic design isn"t quite as easy to use as some of the slicker offerings in the realm of Office 2.0 word processors.

Solodox

Features: Lists, images, tables, English, Japanese and Chinese fonts, and save as a Microsoft Word, Rich Text, HTML or plain text document.

Description: A bit more plain in appearance, Solodox is still quite a functional little online word processor. In addition to documents, Solodox also supports project files.

Writewith

Features: Lists, spell checker, six fonts

Description: Writewith still has a ways to go to compete with some of the other Office 2.0 offerings out there. It does offer some limited features such as collaboration between multiple users, but it doesn"t offer advanced word processing features like embedding images or tables into the document.

Writer

Features: Save documents and retrieve them later.

Description: There"s not much to say about Writer besides that it allows you to type in some text and save it, and it allows you to do this in bright green text that brings back memories of the old days when bright green on a black screen ruled the computing world. This isn"t to say that Writer is a complete waste. If all you need to do is type in some quick text and save it with no formatting, it"s actually very good. It"s when you need to bold something that you"ll need to move beyond Writer.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

 

What is Blogging Software?

Blogging software is the program used to create blogs. There are numerous companies who offer blogging software. Some of the most popular blogging software providers are Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, Moveable Type, LiveJournal, MySpace and Xanga.

Different blogging software programs provide different features to users although all provide the basic elements needed by casual bloggers.

Some blogging software programs are available to users for free while others are offered for a fee. Additionally, some blogging software programs can be hosted for free through the software provider while others require you to host the software through a third party blog host, which will require payment of separate fees to that blog host.

The term "blogging software" can also be referred to as "blogging platform" and can be used interchangeably with the term "blog host" as many blogging software companies also provide blog hosting services.

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

 

"Beta" Definition: What It Means When You See It Online

When you visit a website online that typically offers some sort of product or service, you may notice a "Beta" label next to the logo or somewhere else on this site. You may already have full access to everything or you may not, depending on the type of beta test being carried out.

For those who aren"t familiar with product launching or software development, this whole "beta" thing can seem a bit confusing.

Here"s what you need to know about websites that are in beta.

An Intro to Beta Testing

A beta test is a limited release of a product or service with a goal of finding bugs before the final release. Software testing is often referred to by the terms "alpha" and "beta."

Generally speaking, the alpha test is an internal test to find bugs, and the beta test is an external test. During the alpha phase, the product is usually opened up to employees of the company and, sometimes, friends and family. During the beta phase, the product is opened up to a limited number of users.

Sometimes, beta tests are referred to as "open" or "closed." A closed beta test has a limited number of spots open for testing, while an open beta has either an unlimited number of spots (i.e. anyone who wants to can participate) or a very large number of spots in cases where opening it up to everyone is impractical.

The Upsides and Downsides of Being a Beta Tester

If you get invited or make it into the beta test of a site or service that"s open to the general public, you"ll be one of the lucky few to try the new site or service and all of its feature offerings first before anyone else.

You"ll also be able to provide the creators with feedback and suggestions for how to make it better.

The major downside to using a site or service that"s currently in beta is that it may not be very stable. After all, the point of a beta test is to get users to identify hidden bugs or glitches that only become obvious once the site or service is actually being used.

How to Become a Beta Tester

Usually, there are no specific qualifications or requirements needed from beta testers. All you need to do is start using the site or service.

Apple has its own Beta Software Program so that users can test out the company"s next iOS or OS X releases. You can sign up with your Apple ID and enroll your Mac or iOS device in the program. When you become an Apple beta tester, the operating system you"ll be testing will come with a built-in feedback feature you can use to report bugs.

If you want to find out about other cool, new sites and services that are currently open to beta testing, go and have a look at BetaList. This is a place where startup founders can list their sites or services to attract best testers like you. It"s free to sign up, and you can browse through a few categories that you"re interested in checking out.

10 Popular Food Delivery Service Apps

Hungry? A Few Taps to Your Smartphone and Food Is on the Way

Getting food delivered right to your door (or anywhere else you might happen to be) is easier than ever. In fact, you don"t even need to dial a restaurant"s phone number to order food with all the incredible on-demand food delivery service apps available nowadays.

Check out these top apps that you can use to browse menus from local restaurants, place your order and make your payment (including the tip) directly through your smartphone.

Seamless

If you live in a major U.S. city, Seamless is the food delivery app you want to have on hand. The app claims to have "oodles" of restaurants and menus that are updated regularly, completed with photos, reviews, pricing and the time it will take for it to arrive. Seamless is available in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Miami, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Download Seamless: iPhone | Android | 

Postmates

Got a hankering for some Starbucks or Chipotle? A Postmate shopper will go to your favorite popular restaurant chain to grab your order and bring it right to you. And the app doesn"t stop there. You can also have your groceries delivered, or other merchandise delivered from popular stores like Apple. Unlike Seamless, Postmates is available in hundreds of cities across the U.S.

Download Postmates: iPhone | Android |

GrubHub

If you"re serious about variety, GrubHub"s extensive list of over 30,000 restaurants in more than 800 U.S. cities will be sure to satisfy you. Browse by city, address, cuisine, menu item or specific restaurant and use the filters to drill down your results. You can filter by hours open, customer reviews, coupon deals and more. You can save your ordering details to your favorites for future orders too.

Download GrubHub: iPhone | Android | 

Delivery.com

Similar to Postmates, Delivery.com is another popular app that offers other services in addition to food delivery. The app features over 10,000 local businesses where you can get food, alcohol, groceries, laundry and dry cleaning delivered right to you. Just enter your address to see what"s around you, and use the sorting feature to filter by cuisine choice, reviews, or the shortest time it will take to arrive.

Download Delivery.com: iPhone | Android | 

EAT24

EAT24 is described as "a food truck in your pants." With over 20,000 restaurants in more than 1,500 cities (with more being added all the time), one of the best parts of the app is its unique "What"s Good" feature, which uses an algorithm to pick out the absolute best dishes for you based on popular items, local tips and user reviews. You can even use your camera to scan your credit card through the app if you"re the one picking up the tab!

Download EAT24: iPhone | Android | 

Foodler

If you"re looking for some deals, Foodler might be worth checking out. You get the chance to receive rewards by using the app to order food, and you can even earn cash that you can use to pay for future orders. Available in almost all states across the U.S., the app offers what most of the others do too in terms of local browsing, easy-to-use menus from loads of restaurants, user reviews, order history and so much more.

Download Foodler: iPhone | Android | 

OrderUp

OrderUp is a top choice among all the rest of these food delivery apps, and for good reason. Not only does it claim to deliver food from restaurants considered "undeliverable," but its accuracy in details and tracking are nearly unmatched. It also doesn"t just cater to big cities. You can find great restaurants to order from almost anywhere with OrderUp.

Download OrderUp: iPhone | Android | 

 

Munchery

Munchery is another app that unfortunately isn"t available everywhere, but you can get it in a few major U.S. cities. So if you"re in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle or New York, you better take advantage! The app specializes in chef-cooked dishes that are nourishing, affordable and made with the freshest ingredients. And for every order you place through the app, part of your payment goes toward donations to a local food bank.

Download Munchery: iPhone | Android | 

Caviar

Caviar is another app that has positioned itself as a food delivery service for the undeliverable. Browse high quality photos from the menu, customize your meal by adding notes for the restaurant, complete your payment and then a Caviar delivery worker will go out and pick everything up to deliver it to you in lightning fast speed. You can use this app if you"re located in Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Portland, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, or Washington DC.

Download Caviar: iPhone | Android | 

DoorDash

Strapped for time? DoorDash will deliver your food from hundreds of great local restaurants in your area in 45 minutes or less. The home page lets you browse newly added menu items and what"s currently popular. When you finally decide on a dish, the app has built-in options that let you easily customize your order just how you like. At this point, DoorDash only serves San Francisco, Silicon Valley, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, Dallas, Houston, Brooklyn, Boston, and Chicago.

Download DoorDash: iPhone | Android |  

To comment on this article and other TechViral content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

Quick Setup for Office 365 Team Sites in the Cloud

Why a Team Site? My pet peeve and possibly yours, too, is working with easier software apps and tools. Office 365 is Microsoft"s cloud-based subscription service. Available on a month-to-month basis, you will have access to tools to store and access document libraries including wikis, conduct web-based discussions and meetings, maintain a calendar, and other activities online.

Plan a Team Site to Organize, Author, and Share Information

Do you have domain ownership? Authors and contributors will plan to use Office 365 Team Sites to collaborate remotely or in the field beginning with your domain name.

This tutorial is relevant to Small Business, which currently allow 25 users on the plan.

Although the images shown reflect an earlier version of Office 365, these set up instructions are intended to guide you through the set up process, including suggested best practices.

Designate an Administrator to Set Up Office 365

Even for a small group of professionals and small businesses, it is best to assign two persons with full control of the site--somebody will always know what"s going on.

If you haven"t done this already, obtain a subscription at the Microsoft Online Services Portal.

Manage Subscriptions, Functions, and Resources from Admin Home Page

The first person to sign up is the designated Administrator.

Once you"ve completed sign up, the Admin Home Page is visible. Note: Page images may vary, depending on plan and upgrade you may be subscribing to.

 

Select Team Site Template from Admin Home Page > Team Sites and Documents

For this tutorial, I"ve selected the Team Site template and gave it a title, Team Site for Authors.

Keep in mind the template layout you select will have workspace features you can add or change.

Set Up Users from Admin Home Page > Users

Members of your Team Site will have roles available to set up: Administrator, Author, Designer, Contributor, and Visitor.

Manage Permissions from Team Site > Site Settings > People and Groups

Group permissions may be added or removed.

Review the group framework as purveyed from Microsoft permission strategies that consist of: members, owners, viewers, visitors, and others.

Here you change the permission settings, which are inherited from the parent site of your Office 365 subscription.

Select New Document Library from Site Actions

Your Team Site needs a specific library to store documents.

For this tutorial, I gave it the name, Authors Library.

Access Web Apps from Library Tools > Select New Document

Experience the freedom of using Web Apps without desktop applications. Web Apps include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

I"ve started with a Word document and named the file, coauthors.docx.

Note:Once you"re set up in Office 365, you may upload Office files stored on your desktop and sync files to SharePoint Online using SkyDrive Pro.

Enjoy your Journey in Office 365

Subscriptions are based on domain ownership, which enable you to set up multiple internal Team Sites and an external web site.

Sharing Documents in SharePoint Online

SharePoint Online, the cloud-based service hosted by Microsoft, is part of the Office 365 plan or it can be obtained as an add-on to SharePoint Server. The main interest in new and upgraded SharePoint Online services is to improve interactive conversations online and to make it easier and more secure for sharing documents on the go.

If you’re already a user, you can anticipate upgraded services.

SharePoint Online now includes usage on mobile phones and tablets and a seamless social experience. Also included in Office 365 is OneDrive for Business, a professional version of OneDrive for document storage in the cloud that enables you to sync with files stored on your computer or company ​server.

These best practices for sharing documents you will find helpful.

Organizing Permissions and Users in Groups:

Permissions for sharing documents in SharePoint Online are best done according to the desired user access. The general levels of permissions for SharePoint Online may include:

• Visitors - view documents in a browser


• Members - edit or contribute documents


• Owners - have full control permission of the SharePoint Online site

For visitors to download actual documents, permissions would have to include ‘read’ access.

New group names may be created to establish a specific user group and team collaboration, for example, ‘site designers’, ‘authors’, or ‘customers’.

Sharing Documents Outside Your Organization:

External users are typically suppliers, consultants, and customers whom you may want to share documents with from time to time. As you will see, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business serve a different purpose as described below.

SharePoint Online owners (with full control permission) share documents with external users.

External users may be added to Visitor or Member user groups to better manage permissions for sharing documents.

Share guest links. A guest link can be shared via email to view documents from a SharePoint Online document library. To minimize risk that documents will be shared with anyone else, you can require the external users to sign in. This step will require you to set up people in the visitors (or unlicensed users with read access) permissions group to ensure guest links cannot be opened by anonymous users (external users passing links to others).

Share with members. If your external users have a subscription to Office 365 or are a member of your site, you can require them to sign in before accessing the shared documents. This step assumes you added them to the Member permissions group. External users without Microsoft Office can download the file, as long as they have read access.

Share public link from OneDrive for Business. OneDrive is a document storage area and housed in Office 365, depending on whether your service has been upgraded. OneDrive is best used to share files with external public users separate from the SharePoint Online document library. OneDrive can be thought of as the final version of a document for public viewing, for example, to post as a link from a website or blog.

Your SharePoint Online document library can be the source, so make a copy for OneDrive to help you distinguish the two areas, if you choose to use OneDrive this way.

Sharing Documents Inside Your Organization:

Internal users are people within your organization or other departments. Typically you would share documents differently, depending on whether you work and collaborate in a group or you post documents on an intranet, for example, for others to view current status of knowledge or document version.

Share with members. Using Office 365 with SharePoint Online provides access to Office Web Apps, the browser based lightweight service you can create, edit, and share documents online.

Users with Microsoft Office can sync files from their computer with files stored in SharePoint Online to share with members. Also, users with Microsoft Office can sync files and folders from SharePoint Online to a computer or mobile device to work offline.

Share with nonmembers. Assuming not everyone in your organization has a subscription to Office 365, documents can be shared depending on permission group. For example, nonmembers such as executive teams in your organization (see "Empowering People") may need to keep appraised of a marketing document library where market intelligence or customer experiences are captured in the field.

Share from OneDrive. You can share files with internal users from OneDrive. Depending on your process, I would suggest you use OneDrive as a staging area before moving documents into a SharePoint Online document library.

How to protect your privacy with a VPN on Android

You don"t necessarily have to spend money, but free VPN apps come with some drawbacks.

Using a VPN on Android can help you access content that’s blocked in your region and help maintain your anonymity around the web. There are plenty of apps that offer VPN services for free and as a paid service, but which of them are worth your time?

I tested six of the most popular VPN all-in-one apps (with Speedtest and the speedof.me HTML5 test) on Android to see how they stack up. You can also go your own way and use Android’s built-in VPN tool. With a few tweaks, you can make it a little easier to use, too.

Why use a VPN?

A VPN (Virtual Private Network) is basically a way to funnel all your web traffic through a remote server. This makes it look like you’re in a different location and obscures your real IP address. VPNs encrypt the traffic passing through them, making it harder for anyone else to listen in on your connection, even if you connect to an unsecured Wi-Fi network.

Since your connection appears to be coming from a different area, you can access geo-restricted services like the BBC. Some of the more popular ones like Netflix and Hulu have gotten serious about blocking VPNs, though. It’s also important to note possible security issues with the VPN providers. They are getting access to all your traffic, after all. Some providers like Hola VPN have had security issues, so you should steer clear.

Also Read: Top 10 Android Security Apps

VPNs do add another “hop” to your connection, so increased latency is usually part of the deal. A fast VPN shouldn’t add a perceptible amount of delay, but some free mobile VPNs will make it tough to do things like video calls. Speeds also vary dramatically from one service to the next, but that’s one of the things we’re here to test.

TunnelBear

TunnelBear has a cute app and a bear for a mascot. The VPN performance is solid, and there are no ads. It’s a much more pleasant app to use than some other freemium VPNs out there. It has a good selection of servers across the world too.

The main drawback is limited data on the free tier. You get 500MB per month, and can earn more by tweeting about the service. If you want unlimited access, TunnelBear costs $4 per month. Be aware, you also need to set up an account to use TunnelBear.

Opera VPN

Opera VPN is well designed with a slick material interface and a cool viking mascot. I guess VPN mascots are a thing? Anyway, Opera VPN was one of the faster connections I tested, but there were a few connectivity hiccups. The ads are not particularly intrusive, which is good seeing as there’s no paid tier.

Also Read: How to Hide Apps on Android

There are no limits on Opera VPN aside from a block on Torrents. However, there are only five server locations available right now. Still, it’s free and pretty fast.

Betternet

The Betternet app is good enough, but has some odd design quirks like the full-screen navigation drawer. The ads aren’t too intrusive while the VPN is on, but there are full-screen popups when you open it. The big issue here is poor speeds in my testing. Both tests reported well under a megabit. You also cannot manually select any server locations in the free version. So, if you get a bad server (like I apparently did) you’re out of luck.

The paid version of Betternet is $12 per month (which is a lot) for fasterspeeds, no ads, and more servers. I’d probably pass on this deal.

Turbo VPN

The speed of Turbo VPN isn’t exactly “turbo,” but it’s in-line with most other VPN apps on Android. The app is clean and has a rabbit mascot. I like the rabbit, but it also has plenty of full-screen ads. I don’t like those very much.

Also Read: How to Hide Photos on Android

There are only five server locations, which isn’t bad for a free VPN app. The annoying ads make this a less viable option than Opera VPN, though.

Hotspot Shield

Hotspot Shield is the fastest VPN I tested in both tests—it wasn’t even close. It has some ads that can get annoying, but not nearly as bad as Turbo VPN. The app itself is easy to use and not too cluttered. Unfortunately, you have very few server locations in the free version.

A premium Hotspot Shield account cost $12 per month. Again, that’s rather steep for a VPN on Android. This is actually a license that extends to other platforms like Windows and Mac, though. If you don’t need that, it’s not really worth the cost.

SuperVPN

In my testing, SuperVPN wasn’t particularly fast, and the app is in need of some major updates. There are also a ton of ads—more than in any other app I tested. There are only four server locations available in the free version. The paid version that costs $5 per month with no ads and faster speeds. However, it requires a separate payment app, which is weird. There are better options.

Also Read: How to Hide Files on Android

Manual VPNs

The world of VPNs is larger than what you can get in the Play Store. There are VPN providers that offer services on multiple platforms, and you can use your account information to set up a native VPN connection on Android. It takes a little more legwork, but it can be cheaper and more powerful. You will often get multiple simultaneous connections, so all your devices can access the VPN at once.



Some of the popular general VPN options are Private Internet Access, NordVPN, and KeepSolid. All will provide you with server and account details, which you can add to the Android VPN menu. That’s usually found under “More” in the Connections area of your system settings. Add the details provided by your VPN provider as a new VPN connection; you shouldn’t need to change the default connection type or mess around with the advanced settings.

One annoyance here is that you need to create a new VPN connection for each server location. That also means digging into the menu each time you want to toggle it on or off. You can alleviate some of that annoyance by creating a custom quick settings shortcut to your VPNs with Custom Quick Settings or a similar app.

However you decide to do it, using a VPN is good common sense when you’re connecting to networks you can’t completely trust. The privacy boost is desirable in this day and age. As for accessing content, that’ll work sometimes.

To comment on this article and other Greenbot content, visit our Facebook page or our Twitter feed.

How to Fix “Insufficient Space Downloading Error” On Android

Android is a very smart device which provides lots of feature for its user. An Android operating system is most widely used in the world. And there are lots of apps that is being developed to run on this OS that makes it more user friendly and we download all these apps in our android device from Google Play Store and sometimes you got an error “Error Downloading There is Insufficient Space on the Device” this error can because due to certain reason which can be solved with the tips discussed below. So proceed with this post of Fix Insufficient Space Downloading Error on Android.

How to Fixing “Insufficient Space Downloading Error” on Android

This most cause of this error is not the actual insufficient memory, but also certain reasons which lead to this error. Below I have listed all the reason and their solution to get rid of this error that come while downloading any app.

Methods To Fix “Insufficient Space Downloading Error” on Android

#1 Method: Updating Google Play Store

Update google plays store to its latest version and it will probably fix this error.

1. Open the Google Play Store in your android device.


2. Swipe from left to right in the app.


3. Now you will see the list of options there.


4. Click on settings there.


5. Now scroll down at last and click on Build Number.


6. Now as soon as you click the build number a pop-up will appear.


7. If your app is up to date then it will Show the message “Google Play Store is up to date“.


8. If not then it will display the latest version to install.


9. Click on that latest version and your app will get automatically updated

#2 Method: Clearing Google Play Store Cache

In this, you will clear up all the cache of your google play store which is mostly the reason behind this error in android.

1. Go to settings->apps.


2. Now tap on play store there.


3. Tap on Clear cache and then click OK.

#3 Method: Move apps From device to SD card

In this, you will move some apps to SD Card to free up space in your android device. Follow steps below.

1. Go to settings->apps.


2. Tap on the app that you want to move to SD card.


3. Click on a move to SD card.

#4 Method: Uninstalling Bigger Apps

If you still getting this error then uninstall the bigger apps that consume more memory in your android device, As this will free up your android space and its error too.

 

So above are the ways for How to fix Insufficient Space Downloading Error On Android. With all the ways discussed above you will easily fix this error in your android device and can download all your favorite apps from Google Play Store without any error. Hope you like our work, don’t forget to share it with others and leave a comment below if you still facing any problem.

How to Hide Apps on Android

Ever get tired of seeing that damn NFL Mobile app that came with your phone and which you can’t uninstall without rooting? Is your app drawer getting crammed with apps that you rarely use, making it a headache to get to the ones you want? Hiding apps is a good way to clean up your app tray and keep guest users from stumbling across any apps you’d rather keep your own business.

Some stock launchers offer this functionality right out of the box. Most Samsung users, for instance, have the ability to hide apps without leaning on third party apps. If your launcher doesn’t support app hiding, give Nova Launcher a spin. It’s an excellent launcher all around, and it gives you the ability to hide apps with a simple and intuitive option.

Also Read: How to Hide Photos on Android

Install Nova Launcher and open the app drawer. Navigate to Nova Settings > App & widget drawers > Hide Apps. Select the apps you want to hide, and they won’t show up on your app tray anymore.



To reveal an app again, simply return to the same menu and uncheck the desired app.

Also Read: How to Hide Files on Android

A Stock Fix

There’s a crazy easy way to hide whole folders without using third party apps. This simple fix will prevent photos from showing up in galleries, audio files from showing up in players, and documents from showing up in editing apps. However, the files aren’t particularly hidden, because all you’re doing is renaming the folder in such a way that Android ignores it.

Using any Android file manager, simply add a “.” to the front of the folder’s name. If you want to get super sneaky, try renaming the folder something boring like “.simdata” or “.systeminfo” or whatever.

Best file explorer and file manager apps for Android

Android devices these days are already bundled with such a large internal memory that using your device is tantamount to carrying a hard disk in your hand. With that amount of storage space, managing your files can be a daunting task, most especially if you tend to fill up your 16 GB internal storage, plus your 32 GB microSD card, with files and folders.

One of the main challenges of many users these days is that of managing the files on their phones. And what better way to keep those files in order than by getting yourself a file manager application from the Google Play Store. But, there are many to choose from.  Which one should you choose?

To help you answer that question, we’ve scoured the Google Play Store in search of the best file explorer and file manager apps for Android.  And, the result of that search is this app list.  Read on to know more about some of the best file explorer and file manager apps for Android.

File Expert

Featuring a gorgeous user interface, File Expert is already appealing just by the looks of it. Considered by many users as a powerful file manager application, it’s also an expert at managing and handling files on your Android phone. Not only that, File Manager is also able to manage files in a local Wi-Fi network or cloud storage devices such as Dropbox and SkyDrive. The app features all the basic file operations (e.g., copy, delete, create, or rename) for your folders and files.

File Expert is also a full-fledged root file explorer that can scan folders and directories up to root level. But, this feature is only available for rooted devices and only in the app’s pro version. Nevertheless, it is a great application, considering it doesn’t feature any ads. Other features include NFC support, Bluetooth capabilities, an archive manager, and an image viewer.

Root Explorer (File Manager)

Root Explorer (File Manager) is perhaps the greatest file managing application for users of rooted devices. Despite being a paid application, the features of Root Explorer will appeal to many Android users as they can access to system files and grant them read/write access. But, in order for the app to work properly, you need to have root privileges on your device.

Root Explorer is specifically designed to cater to root users and if you have an Android device with root privileges then be sure to not miss this handy application. Aside from being a file manager, the app also includes such handy features as an SQLite database viewer, a text editor, executing scripts, search, changing permissions, sending files, creating symbolic links, and even an archive management tool that lets users extract ZIP, TAR, and GZIP files.

ES File Explorer File Manager

ES File Explorer File Manager is another file managing application that features a beautifully laid out user interface and features. The app can manage root directories without users’ having to worry about paying for anything, as it is absolutely free to download and use. Users can access files over various storage media like cloud storage in Dropbox or Google Drive, local connections, FTP, Bluetooth, and over the Internet.

The app also doubles as an archive extraction tool able to unpack RAR files and create AES 256-bit encrypted ZIP files. It also has a built-in text viewer and editor for those users who may need changing small bits of code.

With over ten million downloads on the Google Play Store, ES File Explorer is one of the best there is when it comes premium free applications.

ASTRO File Manager / Browser

ASTRO File Manager / Browser is also one of those applications that have reached the ten millionth mark. The app is considered to be a popular choice for many users as it brings along the ultimate user experience when it comes to managing files. ASTRO brings a lot to the table and is designed similar to Windows Explorer or Mac’s Finder. Users can easily browse and organize all of their pictures, music, videos and documents using the app’s built-in tools.

ASTRO also features a task killer that can switch off all those pesky applications that burn your phone’s battery life fast. It can also backup applications in case you’d like to reformat your phone or if you’re changing phones. The app is also highly customizable and users can personalize it by downloading different icon sets using the theme feature. Other features include image and text viewers, Bluetooth, SFTP, a ZIP/TAR downloader, and thumbnails.

Dual File Manager XT

For those of you who do not like switching back and forth between windows, then Dual File Manager XT is the just the right application for you. The app is like having Windows Explorer on your Android device, allowing you to easily compare and find files fast without ever having to switch to another screen. Dual File Manager XT brings us back to the old days when managing files didn’t have to be hard.

The app is blazingly fast and features a slick UI that is easy for users to navigate. It  can also be personalized according to your heart’s desire. The app supports thumbnail views, archiving of files, and encryption. And, to top it all, the app is absolutely free to download. So, if you want to manage files quick and easy, then Dual File Manager XT is the right application for you.

X-plore File Manager

X-plore File Manager by Lonely Cat Games is another dual-pane file manager that pretty much resembles Dual File Manager XT. What makes X-plore File Manager unique from the competition is that the app tries to re-create a desktop-like interface on your phone while adding a set of features. What users will get is a dual-pane file view similar to desktop file managers.

Users will have the ability to browse through their ZIP files, pictures, FTP sites, root directories, and SQLlite databases, thanks to the app’s neat dual-pane viewer. The app also supports cloud storage access like Google Drive, DropBox, SugarSync, SkyDrive, and a lot more. Aside from the file managing tools, the app can also view hexadecimal files, a built-in viewer for images, audio, and text. And lastly, it also supports configurable key and button shortcuts.

Ghost Commander File Manager

Another app on our list of file manager apps is Ghost Commander File Manager. If you’re a huge fan of Total Commander, then this application will definitely feel familiar to you as the app tries to emulate the feel of Total Commander. Take note that the app is not a copycat; it does have its own set of features to entice you. For starters, you can view your files as thumbnails, mark favorite folders and files, or use the built-in text editor.

Aside from the basic file manager functions, Ghost Commander also supports transferring files to or from FTP servers and Windows network shares (provided you have the SMB plugin installed). For advanced users, Ghost Commander can also manage root directories with ease as it supports changing of permission attributes and also execute your own shell commands.

File Manager

File Manager is considered to be one of the best file manager apps on Android and continues to be, thanks to its outstanding track record of ten million downloads and 4.6 average user rating. What makes File Manager an excellent file explorer app is that it features a minimalistic design that is easy for first-time Android users. Aside from its user-friendliness, the app also supports multiple resolutions.

Downloading the application will give you all the basic things you could ask for in a file managing application. You will also be able to manage your rooted directories and view files easily if you prefer icons over text with the use of the thumbnail view option. There is also a built-in text editor, image gallery, and a handy SWF player for those who want to view videos on the go.

AirDroid

AirDroid is another file manager apps, but instead of just managing local files on your Android smartphone, you will be able to manage files wirelessly. Transferring files from your Android device to your computer will never be the same again, as AirDroid will let you easily drag and drop your files between devices.

If you have been using Samsung KIES, then you pretty much have an idea of how AirDroid works. Aside from the basic file managing tools, you can backup applications and do batch processing in a breeze. What’s even better, AirDroid will also allow you to view your Android’s screen, take a screenshot, or even record a screencast.

Developed with multitasking in mind, AirDroid can do a lot of things in one sitting. AirDroid can also manage your entire Android device, from binary files to plain text.

OI File Manager

OI File Manager is another file managing application so popular with users that it has surpassed the five millionth mark in application downloads. With OI File Manager, users can browse their entire SD card directory, perform basic operations on files, and even act as an extension to open and save dialog boxes. The developer has managed to keep this app simple and has done a great job by keeping the app clean of clutter. If you don’t feel like managing files by text, you can change it to thumbnail view for easy viewing. Overall, OI File Manager is the simplest file managing applications on the Google Play Store.

Among these best file explorer and file manager apps for Android, which one do you currently use?  Tell us about it in a comment below.