Meta’s attempt to appease consumer rights organizations in Europe continues to draw sharp criticism from consumer protection groups. The company introduced a pay-or-consent policy on its main platforms as a response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. The policy gives users of its platforms two options: give Meta consent for advertising and tracking, or…
Author: Martin Brinkmann
Like Clockwork, Netflix is rising prices again
Years ago, I predicted that streaming companies would raise subscription prices regularly, maybe even yearly. Today, news broke that Netflix is raising the price of subscriptions again. The details: Here is the new price structure in the United States: This is the first price increase since October 2023, when Netflix increase the price of Premium…
Firefox 134.0.2 is here with a few non-security corrections
Mozilla plans to release a second point update for Firefox 134 later today. Firefox 134.0.2 is another non-security update that addresses a few pressing problems in the browser that had to be fixed early. Most Firefox installations will be upgraded automatically once the update is released. As this does not happen in real-time, some users…
Google Needs to Strengthen Ad Security After Latest Malvertising Incident
A recent incident has shown another security vulnerability in Google’s advertising platform: advertisers can display URLs of legitimate websites in their ads while redirecting clicks to malicious destinations. This deceptive practice has recently been exploited in a concerning incident. Here is what happened. The popular macOS package manager Homebrew became the target of cybercriminals in…
Here is how you find out if you can subscribe to YouTube Premium Lite
YouTube Premium, Google’s subscription-based plan for its video streaming service YouTube, is either quite expensive or a great deal, depending on who you ask. If you are just after getting rid of ads on YouTube, it is quite expensive in the eyes of many. One reason is that Google added YouTube Music to the subscription….
Microsoft starts automatic (forced) upgrade to Windows 11, version 24H2
If you still run an earlier version of Windows 11 on a PC that meets the minimum system requirements, then you may have the latest version of Windows 11 installed automatically on your PC. Microsoft says that Windows 11, version 24H2 has reached a new stage of distribution. Previous stages required manual interaction with Windows…
Linux Mint 22.1 is available with a big list of changes
A new version of the Linux distribution Linux Mint is now available. Linux Mint 22.1 is a long term service release that will be supported until 2029. Downloads are already available on the official website and various mirror servers. As always, Linux 22.1 is available in three editions: Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE. Cinnamon is the…
Microsoft to end support for Microsoft 365 apps on Windows 10 on October 14, 2025
Microsoft plans to end support for its Windows 10 operating system on October 14, 2025. Its advice to customers is simple: upgrade the PC or buy a new one to run a supported operating system. While Microsoft is offering a support extension for the very first time for home users, it is only a one-year…
Firefox 134.0.1 fixes a crash and an issue on YouTube
Mozilla plans to release a point update for Firefox 134 later today. Firefox 134.0.1 is a small non-security update that addresses three main issues. The details: Firefox 134.0.1: the fixes The big fix of this update is the crash fix. A bug prevented some Firefox Stable users from upgrading the browser to the recently released…
Winget Tips to get the most out of the Windows software manager
Winget is a software manager that Microsoft integrated into its Windows operating system years ago. It is a command line utility that you can use to find, install, uninstall, or update many Windows applications. Tip: there is WingetUI, which is a third-party application that adds a user interface to winget. Great if you prefer this…