Connectivity
Why streaming slows in the evening
Between roughly seven and eleven in the evening, everyone in the neighbourhood is online at once.
The internet, explained
SecurityAccounts, privacy and the scams that target themConnectivityHome networks, speed, routers and the last milePlatformsAccounts, moderation, data exports and appealsMoney onlinePayments, wallets, crypto and the fine printGamingDownloads, latency, streaming and cloud playGamblingHow licensed betting sites work, and what they do not tell you
Security
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Security
How long account recovery takes
Account recovery is a queue, not a conversation. When you cannot pass the normal sign-in checks and submit a recovery request instead…
Security
How to check a breach email
The National Cyber Security Centre says an email offering to help after a data breach can be independently verified by matching the message directly to the company’s…
Security
Locked out of your authenticator app
Losing the phone that holds your authenticator app does not mean losing the accounts behind it — but the way back depends entirely on what you set up before it happened.
Connectivity
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Connectivity
Fast line, still buffering
A speed test reports the biggest number your line can produce for a few seconds with nothing else running.
Connectivity
Is Wi-Fi 7 worth it
Wi-Fi 7 is the current generation of home wireless, and its headline gains — wider channels, the 6 GHz band, and the ability to use two bands at once…
Connectivity
Mesh or a Wi-Fi extender
One weak room and a tight budget point to an extender. Several weak rooms, or a weak room where the speed also collapses, point to a mesh system…
Platforms
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Platforms
Getting your data out in time
Shutdown notices follow a pattern. An announcement, a date when new use stops, a longer date when accounts close…
Platforms
How to appeal a restricted account
A restricted account is not a conversation with a person. It is the output of an automated system, and the appeal goes back into the same system.
Platforms
How to download your account data
Every large platform now has a self-service export: a way to ask for a copy of what your account contains and receive it as a download.
Money online
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Money online
An unfamiliar charge on your statement
Most unrecognised charges are not fraud. They are a legal entity you have never heard of, a subscription you forgot, or a fee attached to a purchase you do remember.
Money online
Chargeback or refund
A refund and a chargeback end the same way — the money comes back — but they are different processes with different costs.
Money online
E-wallet or prepaid voucher
Both put money online without giving a shop your card details, and there the similarity ends.
Gaming
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Gaming
The ping cloud gaming needs
Cloud gaming is unusual among internet services: it needs very little bandwidth and is ruined by very small delays.
Gaming
When a download stops at 99 percent
A download that sits at 99 percent is usually not downloading at all. The transfer finished; what the progress bar is now hiding is the work that comes afterwards…
Gaming
Can maths beat roulette
Albert Einstein allegedly once stated: "No one can win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier is looking away."
Gambling
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Gambling
How self-exclusion actually works
Self-exclusion is a request that a gambling business refuse to serve you for a fixed period.
Gambling
Why a betting withdrawal is pending
A withdrawal marked pending has not been refused. It is waiting in a queue that has three stages — the operator's own review, the payment provider, and your bank…
Gambling
Are fast online lotteries safe
Instant lotteries have gained specific popularity with the advent of online gaming . In fact, many players attempting online lottery in India like this variant…
Elsewhere
Outside references we keep on the gambling beat: Michigan casino reviews, svenska online casinon, danske-casinoer.com, Casino-Game.co.za.