The latest version of Chrome can stop annoying videos from autoplaying, Facebook has fired an employee that bragged about access to private info, and Amazon makes a bid to buy a majority stake in its biggest competition in India.
 |
 |
 |
From Reddit – Chrome users should be happy – Google’s latest update to the browser now blocks videos from autoplaying with sound. This is great news for those of us who open a ton of browsers and then have to go on a manhunt to find the tab that is playing some autoplay video with sound. In addition, Google says that Chrome will slowly learn your preferences and remember which websites that you prefer to listen to videos with sound. That means that when you click to watch a YouTube video for instance, Chrome won’t automatically block sound because you have watched and listened to videos on YouTube in the past.
From Reddit – A Facebook employee was fired from the social media giant after bragging on Tinder about his access to private user information. In a screenshot posted to Twitter, the employee in question wrote about being a ‘professional stalker’ searching for hackers before adding that the woman he was speaking too was hard to find. Facebook investigated these claims, and has since fired said employee, with Facebook’s chief security officer adding that access to sensitive data is logged and the company has automated systems in place to prevent things like this from happening. That may be good and all, but if this is the mentality of some Facebook employees, we may be looking at a necessary culture change.
And from LinkedIn – Amazon has made a formal bid to buy 60 per cent of an India e-commerce company called Flipkart for $12 billion. This could make India the latest battleground for Amazon and Walmart, as last month it was reported that Walmart was close to buying a majority stake in Flipkart as well. Needless to say, this could make things complicated as sources told reuters that Walmart is still in talks for what could be its largest acquisition to date. The online sales market in India is expected to be worth $200 billion a year within a decade, so don’t expect this to be the last we’ll hear about this ongoing conflict.
That’s what’s trending this week. Hashtag Trending is produced by the ITWC Podcast Network. If you enjoy Hashtag Trending, please be sure to give us a rating and a review on Amazon, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever else you get your podcasts from.
And if you’re craving more of our content, check out the rest of the ITWC Podcast Network, home to our other podcasts Tech in Sports and Cybersecurity Today.