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 Translate

Firefox Translate is finally getting support for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Firefox Translate is a built-in translation feature of the Firefox web browser that is special. It is special, because its translation engine runs locally. That’s great for privacy, as no translation service needs to be contacted on the Internet with information on the site you visited or the content that you want translated.

The main downside to Firefox Translate is that it supports fewer languages. One of the main shortcomings was missing support for the languages Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.

Good news is, that Mozilla has added support for the three languages to Firefox Nightly. In other words: you can now translate webpages that are in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean using Firefox’s built-in translation feature. Yes, that works offline as well.

Once you have installed the latest Firefox Nightly version, you have these languages at your disposal. Note that you need to download language packs for these languages in the settings before you can get started.

Here is how that is done:

  1. Load about:preferences in the Firefox address bar or select Menu > Preferences.
  2. Scroll down to Translations on the page.
  3. Select the Download button next to any language that you want to translate using Firefox.

The languages become available immediately after the downloads complete.

Firefox may either suggest to translate a webpage when it is opened, or you may select the translate icon in the address bar to display the translate interface.

Hit the translate button to translate the webpage to the selected language. A click on the translate settings icon displays the usual options. These include never translate a specific language or always translate it.

Closing Words

It will take some time before support for the new languages arrives in Firefox Stable. Still, the integration is a major milestone for Mozilla and part of the Firefox user base.

While there is still work to be done, as major languages are still unsupported, translate functionality is a major win for users of the Firefox web browser.

Have you tried Firefox’s translate functionality? What is your take on it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Should you be worried about Windows 10’s upcoming end of support?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft plans to end support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. This means that the company won’t release security updates anymore for the operating system for free.

Media outlets will pick this up and some will create sensationalist headlines, for the clicks.

If you run Windows 10 systems, should you be worried about the end of support? The short answer: no you should not.

Here is why: as long as you have a contingency plan, you are good. Any of the following means that you do not really have to worry about end of support:

  • You plan to upgrade to Windows 11 before support ends.
  • You plan to stay on Windows 10 and pay Microsoft for one/three years of extended security updates.
  • You plan to stay on Windows 10 and plan to pay 0Patch for security updates until at least 2030.
  • You plan to make the switch to Linux.
  • You plan to install ESU security updates without paying Microsoft.
  • Your Windows 10 PC has no Internet connection and there is no local danger either.

What may not be such a good idea is to keep on running Windows 10 in an unsupported state.

Yes, there are plenty of good practices to keep a system malware-free, but even if you follow all of them, you risk infections.

In case you wonder, here is a list of these practices:

  • Run a good content blocker.
  • Keep essential programs such as web browsers up to date.
  • Run a good security software.
  • Avoid untrustworthy links and file downloads / attachments.

All of these reduce the chance of successful attacks against the system. Still, even with all of that in place, there is a chance that attacks may succeed. Rogue software or browser extension updates are one possibility, but there ise more.

Closing Words

Here is my suggestion: if you need more time, you could subscribe to Microsoft or 0Patch for a year to buy twelve months of extra security updates. You could extend that until at least 2030, as 0Patch promised to support Windows 10 until then at the very least.

The best option for a PC is either Windows 11, if you need Windows, or Linux. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

Windows 11:

  • + Supports all apps and games that Windows 10 supports.
  • + Easy upgrade, if the PC meets the minimum system requirements.
  • + No extra costs for most users.
  • – Problematic, if the Windows 10 PC does not meet the system requirements.
  • – May not like the direction Windows is heading (regarding ads, AI, and functionality).

Linux:

  • + Free and continued support is ensured.
  • + Support for apps, games, and hardware is much better than it was five or ten years ago.
  • + Privacy and security is much improved.
  • – Migration is tricky.
  • – It takes time to get used to Linux, even though that is much better than a decade ago.
  • – Some apps or games do not work under Linux.

Have anything to add to the list? Feel free to do so in the comments below.

Mozilla releases Deep Fake Detector for Firefox

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla has released another Firefox extension after Orbit. Deep Fake Detector is a free beta extension for Firefox that determines whether text has been created by AI or humans.

It is part of Fakespot, a service that Mozilla acquired some time ago. Fakespot checks reviews on popular shopping sites to determine whether they are legitimate.

The new browser extension uses Fakespot’s ApolloDFT Engine, but it works with text on any website.

Using the extension is quite simple: You select some text and either right-click on the selection and select “Scan for Deepfakes”, or activate the add-on’s icon in the Firefox toolbar to do so.

The extension needs an active Internet connection and the text that you have selected is passed on to the detection engine. The result tells you the AI’s assessment in regards to human or AI authorship.

It is interesting to note that the extension queries multiple services. It does rely on Fakespot’s own engine, but also three additional ones (ZipPy, Binocular, and UAR). These may not always come to the same conclusion, as you can see on the screenshot below.

You may disable models in the settings of the extension. There you find ratings for each of the used models and options to disable them.

Ratings include the speed of analysis, domain versatility, short and long text handling. If you have a preference, you can disable the others to focus the analysis on that one engine.

What is it good for?

The Internet is flooded with AI-generated texts already. Be it reviews on shopping sites, blog posts, comments, posts in forums or on social media sites, and in many other places.

Finding out if a text has been generated by AI can be useful to determine trust. While that should not be the only factor, it may be useful to weed out AI-generated content to focus on the human-generated content instead.

The developers have big plans for the extension. They want to add image and video analysis in the future, which would make it more versatile and useful.

Closing Words

All in all, Deep Fake Detector is a useful extension that may help you detect AI generated text on the Internet. While it may be wrong at times, use of multiple models may decrease the chance.

Most models rely on Internet connectivity as computations are run on servers and not on user systems. This is the case for the extension as well. This may change in the not-so-near future, but for now, it is the norm and little can be done about it.

What is your take on the extension? Would you use it to check text? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

First look at Mozilla’s Orbit AI-extension for Firefox

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Orbit by Mozilla is a browser extension that brings AI-functionality to Firefox. It was announced in September 2024 and is currently available as a beta.

Orbit supports a few options right now, but there are also limitations. As far as these are concerned, it is available only for pages in English at the time of writing.

Main features include:

  • Getting a quick summary of a webpage’s or a video’s content.
  • Interact with the AI in a chat-like interface.

What about privacy?

Mozilla says that Orbit does not use user data for training. It is based on Mistral 7B, which is one of the top small large language models out there.

The service does not require an account, which is good for privacy. Downside is that prompts are lost when you navigate away from a page.

Mozilla states in the privacy policy that is is getting information when the service is used.

We receive basic telemetry data by default, which we use to improve the performance, stability, and security of the Service, including information about your device, including hardware configuration and device operating system; browser information, such as browser type and settings; log files and usage data; and event information, such as errors or crashes. We may also receive additional information about your device, such as country, language, operator and OEM, which we use to prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our terms, and improve the security of the Service.

Orbit uses third-party services and shares some information with those. It uses the Google Cloud Platform as well as Sentry for application performance monitoring.

Using Orbit

First thing you do is install Orbit in Firefox. You get a privacy prompt after installation. Here you select whether you want basic telemetry to be shared only or more.

Once that is out of the way, you see the Orbit icon floating in the right corner of webpages. Hover over the icon to display the available actions. The top two, Summarize and Ask Orbit, are the main actions.

Summarize provides a short summary of webpages, emails, videos, and other content on a specific site. It is designed to return the essence of the page, but it may be too basic, especially on longer pages, emails, or videos.

The ask Orbit option is available as a standalone option and also after summaries. It works like other AI chat tools. Type a query and wait for the AI to respond.

The option works well with summaries. Start with a summary and then ask Orbit for additional details.

I tried this on several videos, and it worked really well (using transcripts). Orbit answers follow-up questions that you may have, and it worked surprisingly well in tests.

You may also chat directly with Orbit. Chats are limited to content on the active webpage. This limits Orbit.

Closing Words

Orbit, all in all, is an interesting helper extension. While it shares issues with every other AI-tool out there, mainly hallucinations, it is designed to help users make sense of content that they see in front of them.

It worked well with videos, especially with follow-up questions. Still, it may be necessary to verify the information that the AI provides, especially if it is critical.

Have you tried AI tools in recent time? If so, which is your favorite and why?

Opera

How to disable Opera browser’s splash logo on startup

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

If you have used the Opera browser recently, you may have noticed that the browser displays a splash logo on start. It may also play sound while it is at it.

While that may look cool to some, others might feel that it slows down the start of the browser or find it outright annoying.

There is no preference in Opera to turn the splash screen off on start, at least to my knowledge.

Good news is that there is a way to disable Opera’s splash logo, but it requires manual action.

Some information:

  • Opera loads the file opera_gx_splash.exe during startup to display the logo and play the sound.
  • This file is used for all different editions of the browser, including Opera One, Opera GX, or development editions.

Here is how it is done:

  1. Load C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Programs in File Explorer.
    • Replace YOURUSERNAME with your actual username on the system.
  2. Open the Opera folder. If you have multiple, repeat the process for each.
  3. Open the subfolder with the highest version number, e.g. 114.0.5282.233, in that folder.
  4. Right-click on opera_gx_splash.exe and select rename from the context menu.
  5. Change the name, e.g. to opera_gx_splash-DISABLED.exe.

When you start Opera the next time, the browser will load immediately. The splash screen is gone.

Note: Problem is that you need to repeat the process whenever Opera updates. If it uses a new directory, it may also create a new opera_gx_splash.exe file in it. So, whenever Opera updates, make sure you repeat the process to disable the splash screen on start of the browser.

Have you tried Opera browser recently? What is your take on it and on the splash screen in particular?

Google’s proposal for avoiding breakup of company is bad news for Mozilla

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

You may recall that Alphabet is currently under investigation in the United States and that a potential breakup of the company is looming over the company’s head.

Suggestions include selling of Google Chrome and Android, or separating the ad business are all on the table.

The Verge reports that Alphabet has made a counteroffer. Clearly, the company does not want a splitting-up. The counteroffer does not include the splitting up of any company services or products.

Instead, Alphabet suggests the following remedies:

  • Browser companies should get more flexibility and the ability to change default providers every 12 month period.
  • Android device makers should also get more flexibility and options to preload any apps.

The first suggestion affects Mozilla and Apple for the most part. Both have search deals in place with Google that give them millions or billions each year for making Google Search the default search engine on their respective platforms.

With Google’s suggestions, Mozilla could sign search engine deals for different platforms. It might not be that beneficial to Mozilla, however, as there are not many search engine companies out there with the financial power to agree to deals.

In fact, Microsoft with its Bing search engine may be the only one that might be a potential partner.

To make matters worse, it may also give Google more of a bargaining chip when brokering deals with the organization.

For Android, device manufacturers would have more freedom to launch their devices with multiple search engines or apps. Google is enforcing certain rules right now, if device manufacturers want to include the company’s apps on their devices.

Closing Words

Google would retain control over all of its properties, if its proposed remedies would be found acceptable. Chrome or ads, for instance, are not even mentioned by Google.

What do you think of this? Should Alphabet be broken up? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

You can now call ChatGPT: what is next? Fax? Letters?

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

So, AI systems seem to be almost everywhere already or are in the process of being integrated into pretty much any device or product.

OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, has now announced that you may call ChatGPT to have a chat with the AI.

Call 1-800-ChatGPT, or 1-800-242-8478, to do so. You should note that you can only do so with a US or Canada number. If you live outside those two countries, you may be able to message the number via WhatsApp to at least have a chat on Meta’s messenger instead.

OpenAI has limited both options. Calls are limited to 15 minutes per month, presumably per phone number, and there is also a daily limit on WhatsApp, but that is not mentioned in the announcement.

Another restriction is that the cutoff-date is October 2023. This means that this particular version of ChatGPT does not know anything about events that happened after October 2023.

Privacy-conscious users should be aware that OpenAI stores conversations and messages, and that it may also review them. OpenAI says this is for a limited time only and only for “safety and abuse prevention purposes”. It is also only available for ages 13 and up, but it is unclear how OpenAI wants to make sure that the age limit is enforced.

Fax or Letters next?

With telephone conquered, Fax would be the next logical step for OpenAI to offer its services on. It might not be the most elegant solution, considering that it might take a while to get replies, but it would make for a great headline and do wonders for publicity.

Letters might also be an option. While it would take some serious time to get an answer or do a back and forth with the AI, it could be a great option for digital-detoxing.

Have you chatted with ChatGPT or another AI in recent time? What is your take on these systems? Useful addition or more off a plaything will little value? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Google Search could soon analyze files you upload to answer questions

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Google Search has been the major search engine in most regions for a long time. While it has changed a lot under the hood in that time, it is still used by many as the main tool for searches.

AI is threatening Google’s search dominance. While it is too early to tell how good AI-based search engines will be in comparison, Google is clearly aware of the danger.

To counter this threat, Google has started to push AI into Google Search. The main user-facing feature is AI Overviews, which displays a summary based on a user’s search query at the very top of the search results.

It works similarly to how Brave Search and other search engines display AI-generated results at the top. Verdict is still out on the usefulness of the solution.

File uploads

Screenshot of Google Search with file upload. Source: Khushal Bherwani

Soon, Google users might also be able to upload files directly on Google Search to ask questions about the uploaded file. Upload a financial report, and you might ask questions about it once Google has processed the file.

This is not a new feature, considering that several AI solutions can do the same already. Even Google has a very basic file upload feature baked into search already. You can upload an image to Google Images to find out matching images online. While no AI is involved, it at least highlights that Google has the technology in place already.

X user Khushal Bherwani published an image and a short video that shows the new feature in action. It seems to work as one might expect: you activate the file upload button on Google Search, pick a file that you want analyzed, and hit the upload button.

It is likely only available for certain file types. The video shows that the feature is not complete at this point. The upload appears to have worked in the video, but Google Search did not answer the question that the user asked about the file.

Closing Words

It remains to be seen if the feature will roll out to more users in the coming months or if it gets pulled before release. There is also the question of its usefulness and whether users feel comfortable uploading files to Google.

What is your take on the feature? Would you upload files to Google to get the chance to ask an AI question about it? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

Windows 11 Search

Windows 11: Microsoft separating Windows Search from Web Search

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

One of the first things that I disable on Windows 11 PCs is the integrated web search. Microsoft merged local and web search in Windows some years ago mostly for its own benefit.

Web search results generate clicks and revenue for Microsoft. For users, they serve little purpose. Often, they tend to get in the way.

In best case, search returns a matching result that the user can click on. The same can be achieved in any web browser with the added benefit of having extensions and access to numerous search engines.

Microsoft may split local and web search

It seems that Microsoft could soon split the two searches in Windows 11.

https://twitter.com/alex290292/status/1866954297369563644

The feature appears to be in testing right now in development builds. With it activated, Windows moves web-based searches into a separate tab in the search interface.

This works similarly to how Windows Search separates different types of search data already. You can switch to content-specific tabs, such as Apps or Documents, to get them returned only.

The change is helpful, as it moves web-based results out of the way and restores the focus on local results.

Deskmodder has tested the feature and published several screenshots of how it looks like.

It should help users who do not know how to modify the settings to disable web search, if it bothers them. Experienced users may still want to turn off web search, provided that they have no use for it.

In case you want to give it a try, do the following:

  • Download and unpack the latest version of ViVeTool in a development build of Windows 11.
  • Run the command from an elevated Terminal prompt: .\vivetool /enable /id:54865932
  • Restart the PC.

Note that you need to run it from the ViVeTool directory. Bing Search / App need to be enabled for the change to become visible on the system.

Do you use Windows Search to search the web? Or do you ignore or disable the feature?

Copilot key. Source: Microsoft

Microsoft suggests to remap the dedicated Copilot key, but only for one user group

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft introduced the new dedicated Copilot-key for Windows keyboards less than a year ago. Now, the company suggests to remap the key to another function, but only on managed PCs.

Here is a quick refresher: Microsoft announced the Copilot key in January to “kick off the year of AI-powered Windows PCs”. The company even went so far to say that it might have the same impact as the introduction of the Windows key 30 years ago.

A tap on the key opens Copilot. Microsoft did add options to remap the key in Windows 11.

A new blog post on Microsoft’s Windows IT Pro Blog suggests that organizations remap the Copilot key for their users. Instead of launching Copilot, Microsoft suggests to launch the Microsoft 365 app instead, as it gives easier access “to Copilot experiences designed for work and education”.

New PCs and newly provisioned PCs will enable the new mapping of the key automatically. When a user presses the key, Copilot within the Microsoft 365 app opens.

The behavior is different for existing PCs. Microsoft says that the original mapping remains on these devices. In other words, it will open the Copilot app when pressed. This is the default for users who sign in with a Microsoft account. Users who sign in with an Entra account will be redirected to the Microsoft Copilot experience on the web instead.

Microsoft recommends that Enterprise customers configure policies to remap the Copilot key to launch the Microsoft 365 app. The app is preinstalled on all Windows 11 PCs according to Microsoft.

Microsoft even recommends uninstalling the Copilot app to “avoid confusion for employees”.

Closing Words

How useful is the Copilot key? Compared to the Windows-key, it offers little use. Press it and Copilot opens. You can achieve the same with a click on the Copilot icon.

Now, Microsoft is already suggesting to the Enterprise to remap it. It is doubtful that the Copilot key will be a smash hit going forward, unless Microsoft starts to add more features to it.

Now it is your turn. Copilot key yay or nay? Is it useful, at least for users who use Copilot regularly on Windows? Feel free to leave a comment down below.