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.

Using “last used” as a metric for software uninstallation on Windows

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Even careful Windows users may accumulate a good number of software programs over the years. Some of these are used daily or weekly, while others may sit idly on the hard drive for months or years without any use.

It is certainly possible to use a program just once every six months or once a year, but some of these may not be needed anymore. The old web browser that you no longer use, a program that you tried and forgot to remove, or a game that you no longer play.

While you can go through the list of programs manually, you may also use the “last used” metric to find these programs easily.

Windows 11’s own list in the Settings app under Apps > Installed apps shows the install date, but not last used date. For that, you need to look elsewhere.

Using Last-Used to find old installed programs

Wise Program Uninstaller is a free program for Windows that is a popular option when it comes to the removal of applications on Windows systems. It is compatible with Windows 11 and also older versions of Windows, down to Windows XP.

It needs a moment on first run to display the installed programs. Each ist listed with its name, size and installation date. Next to that is the last used metric.

Wise Program Uninstaller may display date ranges, such as “within 1 week”, “7 month(s) ago”, or “1 year ago” there.

The last used column in Wise Program Uninstaller

A click on the last used column header sorts the data accordingly. One click displays the programs that were not used for a long time at the top. Note that the information may be missing from some apps. This is the case, for instance, when they were never run.

All that is left now is to select one or multiple apps for removal. Hit the uninstall button in the program interface afterwards and keep the settings. A System Restore Point is created in that case and a leftover scan is run after the actual removal of the applications from the Windows PC.

Note: Wise Program Uninstaller uses the default uninstaller of the selected applications. You may need to interact with them to commence the removal. You may want to save all open work before you start using the app, as automatic restarts may happen, depending on the software that you remove.

Most unused programs are not problematic, apart from them using disk space. Removing them may still be beneficial, especially if your system is low on free disk space or will be in the future.

Do you keep a keen eye on the list of installed programs on your systems? What is the program that you have not used in a long time that is still on your PC’s hard drive? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Brave Browser gets support for injecting scripts into websites

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Remember userscripts? These little scripts are a useful alternative to browser extensions. They can be used for lots of things, most often for changing something on websites, like removing elements.

Brave Software announced support for scriplets in the company’s Brave Browser today. These work similarly to userscripts. Users of the browser may add scriptlets to Brave so that they run on selected sites automatically.

The new feature has landed in Brave 1.75, the current stable version of the browser.

Good to known: the process is fiddly right now. You need to enable developer mode, add the scriptlets yourself, and assign websites to these scriplets using custom filters.

Here is how it works in detail:

  1. Load the Content Filters section of the settings. The easiest option is to load this URL: brave://settings/shields/filters
  2. Toggle Developer Mode to turn it on.
  3. Activate the “add new scriplet” button on the same page after enabling developer mode.
  4. Type a name for the scriptlet. You may want to avoid spaces.
  5. Type or paste the code of the script.
  6. Select the Save button.
  7. Now use the following syntax to assign the scriptlet to specific websites: example.com##+js(name-of-your-scriptlet.js)
  8. Select the save changes button.

Notes:

  • Replace example.com with the hostname of the website, e.g., chipp.in.
  • Replace name-of-your-scriptlet.js with the name that you have specified during creation.

Brave will execute the script whenever the matching domain is visited.

You can check out the technical documentation of the feature here.

Userscripts or Scriptlets?

Userscript extensions offer some advantages. They may load userscripts easily from various sources, and they may also update them. They also work in all browsers, which is great if you use multiple browsers.

Brave’s solution supports pasting scripts, but it is still fiddly to link them to specific sites and maintain them.

With that said, it may be interesting to advanced users who prefer to avoid extensions whenever possible.

I cannot really say how Brave’s integrated solution compares to userscripts. It is more powerful, equally powerful, or less?

What is your take on the integration? Good move by Brave?

Google Chrome is getting an automatic picture-in-picture mode

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google plans to roll out an automatic picture-in-picture mode in Chrome 134. The browser will be released next month. When it does, Chrome may continue to show video content on certain sites when the user scrolls away from the video content.

This feature works for the most part identical to that of Mozilla Firefox, which has had the feature for some time now.

Google has added a few safeguards to the feature. In particular, automatic picture-in-picture kicks only in if..

  • The site uses a secure connection (https).
  • Media is playing in the active window / tab.
  • Media played with sound for at least two seconds.
  • The media player needs to have set a handler for picture-in-picture.
  • Google uses heuristics next to that using media engagement, unless you explicitly allow a site to enable the mode.

Chrome users may allow or disallow automatic picture-in-picture mode, which gives them control over the feature.

Enable or disable Chrome’s auto picture-in-picture feature

You can give it a try in Chrome 134 or newer by following these instructions:

  1. Load chrome://flags/#auto-picture-in-picture-for-video-playback in the Chrome 134 or newer address bar.
  2. Set the value of the feature to enabled.
  3. Restart Google Chrome.

Note: the feature won’t be available on all sites at the time of writing. It does not work on YouTube for instance.

If you do not need the feature, you could set the value of the experimental flag to disabled to block it. This flag will be removed in the future though, which means that you do need to make changes to the settings in Chrome at that point to disable automatic picture-in-picture mode in Google Chrome.

Since it launches in Chrome, it is likely that it will also launch in other Chromium-based browsers in the future.

What is your take on this feature in general? Do you use it in another browser already? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

I took Opera Software’s new browser Air for a spin

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Opera Software launched a new web browser today. Called Opera Air, it is the second specialized browser by the company after Opera GX, a browser with a strong focus on gaming.

Opera Air is in early access. Opera says that it is “the world’s first browser with mindfulness at its core” that offers a “focused, balanced, and stress-free web” when used.

First, the basics. Opera Air is based on Chromium, which means that it offers the same excellent web compatibility and performance as other browsers that are based on it, including Google Chrome.

Apart from all the browsing, which you can still do, Opera has baked in several health features into the browser. These are:

  • Mindful Breaks – short or long exercises to recharge.
  • Exercises – breathing, full body, and neck exercises as well as medition.
  • Boosts – play binaural sounds to “boost creativity, relieve stress, stay focused, and more.

The features are accessible from a small floating panel on the left side of the browser window. When you select Boost, for instance, you get to select one of the available background sounds that you may play. These use different frequencies and help users relax, improve concentration or creativity, according to Opera. You can change the volume and hit the pause or stop button at any time.

The exercises take between four and 15 minutes to complete. Each comes with a very soothing male or female voice, and in-depth explanations. Note that only English appears to be supported for now. While Opera Air did display German text when I switched the interface language to German, the instructors were still using English for communication.

Pay attention to the installation

Opera Air installer

The installer uses a few dark patterns, which you can only avoid if you are careful. First, you need to make sure you display the installation options. If you don’t, you will end up with the following:

  • Opera as the default web browser.
  • Feature usage information is send to Opera.
  • Crash reports are send to Opera automatically.
  • Opera Air launches with the computer.

Furthermore, there is another screen, Help make Opera better, that asks for consent to gain general usage statistics, general interests based on articles a user reads in “news feed, searches, websites you visit”, and personalized content, news, and ads.

That screen has a big accept button and no “no thanks” button. You need to select “configure in settings” to avoid this.

Closing Words

Opera Software seems to have carved out a niche for itself in the browser world. After launching a browser for gamers, it is now launching a browser for Internet users who are interested in health.

This is certainly not a browser for everyone, but it could attract a certain type of user just like Opera GX has done already. If you like those, and do not want to use third-party apps or extensions that offer similar functionality, then it could be a browser that you might want to take for a test drive.

What is your take on Opera Air? Is a specialized browser like Air or GX of interest to you? Feel free to leave a comment down below to join the discussion.

Block Breaker Google Search

You can now play Block Breaker on Google

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google loves to add little easter eggs to its products. It is not uncommon for the company to add games to its search engine. When you run searches for Pac Man, Snake, or Minesweeper, you may get the chance to play that game directly on Google Search.

The latest addition to Google Searches’ growing list of games is Block Breaker. It is a Breakout or Arkanoid clone.

You control a paddle at the bottom of the screen with the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. The goal is to destroy all bricks displayed at the top of the screen.

To start, hit the up arrow. This releases the first ball. Some bricks include bonuses that extend the paddle, add lasers to it, or release more balls. There are also maluses, like temporary slow downs for the paddle.

Levels change fluently, which means that you keep all extras and balls. This is an interesting take on the game, which put you back to a single ball and no extras on each level start.

How to play Block Breaker

Block Breaker Game on Google

To play Block Breaker, you need to access Google Search and run a search for Block Breaker.

Note: The search for the game appears limited to certain geographic regions. There is a workaround though apart from using a VPN.

Just load this link in your favorite browser. This should display the Block Breaker game at the top of the search results.

Hit the play button to get started. The game shows its basic controls on the first screen, so that you know what to do. You have three lives after which you get the game over screen.

A few basic controls are supported. You may turn the music off or enable fullscreen mode.

The game should work across all device types and browsers. You can play it on your mobile devices, desktop PCs, or tablets without issues.

Note that there is no progress saving of any kind. When you close the game and reopen it later, you start at the first level again. Block Breaker does remember the high score though.

Now You: do you play games online or locally? Anything great that you started playing recently?

Hide Gemini removes Google AI features on the Internet

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google, just like Microsoft, puts lots of effort into adding its Gemini AI to its products. AI is changing the Internet as we know it.

There is the AI Overviews feature, which gives searches an AI generated answer on Google Search. Other examples include the Gemini button on properties such as Gmail or Google Docs.

Hide Gemini is a browser extension that removes Google AI features on Google sites. It does away with AI Overviews and most / all Gemini buttons that Google has added to its services.

The extension is available for Chromium-based browsers, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, and Opera, and also Mozilla Firefox and Firefox-based browsers such as Mullvad Browser or Tor Browser.

Hide Gemini works automatically in the background. All you have to do is install it in your browser of choice. It either removes the AI content or uses CSS to hide it, so that it is not visible anymore when you access Google services such as Search or Gmail.

The developer notes that some AI content may still show up. One example is the “help we write” feature on Google Docs, which shows up in the canvas area. Temporary promotions that Google adds to its services may also be visible, even with the extension installed.

Extensions like Hide Gemini work well most of the time, but they work only when code is not changed by Google. Any change that Google makes to its sites may result in AI content being shown again, even with the extension installed.

This is only a temporary nuisance, provided that the developer reacts quickly and updates the extension to take the changes into account.

What is your take on AI features plastered on the web? Is that something that you use regularly or try to avoid as best as you can? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 10

Microsoft cancels a Defender feature that gave subscribers a free VPN

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft introduced a new feature that it called Privacy Protection less than two years ago to Microsoft 365 Home and Family plans. The feature gave subscribers access to a VPN service along with 50 gigabytes of traffic per month.

Microsoft limited the feature to the Microsoft Defender app, subscribers, and users from a handful of countries only.

At this moment, Microsoft is sending out emails to users of the VPN that it is being cancelled.

The details:

  • The service will be pulled on February 28, 2025.
  • It affects Home and Family subscribers only.

About Privacy Protection: reason for its removal

I reviewed Privacy Protection back in 2024 on Ghacks. While bare bones, it was still miles ahead of Google’s offering, which I called the most basic VPN one could get. Interestingly enough, Google did shut down its Google One VPN in mid 2024 for many customers.

Microsoft explains on a support page that its goal is to ensure that subscribers “remain safer online” and that it decided to pull the feature after evaluation of its usage and effectiveness.

The company says that Windows, iOS, and macOS users do not need to take any action. Android users, who have used the feature, need to remove its VPN profile manually from their device.

These are the steps according to Microsoft:

  1. Go to your phone’s Settings app.
  2. Search for ‘VPN’ in the settings.
  3. If you’ve onboarded to privacy protection, you should see a ‘Microsoft Defender’ VPN profile in the list of VPN profiles.
  4. Use the info icon to tap on it and remove it.

Microsoft Edge Secure Network, a browser VPN integrated into Edge by Microsoft, does not appear to be affected by the change.

Closing Words

VPN solutions, like Microsoft’s Privacy Protection or Google’s One VPN feature, offered basic functionality when compared to dedicated VPN solutions. Heck, Google did not even support options like selecting a server to connect to.

Major features, like dual-hop connections, selecting different protocols, using obfuscation techniques, or kill switch functionality, were never supported.

This does not mean that the basic VPN solutions were useless. Users could still use the VPNs to protect their Internet traffic, especially in public places.

Now it is your turn. Do you use a VPN service sometimes or regularly? If so, which one is your favorite and why?

NordVPN says new Whisper protocol circumvents VPN filters, but details are scarce

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Using a VPN makes sense in a lot of situations. To protect your data when using networks that you do not have full control over, to protect your data from being sold by your ISP, or to access content that would be blocked otherwise.

Services and ISPs may use filters to limit the use of VPNs. This may lead to scenarios where you cannot access specific content while using a VPN.

NordVPN says that it has created a solution for the problem. Called NordWhisper, it is designed to disguise VPN traffic.

The company describes it in the following way:

While standard protocols using obfuscation techniques are effective on networks that prevent access to essential services or public resources, NordWhisper steps in when VPN-specific blocks make connecting to these networks more challenging. This protocol ensures users can browse securely in restricted networks.

NordWhisper mimics regular web traffic, making it more difficult for network filters to identify it. Essentially, it blends in with ordinary internet activity, providing users with a reliable way to browse on restricted networks while maintaining the same strong encryption and security as other VPN protocols.

One downside to using NordWhisper is that it may “be slower than other protocols” due to the way it works.

The feature will be integrated into NordVPN’s applications. First on Windows, Linux, and Android, but all other platforms will also be supported at a later point.

The feature has been in testing for some time. NordVPN customers may check for the availability of the new feature in the following way:

  1. Open the NordVPN application.
  2. Select Settings > Connection.
  3. Activate the menu next to VPN Protocol.

NordWhisper is listed as an option there, if the feature is available already. Tests will show how effective the new protocol really is and whether it can also be used for relatively mundane activities, such as accessing Netflix content in another region.

Regarding VPNs, do you use them? If so, which is your favorite and why? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge: scareware blocker is now available

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft has added a new security tool to its Edge browser. Called Scareware Blocker, it is designed to detect and prevent attacks that fall under scareware.

Good to know: Scareware attacks use pressure to get users to do something that they should not. Common types are warnings about viruses found or that data has been leaked or accessed.

The goal of the attack is to gain access to a user’s computer system. Scareware attacks may display phone numbers that are made to look like tech support numbers. When a user calls these numbers, agents at the other end of the line try their best to gain access to the users device, for instance using remote computing.

Scareware often uses a browser’s fullscreen mode to prevent that users go back or run other searches to find out more about what is displayed on their screen.

Tip: long-pressing the ESC-key will always get you out of Fullscreen-mode.

Microsoft Edge: Scareware Blocker

Microsoft announced the new security tool in 2024. It is now available as a preview in Edge.

Here are the key points of the feature:

  • Scareware Blocker needs to be enabled, at least currently while in preview.
  • It complements Defender SmartScreen, which blocks known scareware pages and sites already.
  • The blocker uses machine learning on the local computer to determine whether a webpage is running a Scareware attack potentially.

If Scareware Blocker’s analysis concludes that a webpage is likely running a scam attack, it is existing fullscreen mode automatically and displaying a warning to the user.

A suspicious site is intercepted by Edge. Source: Microsoft

It is possible to select continue to go back, which is useful if it is a false positiv. The close page button enables users to close the page instead. All other options to close the page are also available, as fullscreen mode is no longer active thanks to the intervention of the security feature.

Users may report scareware attacks to Microsoft. This helps Defender SmartScreen “detect scareware outbreaks across multiple machines”. Users may also report false positives to Microsoft.

Microsoft admits that Scareware Blocker won’t detect every scam, but that is true for any security feature or software.

How to enable Scareware Blocker in Microsoft Edge

Enable the feature in the Settings to use its protective functionality.

Note: the feature is only available in Microsoft Edge for Windows at the time of writing.

Here are the steps to enable the feature in Microsoft’s web browser:

  1. Open Microsoft Edge.
  2. Select Menu > Help > About Microsoft Edge to make sure the browser is up to date.
  3. Open Menu > Settings.
  4. Select Privacy, search, and services.
  5. Scroll down to the Security section on the page.
  6. Toggle “Scareware blocker” to enable the feature.

You can repeat the process at any time to disable the security feature again.

0-click attack promises to narrow down a user’s location geographically

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Internet users have a few weapons in their arsenal when it comes to disguising their location. Some have good reasons for wanting to do that, from making sure that activity cannot be traced back to them to watching streaming content that is available only in other regions, or paying less for certain goods and services.

Deanonymization attacks try to locate a user through various means. A simple one uses a device’s IP address to find out information about a user.

Deanonymization using Cloudflare

A security research has discovered a new method, one that does not require any user interaction at all. It relies on Cloudflare, which operates one of the largest content distribution networks and certain services, that use Cloudflare for caching.

The main idea behind the attack is this: Cloudflare caches content and there is a way to check cached content on Cloudflare. All you have to do is send a unique file to a user before checking Cloudflare caches for hits. Cloudflare does not cache the unique file in all datacenters, if it is accessed only by a single user.

As a result, you get a hit in a datacenter that is close to the user. Usually, it is the nearest datacenter. Cloudflare operates hundreds of data centers in the world. While that still means that you get a radius of a few hundred kilometers or more, you can still narrow down a user’s location, provided that no other means of disguising the location are used.

The researcher describes the attack using Signal and Discord. In Signal, there are two options. The first sends an image to a user, which requires that the target opens the conversation. If the target has push notifications enabled, this one-click attack turns into a 0-click attack, as the attachment is shown already as part of the notification. All it takes afterwards is to check CloudFlare datacenters to find the one that has cached it (first).

On Discord, users can use custom emojis if they have a Nitro subscription. They can show the custom emoji in their status, which means that anyone opening the profile of the user may have their approximate location checked using Cloudflare.

Combined with GeoGuesser, which is a private Discord bot, it could be used to narrow down a user’s location.

Closing Words

While the attack still means that a radius of several hundred kilometers is returned, it may be possible to combine this attack with others, or use it regularly.. The attack may provide important information on its own, but if done regularly, it could help identify a user who is moving around a lot (e.g. for work).

There is little that users can do to prevent this kind of attack. One option is to disable the auto-accepting of attachments and media, another the use of VPN servers or other means of disguise.