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.

Display the weather on the Windows taskbar (without Widgets)

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft’s Windows 11 operating system displays the Widgets icon on the taskbar by default. It was updated recently to show weather information. If you do not use Widgets, but like the weather information, you can use a third-party alternative.

Tray Weather is an open source application for Windows to display weather information in the System Tray area.

Weather Tray shows two icons in this configuration (weather and temperature)

Good news is that it supports multiple weather providers, and one of them does not require an account or API access.

The details:

  • Weather Tray is compatible with Windows 7 and newer versions of Windows, including Windows 11.
  • Setup is a bit fiddly, but not too complicated.

You can download the latest version of the program from the project’s GitHub repository.

Windows will display a security dialog when you execute setup, because the application is not signed. Setup itself is straightforward, but it is necessary to make a few changes in the configuration and in Windows.

Lets talk about the program’s configuration first. Here you make a number of important decisions regarding the program:

  • Select OpenMeteo API under Weather Data Provider to get weather data without API requirement.
  • Make sure the set location is correct or change it.
  • Switch the measurement units, modify graph temperatures, and opacity.
  • Pick an icon for display on the taskbar. The default displays a representative icon of the weather, e.g., a sun or clouds. You can switch that to temperature or combinations.
  • Add or remove information from the icon’s tooltip. The default displays the location, current weather, and temperature only. You may add information such as air quality, wind speed, humidity, ground pressure, and more to it.
  • Change the time between updates from the 15 minute default.

Windows may not display the icon of the app by default in the system tray area. On Windows 11 for example, you need to enable it first so that it displays all the time.

Right-click on a blank space on the taskbar and select Taskbar Settings. Expand “Other system tray icons” on the page that opens and toggle Weather Tray to display it permanently.

That is as far as configurations are concerned.

Closing Words

Weather Tray may not have the prettiest icons, but it works well, is open source, and does not get in your way with other content that you may not want. It is an excellent option for Windows users who would like to display weather information on their systems.

What is your take on this? Do you use little helper apps like Weather Tray on your devices? Let us know in the comments down below.

Reddit

Reddit plans to improve search with AI-powered answers

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Search engines were among the first to push AI answers. These use artificial intelligence to generate answers for user queries and are often placed prominently.

If you ask me, these are hit or miss. Sometimes, they provide answers that are dead on. At other times, they recommend to eat one rock per day.

Reddit, which calls itself the homepage of the Internet, has launched its own AI-tool Answers some time ago.

Answers works like other AI communication tools. You write something and get a response. You may then refine or ask follow-up questions, and get another response.

In its latest earnings call, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman announced that the company was working on AI-powered search results.

Reddit’s integrated search feature does not use AI currently. It returns subreddits and posts based on the user’s query. Since it works so-so, some users prefer to use regular search engines instead to find content on Reddit.

Techcrunch reports that Reddit plans to launch an “upgraded search experience” this year. This is achieved by integrating Answers into search.

For Huffman, the integration is just the first step to go head-to-head with search engine giant Google.

He said:

I think helping the user be able to search directly on Reddit, refine their queries on Reddit, eventually come directly to Reddit for those types of queries, and even integrating search into something like onboarding over time..

So, instead of going to Google, Bing, or another search engine to find answers, Reddit users might start their searches on Reddit and stay on Reddit. That seems to be the vision of Reddit’s CEO.

How search engines will react to this remains to be seen. Reddit may be a massive site, but it still pales in comparison to the traffic that Google or Microsoft gets.

I expect more AI integration in more search tools and more communities going forward. Good news is that these can be ignored largely or removed.

What is your take on AI-powered search? Something that you use, are interested in, or ignore? Feel free to leave a comment about it below.

Obscura client macOS

Obscura VPN partners with Mullvad to create two-party VPN service

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

VPN services offer an excellent way to improve privacy while online. To be precise, good VPN services do, while bad ones either leak your data or sell it outright.

Mullvad is considered to be one of the best when it comes to online privacy. The Sweden-based provider gets audited by third-parties regularly and offers several options to purchase access anonymously.

Mullvad announced this week that it has entered a partnership with Obscura VPN.

The core idea is simple: Obscura VPN uses Mullvad’s servers as exit nodes for its customers. This means, in essence, that the traffic of Obscura VPN customers flows through two independent systems.

In other words, neither Mullvad or Obscura have full control over the data. This may remind you of how Tor operates, or how some VPN services offer multi-hop connections.

The latter pushes the connection through two or more servers in different countries to improve privacy. The difference is that a single VPN provider is in control of all servers.

As for Tor, it uses a three-hop system and comes close to what Obscura offers. Tor is largely operated by volunteers, which means that it can be slow at times and that denial of service attacks happen regularly on top of that.

I published a guide about using multiple VPN services on a single system. It involves virtual systems, which allow you to chain-link as many VPN connections as you like.

Privacy by design, says Obscura

The system that Obscura uses to protect the privacy of users connected to the service. Source: Obscura

Obscura claims that the system that it uses never sees a user’s browsing history while using the VPN. Here is how Obscura explains it on its website:

  • Obscura uses Mullvad for exit hops. This means that it does not know which websites users access.
  • Mullvad operates the exit hops, but it does not know the customer. Obscura says that it is masking a user’s real IP address when traffic is relayed to the exit server.

Obscura is available for $6 per month as a starting offer. The regular price is $8 per month according to the website. Users can pay via Credit Card or Bitcoin over Lightning.

One downside right now is that there appears to be a client for macOS only.

Closing Words

The idea behind Obscura VPN is interesting. Combine two VPN services to increase security. The new company still has to prove itself and pass audits. The app code is open source, which is a good start. Support for additional platforms is a must.

What is your take on this? Do you use a VPN service? Would you use a service that offered Obscura’s system? Please leave a comment down below to let us know.

Stellantis testing annoying ads in infotainment systems of cars

Posted on by Martin Brinkmann

Most modern cars come with infotainment systems. These control a variety of functions, including the radio, calls, navigation and more.

It was only a matter of time before some car manufacturers started to play with the idea of displaying ads on those screens to their customers to increase their profit margin.

Stellantis, the fourth-largest manufacturer of cars, owns brands such as Jeep, Fiat, Maserati, Opel, Peugot, or Chrysler. It seems that someone at Stellantis must have that idea of displaying ads to customers, as owners of Jeeps are now flocking to social media to report that their car’s infotainment system is pestering them with ads.

Here is what happens: ds are displayed whenever the car stops. They display on the screen and may be closed with a tap on the close icon. Problem is, there does not appear to be a setting to disable the display of ads entirely.

This means that, whenever an affected owner stops at a red light, an ad is shown. Drivers who want to look a the navigational map or make changes to the radio cannot, unless they close the ad first.

The ad, interestingly named “Purchase Peace of Mind”, is always shown. There is no variance, and there is no option to get rid of it by saying “no”. The reason for that is simple: the ad uses dark patterns. There is no “I do not want to, please do not bother me again” option.

The response would probably be better if Stellantis would sell an adblocker called “Peace of Mind” to its customers.

You can only close it, only to see the exact same thing again on the next stop of the car. Talk about frustrating experiences.

Here is a video in which the issue is discussed in detail:

This development may lead to the rise of adblockers for cars or specialized services that block ads in cars or disable online connectivity.

What is your take on this? Would you buy a car that had an infotainment system with these kind of ads? Feel free to leave a comment down below.

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.