50% off on Hotspot Shield Elite VPN

Public WiFi hotspots are great, but did you know that you are the prime target for hackers in public WiFi networks if you are not equipped with the right safety tools? With the cyber crime rates on the rise, it is better to take the extra precaution to keep your personal information safe from predators, who are looking to intercept your connection to steal your identity. Don't let this happen to you.

I've had my share of identity theft and I can tell you it's the most annoying thing you'll have to go through to clean that up. I knew for a fact that I didn't sign up for another Netflix account when I already had one and that I was right here in San Francisco when my credit card bill showed that I just had lunch in Texas. Hey, if I could be in two places at once or travel through a time capsule, that would be so magical, but we all know that those things are impossible. And that is why I bring you this deal today, just in time for you to finish your holiday shopping.

Rated 4.5 stars by CNET, Hotspot Shield Elite VPN (virtual private network) is a must have utility if you are connecting to public WiFi hotspots. It provides you with a cloud-based protection against malicious, infected and phishing websites, so you can shop and browse worry-free. In addition, if you are traveling to countries, where certain websites or content are blocked or censored, you can now access them without a problem.

Check out why HSS Elite VPN is a must-have:

• Secure your web session, data, online shopping, and personal information with HTTPS encryption.
• Protect yourself from identity theft, and malicious, phishing or infected websites.
• Access all content privately without censorship; bypass firewalls.
• Protect yourself from hackers at Wi-Fi hotspots: hotels, airports and coffee shops<./li>
• Works on both PC and Mac, including the latest operating systems (Windows 8 and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion)

Normally priced at $29.95, HotSpot Shield Elite VPN is 50% off for 48 hours only, exclusively on CNET Download.com. There are limited copies available, so grab a copy today. Offer expires at 11:59pm PT on Friday, December 21, 2012.

Facebook Message Test Lets Strangers Put Notes In Your Inbox For Cash

Facebook sure is a different company now that it's on the stock exchange. Now that it's a for-profit entity with stockholders, the company has completely changed course, and it's having a serious impact on user experience. News feeds are now loaded with ads, and even video ads could be en route. But ads are a fact of life for the media business. That said, the company's newest trial may cross more than a few lines. A recent blog post from Facebook notes that it's trying out a new messaging option for a select few in the U.S.


Right now, Facebook users have an Inbox and an Others box, two places where Facebook "emails" are filtered into. As of today, Facebook is "starting a small experiment to test the usefulness of economic signals to determine relevance. This test will give a small number of people the option to pay to have a message routed to the Inbox rather than the Other folder of a recipient that they are not connected with." In other words, advertisers, companies and total strangers will be able to pay an undisclosed amount to slip a message into your Inbox -- without your permission and without you even having to have them connected as a friend. Yikes.

Facebook is playing this up as a way for common people to have more direct access to strangers they may see at a convention, or hiring managers looking for folks who are super dedicated. But on the surface, it sure feels creepy. Digital communications have largely been a level playing field up until this. You can email someone regardless of your wealth or status, and there's no way for people with excess cash to get at the top of your inbox. But with this new tactic, that's changing.

This message routing feature is only for personal messages between individuals in the U.S. In this test, the number of messages a person can have routed from their Other folder to their Inbox will be limited to a maximum of one per week. Still, Facebook promises to evolve the service as the test plows on, so don't be shocked if you start getting notes in your Inbox from people or companies you don't even know.