The Microsoft company has officially announced that it will not enable the “Do Not Track” (aka DNT) header by default any longer in its new, next-generation internet web browser called Spartan, This decision is a big reversal for the tech industry conglomerate, and it weathered some substantial criticism from a number of industry groups after it made the decision to enable DNT by default in Internet Explorer 10 and in Windows 8.

Microsoft has blamed this change directly on the Worldwide Web Consortium. This latest version of DNT standard says that the signal that is sent has to reflect the preference of the user, and not the choice of a vendor, a site, an institution, or any network-imposed mechanism that is outside of that user’s control. This equally applies to the general preference as well as the exceptions. The basic principle is a tracking preference expression is transmitted only when it is reflecting a choice deliberately made by the user.

The issue with this is that there’s an overwhelming user majority in each and every context that never even change the default web browser setting. This is the idealistic reason why Microsoft had enabled DNT by default, and that’s also why putting the standard back into neutral will also mean that the majority of individuals will most likely never even use it.

The bigger issue currently at hand is that the DNT standard has literally been “watered down” to a point that is almost entirely useless. Most of the larger companies completely ignore the header and the whole point of DNT was that it was supposed to be a voluntary buy-in, and/or a collaboration between advertising companies and privacy advocates facilitated through the Worldwide Web Consortium (aka W3C) itself. Some of these debated proposals could have very sharply limited small advertising firms’ and/or businesses’ abilities to track user information, all while carving out huge exceptions for Facebook and Google simultaneously.

Latest TV searches:

Before the internet was created there was TV. Television was the social media back in the 1930’s all the way up to the 1990’s and generations have had certain attachments to it and the TV shows and movies it broadcast. Social behaviour and social interaction was mostly about TV as opposed to the ancient social interaction was mostly about religions, gods, wars and the bloody spectacle of the Roman Gladiators.

At least now our taste for entertainment is just pretence, a make-believe of some sorts but I must say is far more entertaining than the gruesome past. Aside from reading interesting blog posts, seeing all the nice images along with them and tons of freebies and special offers; the internet allows you to stream movies at will (or as long as the movie is available to view that is).

Until now, there has not been a “cyber-stalk your friends” app for the Windows Phone. That is all about to change, however. Microsoft is currently working on a new friend-tracking app that it called People Sense. The codename for the app while it is under development is Buddy Aware.

Microsoft’s new app will tie Windows Phones messaging features and Bing Maps together. It will also offer its users real-time updates on the current location of their friends. The app will also let you pull up the actual directions to wherever your friend is and either call or message them and tell them you’re on your way to their location.

The earliest peek at the design of the app shows that it captures both the look and the style of Windows phone. It starts off with a map and it shows the location of all your friends around a given area. Then, when you search for a particular contact, it gives you the quick facts: It lets you know where your friend is, when they were last seen (this includes an approximation on the distance and it caps out at “far away”), and what their present status is. You are able to either message or call your friend via the small icons located at the bottom of the app, or you can tap the car icon to receive directions to the exact location of your friend.

The specific release date of this new and innovative Microsoft app is not yet known. It is also unknown whether it will only be specifically for Windows Phones or if Microsoft will release PC and/or tablet versions for the Windows OS.

The VideoLAN VLC media player is getting a major update. This past Friday, the VideoLAN organization released an update for its popular open source VLC media player, which introduces a number of new features.

VLC media player version 2.2.0 for the desktop has been given the codename of WeatherWax, and it is now available for Windows, Mac and Linux. It will be offering features such as the ability to rotate vertical videos that have been taken from smartphones automatically and it will also be able to resume playback of your videos from wherever you left off.

This latest version of the VLC media player also greatly improves support for Ultra HD video codecs and it offers new compatibility with a vast number of unusual codecs. More new features include a new hardware accelerator mechanism on some platforms and an in-app extensions downloader to the desktop.

This update is not just a desktop-centered release. The VideoLAN organization also released key upgrades across all of the platforms that the software is available for. It even adds support for Windows Phone, Android TV, and Windows RT. This is actually the first time ever that VideoLAN has launched a coordinated release across all of its platforms.

The VLC development teams updated the OS X platform interface for Yosemite compatibility, and on the Android platform, most of the user interface was rewritten to match with the new Material Design standards of Google. This is the very first non-beta release on the Android platform as well as the first time that the iOS application has been made available in the Apple App Store since last September, when it was pulled.

The VLC development teams are now looking forward to the next big release, which will be the VLC 3.0.0. It is slated for release later on in the year. The VLC version 3.0.0 will offer features like hardware decoding and acceleration on more platforms, as well as better support for mp4 and “partial” Chromecast integration.

BitTorrent may be making an effort to become a more legitimate company. Later this year, BitTorrent is planning to start offering its own series of original movies which it calls “BitTorrent Originals.” Apparently, the company is looking to enter into the content entertainment industry.

BitTorrent is teaming up with Rapid Eye Studios to create original video content for the company’s BitTorrent Bundle platform it launched back in May of 2013. The platform is lets the artists control the distribution of their content. Company officials claim that over 10,000 publishers have joined the BitTorrent Bundle platform since its official launch.

The deal between the two companies gives exclusive video content usage of the BitTorrent Originals that are debuted on the Bundle platform to BitTorrent for up to 60 days. Afterwards, the content is permitted to be ran through any other distribution channel.

A movie called “Children of the Machine” is the initial content project under this original video distribution deal. The agreement ties both BitTorrent and Rapid Eye Studios to a system where they identify, produce, and distribute original video content specifically for the BitTorrent Bundle platform. The company plans to provide complete support of marketing for every original video in its network. Rapid Eye Studios percentage of the sales will be 90%.

The CEO of BitTorrent, Eric Klinker, feels that teaming up with Rapid Eye Studios is a huge milestone for the company and it also signifies BitTorrent’s aggressive extension into the media arena.

The first project under this original video distribution agreement is the movie Children of the Machine. BitTorrent will announce more BitTorrent Originals titles in upcoming months.

BitTorrent is expecting to launch its first original content project, “Children of the Machine,” on BitTorrent Bundle later this year, towards the end of the year. The content will be being offered for free, although it will be advertiser-supported. BitTorrent is planning eight 1-hour episodes for the first season of the project. The content will be reaching somewhere between 60 to 80 million viewers across the globe.

BitTorrent Originals content’s targeted audience consists of viewers between the ages of 14 to 25. According to officials from the BitTorrent company, this is the demographic that makes up the majority of its user base.

The company’s plans include 2 related products to the offering of its first-run movie. One of these products is a premium version of the original series for $9.95. The other product is a video game version of “Children of the Machine” to be both launched and distributed via the BitTorrent Bundle platform.The company’s strategy is mostly based on reinventing itself and becoming more appealing to younger consumers– primarily those who may not know about the past exploits of the company.

BitTorrent created file transfer protocols for its peer-to-peer file-sharing which is used in the distribution of huge amounts of data via the web. Over the past 2 years, BitTorrent has become a much more trusted and valid channel for both creators and publishers, in order to be able to directly reach a worldwide audience. Klinker claims that the company’s extension into the original content arena will make BitTorrent an even more serious participant in the media business.

This new model of business for BitTorrent brings it another step closer to reaching its primary goal, which is to create a sustainable digital future for all types of creators. Klinker also claims that BitTorrent’s larger audience of more than 170 million active monthly users give it an advantage over other original content distributors like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime.