Category Archives: Mac OS

The Best Web Browsers for Privacy

Ever noticed an ad for a product you just talked about appear while you were browsing the internet?

Once ads for the same thing follow you around the web, you start to wonder what caused it. And you wonder if tech companies know more about you than you’re comfortable with.

Often the easiest way to boost your online privacy is simply to switch your browser. Today there are privacy-focused browsers that don’t require tweaks or extensions to block trackers.

Mainstream browsers are a mixed bag. Some have adapted well to people’s growing concerns about being tracked online. Understandably it’s challenging for big companies to make changes that might hurt their bottom line, even if it’s in the short term. Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox are two examples of well-known browsers that have managed to put the privacy needs of their users first.

Now that we’ve covered the primer, let’s dive in! Here are the best browsers available today for people that value online privacy.

Brave

If Brave isn’t one of the first browsers that come to mind for the best online privacy features it should be.

Mozilla Firefox has been around for quite a while and most have heard of it or used it. Well, guess what? There’s a connection here. Brendan Eich is the CEO of Brave, and he was also one of the co-founders of Mozilla.

By default, Brave blocks display ads and trackers. The concept behind it is unique as its purpose isn’t to eliminate all ads. Rather, it displays its own native ads that look like browser notifications and it rewards its users with Basic Attention Token. And yes, BAT is a token built on Ethereum with real value. Suddenly, ads aren’t a nuisance because internet users are compensated for their attention.

If you rarely want to see ads or don’t want to see ads at all regardless of the rewards, there are settings for all of that.

Brave is a great everyday browser for people that value privacy, but you can’t use it for everything. Some websites are set up to require certain data and important functions might refuse to work with Brave. In this situation, it’s best to launch a mainstream browser like Chrome or Safari for the sake of convenience.

Tor Browser

Many online privacy aficionados haven’t tried Tor Browser yet, but they’re probably used Tor at some point in their journey. Tor, which is short for “The Onion Router,” is free software that enhances privacy and hides your online activity from prying eyes.

Tor Browser takes the unique privacy technology established in Tor and builds it into a web browser. It sends web data through a multistep encrypted route that includes at least three nodes.

The downside of Tor has always been speed. It’s the price you pay for its thorough approach to anonymous browsing. Thus, Tor Browser is a good choice for tasks with privacy of utmost concern, but it’s not going to replace your go-to browser.

VPNs also encrypt your data like Tor. So, if you’re looking for a good balance between anonymity and browsing speed a VPN is the best option. Check out LetMeBy’s reviews of the top 3 VPNs.

DuckDuckGo Browser

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t collect or share private information about its users. Other search engines have tried to find their niche and have faded over the years, but DuckDuckGo is stronger than ever because it promises a benefit people actually care about.

Its latest offering is its web browser. Its looks and most of its basic functions will look familiar to users of Chrome and Edge. And it’s based on the same idea as the DuckDuckGo search engine. The browser blocks trackers and ads that follow you around the web.

People that visit YouTube frequently will appreciate its unique video feature called Duck Player. It opens YouTube videos in a view free from distractions such as recommendations.

It removes ad targeting and tracking, but it doesn’t remove YouTube ads altogether. Rather, the ads won’t be based on your activity and browsing history.

Firefox

Mozilla is a not-for-profit Foundation that aims to put people before profit and fight for an internet that’s accessible and open to everyone. Although that may sound idealistic Mozilla has proven over the years that it can make software just as good as big corporations.

These days nearly everyone uses Chrome or Safari. Back in 2009, Firefox was at its peak with over 32% browser market share. Many stuck with Firefox for years but once they switched to Chrome, they never looked back.

We can speculate about all the reasons Firefox lost popularity over the years. One thing is certain. Google preinstalls Chrome on its Chromebooks. Apple preinstalls Safari on its devices. And Microsoft preinstalls Edge in its operating system. People always needed to make the conscious decision to download Firefox, and with so many good options most stopped bothering.

It’s time to give Firefox another look.

Firefox has privacy features mainstream browsers don’t have such as automatic DNS over HTTPS and cookie blocking.

Blocking everything that tracks you doesn’t always lead to a good user experience. Firefox’s Enhanced Tracking Protection allows you to block or allow certain types of cookies and content.

Network settings are integrated right into Firefox, which allows you to use a proxy with it without affecting other apps. Other browsers such as Chrome and Safari approach this differently. To use a proxy or VPN you have to apply it system-wide.

Safari

Apple disrupted the tech world when it first released App Tracking Transparency in iOS. For the first time ever, Apple users could easily opt out of being tracked. And given the choice, most people did.

Although it’s less talked about, you can also prevent cross-site tracking in Safari on Mac OS. You merely go to Safari’s privacy settings, select “Prevent cross-site tracking” and you’re done.

Most popular browsers have a private browsing mode. Safari has an edge over many because it uses DuckDuckGo by default. With it enabled, beyond your browser not remembering the sites you visited, the search engine itself won’t collect data based on your searches.

Another handy feature in Safari that encourages good habits is its password generator. It suggests strong passwords, saving you time and confirming that your passwords are keeping up with current standards.

Safari’s Intelligent Tracking Prevention limits the amount of your data that’s sent to Apple and third parties. This means that long-term cookies are only stored on your device for sites you use regularly.

Chrome with Privacy Extensions

If you prefer to deploy online privacy features a la carte, don’t mind tweaking settings, and enjoy Google’s ecosystem, this could be the right option for you.

Google Chrome is by far the most widely used browser and that means it’s one of the best when it comes to customizing its features with extensions. Simply put, Chrome isn’t a privacy-first browser out of the box, but you can make it into one.

Want to block trackers? Add an extension such as Privacy Badger or Ghostery. Don’t want to see ads? Install Adblock Plus or uBlock Origin.

There’s a slight catch. Extensions can break, lose their support, or lose their effectiveness as technology progresses.

One of the biggest pluses is that you can experiment and find the extensions you like the most. You’re not married to built-in features that may not offer the approach to privacy you want.

Why Companies Want Your Data

Data is a huge industry, and it’s a growing one. The global big data market was estimated to be worth $162.6 billion in 2021. It’s forecasted to reach $273.4 billion by 2026.

The concept is simple. You more businesses know about consumers’ likes, dislikes, interests, careers, hobbies, and a multitude of other things, the more they can sell.

Many people don’t think marketing works on them. But the evidence says otherwise. Clicks on targeted ads can be as much as 670% higher. Additionally, 80% of users actually reported to prefer tailored ads. People notice what interests them, and data makes it possible to serve people both the content and ads most likely to be relevant to their interests.

The Tug of War Between the Wants of Advertisers and of Users

Some of the biggest tech companies are in a challenging spot. If users aren’t happy their business is in jeopardy. And if advertisers aren’t happy it’s in trouble too.

Apple’s move to allow users to easily control if they wanted to see targeted ads or not was part of a big shift in the industry.

It’s become standard practice to collect data about users and also to give them tools to manage their data on different platforms. In other words, if you want better privacy you typically have to drill down into the settings to make it happen.

Conclusion

As more become aware of the importance of online privacy, more are taking another look at the web browser they use every day.

For too long popular browsers have been synonymous with good. And while the most used browsers are excellent, they’re usually not the top choices in terms of privacy.

Any browser’s privacy can be leveled up significantly by enabling a VPN. If you take the time to choose a browser with robust privacy features as well those ads that follow people around will be far behind you.

How to Hide Your IP Address in Chrome

Ever wonder how it’s possible to hide your IP address? Technically, it isn’t. In order to hide your real IP, you must replace it with a different IP address.

To do this, you need to use a VPN or proxy server. Either one assigns your device with a new IP so nobody can see your true IP address online. And that’s the basic idea behind achieving anonymity in Chrome.

Unlike browsers like Firefox which allow you to enter settings proxy settings natively, Chrome refers you directly to your OS network settings. Thus, you actually have to change the settings in your operating system.

Whether you use Windows or a Mac, this guide has you covered.

Step 1

Locate the options icon to the far right of the Chrome browser window and click on it. The icon looks like three dots stacked on top of each other.

A pull-down menu will appear. Select “Settings” near the bottom.

Step 2

The settings page will appear directly in the browser window. On the left, you’ll see a tool icon with “System” next to it. Click it.

Step 3

Under the “System” settings you’ll see an option that says “Open your computer’s proxy settings.” Click it.

Step 4

In order to complete the next steps, you’ll need the info associated with your VPN or proxy server.

The VPN Route

VPN services provide you with a domain name or IP address, login, and password.

The Proxy Route

To use a proxy server, you need a domain or IP, and sometimes a login and password are required as well.

Which Should You Use?

Proxies and VPNs both hide your IP, but only a VPN will encrypt your data being sent and received from the internet.

If you’re looking for a VPN, check out LetMeBy’s reviews of the top VPN services. Or, scroll down to the list below for a quick peek. They’re all fast, inexpensive ($10/month or less), and highly recommended.

Recommended services:

Avoid free proxy services for anything other than testing. They’re almost always unusably slow. Plus, I wouldn’t trust my browsing data with most of the small operations offering it.

Step 5

Windows – Proxy

You’ll be directed to the “Proxy” menu under “Network & Internet” settings in Windows.

You can set up Windows to either detect your proxy settings automatically or you can enter your proxy manually.

To do it automatically, make sure “Automatically detect settings” is switched on. You’re good to go!

If you choose to do it manually, switch on “Use a proxy server” under “Manual proxy setup.” Enter your proxy server IP or domain name, plus the port number if required.

Note that Windows doesn’t support usernames and passwords for proxies out of the box. It requires you to create a two-step proxy in that circumstance which goes beyond the scope of this guide.

Windows – VPN

Click “VPN” at the left of the “Network & Internet” settings window.

Next, hit the plus (+) icon next to “Add a VPN connection.”

The VPN entry options will appear in the window. Enter the domain or IP, login, and password you were given by your VPN service provider.

Mac OS – Proxy

The “Network” window will appear with the “Proxies tab” selected. To use a proxy, check the box next to “Secure Web Proxy (HTTPS)” [preferable] or “Web Proxy (HTTP)” depending on the service.

Check the box next to “Proxy server requires password” and enter the login and password provided to you if it’s required.

Mac OS – VPN

Using a Mac with a VPN varies with different versions of Mac OS. Apple has done an excellent job of outlining the processes here.

Step 6

Congrats! You’re now ready to browse with your true IP hidden from prying eyes. Go back to Google Chrome and surf to your heart’s content.

Clever Hacks to Get YouTube TV in Canada

YouTube TV launched in the U.S. in 2017. There’s been speculation that they would expand outside of the U.S. and offer their streaming service to Canadians along with others like Hulu. However, YouTube TV hasn’t made an official announcement about this.

So, Canadians that are tired of hoping and waiting may want to grab the bull by the horns. Yes, you can get access to YouTube TV in Canada today! All you need to do is jump through some hoops before signing up and follow the tech savvy steps in this guide.

Is It Worth the Effort?

Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and CBS All Access are available in Canada. Thus, one might wonder if getting YouTube TV in Canada is really worth it.

For those who want a comprehensive replacement for cable TV, it is. This a great opportunity to get sports, news, and special interest programming you don’t have access to on Netflix.

Channels on YouTube TV

Google has obtained deals with the five major TV networks in the U.S.: ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and The CW. About 40 cable channels owned by the parent companies of those networks are all onboard. This includes content from The Walt Disney Company, CBS Corporation, NBCUniversal, Brave, USA Network, Discovery, CNN, Cartoon Network, Fox Sports 1, BBC, ESPN and more.

Like traditional cable TV, it’s also possible to add additional premium channels. Some of these channels include AMC Premiere, Showtime, and NBA League Pass.

How to Gain Access to YouTube TV in Canada

YouTube TV has a variety of methods to verify if the user is based in the U.S. Therefore, to pass these checks and successfully get a YouTube TV account, you need to ensure their site can’t tell you’re based in Canada.

1. VPN Location Magic

First, you’ll need a VPN. By using a VPN, you can access the web with an IP address associated with a physical location in the U.S.

To do that, sign up with a VPN provider, and choose a plan. These services are very inexpensive these days. And typically, if you’re willing to commit to a plan for a year or more, you can save quite a bit.

Recommended VPNs are listed below. For more details, read full reviews of the top 3 VPN services here.

2. Get a U.S. PayPal Account

If you use a Canadian credit card, you’re rolling the dice. You may be able to rig YouTube TV’s payment system to accept it, but that doesn’t work with every credit card provider.

The most reliable method is to set up a U.S. PayPal account.

To ensure success, be sure to follow these tips:

Before you do anything, enable your VPN. And make sure the service has assigned you with a U.S. IP address. This will give you access to the U.S. version of PayPal.
Use a valid email that isn’t already associated with a PayPal account.
When signing up, put in your real street address and credit card info, as you normally would.
You’ll need to choose a zip code and find the U.S. city that is associated with it. The full process is below.

Your Canadian postal code needs to converted to a zip code. To do this, remove all the letters from it. For example, a postal code of M4B 1G7 is changed to 417. Next, to make it valid, add zeros to the end so it’s five digits. So, your new zip code should look something like this: 41700.

Keep in mind the zip code you got from the above process must be real for it to work. To verify if it’s valid, go to the USPS website and enter it. If it’s invalid, replace one of the zeros with a one. That should do the trick.

Finally, enter the U.S. city from the address found in the USPS link, along with your real street address. Now you should be able to complete the PayPal sign-up process.

3. Create a U.S. Gmail Account

This part is really simple!

Go to Gmail.com and click on the option to get a new account.
Make sure that you select the United States as your location.
Validate your account with your mobile phone number.

4. Change Your Location in Chrome

Although you’re now using a VPN to hide your location, Chrome can still spill the beans and reveal that you’re actually based on Canada.

The final step in hiding your whereabouts is editing the settings in Chrome’s location services.

Important: you’ll need to repeat these steps every time you launch your browser

Launch Google Chrome
Press ‘Ctrl,’ ‘Shift,’ ‘I’ to open Chrome’s backend framework on a PC. Mac users will want to hit ‘Command,’ ‘Option’ and ‘I.”
Click the icon made up of three little dots in the top corner of the new panel that just launched. Go to ‘More Tools,’ and then select ‘Sensors.’
You’ll now see an option called ‘Geolocation’ with a dropdown menu next to it. Select a location in the U.S. such as ‘San Francisco’ or ‘Mountain View.’
Great, now Chrome will think that you’re in the U.S.

5. Access Your YouTube TV Account

Whew, you’re nearly there. All you need to do is test that everything worked.

Go to the YouTube TV website.
Sign in with your U.S. Gmail account.
Choose to pay for the service with PayPal, then sign in the PayPal account you just created.
If all is good you should see a $1 charge and refund in your PayPal account (this is part of the validation process).

You Did It!

Congrats! You now have YouTube TV, just like the fortunate folks in the States.

As the process is pretty involved this guide is intended for PC and Mac users.

If you’re even more ambitious and tech savvy you can also get YouTube TV to work on Google Cast, Android, iOS, and Apple TV. To learn more about support for these platforms check out the guide on MobileSyrup (and scroll to the bottom of the article).

Why Brave Browser is Safe and Secure

Brave has been picking up a lot of steam lately.

The crypto community loves this browser. It’s being quickly adopted because Brave has cleverly integrated blockchain tech to create a totally new ad ecosystem. Both publishers and users are awarded with BAT (basic attention token). Also, underneath the hood its secret power is enhanced privacy.

For users of Chrome, this new browser isn’t much of a change in terms of use. Brave could be described as a privacy-hardened version of Chrome. After all, it’s built on top of Chromium, Google’s open source browser project.

So, Brave has killer privacy features (as explored in a previous article here). But is Brave Browser safe? Is it secure? Let’s jump into it!

Brave Browser Safety

Although not a household name like Google, Brave Software’s leadership has a history of achievement and trustworthiness.

Brave’s CEO Brendan Eich invented JavaScript, a programming language that is ubiquitous on the web. Also, he was a co-founder of Mozilla before moving on to Brave. So, Firefox, another popular and reputable browser is also associated with Eich.

It’s said that past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.

Studies have proven that people trust their private data with Mozilla more than Google. This is expected as user privacy is a part of Mozilla’s core philosophy. Brave Software was born from the same ideals as Mozilla, so in time Brave browser is likely to gain at least the same high-level of trust.

Success and Trust Go Hand-in-Hand

Software won’t remain safe and secure without the dedication and talent of great developers. And clearly, it’s only possible to gain and hold on to talent when adoption of that software is healthy.

Before Brave came to the scene, those seeking an alternative to Chrome flocked to Firefox.

At its peak nearly half of all web users used Firefox. And it is still more popular than Edge, Safari or Opera according to browser use statistics. Due to the good track record of Firefox, Brave has a real shot at challenging Chrome’s dominance.

Rooted in Chromium

Rather than building a totally new browser and reinventing the wheel, Brave Software took an already great browser and made it their own. Brave is essentially Chromium with added features most people want built-in, and intrusions on privacy taken out.

Google built the codebase of Chromium initially, and as an open-source project, developers all over the globe continue to improve it.

There are two main factors that contribute to the safety of Brave.

First, Google is one of the best software companies in the world right now. That means the code was built from the ground up by top-notch developers. Second, due to the open-source nature of the project there are a lot of eyeballs on the code. This means security issues can be quickly spotted and patched by the community.

Brave Security

With a new update around every 42 days, Chrome is the industry leader in browser security. Inevitably every browser is judged against this gold standard.

And Brave isn’t far behind, which is impressive for a new, growing browser. A new version of Brave is released every 8 to 9 weeks.

The frequency of updates is about what you’d expect from Firefox. So, if you’re a Firefox user, you’ll feel right at home.

The Verdict

Although Brave is new and many still haven’t heard of it there’s no reason to shy away from using it.

As you likely came here questioning if Brave is safe, the fact Brave Software’s CEO was also the force behind Firefox should put your mind to rest.

Mozilla and now Brave Software provide an alternative to browser offerings by tech behemoths like as Microsoft, Apple and Google.

Those seeking the best privacy possible have a good reason to look beyond the obvious choices. Protecting your privacy and turning a profit are currently at odds with one another in the industry.

Download Brave browser here. To add to what you’ve learned, read more about Brave’s privacy benefits.

5 Hacks to Speed up Streaming

A lot more people are streaming movies today than a year or even a few months ago.

The mass migration from traditional formats to services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video has brought us the gift of convenience but also technical hurdles.

As much as streaming is becoming the way to go, one can only enjoy the experience when they stream without pausing, re-buffering, and other interruptions. Thus, there are two major categories of persons that stream movies: those that enjoy the best speeds and those that struggle with getting decent speed when they stream. This article highlights hacks one can implement to move from the latter category to the former category.

Fix plugins: Current browsers are equipped with plugins for a wide array of different purposes. As much as certain plugins can guarantee a higher streaming speed, other plugins can be a drag when one streams. Here’s how to balance the good and bad effects of plugins.

Plugins still have a cost to performance when not in use. When a plugin is inactive but installed, it could affect the user’s streaming speed. Thus, it is important to uninstall all plugins that are not in use as they can negatively affect streaming speed.

Plugins are best when updated. Thus, to achieve high-speed streaming, it is essential to update plugins. Different bugs are typically fixed with the updated versions of plugins, and this ensures smooth streaming as well as less crashes and time-outs.

Clear caches and temporary files: When a person visits a web page, a lot of activities occur behind the scenes to enable the user to view that page. Such activities include the downloading of temporary files. These files are typically deleted by the browser when the web pages are closed before one exits the browser or shuts down the device in the case of a computer.

However, in some cases, one does not close the web pages properly before exiting the browser, and the files which would have been automatically deleted by the browser are stored. The buildup of these files reduces browser performance, which includes streaming tasks. Thus, to ensure the best streaming speed, one must delete temporary files and clear the browser history. That way, the browser activity is not unnecessarily reduced.

Switch from Wi-Fi to Ethernet: As much as Wi-Fi is the go-to Internet connection for streaming movies, slow or spotty Wi-Fi can cause streaming issues. With Wi-Fi, one makes wireless connections to their router, and this wireless connection does not offer as much speed as is available on the router to the user. When the wireless connection is swapped for a wired connection such as with Ethernet cable, a user gets the best speeds possible. Let’s say one uses a 10Mb/s router. With a wireless connection to that router, they may receive about 50% of that speed. A wired connection such as with Ethernet cables gives the user at least 70% of the speed of the router. So, all you may need to do is to switch Wi-Fi for Ethernet cables. Your device will get better speeds when you make that switch.

Turn off auto-update features: The different operating systems on devices, from Android to Windows, offer auto-update options. With this option enabled, newer versions of applications are downloaded as soon as they are available with special consent from the user. Thus, when the auto-update feature is turned on, apps could check for updates or update in the background when one engages in other activities such as streaming. This background activity can impair streaming performance.

To stream high-quality videos, it is thus advisable to turn off the auto-update feature. Alternatively, one can check for updates regularly and download updated versions of the apps at the most convenient time.

Reduce device load: This hack is somewhat applicable to other settings. The more individuals that share a resource, the lesser the quantity and quality of the resource each participant will get. Here’s how this “principle” is related to the quality of movies one streams. When many devices are connected to a router, the streaming speed reduces because of the device load. For faster streaming, it is advisable to reduce the device load on a router. So if you’re experiencing issues with streaming, make sure others in the home aren’t using the internet heavily at the same time.

Finally, everyone deserves to stream high-quality videos, and with these hacks, you’re sure to enjoy a better movie-watching experience.

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Photo: PresidenciaRD