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.

Everyone wants your browsing data

Posted on October 22, 2023October 22, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

On today’s Internet, data is as precious as gold was in the Ancient world. Browsing data is data that is created automatically when you browse the Internet.

Whenever you visit a website, lots of things happen in the background. Requests are made, cookies and site data may be saved to the local system, and the cache is filled with data. The browser adds a record to its browsing history and maybe to other logs, e.g., when files get downloaded.

Data stored on third-party servers is not considered browsing data, but it may be generated as well.

This browsing data reveals a lot about you. What you like or your interests. It may reveal how old you are, if you are ill or looking for companionship. It may reveal what you plan to buy next or have bought, what you may need or needed.

Browsing data is personal data. This makes it desirable for nearly everyone on today’s Internet.

Who wants it and why: advertising

When asked, most Internet users would probably mention advertising first. Today’s advertising on the Internet relies to a large degree on information. The more information about a user, the better the chance to display targeted adverts and produce sales.

Tracking plays a large role in this. Most Internet users would probably disallow tracking if there was an easy switch integrated in browsers. There is none.

Google would be in an excellent position to create such a switch: it controls Chromium, the world’s most widely used browser source and Chrome,, the world’s most widely used browser. It also operates some of the world’s most visited websites.

Google is, however, an advertising company. Most of its revenue comes from advertising, which means that it benefits from the system that is in place.

But Google is ending third-party cookies in 2024, I hear you say. This is true, but this is not done without introducing another system that works in its place beforehand.

Built-into Google Chrome directly, it analyzes the browsing history locally to assign interests groups to the user. Websites may also suggests interests based on your visits.

Sites and advertisers may use the information for displaying ads based on your interests.

Google calls these “Interests estimated by Chrome” and “sites you visit that define your interests”.

Granted, Google Chrome includes controls to turn all of this off. There is also a popup with information about this in Chrome.

As is often the case in life, the wording matters. Google calls this Privacy Sandbox, which is an euphemistic term. It may be better than tracking via third-party cookies, but it is still tracking in the end. By the way, you can already disable third-party cookies in your browser, no need to wait for Google to do so in 2024.

Quick Tip: disabling Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox

All you have to do is the following:

Load chrome://settings/privacySandbox in the Chrome address bar.
Disable “Trials” on the page that opens.

Note that this page is not final and that Google will likely make changes to it. You may also want to click on every option there to expand it and make sure it is turned off as well.

These are at the time of writing:

Browser-based ad personalization
Ad measurement
Spam & fraud protection.

AI wants it, too

AI has taken a big leap in 2023. New products release on a weekly basis. All of these have in common that they require data, lots of data.

It is used for training for the most part. A current trend is the integration of AI services into browsers and other programs. Even Windows 11 has its own AI integration, called Windows Copilot now.

These work best if they got access to user data. Personal data usually requires giving consent in these cases, for instance when the request comes from a user.

Microsoft is testing a new option in Edge Canary currently that gives Bing Chat Microsoft access to all page content. It is disabled by default, as it sends all browsing data to Microsoft “to make AI-generated answers and suggestions more relevant on Copilot”.

Not all AI products require access to personal data. The basic chat AI tools act on user input. Personalization, on the other hand, gets better with data. If an AI knows your interests, it may be of better service.

Take holiday planning as an example. If you ask AI for 5 sights in Barcelona, it may look like this: Gothic Quarter, Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló, Casa Amatller and Park Güell.

If the AI knew more about your interests or personal information, it may have suggested different sights. Say, you love football or are travelling with young children or dislike crowds.

Users who like this may opt-in and maybe improve their experience with the AI. Whether that is also giving Microsoft more information and also better options to display targeted ads should be clear from the previous paragraphs.

Closing Words

Browsing data is valuable and it should be protected. Not everything is opt-in in today’s world and that is a problem. An upcoming tutorial will provide guidance on protecting browsing data.

What about you? Do you allow services to use your browsing data?

Password Managers that restrict passwords should not exist

Posted on October 21, 2023October 21, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Password service Dashlane announced restrictions for free account users this week that limit passwords to 25. Starting November 7, 2023, all Dashlane Free users are restricted to 25 passwords instead of unlimited passwords, the previous limit.

Those with more than 25 passwords keep access to them but they face the same restrictions in regards to adding new passwords. In short: once the 25 passwords limit is reached or crossed, new passwords can only be added if enough old passwords are deleted. Dashlane will also limit support access to paying customers.

The company explains that it made the decision to “focus resources on providing the highest level of service, support, and security”. This is marketing speak.

Dashlane Free remains a product, which means that it requires development resources. Limiting passwords won’t change that. This leaves pushing Free users to paid plans by artificially worsening the experience for many of them as a plausible reason.

Restricting passwords is not right

Dashlane Free users could and can store as many passwords as they want using the password manager. This won’t change until November 7, 2023.

The new artificial limit puts many Free users in a precarious position. Those with more than 25 stored passwords can’t continue using the service, as new passwords need to be stored eventually. They have just a few options:

Delete passwords regularly to stay under the 25 passwords limit.
Upgrade to a paid account and give in to Dashlane’s pressuring.
Migrate to another password manager.

The first option is only feasible for users who don’t have many passwords in Dashlane. Upgrading is the quickest option to deal with the issue, but it also means paying for the password manager.

Migration is another option. Dashlane supports exporting all passwords to CSV files, which most password managers can import.

Password storage is a core feature of every password manager. Restricting the feature limits the password manager significantly. With the artificial limit in place, what is keeping Dashlane from introducing another restriction in the future that limits password storage even further or ends Dashlane Free altogether?

A short term boost to subscriptions

Dashlane will likely notice a short term boost to subscriptions. As users hit the new limit in November, part of the affected group will sign-up for a paid account, especially since a discount is offered.

Others will migrate to a different password manager. Plenty are also free and most do not limit password storage.

My recommendation is Bitwarden. It is open source, does not restrict passwords and is considered one of the best password managers out there. If you don’t need cloud syncing, you could also check out KeePass, another excellent password manager.

Dashlane sign-ups will slow down after the change lands. Users who look for a password manager may not pick the one that is limiting a core feature of a password manager. Less Free signups will also lead to less free to paid upgrades, as fewer users may choose that path. This will impact revenue.

Closing Words

Dashlane could have selected a different path. It could make old user accounts grandfathered accounts. This would have allowed existing free users to continue using the password service as well, at least in regards to passwords storage. This, on the other hand, would not have pushed sales as much, as only new users would be subject to the passwords limit.

It remains to be seen if Dashlane is going to reverse the limit eventually. This is not totally out of the question.

This uBlock Origin filter blocks IDN attacks in browsers

Posted on October 20, 2023October 20, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

IDN attacks are a common threat on today’s Internet. IDN stands for Internationalized Domain Name. It refers to domain names that contain one or multiple characters in “non-Latin script or alphabet, or in the Latin alphabet-based characters with diacritics or ligatures”.

This enables support for domain names in all languages. German-speaking organizations and users may for instance use the letter Ö in domain names.

One problem associated with this is that it is sometimes impossible for users to distinguish between different characters. The Latin letters e and a, for instance, look identical to the Cyrillic letters e and a. The strings ghacks and ghаcks are not identical, for example, even though they are not distinguishable from just looking at them.

IDN homograph attacks

IDN homograph attacks take advantage of this. Threat actors create domain names that look like a legitimate domain. Links are then pushed via online advertising, comments, chats, email or other forms of communication.

Ars Technica published a story just yesterday about an online ad on Google Search that impersonated the official KeePass website. A search for KeePass listed a sponsored result at the top. This sponsored result pointed to the same domain as the legitimate KeePass website, at least on visual inspection.

It is not uncommon for organizations to place ads for key search terms, even if their domain is the first organic result.

In this particular case, it turned out that the sponsored ad was malicious. It used an IDN to look like the official KeePass website. The fake site pushed a malware family known as FakeBat according to Ars Technica’s research.

Protection against IDN attacks

Ars Technica writer Dan Goodin concluded that there is no 100% protection against IDN attacks. All major browsers load IDN URLs without issues.

Chromium-based browsers copy the punycode version of the domain, which offers a quick way to find out if it is an IDN.

Raymond Hill, creator of uBlock Origin, disagreed with Goodin’s conclusion as well. He published a single filter line for use in uBlock Origin, which blocks access to all IDN URLs by default. Users still have the option to proceed and to add an exception for the site, if it is legitimate.

Here is a step-by-step guide to add the filter to uBlock Origin:

Open the web browser.
Activate the uBlock Origin icon and select Settings.
Switch to the My Filters tab.
Paste the following string into an empy line: ||xn--$doc,frame
Select Apply changes.

That’s all there is to it. Any attempt to load an IDN in the browser is now met with uBlock Origin’s “blocked” window.

Disable OneDrive’s Back up folders on this PC feature

Posted on October 19, 2023October 19, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Onedrive’s back up up folders on this PC feature may transfer files from system folders to Microsoft cloud servers automatically.

OneDrive is integrated natively into Windows 11. Users who sign-in with a Microsoft account, which Microsoft encourages, get access to OneDrive. File Explorer lists a OneDrive folder and there is an icon in the system tray.

One of the integrated features is the option to back up files to OneDrive automatically. This feature is limited to system folders — Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music and Videos — similarly to what the new Windows Backup app offers.

These folders are protected when backed up to OneDrive, according to Microsoft.

Tip: the easiest way to stop this is to sign-in to Windows with a local account.

Problems related to OneDrive’s automatic backup feature

In an ideal world, backups would only happen automatically when users give their ok. User reports on the Internet suggest that OneDrive’s backup feature may transfer files without user consent sometimes.

I confirmed this behavior on one of my PCs. I only noticed it because OneDrive’s occupied storage increased from less than 1 Gigabyte to nearly 25 Gigabytes over night. Never enabled automatic backups on the Windows 11 version 22H2 system.

Another issue is related to this. Automatic updates may push files in the cloud that OneDrive may flag. This does not necessarily have to be illegal content; false positives happen, and they may lead to temporary or permanent account bans.

How to manage OneDrive folder backups

Here is a step-by-step guide to manage automatic folder backups:

Right-click on the OneDrive icon in the System Tray area of Windows.
Select the Help & Settings icon and then Settings from the menu.
Under Sync and backup, select Manage backup.
OneDrive lists the five system folders in the window that opens.
Toggle one of the folders to Off to stop automatic backups.
OneDrive displays a “where do you want to keep your files” prompt afterwards. Select “This computer only” and then continue.
Select OK to confirm the change when the prompt appears.

Selecting this computer only stops automated backups of the selected folder to OneDrive. Repeat the process for all other folders that are set to backup at the time.

The Sync and backup menu’s preference “save photos and videos from devices” lists another automatic backup option. It transfers photos and videos from connected devices, e.g. cameras or smartphones, to OneDrive when enabled.

There is also “save screenshots I capture to OneDrive”, which transfers screenshots to OneDrive.

Closing Words

It appears that OneDrive may sometimes upload files to the cloud automatically on Windows 11 devices. This is a problem as it may lead to all kinds of issues.

Windows 11 users who sign-in with a Microsoft account may want to check the sync settings regularly because of that.

Is Windows 11 a Flop?

Posted on October 18, 2023October 18, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft released its Windows 11 operating system in late 2021 to the public. Internal data, viewed by Windows Central, suggests that the operating system passed the 400 million monthly active devices mark this year.

Microsoft has not released information on monthly active users to the public. Third-party sites such as Steam’s hardware survey or Statcounter show a slow rise of Windows 11 since its release.

Windows 11 rose from 13.61% in September 2022 to 23.64% in September 2024 on Statcounter. Windows 10, on the other hand, nearly kept its commanding market share lead. The operating system dropped from 71.88% to 71.62% in the period.

Things look a bit better on Steam. Windows 11 has a share of about 37%, but it is still trailing Windows 10’s 57%.

Most of Windows 11’s gains appear to come from Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. Microsoft ended support for both operating systems in January 2023 and both have tanked since then.

Windows 11’s rise compared to Windows 10’s

It took Windows 11 two years to reach 400 million devices. While that would sound impressive for many systems, it is not, when compared to Windows 10.

Windows 10 managed to reach that number in a year’s time and it even managed to cross the 1 billion devices mark in 2020.

Granted, the underlying situation was different. Microsoft pushed Windows 10 with free upgrade offers from Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 devices. Users could upgrade their devices for free. Not all did, but the free upgrade offer certainly helped push the new operating system into the market.

Microsoft failed to reach the ambitious 1 billion device goal.

When Microsoft released Windows 11, it still let users upgrade for free to the new operating system. Initially, users of Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 could upgrade to free. This changed recently, when Microsoft eliminated the option for Windows 7 and 8/8.1 systems and product keys.

What kept Windows 11 back from rising as quickly as Windows 10 was a change in system requirements. Microsoft changed the operating system’s minimum requirements, which meant that older systems could not upgrade to Windows 11 directly.

More or less any device purchased before 2018 could not be upgraded to Windows 11 using official means.

The end of Windows 7 and 8/8.1

End of Windows 7 and 8/8.1 support in January 2023 benefitted Windows 10 and 11 similarly. Windows 7 and 8/8.1 devices were upgraded to Windows 10, which was still possible at the time.

New devices, bought by Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users benefitted Windows 11 more than it helped Windows 10.

The vast majority of Windows devices are sold with Windows 11 nowadays.

Microsoft believes that Windows 11 devices will reach the 500 million mark in 2024.

Windows Central cites unnamed sources at Microsoft that said the the company’s expectations regarding Windows 11 were “set rather modestly” and that these have been surpassed consistently.

2025 is the year decisions need to be made

Windows 10 will reach end of support in 2025, at least for consumer editions. It will be interesting to see what users will do then. Some may upgrade their devices to Windows 11, or Windows 12, if the rumors of a new operating system are correct.

Many users may not be able to upgrade, because of the system requirements. It is unreasonable to assume that all of these will purchase new Windows devices in 2025.

Some may continue to run Windows 10, even though the operating system is no longer supported by Microsoft. It is unlikely that Microsoft is going to introduce Extended Security Updates for consumers. It has not done so when Windows 7 reached end of support.

Windows 10 users could migrate their devices to Linux. It is a chance for the open source operating system, but solutions need to be created to make the migration as painless as possible.

Verdict: Flop or not

Microsoft may have had higher hopes for Windows 11, but this is disputed in the internal document according to Windows Central. The company has been tight lipped about sales and monthly active devices, and that often means that things are not as good as hoped.

400 million devices is a sizeable number on the other hand. All of these will likely get the option to upgrade to Windows 12, if the operating system is released.

In closing, Windows 11 is not a flop, but it is not a hit either.

Now You: do you run Windows on your devices?

Ads and higher prices: how to cope with a changing streaming landscape

Posted on October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Streaming media pioneer Netflix set out to become the home of the cord cutting movement. Offer a better experience than Cable to a lower price.

Things have changed significantly since then. Now, there are numerous players on the market, e.g., Disney+, Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount, Prime Video, HBO Max and many more. All want a piece of the cake.

Things have turned for the worse for viewers. The rise of streaming services has spread films and shows across the networks. While most offer a core set of films and movies, including original productions, other content often moves between services.

It may happen that you watch Part 1 of a show using one service, but need to switch to another service to watch the second part. There is also little hope that you may watch all movies of an actor at a single service. Even worse, older content may not be available at all.

Ads and price jumps

Many streaming services have increased the price of a subscription in recent years or announced plans to do so. Netflix, for instance, increased the price in several regions in 2022 and may increase prices again according to reports.

The introduction of ad-powered plans is another recent development. Netflix and Disney launched plans with ads already. These cost less, e.g., Netflix’s Standard with Ads is available for $6.99 compared to $15.49 for its cheapest ad-free plan. Amazon will push advertisement to all Prime Video users, unless they subscribe to an ad-free option.

Ad-powered plans are cheaper, but they deteriorate the viewing experience, especially if ads are shown in the middle of streams. Still, they appear to be lucrative to streamers. First, because they unlock access to new viewers, and second, because it is highly lucrative.

In short: ads are being pushed and prices are increasing. Most streaming services will likely have introduced an ad-powered plan in the coming years.

What you may do about it

Internet users have one main option to deal with the development: to limit subscriptions. Instead of subscribing to a service for an entire year or longer, viewers could subscribe for only one or two months per year.

Streaming services hopping is a valid option to have access to all content, albeit not at the same time. This is not particularly problematic for most viewers. The majority of streaming services fail to release enough content to warrant a yearly subscription.

Subscribe to Netflix for one month and cancel afterwards. Subscribe to another service in the next month, and cancel again. It may not be as comfortable as having subscriptions for all services all the time, but you will save hundreds of Dollars per year doing so.

A full year Netflix Standard plan subscription sets you back $185.88 in the United States. Add yearly subscriptions to Disney+, Amazon Prime and some other services you like, and you pay hundreds of Dollar per year.

When you subscribe to a single month and then cancel, you end up paying a lot less.

There is also the possibility to completely dispense with subscriptions. Films and shows may be rented at public libraries, or from friends or colleagues. DVDs may not offer the best quality, but they are incredibly cheap on marketplaces such as eBay.

A problem looming at the horizon

Stream subscription hopping works only if the streaming services offer monthly subscription periods. There is a chance that this could change in the future to support only longer subscription periods.

No streaming service has announced plans of this kind though.

There is still the option to subscribe to none of the services, if that happens in the past. While the end of discs is also looming, it won’t happen in the coming years.

Closing Words

Why are some Apps System Components in Windows 11?

Posted on October 16, 2023October 16, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Native applications on Windows 11 will soon be divided into apps and system components. Microsoft introduced the change back in July in Insider builds and it looks as if it is going to roll out soon to stable versions of the operating system.

Windows 11 ships with a large number of apps. Some of these are classic apps, such as Paint, Notepad or Calculator. Others, including Game Bar and Phone Link, aren’t nearly as old. New apps are also introduced regularly.

Current versions of Windows 11 list all of these apps in a single listing under Settings > Apps > Installed Apps. Soon, some of these apps are moved to another location instead. It is located under Settings > System > System Components.

Microsoft announced the change back in July 2023. Back then, the company’s message focused on the Start Menu. It said:

Under All apps in the Start menu, Windows 11 system components will now show a “system” label. This change is beginning to roll out and so not all Insiders in the Dev Channel will see it right away.

System Components in Windows 11

The following apps are tagged as system components in future versions of Windows 11.

Game Bar
Get Help
Microsoft Store
Phone Link
Tips
Windows Security

Twitter user Techosaurusrex discovered this and published two screenshots of the new menu.

Microsoft does not explain why it made the decision to separate this assortment of apps from the rest. Some of them fit the definition of a system app, for example, Get Help or Windows Security.

Others, especially Game Bar and Phone Link, look somewhat out of place here. What makes them a system component and apps like the Feedback Hub or Remote Desktop Connection not?

Clearly, Microsoft wants to distinguish this particular assortment of apps from the rest. Maybe, and this has not been confirmed by Microsoft, it is an attempt to make it difficult to remove these apps from the system. Or, at least highlight to users that these apps are more important than others, even if that may not be true for all of them.

Installed Apps Windows 11: can't uninstall

Note that the listed apps can’t be uninstalled in the Settings app even on today’s systems. Only Advanced Options are displayed when users select the three-dots menu next to these apps.

Microsoft could make more apps System Components in the future. Some of the apps listed as System in Start are not included (yet) in System Components in Settings. This is the case for instance for Get Help and File Explorer.

Not Microsoft’s only attempt to protect apps

The recently launched Windows Backup app is another example of a new approach to releasing apps for Windows. This app, which is not a real backup app by any definition, is not listed as an app.

When you try to uninstall it, you will notice that it is not listed in All Apps in the Settings. Microsoft made the decision to integrate it into an Experience Package. While it is possible to remove that, doing so will also remove other apps and features from the system.

Others have noticed this as well and no one seems to be particularly happy about this change.

To be fair, Microsoft announced plans in August 2023 to drop the blocking of uninstalls of several apps. These apps — Camera, Cortana, People, Photos and Remote Desktop — aren’t system components. Cortana is on its way out, but the other four apps remain a part of Windows in the foreseeable future.

Don’t wait for Google to end third-party cookies

Posted on October 15, 2023October 15, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Google plans to eliminate third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser. An updated schedule, published on Wednesday, confirms that testing begins in the first quarter of 2024.

A total of 1% of Chrome users will join the test, which disables third-party cookies in their browsers. Google plans to push the change to the entire Chrome population by the third quarter of 2024.

The main purpose of this type of cookies is tracking on today’s Internet. While it is up for debate whether the disabling will have a positive effect on tracking, it is clear that it does eliminate a widely used form of tracking.

Google, being an advertising company first and foremost, has already created a system that it believes is better for the privacy of Internet users. Called Privacy Sandbox, it integrates the tracking directly into the Chrome browser.

Chrome analyzes the browsing data and assigns the user to interests groups. Websites and web advertising companies may use the information to display targeted ads. There is also an option for websites to assign certain interests to users. The system runs in the local browser, which, Google believes, is reason enough to use the term privacy to describe it.

You can disable these ad systems in Chrome for desktop systems and on Android; check out the linked guides to find out how.

Disable third-party cookies in Chrome

Block third-party cookies in Google Chrome

Most Internet users have no benefit from keeping third-party cookies enabled in their browsers. Very few may use services that require third-party cookies for functionality. The vast majority of websites and services works fine without third-party cookies.

It is therefore a good idea to test disabling third-party cookies in the web browser. If you run into problems, you can still enable the feature again to resolve it, or create exceptions for these rare cases.

Here is how that is done in Chrome:

Load this page in Chrome’s address bar: chrome://settings/cookies. It opens the Cookies and other site data preferences.
Select “block third-party cookies” under general. Chrome displays information about this when the option is set.

It states:

Sites can use cookies to improve your browsing experience, for example, to keep you signed in or to remember items in your shopping cart

Sites can’t use your cookies to see your browsing activity across different sites, for example, to personalize ads. Features on some sites may not work.

This is all that is required to block the use of cookies for tracking across different sites. Note that the change does not affect first-party cookies, which remain supported. These serve an important purpose, as they are often used to keep user’s signed in among other things.

All major browsers support options to turn off cookies entirely or only third-party ones. Most Internet users may want to block these cookies or configure their browsers to delete them regularly to limit tracking. Firefox users may want to check out this cookie banners article, as it explains how to do so in the browser.

Closing Words

Google’s crusade against cookies is self-preserving. The company makes most of its money from advertising and a lot of that money relies on tracking. The euphemistically called Privacy Sandbox is a continuation of that, albeit under different conditions.

The main danger of Privacy Sandbox is not that it continues to track users using a different system, but that it is an advertising system that is now integrated into a web browser. Google controls this web browser and also the open source core Chromium. Several developers of Chromium-based browsers announced that they won’t go along with Google, which is good for users of these browsers.

Problem is, Chrome has a commanding usage share and that means that the majority of Internet users will be enrolled automatically into the new system.

Now You: how do you handle third-party cookies on your devices?

Spacedrive: cross-platform file manager with a twist

Posted on October 14, 2023October 15, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Spacedrive is an open source cross-platform file explorer that is powered by a virtual distributed filesystem written in Rust.

Note: the software is alpha at this point. It may contain bugs and issues, and its main purpose is testing at this stage. I experienced some hangs and issues during the test.

All modern operating systems come with file managers. Windows has its File Explorer, macOS Finder and Linux lots of them.

These file managers provide basic functionality. While that is usually sufficient to find, run, move or delete files, they are also lacking in many areas.

Windows’ File Explorer, for example, only lists data from connected drives. Anything that is not connected at the time is not displayed. Other issues may include a lack of organization, a messy interface, search that works so-so only or a focus on folders.

Spacedrive is a different kind of file manager

Spacedrive uses virtualization to display files from any location that you have added in the past. This can be folders and files from different local, removable or network locations, and even files from different systems.

This location-based approach changes a core characteristic of traditional file managers.

When you launch Spacedrive for the first time, you are greeted with emptiness. The file manager displays files only from locations that you add to its virtual filesystem. The first task, therefore, is to press the Add Location button to add a location to it.

The app supports local drives and partitions, folders, network drives as well as removable drives. Spacedrive indexes the content so that it remains visible in the app even after the storage location is disconnected.

The developers describe Spacedrive in the following way:

Organize files across many devices in one place. From cloud services to offline hard drives, Spacedrive combines the storage capacity and processing power of your devices into one personal distributed cloud, that is both secure and intuitive to use.

The Virtual Distributed Filesystem

At its core, Spacedrive’s virtual distributed filesystem (VDFS) is keeping a record of all storage locations that users added to the application. Record is another word for index. This index is not restricted to a single device or machine either, which is one of the main advantages of the technology.

The developers point to a UC Berkeley research paper by Haoyuan Li, which offers information on the underlying VDFS concept. The focus of the paper was on cloud computing, but the developers of Spacedrive say that the concepts apply to consumer software as well.

The core idea is not new. Applications such as DiskCat for Windows index drives or disks and make the data available even while offline. These solutions are not as advanced as this one and often not open source, but the main idea is similar.

What you can do with Spacedrive right now

The current version lets you add local and network locations to the virtual filesystem. Support for adding devices is coming in the future.

Select the add location option and pick a drive letter or folder on a connected drive. Spacedrive indexes the location so that it remains accessible, even if disconnected.

The app lists all indexed files in its interface. It supports three display modes currently: grid, list and media view. The first two modes list all files, the last only media files. Options to change the size of icons and sorting are also available already.

You may then browse individual locations or all data. A search is provided to find files across all locations quickly. Double-click on a file to launch it using the default file viewer or press the Space-key to display it in the program’s own quick viewer.

Options to edit files, e.g., rename or delete files, are also provided. You may add tags to files and create new tag categories. These may then be accessed in the sidebar directly.

A check of the preferences lists options to switch between light and dark mode, change display formats and even keybindings. There is a lot to explore already.

The future

The developers of Spacedrive have big plans for the app. The roadmap lists a key manager, to use encryption, an AirDrop-like feature and cloud integration as the next features in versions 0.2 and 0.3 of the file manager.

That is not all though. The roadmap reveals plans to add extensions supported, a media encoder, encrypted vaults, a timeline feature and much more.

Verdict

Spacedrive may not be ready for use in production environments, it is alpha software after all. It is one of those projects that you want to keep an eye on, as it is ambitious and could turn out to become an interesting app for many computer users.

Photographers or media archivers, for example, may use it to keep an always up-to-date index of all their media files, regardless of location.

Firefox 120 will block cookie banners, but only in Germany

Posted on October 13, 2023October 13, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Mozilla plans to enable cookie banner blocking in Firefox 120, but initially only in Germany. Other regions will follow at later point in time. Firefox users may, however, enable the blocking already.

Many websites display cookie consent banners to users. These banners give website visitors a choice regarding the use of cookies.

Cookies are data that websites may save on the local system. The sites may read the data in future visits. Cookies are useful, as they may keep the user signed-in or store preferences. Cookies are also used for tracking purposes.

The rise of cookie banners coincided with new regulatory laws in the European Union, California and some other regions. The main idea was to put users in control again in regards to cookies.

What was once thought of as a good idea turned into a huge annoyance for users. More or less all websites display cookie banners to users now, which often means that users have to interact with these banners frequently.

It is an annoyance, especially since there is no “don’t allow” default option that the browser sends automatically. Users who delete cookies regularly will get these banners in each browsing session.

Firefox 120: cookie banners be gone

Mozilla plans to introduce automation in Firefox 120 in Germany to block cookie banners and select “decline” whenever possible. The web browser will block cookie banners that include an option to refuse all but necessary cookies.

It should be clear that users will continue to see cookie banners. There is no standard for showing them to users and sites may use third-party scripts or custom scripts for the functionality.

Still, Firefox 120 will block common cookie banners, which should reduce the number of banners that users see while using the browser.

How to enable cookie banner blocking in Firefox

Firefox Cookie Banner blocking preferences

Mozilla plans to launch the feature in Germany only, but all Firefox users may configure the browser to block banners. I mentioned this back in 2022 on Ghacks.

Load about:config in the Firefox address bar.
Use the search field at the top to find cookiebanners.service.mode.
Change the value of the preference to 1.
Change the value of cookiebanners.service.mode.privateBrowsing to 1 as well. This enables the functionality in the private browsing mode.
Restart Firefox.

The preference supports three values:

0 — disables the feature. In other words, no cookie banners are blocked.
1 — blocks all known cookie banners and does nothing otherwise.
2 — blocks all known cookie banners and accepts any cookie banner otherwise.

Dealing with cookies

Tracking is severely limited if third-party cookies are blocked in the browser. Other options include deleting cookies and site data regularly.

Firefox ships with tracking protection functionality. While not as good as a true content blocker, such as uBlock Origin, it is better than nothing.

Blocking third-party cookies is a good idea to reduce tracking. Firefox makes this a bit complicated, as it does not offer a simple switch to turn off third-party cookies like Chromium-based browsers do.

Load about:preferences#privacy in the browser’s address bar.
Select the Custom option under Enhanced Tracking Protection.
In the cookies menu, select “All cross-site cookies (may cause websites to break)”.

This blocks third-party cookies in the browser. Note that some, very few, sites may not work properly with this setting.

Closing Words

Several browsers deal with cookie banners automatically. Brave Browser has a cookie consent blocking feature and so does Vivaldi Browser.

Mozilla is a bit late to the party, but better late than never, especially if the feature improves usability. Firefox 120 will be released on November 21, 2023.

Now You: how do you deal with cookie banners? (via Sören Hentzschel)