Newsletter Archives

• Which Web browser is the most secure for 2025?

  Posted on April 28, 2025 at 02:44 CDT by B. Livingston • Comment in the Forums

  PUBLIC DEFENDER

  

  By Brian Livingston

  With all the malware threats we face on the Internet these days, running an antivirus program is a must. But your browser can help, too, warning you about shady websites and preventing your browsing history from being tracked by corporations or governments.

  I most recently wrote about protecting yourself while Web surfing in my AskWoody column titled Browsers with the best security and privacy in 2021.

  Much has changed since that time. We need to question whatever our old choice of browsers may have been and update our knowledge with the latest ratings by security experts.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (22.17.0, 2025-04-28).

  Public Defender Brave, Chrome, Edge, Epic, FreeNet, Newsletters, Opera, Puffin, Safari, Security, TOR, Vivaldi, Waterfox, Web Browsers

• Using the Opera browser? Here’s something you need to consider

  Posted on January 17, 2020 at 06:36 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  I knew that Opera was having problems — but not these kinds of problems.

  Per Steve Symington at the Motley Fool:

  Shares of Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA) were down 17.4% as of 3:30 p.m. EST on Thursday as the software company fell into the crosshairs of a noted short-seller. In a new report published this morning, ominously named short-selling firm Hindenburg Research argued that Opera should be trading closer to $2.60 per share — a 70% discount from Wednesday’s close at around $9.  For perspective, Opera shares had already fallen nearly 25% from the company’s initial public offering in July 2018 at $12 per share — a price Hindenburg Research says was largely justified by the since-scuttled growth prospects for Opera’s web browser.

  No, I don’t know Hindenburg research, and I have no insight to their allegations. But this just strains my imagination:

  With its browser business in decline, cash flow deteriorating (and balance sheet cash finding its way into management’s hands…more on this later), Opera has decided to embark on a dramatic business pivot: predatory short-term lending in Africa and Asia.

  If you’re relying on Opera, you’d be well advise to find another pony.

  Thx, @SimonZerafa.

  Other Opera

• New third party program updates

  Posted on January 27, 2016 at 14:28 CST by woody • Comment in the Forums

  Randy the Tech Professor has a list of the latest versions of important programs that you may be running:

  Chrome, Java, Opera, Foxit, Skype, Flash Player, Acrobat Reader.

  Here’s Randy’s listing.

  Other Acrobat Reader, Chrome, Flash Player, Foxit, Java, Opera, Skype