explorer

It's official, users will soon be able to surf the Web on their Xbox 360. Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer browser will be included with a new update to the Xbox 360 dashboard. The update will come with the release of Windows 8 on October 26.

"Starting today Internet Explorer will begin being rolled out on Xbox LIVE and will be available to Xbox LIVE Gold members," Internet Explorer's General Manager Ryan Gavin wrote in a blog post today. "IE on Xbox enables you to view content on the web on your TV … Read more

If you stick with your software's default settings, you're letting the programs' vendors determine how much security is right for your system. Those vendors have their best interests in mind, not yours.

As I pointed out in last week's post titled "Ten simple, common-sense security tips," PC security doesn't have to be complicated. However, not all important PC security measures are easy to implement. Follow these less-than-intuitive steps to block Flash cookies, lock down your browser, and test your Facebook profile's privacy.

Note that not everyone needs the level of protection offered by … Read more

The Do Not Track proposal seems to be causing confusion and frustration among some W3C members charged with approving it.

Once ratified, the DNT policy would require advertisers and other third parties to turn off tracking for Internet users whose browser settings specifically restrict it.

The push for DNT has already created a chasm between advertisers, who naturally want the policy to be as lean as possible, and privacy advocates, who want tough standards.

Browser makers have also been caught in the furor. Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer already include DNT settings. But Microsoft has caused waves by … Read more

Contre Jour may look like little more than a high-gloss version of Cut the Rope, but that sheen goes a long way. Last year, it earned top honors from Apple itself in 10 countries across Asia and Europe, and starting today you can play Contre Jour on the Web for free for the first time.

It appears to faithfully replicate its gameplay from the iPad, right down to the multi-touch controls required to advance in the third chapter. But while the game is pretty to look at and fun to play, it's a showcase -- like Google's Cirque du Soleil experiment … Read more

Columbus Day has attracted its share of detractors in recent years among indigenous peoples' groups and others. That's not to mention the widening recognition that Christopher Columbus ended up in the Americas through some remarkably bad navigational skills and then set about conquering its people through slavery, disease, and other little bits of nastiness.

Suburban St. Louis business owner Karl Frank Jr. has always had similar sentiments. While taking in media reports on the death of Neil Armstrong that compared the shy moonwalker to Columbus, Frank says a light bulb went off. He contacted a few nerdy friends and soon a petition was drafted to re-dedicate Columbus Day as "Exploration Day." … Read more

An unmanned cargo ship loaded with spare parts, science equipment, and crew supplies -- including ice cream treats -- rocketed into orbit Sunday and set off after the International Space Station, kicking off a new era of commercial resupply flights intended to restore a U.S. supply chain that was crippled by the shuttle's retirement.

The Dragon capsule and its Falcon 9 rocket, both built by Space Exploration Technologies, took off with a rush of fiery exhaust at 8:35:07 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), quickly climbing away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.… Read more

If you've been watching the occasional sporting event lately, you might have seen -- and even enjoyed -- the IE9 ad that seems to have been around for a little while.

You must know the one: willfully dynamic, pulsatingly powerful, it reveals all the wonderful reviews that this fine browser has enjoyed.

And yet you'd guess that someone would come along and, as they say in England, take the piss.

So here is a version of the IE9 ad, complete with the original music -- Alex Clare's "Too Close" -- that suggests the browser might cause a furrowed brow. … Read more

There are so many easy ways to download streaming media these days that we find absolutely no reason to bother with a program that's the least bit complicated. For that reason, we recommend that users who want to download video and music from streaming sites (where that's permitted, of course) look for something other than Faster Downloader to do it with. This unintuitive program left us scratching our head and wondering why the creators had so needlessly complicated what should be a simple process.

Faster Downloader boasts that it's "fully integrated" with Firefox and Internet … Read more

Last week's notice by researchers at Security Explorations of an unpatched hole in the Java runtime environment may have left you wondering whether to disable Java until Oracle releases a patch. CNET's Topher Kessler noted in his report on the Java flaw that no malware exploiting the vulnerability has yet been documented.

Which leads to the question, "Do I need Java?"

The best way to find out is to disable Java in your browser and re-enable it only if you encounter a site that prompts you to download Java before it will open. Then you can … Read more