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DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine that’s been online since 2008. Find websites, maps, videos, news, and more—without tracking your searches and serving you targetted ads. Here’s how to make the switch from Google, Bing, or any other search engine. Most Browsers Already Include DuckDuckGo as a Search Option DuckDuckGo has been gaining ground for over a decade, finally breaking through to the “mainstream” in September of 2014 when Apple offered it as a default search engine option in Safari for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite. Later, in November of the same year, Mozilla added it to Firefox 33.1. RELATED: What Is DuckDuckGo? Meet the Google Alternative for Privacy Since then, almost every major browser has recognized DuckDuckGo by making it an optional default search engine. This includes Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera. Google Chrome Launch Chrome, click on the “three dots” menu icon in the top-right corner of the window, and click “Settings.” … [Read more...] about How to Switch to DuckDuckGo, a Private Search Engine

What does it mean when someone comments “ITT” on a message board, and what exactly is a thread? We’ll answer all your questions about this online forum acronym here. ITT: In This Thread ITT is an initialism that stands for “in this thread.” It’s typically used on online forums, social networking sites, and message boards to describe or suggest a topic to be discussed in a particular thread. If you’re unfamiliar with message boards, this might be the first time you’ve heard of an internet “thread.” It’s a string of messages from various people on the same topic. Each message is viewable by a community, and they’re often replying or referring to each other. Every thread is started by an “OP” or “original poster. Threads are also present on social networks, like Twitter and Facebook. A highly popular website that uses threads is Reddit, where the comment section under each post is a thread. RELATED: How to Make a Twitter Thread The Origins of ITT ITT has likely … [Read more...] about What Does “ITT” Mean, and How Do You Use It?

If you’ve ever made small talk with someone on the internet, you’ve likely come across the initialism “HBU.” We’ll explain what this internet slang term means, and how you use it in conversation. How About You? HBU stands for “how about you?” or “how ’bout you?” People often use this phrase as a follow-up when asked how they’re doing. After all, it’s common in a conversation to share some information about yourself, and then ask about the other person, as well. For example, if someone asks how you’re doing, you might reply: “I’m ok, hbu?” This initialism is most commonly used in text messaging. It’s expressed in both lower- and uppercase letters, although you’ll see it more frequently in all lowercase (hbu). It can also be used when chatting with a large group of people. However, a plural noun is normally added when addressing more than one person, like “hbu guys” or “hbu everyone.” The Origin of HBU Like other acronyms, HBU became popular in early online chatrooms … [Read more...] about What Does “HBU” Mean, and How Do You Use It?

Microsoft Teams does a great job of informing you about new messages and other activity, but it can get a bit overwhelming if you’re in lots of teams. Here’s how to turn off or customize Microsoft Teams notification. Teams will provide notifications about chats, meetings, direct messages, mentions, other people’s status, and even when someone you know joins your team. It will do this by adding a number to the Teams icon on the taskbar, making that same icon flash, playing a noise, and popping up a banner notification in the bottom-left corner of your screen. And if you miss any of that, it will send you a missed activity email. If you work somewhere that uses Microsoft Teams a lot, this can become a barrage of alerts that constantly interrupt you with information that you don’t need to know. Getting pulled out of your focused zone by an alert telling you that Geoff from Accounts has just come online is really not helpful or productive. You should decide what’s worthy of … [Read more...] about How to Configure Microsoft Teams Notifications

People use VPNs to protect their privacy from hackers, ISPs, and data thieves. But do VPNs themselves collect your browsing data and sell it to third parties? Here’s what you need to know. Here’s the main point: You’re placing an immense amount of trust in the VPN provider you use. Choose carefully! Do you trust your VPN provider more than your internet service provider? VPNs Can Track You, and They Might The main selling point of using Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs , is to protect your privacy. They prevent attacks from malicious hackers, stop your internet service provider (ISP) from peeking at your traffic, and mask your information to websites that may collect your personal data. While these claims are generally true, there is one party that you should still be cautious about: the VPN companies themselves. Before we get into how a VPN may track your browsing data, we’ll explain how a VPN works . A VPN essentially routes your internet connection, provided by … [Read more...] about Do VPN Companies Track Your Browsing Data?

DuckDuckGo is a search engine that respects your privacy by not selling your search history or tracking you across the web. It also has a few nifty features, including bangs, which let you search other websites right from DuckDuckGo. Here’s how. What Is a Bang? A bang, or !bang, as it is commonly known, is a term you can include with your DuckDuckGo search to limit your results to a particular website or service. The name comes from an old UNIX term for an exclamation point, which is used to invoke the feature in searches. For example, if you are searching the web with DuckDuckGo and you want to limit your results to How-To Geek, you can include “!howtogeek” with your search term. Searching for “windows 10 !howtogeek” will perform a search for “windows 10” using How-To Geek’s own search engine. There are bangs for all sorts of websites, from mainstream search engines like Google (!g) to personal accounts like Gmail (!gmail). You can crunch sums or level questions at Wolfram … [Read more...] about How to Use Bangs in DuckDuckGo (to Search Other Websites)