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.

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.

Microsoft publishes PowerShell script to recreate the Inetpub folder on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When Microsoft released the April 2025 security updates for Windows, users and administrators started to notice that the update created an empty folder called inetpub on the Windows drive.

Microsoft did not reveal any information about the mysterious folder in first place. This folder was linked to Internet Information Services in the past, but it was created even on systems that never had the feature installed.

It took a few days before Microsoft revealed why it created the folder. According to Microsoft, it was for increased protections. Users should not delete the folder under any circumstances.

Problem was, many did already as Microsoft did not mention any of that in the first days after releasing the update.

A new PowerShell script is now available that will recreate the inetpub folder along with all of its permissions.

Just run Install-Script -Name Set-InetpubFolderAcl in an elevated PowerShell terminal window. It has the following effect:

  • If inetpub directory does not exist, it gets created and default IIS permissions are applied to the directory.
  • If an empty inetpub directory exists, the default IIS permissions are applied to the directory.
  • If inetpub directory exists and only contains the sub-directory DeviceHealthAttestation, default IIS permissions are applied to both directories.
  • If inetpub directory exists and contains any other sub-directories, the script exits without making any changes.

So, if you do not have the inetpub folder anymore, you may run the script to restore it. (via Deskmodder)

Thunderbird Pro and Thundermail details emerge

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The team behind the open source email client Thunderbird has revealed information about Thunderbird Pro and Thundermail.

Thunderbird Pro is an upcoming subscription-based service that adds features to Thunderbird. It won’t take anything away from current Thunderbird, but adds new features, namely Appointment management, Send and Assist.

Also, Thundermail is a web-based email service that will work similarly to how Google handles Gmail, but more privacy-friendly.

You can check out the hour-long YouTube video to see extensive demos of the integrated features.

Here is what I think about the development. As long as the devs do not cut features from the free version of Thunderbird just to push the Pro version, I’m fine with it. In fact, it is a good idea to diversify revenue to ensure continued development of the free and commercial versions of Thunderbird and the included services.

While I do not have much use for the Pro features, I can see them being useful to some users. In fact, some users might even switch to Thunderbird just because of these or the new web-based email service.

A missing puzzle piece is the iOS version of Thunderbird, which will be released in the future. This extends the service’s reach significantly, as it will support all major desktop and mobile operating systems for the first time since its launch decades ago.

Now You: what is your take on that? Would you subscribe to Thunderbird Pro or Thundermail? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

New AI Tool creates dossiers of users based on YouTube comments

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Many sites support comments. You can leave a comment under videos, articles, or in forums to add your take on something, add something that you think is missing, or, most likely, to correct the original author.

Using public comments or posts is not a new invention. In fact, it goes all the way back to the beginning days of the Internet.

Now, with the rise of new AI tools and capabilities, come tools that take this to a new level.

A report by 404 Media (paywalled) offers insights into YouTube-Tools, a new paid service that uses AI to create reports about any commenter on YouTube. The service is available for $20 per month according to the report.

Subscribers may then point the tool to the comment of any YouTuber on the site to order a detailed report about that user. The AI tool analyses the comment and other posts on the site to reveal information about the geographic location, political leanings or spoken languages.

The developer of the tool notes that it has access to a database containing information about 1.4 billion YouTube users and over 20 billion comments. While the total number of comments on YouTube is not public knowledge, YouTube has almost double the number of users according to 404 Media.

Regardless, advancements in AI pave the way for a new breed of tools that will be used for tracking and the invasion of privacy.

Internet users should be careful when they leave comments, messages or posts that are publicly accessible, especially when that comment might reveal something about them that they would not want to be linked back to them.

Google fixes a 0-day exploit in its Chrome browser that is exploited in the wild

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google released a new security update for its Chrome web browser that fixes three security issues, including one that is exploited in the wild.

The security issue affects the desktop versions of Google Chrome and the Android version. Desktop users may select Menu > Help > About Google Chrome to install the security update immediately. Google says that it may take days or even weeks before updates may be installed automatically on systems running Google Chrome.

Google reveals basic information about two of the three vulnerabilities. The vulnerability that is exploited in the wild is CVE-2025-5419. It is an out of bounds read and write vulnerability in Chrome’s JavaScript engine that is rated high.

Google reveals that it mitigated the issue on May 28th already. It released a configuration change on the day that it “pushed out to Stable across all Chrome platforms”. Many systems running Chrome should have received the update on that day or the following days already.

Google confirmed that the security issue is exploited in the wild, but did not reveal additional information at the time. The scope of the attack and the attack vector are unknown because of this. Google limits access to security information, including information about patched security issues, to avoid giving malware groups and developers additional hints about the issue.

Chrome users may display the current version of the web browser by loading chrome://settings/help on desktop systems. Google displays on the page if Chrome is up to date.

Chrome 137 Security update

The following versions should be displayed after installation of the update.

  • Chrome for Windows or Mac: 137.0.7151.68 or 137.0.7151.69
  • Chrome for Linux: 137.0.7151.68
  • Chrome for Android: 137.0.7151.72

Android users can’t speed up the installation of the update.

Now You: do you use Chrome or have the browser installed? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

YouTube Premium Duo

YouTube Premium Duo: YouTube for two launches in select regions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

After announcing that YouTube Premium Lite will soon get worse with the addition of advertisement in YouTube Shorts, Google has launched another new YouTube plan.

Called YouTube Premium Duo, it is a plan for two users. Unlike the Lite plan, which includes some ads and limitations, Premium Duo offers the same functionality as the single Premium plan and YouTube Premium Family.

Price-wise, it fits right between the two as well. Subscribers in France, for example, pay 12.99 Euro per month for a single user subscription, 23.99 Euro per month for a up-to-5-users family subscription, and now 19.99 Euro per month for a two user subscription. So, seven Euro more than a single user subscription and four Euro less than a family subscription. That is about 17.50 US-Dollar converted.

YouTube Premium Duo has the same limitation as Premium Family regarding invites. Up to one household member can be invited to use YouTube Premium next to the subscriber. Google notes in the terms that all users need to have the same address and need to join a family group.

According to this post on Reddit, YouTube Premium Duo launched in just four countries and regions: Hong Kong, France, India, and Taiwan.

Here is the price of the Duo subscription in the other regions:

  • Hong Kong: 128 Honk Kong Dollar (about 16.30 US-Dollar)
  • India: 219 Indian Rupee (about 2.60 US-Dollar)
  • Taiwan: 299 Taiwan Dollar (about 10 US-Dollar)

So, for who is the new Duo plan? Couples that watch YouTube individually on different devices? Apartments shared by two? Single parents with a child old enough to watch YouTube with an account?

Now You: what is your take on all the YouTube Premium plans? Are you subscribed to one already? Let me know in the comment section below.

More ads for YouTube Premium Lite subscribers incoming

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

YouTube users who have enough of the seemingly ever-increasing bombardment with ads on the site have two official options to deal with it. Subscribe to YouTube Premium, which costs more than a Netflix subscription per month, or pick YouTube Premium Lite, if available.

YouTube Premium Lite is less expensive, at about $8 per month. For that, subscribers get less ads on YouTube. Up until now, that meant no ads in most videos. The notable exceptions were music videos and while searching for or browsing videos on the site.

Google is sending out emails to YouTube Premium Lite subscribers currently that informs them about a notable change coming to their subscription.

From June 30th, 2025 onward, subscribers will also see ads when they watch YouTube Shorts on the platform. Shorts are shorter videos that resemble videos on TikToks, Instagram and other mobile platforms.

Most videos on YouTube remain ad-free, however, according to Google’s email.

Closing Words

More ads for YouTube Premium Lite subscribers makes the plan even less attractive than it is right now. While it may not change much for many subscribers, as Shorts are a love or hate kind of type of videos, it still reduces the attractiveness of the subscription.

Subscribers may cancel at any time. Some might go back to watching YouTube with content blockers instead. It is free, and it improves privacy and security.

Google and other providers continue to test their limits. Years ago, when you paid a service for an ad-free experience, that usually meant entirely ad-free. Now, more and more services continue to charge you for a subscription and still show you ads. YouTube Premium Lite, Netflix, Disney+ and many more have introduced plans that do just that.

Now You: what is your take on all of this? Do you have a YouTube Premium subscription or another subscription that still shows ads to you when you access content?

Captain Commando

Play classic Capcom games like Street Fighter II, Magic Sword, or Ghosts’n Goblins for free

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Even if you did not grow up during the Nintendo SNES and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive era, you have likely heard about classic games like Street Fighter that revolutionized video games at the time.

Some game series get new releases regularly still, others have remained classics. Many of them are playable as virtual games on consoles and even on Steam, or, if you prefer to sail the seven seas, via emulation.

Capcom, one of the great game developers of the time, created a new arcade website to celebrate its 40th birthday. There you can play a few classic Capcom games for free, directly in the browser.

Games are available in Japanese or English, and some even support multiplayer. Here is an overview of the games that you can play there currently:

  • Street Fighter II The world Warrior (Japanese and English)
  • Street Fighter 2010 (Japanese and English)
  • Magic Sword (Japanese and English)
  • Rockman 2 (Japanese and English,)
  • Captain Commando (Japanese and English)
  • Ghosts’n Goblins (Japanese and English)

Each game comes with a short description, its manual, and even a photo of the original module for the game console it was released on. The games support joypads that you connect to your PC or device, which is useful, as keyboard controls are rather fiddly.

More games, but only with a trick

The selection of games includes a few classics, but it is rather weak, considering that Capcom has created many more games.

If you open a snapshot of the Capcom Town website on the Internet Archive, you are greeted with more games. Highlights include Final Fight 1 and 2, Breath of Fire I and II, Super Ghouls’N Ghosts, or Mega Man X.

Many of the games are all-time classics, some of them hard to find, if you want to buy them for the original consoles or virtual systems.

Now you: what is your take on this? Do you play classic or modern games from time to time? Feel free to leave a comment down below.