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.

How to enable Compact Mode in Firefox

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla’s Firefox web browser supports two display densities by default. These determine the size of the toolbar and the elements that are displayed on it.

The two options are normal and touch. Normal is the default value, unless Firefox is used on a touch display.

Firefox supported a third for a very long time officially. Called compact, it reduced the size of the main toolbar to free up room for the display of websites in the browser.

While the mode is not shown anymore by default to users of the web browser, it is still available, albeit officially as “not supported”.

Still, if you are like me, you prefer your browser’s interface as tidy as possible to give website content more room.

Here is a step-by-step guide to enabling compact mode in the Firefox web browser.

Note: This works only in Firefox for the desktop. Also, since the feature is not supported officially, there is a theoretical chance that Mozilla is going to remove it at one time. The interface would revert to the default density in that case though.

Enable Compact Mode in Mozilla Firefox

Firefox Compact Mode

The first step enables the Compact Mode option in the interface, the second sets the interface to the mode.

  1. Load about:config in the address bar.
  2. Confirm the warning page to continue.
  3. Search for browser.compactmode.show.
  4. Click on the toggle icon to set the value of the preference to true.
  5. Select Menu > More Tools > Customize Toolbar.
  6. Locate the “Density” menu at the bottom and click on it to display its options.
  7. Choose “Compact (not supported)” from the available options.

Firefox changes the density of the toolbar and its elements immediately. The toolbar’s height should be a bit smaller than the height of the normal or touch toolbar.

Note that you may undo the change at any time starting at 5) above and switching to Normal or Touch under 7).

Now You: What is your preferred display mode? Smaller, with more space for websites and content, or larger?

About Alphonso: a technology that captures audio samples on mobile devices using the built-in microphone

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

For advertisers, it may seem like the perfect fit. Integrate a technology into mobile apps, games for the most part, that identifies ads playing on television to push similar ads on mobile, even if the mobile is not used actively.

News about such a system comes just days after LG announced the integration of AI into its televisions to determine the emotions and beliefs of viewers.

The startup Alphonso has apparently created the technology and it is already being used in hundreds of apps and games, some of which are available on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

It works by capturing audio samples using the device’s microphone. These are turned into hashes on the user’s device before they are submitted to a remote server. The hashes are checked against a database of hashes of television ad sound samples to find matches.

A report by The New York Times — you need an account to read it, or archive.is — has additional details.

  • Sound can be recorded even if the mobile phone is in a pocket or if the apps are running in the background.
  • Some of the apps are clearly aimed at children (Alphonso told the NYT that it did not approve of that).

Alphonso told the New York Times that the entire process is highlighted in the application’s description and in the privacy policy. Users need to accept these before the technology can start recording anything.

While technically correct, it is clear that many users do not read the description or privacy policy before hitting the install button in the mobile app stores.

The only way to prevent giving your okay to the recording of audio is to read the description and privacy policy carefully before hitting the install button. A search for Alphonoso may be the quickest option in this regard.

Report claims that Nvidia RTX 5000 video cards have a thermal design flaw

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

When Nvidia launched the initial batch of RTX 5000 video cards, it received praise for their performance but also complaints about the price. Reports from buyers appeared on various sites shortly thereafter claiming that the cards were getting incredibly hot.

An analysis by Igor’s Lab, a German site focusing on hardware tests, suggests that the excess heat does not come from the graphics processing unit itself but from local hotspots located on the back of the circuit board.

Here are the details:

  • Especially Nvidia RTX 5080, 5070 (Ti) and 5060 Ti appear to be affected.
  • Cards from Nvidia partners, such as MSI, Palit, or PNY are affected, but also cards from smaller manufacturers.
  • Temperatures may rise to 107 degree Celsius in hotspot areas.

The reviewer analyzed the design of the circuit and concluded that it is technically correct and functional. However, “the voltage converters, the vias between the VRM stages and the GPU pads as well as the current-carrying tracks in the circuit board are subject to considerable power losses at certain points, which can lead to temperatures without appropriate heat dissipation that have a lasting negative effect on material integrity and ageing behavior”.

Affected Nvidia cards share a similar layout, which suggests that the issue is not caused by manufacturing defects but by design according to the reviewer. Specifically, a “lack of coordination between the PCB and the cooler design”.

Quick modifications of affected cards resulted in a significant mitigation of hotspots through the installation of “additional thermal head solutions on the back using thermal pads or thermal putty”.

The analysis is well worth a read. If you do not speak German, you may use a translation service to translate the article into another language.

Yahoo is working on a web browser and eying a Chrome acquisition

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Yahoo, once an Internet powerhouse, is only a shadow of its former self. This is not keeping company officials from working on new products and services to restore some of the former glory of the company.

Yahoo, apparently has been working on a browser prototype for the past couple of months and expressed interest in acquiring Google Chrome in a “from zero to hero” type of scenario.

The information was revealed on the fourth day of Google’s antitrust trial. Yahoo is not the only company that expressed interest in acquiring Chrome. The AI companies OpenAI and Perplexity have also expressed interesting in buying the world’s most popular web browser.

General manager of Yahoo Search, Brian Provost, testified before the court that about 60 percent of all search queries were made through web browsers. Chrome, the leading browser on mobile and desktop, is responsible for the bulk of these searches.

On desktop, Google Chrome has a market share of over 66 percent according to Statcounter. Since Google owns Chrome and has made Google Search the default search engine, it is fair to say that the bulk of searches that originate from browsers is flowing through Google Search. Google has also struck deals with Apple and Mozilla to make its search engine the default.

While Yahoo is prototyping a browser, it is in discussions with “other companies about buying a browser”. Provost did not reveal the names of the companies. An acquisition would speed up the entire process.

Yahoo would replace the default browser with Yahoo Search to push its own search engine to new heights. Interestingly enough, Yahoo Search is powered by Microsoft’s Bing search engine. It still has a market share of about three percent.

Now You: If Google is forced to sell Chrome, which company would be your favorite to buy the browser?

Windows 11 is removing an option to bypass Microsoft account and internet during setup

Windows 11, version 25H2 will (likely) install quickly

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft has released two types of feature updates in the past. Those that require just a small enablement patch for the upgrade and those that require a lengthy installation as they make fundamental changes to the underlying system.

The current feature update, Windows 11, version 24H2, belongs to the latter category. Users who have bypassed Windows 11 requirements now that these can be difficult to install, as the installation via Windows Update is blocked in this case.

Good news is that the coming feature update, Windows 11, version 25H2, will likely fall into the first category. Means, it is installed via a small enablement package.

News comes from Windows enthusiast Xeno, who discovered that the new feature update is based on the same base as version 24H2. This is a strong indicator that Windows 11, version 25H2 will install nicely and quickly on the majority of devices.

Note that this is only the case for upgrades from Windows 11, version 24H2. If you upgrade an older version of Windows, say version 23H2, then you will have to go through the lengthy installation process.

Microsoft has not announced Windows 11, version 25H2 officially, but it is certain that it will be released later this year (likely a bit earlier than last year’s feature update due to the smaller nature of it).

Anyway, that is good news for Windows users who have bypassed system requirements. While methods continue to be available to bypass the requirement checks, it is easier to not be bothered by them at all.

It is highly unlikely that Microsoft is going to release Windows 12, or whatever the next version of Windows will be called, this year. It would be the perfect time to get more Windows 10 customers to buy new PCs with the new version of Windows, but hey, what do I know.

Now You: do you have any expectations for Windows 11, version 25H2?

LG TVs may soon use AI to determine your emotions and beliefs, and display better ads

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

What would you say if your smart TV uses artificial intelligence to analyze your emotions and beliefs, put you into certain groups, to display targeted ads to you?

Ads may be based on your viewing habits, what you watch, when you watch, what you search for and so on.

What sounds like something straight out of Minority Report is actually going to be integrated into certain LG TVs. The report comes from Stream TV Insider.

According to the report, LG is teaming up with Zenapse, a “focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and emotional intelligence to enhance marketing and customer experience (CX) optimization”.

The goal of the cooperation is to deliver ads that are more targeted by segmenting the audience with the help of AI and data. LG is integrating Zenapse’s technology into its Large Emotion Model (LEM) into its ad stack.

LEMs are created to understand “emotional and psychological drivers”. In this context, their purpose is to determine what viewers like and what resonates with them.

It is important to note that the technology analyzes the emotions of viewers indirectly, by analyzing the content that gets watched and consumption patterns.

So, if a viewer watches romantic comedies a lot, they might be more receptive to ads that play with emotions linked to romantic comedies.

But the platform goes beyond that. Ars Technica notes that viewers are categorized into very specific types, such as “social connectors”, “emotionally engaged planners”, or “goal-driven achievers”.

Companies that pay LG to display ads to viewers may tap into the data to show ads to highly specific groups of users only.

LG has not provided much details besides that. Can you turn the feature off? That is unclear. What you can do, however, is skip the connecting of the TV to the Internet. Without Internet, the TV won’t be able to do much.

Other options include using solutions such as AdGuard or DNS-based filters to weed out most of the advertisement before it lands on the TV.

What is your take on this? Are your TVs connected to the Internet? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

AI

Why you may not want to say “thank you” or “please” to AI

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

What is the proper etiquette when chatting with AIs? Do you say “thank you”, “please” or “see you next time”, or do you prefer the direct approach and avoid any form of politeness when communicating with AI tools?

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was recently asked about the electricity costs that these pleasantries would generate. According to him, processing these cost “tens of millions of dollars”.

If everyone would stop being nice to AI, at least in this regard, AI companies electricity bills would go down noticeably. While that has no immediate benefit to the user, it is at the very least beneficial to the environment.

Altman ended the answer with a joke, stating that the money was well spend as “you never know”, referring to the possibility of an AI uprising and the potential saving of people who have been nice to AI in the past.

You might say that AI causing havoc to bring doom to the human race might not be persuaded to let humans live based on their use of “please” or “thank you”, and you are probably correct here.

Where does this leave the statement? When you avoid please or thank you, you will help AI companies save power, which is beneficial to them, but also the environment, at least potentially.

TidyOS: little Windows System Tweaker for debloating

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Tweaking apps offer a user-friendly option to customize the Windows operating system. Most focus on the removal of apps, disabling certain features, or improving privacy.

While it is possible to apply any tweak manually, it is probably safe to say that the majority of Windows users prefers apps for the job.

TidyOS is an open source tweaker for Windows by Belim, the creator of too-many-apps to count (including ThisIsNot11). It is a well-designed application that is compatible with Windows 11.

Just run the 300 kilobytes app to get started. Windows may throw in a SmartScreen warning, but this is not something to be worried about.

The interface is streamlined. You find the three main groups customizing, debloating, and scripting there. Here is what they do:

  • Customizing is the bread and butter group. It includes dozens of tweaks to disable ads, improve privacy, or disable features that you may not need.
  • Debloating may be used to remove apps from the system, including many built-in apps that you may not require.
  • Scripting gives you advanced options, which are powered by scripts. You can use it to remove AI, create a System Restore point, or remove old Windows versions to free up space.

While the provided tweaks are not as extensive as that of WinAero Tweaker, they do cover major tweaks to deal with annoyance and remove apps or features that are unwanted by part of the userbase.

On the plus side, it is a tad easier to work with thanks to its streamlined interface. Most tweaks are self-explanatory, but you can toggle “feature insights” in the interface to switch to longer descriptions for each tweak that provide additional details.

The changes under customizing take effect immediately, e.g., when you select to remove Copilot or Search from the taskbar, that is done right away.

This is different under debloating and scripting. Here you need to become active, e.g., hit the “remove selected” button under debloating to remove the selected apps from the system.

TidyOS does not require elevation on start, but it may request elevation when you select an action that requires it.

Verdict

TidyOS is a well-designed tweaker for Windows 11 that is not as powerful as some of the others, but you may find easier to use because of that. All in all, it is a good app for users who do not require the massive level of tweaks that other tweakers offer.

Now You: do you use a tweaker for Windows? If so, which is your favorite and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below to join the discussion.

Tor Browser 14.5 brings Connection Assist feature to Android

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

The developers of the anonymizer Tor Browser have released a new version for all supported operating system. The big feature in this release is the introduction of Connection Assist on Android.

The feature, which has been available in Tor Browser for desktop operating systems for quite some time, aims to help users establish a connection to the Tor network if regular connection attempts do not work.

So, if connecting to Tor fails in the browser, for example when you try to connect from a country that blocks this, then Connection Assist kicks in. It uses so-called bridges to establish a connection. Bridges use different techniques to circumvent censorship.

Android users could use bridges previously, but it was not that comfortable to configure and use.

The new feature integrates the functionality seamlessly into the Android client, making it a much better experience for users who require these.

All users should benefit from “more stable and less error-prone connections” as well, according to the release announcement.

Tor Browser 14.5 includes support three new languages as well. These are Belarusian, Bulgarian, and Portuguese (Portugal) and available in the desktop and Android clients.

Tip: Languages can be set under Settings > General > Language and Appearance > Language on desktop or Settings > General > Language on Android.

Here are other noteworthy changes:

  • Tor logs on desktop have been “enhanced to aid readability”. Also, no longer necessary to close and reopen to refresh logs.
  • Quitting Tor Browser on Android does now a “thorough job of ending background processes and clearing recent tasks”.
  • Improvements to the Connection Assist logic in general.

Tor Browser 14.5 includes several known issues which you find listed on the official issues tracker. Make sure you pay the page a visit before upgrading or installing the new version of the web browser.

You can check out the full release notes here.

About “The ActiveX content in this file is blocked” messages in Microsoft Office

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft is changing how Microsoft 365 and Office 2024 handle documents with ActiveX content. Currently, Office displays a prompt that informs users that ActiveX content found in the document is disabled and that they may enable it.

Going forward, Office simply shows “The ActiveX content in this file is blocked” instead, with no option to enable it from the prompt directly. The notification includes a link that opens this support page.

Here are the highlights:

  • ActiveX controls are disabled by default going forward.
  • Users may not interact with existing elements or create new ones by default.
  • This change applies to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio.
  • Users may still enable ActiveX controls.

Microsoft recommends that Office users answer the three questions before they consider enabling ActiveX controls again:

  • Were you expecting to receive a file with ActiveX?
  • Are you being encouraged to change your ActiveX settings by someone you do not know?
  • Are you being encouraged to change your ActiveX settings by a pop-up message?

How to enable ActiveX Controls in Office again

Here are the required steps to enable the controls again. Please note that the change applies to all affected Office applications and all documents that you open in them. In other words, you cannot just enable ActiveX controls for a single document.

The workaround in this case would be to enable the controls and disable them again once you are done with the document in question.

To enable ActiveX Controls:

  • Select File in Office and then Options.
  • Switch to Trust Center.
  • Select the Trust Center Settings button.
  • Activate the ActiveX Settings option on the page.
  • Make sure “Prompt me before enabling all controls with minimal restrictions” is set on the page.
  • Select OK.
  • Select OK again.

Tip: if you never access documents with ActiveX Controls, set the preference to “Disable all controls without notification” instead.