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.

Microsoft installs KB5001716 update on older versions of Windows

Posted on August 4, 2024August 4, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

If you still run an older version of Microsoft’s Windows 10 or 11 operating systems, then you may have noticed that Windows update KB5001716 was installed recently on your devices. It is an important update, here is why: In other words, it is designed to push new versions of Windows onto systems that are no…

Keep on blocking in a free world: how to switch from Chrome to Firefox

Posted on August 3, 2024August 3, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Google Chrome users who have extensions installed may soon have some or even all of their installed extensions disabled by Google. While all browser extensions may be impacted, it is ad blockers and privacy extensions that are impacted the most. One example: uBlock Origin, arguably the most loved and powerful content blocker available for browsers,…

Google Play Store could soon takeover updates for sideloaded apps

Posted on August 1, 2024August 1, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Android Authority reports that Google is working on a new Play Store feature to take over ownership of sideloaded apps. This would allow Google Play to update apps not installed via the official Store. A feature introduced in Android 14 allows application stores to update ownership of apps. When you download an app from a…

Mouse as a Service – Logitech thinking about the “endless mouse”

Posted on July 31, 2024July 31, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

If you thought that we are at a point where every company under the sun has introduced a subscription-based service, then you may not have heard of Logitech’s idea — Mouse as a service (MaaS), also called the “endless mouse”. The idea behind endless mouse is simple: create a mouse that buyers may use forever,…

Skype is getting the Anti-Windows treatment: Microsoft removes all ads

Posted on July 30, 2024July 30, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Is anyone still using Skype? Microsoft has just released a new development version of Skype and it comes fully loaded with new features and improvements. Probably the biggest one is that Microsoft is removing all ads from Skype. The company announced the new Skype release on its Answers website. There, Microsoft bids farewell to “ads…

This private media converter runs locally in your browser

Posted on July 29, 2024July 29, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Sometimes, you may need to convert a file to another format. Maybe it is because the original file format is not supported by your application or a service, or because you would like to reduce its size. Plenty of tools exist to do that using dedicated programs on all major operating systems. Many are easy…

Windows 11 Start Menu Companion Phone Link

Microsoft should add an option to hide the Windows Start menu

Posted on July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

I use the Windows Start menu a few times per year. It is been replaced by the taskbar and other means to launch programs. While I run a few searches per year, which open in the Start menu, I do not really use it for anything else. Also, I prefer to use the third-party tool…

Google is testing a compact mode in Chrome

Posted on July 27, 2024July 27, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

Whenever there is an option to turn on a compact mode, I pick it. The main reason for that is that compact mode removes whitespace so that more content is displayed on the screen at the same time. Google is testing a compact mode for its Chrome web browser. An experimental flag was added in…

X’s AI Grok uses your data for training by default – here is how you can turn that off

Posted on July 26, 2024July 26, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

If you use X, you may have heard about the AI Grok already. Currently, xAI and Grok are playing catch-up with the current AI allstars. Plans are to push Grok to first place by the end of the year. Whether that is going to happen or not remains to be seen. What is clear is…

Microsoft working on next step to make AI centerpiece of Bing Search

Posted on July 25, 2024July 25, 2024 by Martin Brinkmann

In some years from today, search engines will likely look completely different. The traditional way of showing links to websites that match the search query best, at lest according to the search engine that you are using, is being phased-out. The replacement comes in form of AI generations. AI takes the user’s query, generates a…