Aleksander Hougen

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For Good or Bad, Google AI Search Mode Is Here for US Users

2 weeks ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

This Google I/O ‘25 Keynote announcement comes roughly one year after Google announced the launch of its AI Overviews in 2024. Google began testing AI Mode with a small group of real-world users at the beginning of May 2025, replacing the “I’m feeling lucky” button and bringing AI Mode into AI overviews.
VPNSecure Cancels All Lifetime VPN Plans Amid Huge Backlash

3 weeks ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

Thousands of VPNSecure accounts were deactivated, with users being notified by an email that included a renewal offer. According to the email, VPNSecure’s current owner purchased the VPN two years ago in May 2023 and claims the previous owner didn’t disclose thousands of lifetime users. The new owners discovered these users a couple months after the purchase.
DOJ Proposes Selling Google Ad Empire, Trial Set for September

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

Daily VPN Speed TestsEvery VPN claims to be the fastest. Cloudwards reveals the truth with daily speed data on top VPNs, covering download, upload, and latency in the U.S. and abroad.VPN Speed TestsCloud Storage Performance Report 2024Discover the latest findings from Cloudwards’ annual cloud storage performance analysis.Download PDFFastest Online Backup ServicesDetailed speed comparison of all major online backup providers.See ResultsThe Fastest Cloud Storage ServicesSee Results
GenAI Causes Cyber Security Fears Among Experts

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Aleksander Hougen |Jackie Leavitt

A recent paper published last month by researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) found that AI-generated code has a significant tendency to hallucinate package libraries that do not exist. Analyzing over 500,000 code samples generated by 16 different AI models, the study concludes that at least 5.2% of package dependencies in code generated by commercial AI models are complete hallucinations — meaning they don’t exist. This number shoots up to 21.7% for open-source models.
OpenAI Rolls Out 'Shopping Features' for ChatGPT

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Aleksander Hougen |Jackie Leavitt

Daily VPN Speed TestsEvery VPN claims to be the fastest. Cloudwards reveals the truth with daily speed data on top VPNs, covering download, upload, and latency in the U.S. and abroad.VPN Speed TestsCloud Storage Performance Report 2024Discover the latest findings from Cloudwards’ annual cloud storage performance analysis.Download PDFFastest Online Backup ServicesDetailed speed comparison of all major online backup providers.See ResultsThe Fastest Cloud Storage ServicesSee Results
ChatGPT Photo Geolocation Raises Privacy and Safety Concerns

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

At first, the “geoguess this” game seems fun, with many people online testing it and finding it performs very well to geolocate image locations within cities, by landmarks or even businesses or restaurants, using only subtle visual clues, even with image metadata stripped out. However, this ability can raise significant privacy issues, especially with cyberstalking or doxxing. As an example, a Japanese influencer was stabbed to death on March 11, 2025, while livestreaming in Tokyo.
Google Loses Ad Tech Monopoly Trial, Plans to Appeal

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

NewsGoogle Loses Ad Tech Monopoly Trial, Plans to Appeal The court found that Google intentionally engaged in anti-competitive monopolistic behavior — forcing customers to use its publisher ad server (DFP) and its ad exchange (AdX) — which restricted fair advertising competition.
How to Clean Up Your Digital Footprint

1 month ago | cloudwards.net | Jackie Leavitt |Aleksander Hougen

In recent weeks, there has been increased scrutiny at U.S. borders, with reports of some travelers being denied entry for suspicious activities — such as circuitous flight routes to their end destination — or even allegedly for having digital evidence of being critical about the Trump administration.
ProtectEU Security Strategy Raises Concerns Over Encryption

2 months ago | cloudwards.net | Aleksander Hougen |Jackie Leavitt

Daily VPN Speed TestsEvery VPN claims to be the fastest. Cloudwards reveals the truth with daily speed data on top VPNs, covering download, upload, and latency in the U.S. and abroad.VPN Speed TestsCloud Storage Performance Report 2024Discover the latest findings from Cloudwards’ annual cloud storage performance analysis.Download PDFFastest Online Backup ServicesDetailed speed comparison of all major online backup providers.See ResultsThe Fastest Cloud Storage ServicesSee Results
TikTok Ban Postponed As Sale Deadline Pushed Back Again

2 months ago | cloudwards.net | Aleksander Hougen |Jackie Leavitt

With the original deadline extension only a few hours from expiring, President Donald Trump on Friday issued another 75-day extension to the order for TikTok’s parent company ByteDance to sell the social media app or face a nationwide ban. This is the second time Trump has granted a stay of execution of sorts for the popular short form video platform.