Author: Martin Brinkmann

When I was young, I studied German, History and English at Essen University in Germany. I worked in computer support for several years at the time to help other computer users when they ran into issues. Writing started out as a passion project, as I wanted to help more users and not just the ones that I handled in support. This lead to the founding of Ghacks Technology News in 2005. First, as a side-project, but shortly thereafter as a full-time project as the site's popularity exploded. I sold Ghacks to Softonic some years ago, but stayed on as Editor. You can still read my articles on the site. I do publish on Betanews as well. In recent years, I started to write and publish technology books, including my latest book "Windows 11 From Beginner to Advanced", which is available on Amazon. I'm also a freelance writer for the German publisher Gamestar. Chipp.in is my newest project. I want to use it to talk about my book projects, sell my books directly, and write about technology, as this is what interests me.
YouTube Experience Interruptions

Is Google delaying videos on YouTube for users with ad blockers?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Watching videos on YouTube is the favorite pastime of many Internet users. Those without YouTube Premium have to sit through ads before they get to see the video that they clicked on. The main way around this is to use an ad blocker.

Good ones block video ads on YouTube so that the actual video plays right away. Google is constantly tweaking and adjusting things on YouTube to make ad blockers less effective.

From displaying banners to users with ad blockers that they have to turn off the content blocker to watch the video to manipulation.

Reports emerged this month that Google may delay videos on YouTube for users of ad blockers. There is this thread on Reddit talking about the change and also one at the Brave forum.

All describe that Google may display “Experiencing interruptions?” in the lower left corner of the browser window on YouTube, if an ad blocker is used.

This delays the initial playback of the video by seconds, up to ten according to reports. Quick test in Brave confirmed that YouTube showed these on some videos that I tried to play. The delay was not as large, maybe a second or two for all the videos that showed the notification.

The issue is not limited to a single browser or a single content blocker. Brave is affected, as is uBlock Origin in Firefox. Updates seem to have fixed the issue for some time, but the issue seems to have reappeared.

There is not really a fix for that at the time of writing. If you are affected, you may have to wait until the filter lists get updated or the issue resolved in another way. Still, even with the delay added, it is not as bad has having to sit through the video ads that YouTube displays when you turn off your ad blocker.

The only other solution that I can think of is to download the videos instead and watch them this way.

Now You: do you watch videos on YouTube? Did you notice the delay in the past couple of weeks?

Chrome

Windows 11 blocking Google Chrome? A security feature may be responsible

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Reports about problems to run Google Chrome on Windows started to emerge in early June 2025 on the official Chrome forum. Users claimed that they could not run the Google browser anymore on their Windows devices. Chrome would not start or close itself immediately after start; attempts to fix the issue, e.g., by uninstalling and reinstalling the browser, were unsuccessful reportedly.

The issue affects Chrome on Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices according to the reports. While Microsoft has not published an official response to the claims yet, Google did.

A Google community manager confirmed the issue on the official support forum. According to the notice, Google’s support team investigated the issue and discovered that Microsoft Family Safety was responsible for the unintended behavior.

Microsoft Family Safety is a parental control software. Chrome may not start if the child safety software is enabled on the device.

Google provided a suggestion on resolving the issue. The company said that unblocking Chrome in Microsoft Family Safety would resolve it and allow affected users to run the browser again on the Windows machine.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Open the Microsoft Family Safety website, or the mobile app.
  2. Select the affected child.
  3. Go to Windows tabs > Apps & Games.
  4. Unblock Chrome there.

Chrome should run again on the Windows devices after the changes have been made. Note that a parent or legal guardian needs to make the change, as minors do not have access to the administrative options.

Microsoft did provide the same solution to Windows users who reported the issue to the company’s support team.

It is unclear why the parental controls software started to block Google Chrome for some Windows users. Microsoft has not confirmed the issue officially. It is likely caused by a false positive or a bug, one that has the pleasant side-effect of pushing Chrome users to other browsers, for instance Microsoft’s own, Microsoft Edge.

Gog’s PC Games Summer Sale 2025 offers big discounts for thousands of games

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

As you may know, I prefer to buy my PC games on Gog. While I do not buy that many anymore, due to a lack of time mostly, I sometimes have the desire to replay a classic game or try a new independent game that I heard about.

Gog holds sales year round, but the Summer Sale is always one of the largest. A good opportunity to purchase one or two games that have been sitting on my wishlist for some time.

Gog says that the Summer Sale 2025 offers over 8,000 deals with discounts of up to 95 percent. Here is the main link to the sale. It is probably a good idea to use the excellent filters on the left side of the page to reduce the 161 pages of games that are on sale.

You can, for example, hide DLC and extra listings, set a price range, or pick genres, features, or tags.

As always, here are some of my suggestions:

Into the Breach

One of my all-time favorites. A turn-based strategy game with lots of variety, short but intense levels, lots of replayability, and fun.

You control three units and are tasked with defending cities and the earth population against an alien threat. Each of your units, mechs mostly, have different unique abilities, that can be expanded as they gain levels and new equipment.

FTL: Advanced Edition

Faster Than Light plays in space. It is a strategy game that gives you command of a ship and a diverse crew of aliens. You can upgrade the ship, encounter enemies and wondrous things. It is randomized and rogue-lite, and if you do not mind the graphics, one of the best experiences you can have while playing a game.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered

The remastered edition of the 1993 sequel to Maniac Mansion. It is a classic adventure game by LucasArts that has lots of humor. Unlike Maniac Mansion, which asked you to pick three characters out of a selection, you always play the same three characters in the game.

Your task is to prevent that an evil mutated purple tentacle is taking over the world. Involves time traveling, lots of fun.

Now You: have another pick? Let me know in the comments below.

Did Microsoft just announce PC-Xbox consoles?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft confirmed today that Xbox is not dead. In fact, the company announced Xbox consoles, a partnership with AMD, and what sounded like support for PC gaming stores and games on the next Xbox devices.

Xbox-chief Sarah Bond made the announcement in a video on YouTube. It is just a minute in total playtime and while short, includes some major announcements.

But first, here is the video.

The big announcements are the following ones.

About the partnership with AMD, multiple Xbox consoles, and a potential Xbox handheld:

I’m thrilled to share we’ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices including our next-generation Xbox consoles, in your living room, and in your hands.

Xbox will support multiple stores. The mention of Windows is a strong hint at support for Windows gaming stores such as Steam.

[..] delivering you an Xbox experience not locked to a single store or tied to one device. hat’s why we’re working closely with the Windows team, to ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming.

Xbox will include AI features and will be backwards compatible.

Together with AMD we’re advancing the state of art in gaming silicon to deliver the next generation of graphics innovation to unlock a deeper level of visual quality and immersive gameplay and player experiences enhanced with the power of AI, all while maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games.

Closing Words

Microsoft will release new Xbox consoles in the near future, likely around the same time that Sony will release its PS6 (console and handheld) to the public. It is too early to tell if the next Xbox will indeed support PC games.

Now You: do you play games at all on consoles or the PC? Would you buy an Xbox console or handheld that can play PC games?

Vanderplanki

Email Backup Software Vanderplanki 3 adds Microsoft Email support

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Do you create backups of your email accounts? A popular solution for that is MailStore Home, which is free and cross-platform. The original founder of MailStore Home has created Vanderplanki, which serves the same purpose.

Vanderplanki can backup email accounts so that you may read messages offline, search across accounts, and more. It lacked some of the advanced features of MailStore Home up until now, namely support for Microsoft email accounts, such as Outlook or Microsoft 365.

The new release, Vanderplanki 3, adds the support. The release notes confirm the addition of support for Outlook.com mailboxes, including Hotmail, Live, and MSN, and support for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Exchange Online accounts.

The feature removes one of the main shortcomings of the email backup solution. Now, with Microsoft email support, it is capable of backing up emails from all major providers.

The new release adds another useful feature. The app fills out configurations for most major IMAP email providers automatically. This improves the process further.

There is still one downside to Vanderplanki at the time of writing. The software is only available in German. In fact, you may be blocked from downloading it, if you do not come from a German-speaking region. It is probably only a matter of time before other interface languages will be supported.

Now You: Do you back up your email accounts regularly? If so, how do you do it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

WhatsApp: Ads in status, promoted channels, and channel subscriptions on their way

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Meta-owned WhatsApp announced new features for the messaging service’s updates tab designed to “help” WhatsApp users find more channels and businesses on the messaging platform.

All three features are added to the tab updates in WhatsApp. They are:

  • Channel subscriptions – WhatsApp users may support channels by subscribing to them for a monthly fee. May also receive exclusive updates as part of the subscription.
  • Promoted channels – Allows channel owners to increase the visibility of their channel through promotions. Pay Meta for that privilege.
  • Ads in Status: Businesses may promote content in their Status.

The primary purpose of these changes is to increase monetization on the platform and thus Meta’s revenue. Channel owners may pay Meta to increase the visibility of their channels. They may then get some recurring revenue going through subscriptions, of which Meta will likely also get its share. Ads in status are also likely not for free, which means that channel owners pay Meta for the privilege of displaying ads there.

Good news for WhatsApp users who do not use updates: if you do not access updates, you do not see the changes.

When you access updates right now, you see the subscribed channels and status updates. With the update, that is not going to change, but you may see other content under updates when you open it in the future.

Privacy remains top priority, says WhatsApp

WhatsApp says that privacy remains a top priority for the service. Means, messages, calls, and status are end-to-end encrypted, so that they remain accessible only to the user and the user’s contacts.

To show relevant ads, WhatsApp is using “limited info”, including the user’s country or city, language, followed channels, and interactions with advertisement on the platform. Furthermore, users who have added WhatsApp to Accounts Center will also have their ad preferences and info used from across their Meta accounts.

To be fair, this approach to advertising appears fairer than the tracker-based advertising that is the norm on today’s Internet, if true.

Now You: do you use WhatsApp at all? What about the Updates tab? Or do you prefer an alternative? Let me know in the comments below.

Where is AI getting its content from when many publishers stop publishing?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mainstream AI tools rely on large sets of data that they are trained on. This data, often websites, posts, comments and the like, has been created by humans (for the most part).

Reports suggest that part of the Web population is shifting towards using AI first for any of their tasks and there are good reasons (and some not so good ones) for that.

On the positive side, it is dead simple. You get an answer right away and do not have to wade through different websites in the hope that they offer the answer. Links are provided to verify the claims. And this works reasonably well for many requests.

The downside to this is that AI is still hallucinating. In plain terms, AI may return information that is inaccurate, plain wrong, or created out of thin air. That is bad, especially if the information could end up in disaster. My bet is that most users are unaware of this and take information at face value. It is also changing how the Web is used.

The consequences are severe for website publishers who rely on ads, at least those who do not have the pull to sell their data to AI companies. Traffic will drop. Google is pushing AI overviews, and this leads to less visits. Google says that this is not the case, that searchers click on links in AI overviews, but this appears exaggerated.

In the next couple of years, websites will receive less and less traffic from search. All search engines move to AI content and the reason is simple: this keeps users on their site. Means, they get to keep all the ad Dollar.

Google just introduced its AI into Chrome Canary. This too will keep users inside Chrome and Google’s vast network of services.

Granted, some sites will not be affected by this. If you offer a service that AI can’t replicate, you are likely golden. Think of downloads, streaming media, good journalism, user interactions, games and more.

The traditional newspaper or blog will have a hard time, unless it is very special. Other services, too. Think of all those flight and hotel booking sites. Agentic AI might do that directly in the browser or on a website, no need to go through dozens of sites yourself.

Yes, aggregators like Booking or Trip exist already, but AI can replicate that without issues.

Many will stop publishing or be pulled from the Internet entirely. Less traffic means less ad Dollar means less money for paying writers, hosting and administration. It is a downward spiral.

AI won’t know that certain “things” exist

But this also means less content that AI can vacuum up. If no one writes about a certain topic anymore, AI won’t know about it. It will be as if it does not exist at all.

So, when the last independent games review site shuts down, AI may not have any info about the latest games anymore. Yes, this is a bit exaggerated, as there may be reviews on Reddit or other community sites.

Still, less content means less nuanced information about a topic.

Closing Words

If you operate a website, unless you are a big corpo with AI deals already, then you might want to search for different monetization options. Reliance on ads may not cut it anymore in the future. Expect more sites to go subscription-based. Some might ask for donations. Fatigue will kick in and money can only be spend once on something.

Again, I may be a bit too pessimistic about the outlook, but the Web as we know it is changing dramatically.

Now You: what is your take on AI taking over the world and destroying the Internet as we know it? Let me know in the comment section below.

Firefox 139.0.4 fixes a freeze and security issues

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla released a new version of its open source Firefox web browser today. Firefox 139.0.4 is a point update that addresses security issues and bugs in the browser.

The update is already live. Most Firefox installations should receive it automatically, but you can speed up the installation by going to Menu > Help > About Firefox.

The security fixes

Firefox 139.0.4 fixes two security issues in the browser. Both have a severity rating of high, which is second only to critical. Mozilla does not mention any exploits in the wild, which is good.

One issue fixes memory corruption in canvas surfaces, the other an Integer overflow in OrderedHashTable. You can check them out here if you want to take a look by yourself.

The non-security fixes

Mozilla lists four non-security issues on the official release notes website.

The big fix in the release addresses freezes in Firefox. Mozilla notes that these could happen when switching between apps or when certain panels were opened within the browser.

The linked bug reports reveal additional details. One report started that Firefox froze when the uBlock Origin icon or other icons were opened. A second report claimed that Firefox would freeze and crash when Alt-Tab was used on Windows while a full-screen game was being played.

The second and third bug fix address various selection issues in the web browser. Mozilla notes that one fix addressed an issue that made the selection of drop-down menu items when using the in-page search difficult. Another addressed selection issues when triple-clicking text “in some situations”.

The final bug addresses a filename issue. Firefox used an incorrect filename when an image is set as the desktop wallpaper on Windows.

Closing Words

Firefox users may want to update to the new browser version immediately to fix the security issues and prevent hypothetical attacks against them. Those affected by the non-security bugs may also want to update asap.

Now You: when do you update your browsers? Immediately after a patch is released or do you wait and see first? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Reddit

Reddit is rolling out options to hide posts and comments on your profile page

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Reddit users will soon have an option to keep their interactions on the social site private. The company is rolling out a new feature that enables users to hide posts and comments that they made on the site on their profile page.

Currently, all posts and comments show up when the page is opened. Anyone who opens the link to the profile, which always begins with https://www.reddit.com/user/ followed by the username, sees all posts and comments by that user in chronological order.

Some content on the page, including saved posts on Reddit or votes, are kept private.

Reddit users have the following options going forward:

  • Hide all posts and comments.
  • Hide posts and comments selectively per community.
  • Show all posts and comments (default).

Furthermore, there will be additional options. Users who interact with NSFW (Not Safe For Work) content on Reddit may block this content from showing up in their profile directly. Also, the follower count can be hidden as well.

This may look like a small change for Reddit users who do not post to the site. Those who do know that their profiles are in the open and so is their entire post and commenting history.

Giving users an option to lock this down is appreciated, as it blocks potential abuse, e.g., creation of profiles or harassment. It may be especially useful to users who interact with SFW (Safe For Work) and NSFW content on the site, and do not want the SFW crowd to know about their NSFW side, or the other way round.

Now You: do you have a Reddit account? What is your take on the direction the site is heading to since its IPO? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Gog One-click Mod: easy installation of hand-picked mods

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

PC Gaming platform Gog just announced a new addition to its ever-growing arsenal of tools and options for PC gamers. Called Gog One-Click Mod, it integrates the installation of curated mods into the platform.

Mods are modifications. These can range from tiny changes, like a modified outfit for a character or a fix for an annoying issue, to full conversions or entire new games. Some can even restore content that game developers did not add in the final product but included on the game media.

Not all games support modifications, but those that do, usually fare better long-term. The main reason for that is that mods often add new content to games, be it new levels or entire campaigns.

Gog’s new feature promises the simplest most convenient installation experience. All it takes is a single-click to install the supported mods.

The classic installation process of many mods is not straightforward. It depends on the game, but it is sometimes necessary to tinker with game files or copy files to specific directories to install a mod.

Here is what is available right now:

  • Doom 3: Phobos
  • Fallout: London One-Click Edition
  • Enderal: Forgotten Stories
  • The Chronicles of Myrtana: Archolos
  • Heroes of Might and Magic III: Horn of the Abyss
  • Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines – Unofficial Patch
  • The Elder Scrolls: Skyblivion (soon)

Gog created a video that demos the functionality:

Some of the most popular computer games of all time started out as mods. Valve Software, maker of Steam, is notorious for that. The company’s games Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2 and Dota 2 all started out as mods.

Gog is my go-to PC gaming store. While it does not have all the latest games, due to its anti-DRM stance, it offers a good selection of mostly classic computer games. The addition of this feature adds more content to the platform, which is a good move.

It already covers games like Fallout and Heroes of Might and Magic, which I own and love. Gog needs to expand this quickly to cover more games and make this a truly unique feature.

Now You: do you play games and / or mods? What is your take on this new feature of Gog? Feel free to leave a comment down below.