Advertisements Masquerading as News and Spreading Misinformation

While some online advertising will expose you to a product or service that makes your life easier, advertising in the guise of internet news is not only insincere, but it can often lead to misinformation on important issues in its quest to sell you something that you don’t need. This kind of insincere journalism is not just a phenomenon of small, sensationalist outlets, but the some of the largest broadcasters in cyberspace. Sometimes a small “Sponsored” tag, hidden near an article’s headline, is all that can warn you of the piece’s ulterior motives.

Take, for example, a centerpiece from “Smart Web User” that aired on Microsoft Edge’s default home page towards the end of November, right next to breaking news about a plane crash that killed 76 people and the weather. It is a fabrication that insinuates that identity theft is something of a recent phenomenon and particularly concerning to those who own PCs that are over 6 months old, and that the best way to combat this trend, indeed the avenue recommended by “experts,” is to purchase ScanGuard, a piece of security software fighting for a place in a competitive market. Do this or you might as well stop using the internet, as the article’s banner suggests: “1 Shocking Reason Not To Use The Internet Today.” This is a prime example of a narrative skewed to sell bloatware: software that is unnecessary for most and will only slow down the machine that it’s installed on. In reality, identity theft is not a new issue, and the best defense against it is education. We have protocols that use free software to combat the malware that collects the information used to steal your identity. So be weary of such “news.”

msn-homepage-ad

Data Connections

Please contact us for proposals on business grade fibre and midband data links.  We can offer solutions from just about any provider (ISP) in Sydney


Read More...

References

In an attempt to give back to the open source community, here are a list of links that were used during the construction on the Supportedge website. Useful HTML links HTML assistance: http://www.w3.org/ W3C markup validator: http://validator.w3.org/ Menu Our Menu was built with assistance from here: http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/site-elements/orman-clarks-vertical-navigation-menu-the-css3-version/ WordPress essentials: Responsive Theme: https://cyberchimps.com WordPress Codex: http://codex.wordpress.org/ For further information regarding our website’s construction please contact us


Read More...

Managed Service Agreements

No Technology Strategy? It’s Costing You Money. Everything in your business revolves around the performance of your IT. IT is the backbone on which businesses succeed, so a managed service agreement supplied by an MSP with experience is key to the success of your business, helping to streamline your IT and keep your business running efficiently for a flat cost every week. Established in 2000, Supportedge have 19 years’ experience protecting and maximising clients systems for performance. Our help desk is in Sydney and based at our St Leonards office. We also have a local presence in Cambelltown and Bankstown. Do you have doubts about your current service agreement or no service agreement at all? Are you getting what you pay for with your IT support? Call 02 8007 2930 or you can upload your current service agreement below if you have one, or just send us your contact details right now to get started on a free review. There’s no risk to you, worst case is we will be able to reassure you that you’re getting a great deal from your current provider or will be able to offer more services for less. We lower your costs with pro-active [&hellip


Read More...