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.

10 useful Vivaldi features that hardly anyone has heard of

Posted on December 14, 2023December 14, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

When it comes to web browsers, Vivaldi has a special place in my heart. The browser is not my main driver, but I use it regularly. What I like most about Vivaldi is that it is feature-rich and probably the browser with the highest amount of native customization options.

Vivaldi is a Chromium-based browser. It offers the same web compatibility as Google Chrome and works really well out of the box.

Users who dive deep into the browser’s settings may find features there that hardly anyone has heard of.

You find ten of those listed below. Please let me know in the comments if you knew about them and whether they are also available in other browsers.

Themes Editor

All browsers come with a selection of themes that you can activate. Additional themes may be available in an add-ons store, but barely any browser includes a theme editor.

Vivaldi does. You may create new themes or edit existing ones. The available options range from changing colors and backgrounds to replacing icons.

Tabs at the bottom or sides

Vivaldi supports four tab bar positions. Besides the default top placement, it also supports placing the tab bar at the bottom or to the sides.

Tab Stacks

Vivaldi supports tab stacks. While the feature may look very similar to the tab grouping feature of other browsers, it is more powerful than that.

Tab stacks can use a compact, two-level or accordion design. Compact comes closest to the tab groups feature of other browsers. Two levels displays a second tab row that contains all tabs of the selected tab.

Accordion collapses and expands tab stacks either manually on activation or automatically, if desired.

Other Tab customizations

You find a wealth of tab customization options in the Settings. Here are my favorites:

Select the new tab position. When you open a new tab, define where it opens.
Select which tab gets activated when you close atab.
Enable double-click to close tabs.
Change the minimum width of the active tab.

Lazy Loading

Vivaldi uses lazy loading when restoring tabs to improve performance. Pinned tabs do get loaded automatically though. Most browsers support the feature.

Vivaldi lets you control it in the Settings. You may disable lazy loading there entirely, or prevent pinned tabs from loading automatically.

Customize what Vivaldi returns when you type in the address bar

Vivaldi has options to prioritize and customize what the browser returns when you type in the address bar. All browsers display a menu when you type. This menu may include items from the browsing history, open tabs or bookmarks.

In Vivaldi, you can enable or disable all data sources individually, and prioritize them. Don’t want search suggestions or typed history results? Want to make bookmarks the highest priority or synced tabs? All of this and more is possible.

Quick Commands

Use the keyboard shortcut F2 or Ctrl-E to display the quick commands window. This window lists most commands that the browser supports. You may select them using the mouse or keyboard. A search field is available to find a command quickly.

To name a few commands: Exit the browser, switch to the next theme, check for updates, open about page and dozens more.

Command Chains

Command Chains allow you to execute multiple actions automatically, e.g. to toggle fullscreen and reader mode, or open multiple links at once. These can be created in the Settings and may be invoked via Quick Commands, keyboard shortcuts or mouse gestures.

Impressive Keyboard shortcuts

Vivaldi’s keyboard shortcut editor gives you (almost) full control over all browser features. You can change keyboards using the keyboard shortcut editor and map shortcuts to new actions to use them.

Menu Customizations

Vivaldi gives you full control over browser menus. You can add, edit, move or remove items from menus. This includes the Vivaldi Menu, right-click context menus, address bar menus, and basically any other menu that you encounter.

Now You: do you find any of these features useful?

I barely use native Windows apps (what about you?)

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

Microsoft Windows systems come with dozens of native applications. Many of these are installed by default, others are pinned, but not installed.

A click or tap on the Start button lists the pinned apps, another on the all apps button all of them.

At least some of these apps may be third-party apps. Microsoft earns a bit of money when it includes these into Windows and users install them. Apps may vary from region to region, but it is usually an assortment of popular game or entertainment apps.

The apps that I use regularly

I have to admit that I don’t use native apps all that much. In fact, I use 5 native apps frequently and some occasional. The occasional ones include apps that do get opened when a file type association is mapped to a native app and not another app that I use instead.

Here are the apps that I use regularly:

Calculator — useful to make quick calculations.
Notepad — it is not as powerful as Notepad++ or other apps, but the plain text editor offers all the options that I need for a quick edit.
File Explorer — I use the default file browser and manager on Windows, and not an alternative that is more powerful. It is fine for basic tasks.
Microsoft Edge — Edge is not my default browser, but I have the habit of using all major browsers. If I would not write about browsers, I probably would not use Edge all that much.

And that’s it. Not a lot.

The apps that I use sometimes, usually by accident

Media Player — lots of better players out there. It may play obscure media files at times or corrupt ones that other media players don’t play, but this is such a rare occasion.
Microsoft Paint — usually only when I type Paint to load Paint.net and get Paint instead.
Microsoft Photos — usually when I try to open an image that has a format that is still associated with Microsoft Photos. To slow and cumbersome to use.
Microsoft Store — only for my weekly series at Betanews.
Microsoft OneDrive — to keep an eye on it for reviews and news.

The apps that I don’t use at all

I don’t use any of the following apps.

Games — don’t play them at all, no time for that.
Mail, Calendar, Outlook (new) and People — Use Thunderbird as my email program.
Maps, News, Weather — Prefer to access these in a browser to avoid ads.
Microsoft OneNote — no use at all for this note taking app.
Microsoft To-Do — no use for this app
Snipping Tool — it is a good screen capture tool, but PicPick and several others are better.
Sticky Notes — no need to place notes on the desktop.
Xbox (anything) and Game Bar — some may find these useful, I have no use for these apps.

How to remove apps on Windows

You can remove most apps on Windows in the following way:

Open Start > Settings > Apps > Installed Apps.
Click on the three-dots menu next to the app that you want to remove and select uninstall from the menu.
Select uninstall again when the remove prompt is displayed.

Some apps may not be installed. This is going to change soon for users in the European Union and European Economic Area. Users from these regions will be able to remove Edge and Bing Search natively, just like other apps.

Those outside need to use third-party tools for the job. My recommended tool is O &O AppBuster, but there are other tools and PowerShell options available as well.

Now You: which apps do you use and don’t use on Windows?

How to use Modes and Routines on Samsung devices

Posted on December 12, 2023December 12, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Remember IFTTT (If This Then That?. The service allowed you to create rules to automate certain tasks. From basic tasks, such as getting the weather forecast every day at 8:00 AM to parking your autonomic mower if the weather forecast foresees frost or heavy rain.

Samsung’s Modes and Routines feature for its Galaxy series of devices promises something similar. You may use it to create automated tasks on your devices.

Modes describes certain situations, e.g., where you are or what you are doing. The feature includes preset modes, for example sleep, driving or exercise, and the option to create custom modes.

Routines are rules that you may combine with modes or other features of the device. You can create routines to enable sleep mode every day at 10 PM and change certain configurations on the device at the same time.

Routines and Modes can be configured individually or in combination.

Setting up Modes and Routines

You find Modes and Routines in the Settings on the device. Note that it is not available on all Samsung devices, phones and tablets, at the time of writing. Samsung’s support page lists all recent Samsung Galaxy S devices, The Note10 and Note20, Z Fold, Z Flip and the A52 as supported.

One easy way to access the feature is to display the quick settings on the device and activate the settings icon that is displayed there. This opens the Settings and Modes and Routines should be displayed there.

Modes explained

All modes use the same basic template. You may select a preset or create custom modes. Each mode has a name, icon and color associated with it. You specify its duration and when it turns on. This may happen manually on user request or automatically.

Automatic options include when a specific app is opened, at a specific place, a time period, when a Bluetooth device connects or disconnects, or other custom parameters. The feature supports a whole range of custom options, including Android Auto, Wi-Fi, when games are played, calls are made or media is played.

Once you have set up these parameters, you may set the desired actions. This includes enabling staying focused to avoid distractions and plenty of other options. You may enable dark or power saving mode, change the volume, and change dozens of other settings or features of the device.

You may configure multiple actions that are enabled automatically when the mode is turned on.

When a mode is active, it may also change the appearance of the lock screen and the home screen.

Routines explained

Routines are the second big cornerstone. They may also be used for automation on the device. Routines always come in the format “if” and “then”. If describes triggers that execute the “then” actions.

If a mode is active, do this. If Wi-Fi Network strength drops beyond a certain point, switch to another network. If your location is X, do that. If Android Auto is connected, enable Do Not Disturb mode.

Closing Words

Modes and routines are powerful options to automate certain tasks and actions on Samsung devices. It may take a while to fully understand what you can do with the feature, as there is so much to explore and check out.

It takes just a minute or so to set up a new automated routine on the device, but there is no limit regarding complexity. You may create easy automations, like enabling sleep mode every day at 10 PM and enabling power saving mode, eye comfort shield and dim the wallpaper at the same time.

You may also create actions that involve location rather than time. Maybe enable Do Not Disturb whenever you are at work, school or at the cinema. Lots of options to configure, which is the feature’s greatest strength but may also make others shy away from it.

Now You: do you use automation on your devices?

BoardGameArena: play boardgames online for free

Posted on December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Boardgames are best played locally with a group of fellow players. Sometimes however, it may not be possible to assemble a group to play locally. Maybe members of the group are ill, on vacation or have other things to do. Another reason may be that you like games that other members of the group don’t want to play.

That’s were online boardgame services come in. BoardGameArena is one of those. It is one of the largest services of its kind. You may play hundreds of popular and lesser known boardgames there.

To name just a few major ones: Catan, Wingspan, Azul, Ark Nova, Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne or 7 Wonders.

You do need an account to get started, but creating an account is free. Free users are limited in some regards. One of the main restrictions is that free players can’t create new tables for certain games. You may still join tables to play these games, but a premium member has to create the table in the first place. Premium is available for $3 per month if billed yearly.

Premium members have other benefits, including that multiple players can join from the same network or access to video and voice chat.

Getting started at BoardGameArena

Creating the account is the first step. Once done, you may want to start browsing the list of available games. The list is divided into sections, e.g. popular, casual games, family games or core gamer games.

Each game includes information on how to play it. Many include tutorials that teach you the game while you play it. Rules are always linked and you find video tutorials for many of the games as well.

You may want to add games to your list of favorites. These become available on the main page then when you select “play now”.

All open tables of your favorite games are listed and you may join any of those. You may also display all open tables or search for open tables for specific games.

There is also an option to watch a game without participating in it. This is an excellent option to learn the game.

Here is a quick list of what you may want to do after signing up:

Browse the list of supported games or use the search to find games of interest.
Read the rules, watch rule explanation videos or use virtual tutorials to learn the game.
Add games to your favorites to get open tables highlighted when you select the play now option on the site.

Playing boardgames

You play all boardgames in the browser. All modern browsers are supported and most games instruct you what you need to do in each turn.

First-time players get their time doubled. There is a time limit in all games. If you don’t play within the time limit you may be kicked out from the game by a vote. This affects your reputation on the site.

When creating games, premium players may block others from joining based on their reputation or skill in the game.

Most games require that you click on elements on the screen when it is your turn. You may be asked to play a card, put a meeple on the board or perform other actions that are common in boardgames.

BoardGameArena supports other game modes. The most common mode is “simple game” and “real-time”. You may switch simple game to arena or tournaments instead. Real-time can be switched to turn-based, which gives players more time and does not require them to be at the table at the same time.

Closing Words

BoardGameArena is a well maintained boardgaming website. New games are added regularly and players on the site are, for the most part, very friendly and helpful.

You may join the site to play exclusively with your friends, provided that at least one of the group subscribes to premium, or play games with people from all over the world.

While it does not beat playing games locally, it is an excellent option if time, location, availability or other factors prevent local sessions.

Now You: do you play boardgames?

Microsoft Edge 120 Telemetry records your third-party searches now

Posted on December 8, 2023December 8, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Microsoft Edge 120 is the latest version of Microsoft’s web browser. Released this week, it is mostly a security update that addresses issues in Chromium and Edge itself.

What Microsoft doesn’t reveal in the release notes is that Edge 120 comes with a new Telemetry module. While it lists it under new policies, it does not provide information about it on the page.

Problem is: this new Telemetry component is enabled by default on Windows devices. It records third-party searches that users make when using Edge. Third-party searches are searches done using any search engine except Microsoft Bing.

Edge collects search data

The new policy, called Edge3PSerpTelemetryEnabled, is enabled by Microsoft. Microsoft describes it in the following way:

Edge3P Telemetry in Microsoft Edge captures the searches user does on third party search providers without identifying the person or the device and captures only if the user has consented to this collection of data. User can turn off the collection at any time in the browser settings.

In other words: Edge collects third-party search data on Windows. Microsoft notes that it only captures data if the user has given consent. However, Microsoft notes as well that the feature is enabled if the policy is enabled or not configured.

It is unclear what type of consent users have to give before the search data is collected.

How to stop Edge from sending search data to Microsoft

Microsoft Edge users have up to three options to deal with the collection of search data in Edge:

Disable the Telemetry collecting in Edge itself.
Configure a specific Edge policy using the Group Policy Editor.
Make the same change in the Windows Registry.

Disable Telemetry in Edge

Here is how that is done:

Open Microsoft Edge.
Load edge://settings/privacy in the browser’s address bar.
Scroll down until you come to the Search and service improvement section.
Toggle “Help improve Microsoft products by sending the results from searches on the web”.

While you are at it, check other settings on the page, e.g. under personalization & advertising, optional diagnostic data or security.

Group Policy and Registry

You need to download and install the Microsoft Edge administrative template before you can configure policies using the Group Policy Editor. You find the latest policy template download and instructions here.

Note also that the Group Policy Editor is not available in Windows Home editions.

Open the Group Policy Editor. You may do so with a tap on Start, typing gpedit.msc and pressing Enter on the keyboard.
Go to Administrative Templates > Microsoft Edge.
Find “Edge 3P SERP Telemetry Enabled”.
Double-click on the policy.
Change its state to Disabled.
Close the Group Policy Editor.
Restart the Windows device.

Here is how you make the change using the Registry:

Open Start, type regedit.exe and press Enter.
Confirm the UAC prompt.
Go to
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended.
If a key does not exist, right-click on the previous one and select New > Key. Name it accordingly.
Right-click on Recommended and select New > Dword (32-bit) Value.
Name it Edge3PSerpTelemetryEnabled.
Double-click on the new value and set it to 0 (if it is not 0 already).
Restart the PC.

Thanks Günter for the tip!

If your phone’s battery discharges quickly, try this fix

Posted on December 7, 2023December 7, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

My wife’s Google Pixel 7a phone suddenly discharged way too quickly. It would go from 100% to 30% in a matter of hours, even without any major use of the device.

This was quite puzzling. First, because this was a relative new occurrence. Second, because settings and use of the phone were in stark contrast to the rapid discharging. You could almost see the power percentage going down.

It got that bad that she had to charge her phone multiple times per day to keep it at a workable level. No matter what she did, it seemingly lost a lot of power in a matter of hours.

Here is the fix

I tried various tweaks to stabilize power usage. This included reducing brightness, enabling dark mode or power saving functionality. None of this worked.

My last resort was a drastic option. I decided to fully discharge the device to see if this would fix the issue. The battery calibration might not work correctly and resetting it required discharging the battery fully.

I downloaded 3D Mark for the device and started to run it. Battery went down quickly at first, but imagine my surprise when it started to stay on very low levels for a long time.

When it reached 1%, it took hours before it finally powered down. This was an indicator that the calibration was off and that it was not a problem with the battery itself or use of the device.

I plugged the device in and let it charge. I ran some tests afterwards and discovered that the calibration was working properly again. The device wouldn’t discharge battery rapidly anymore, which was excellent news.

Closing Words

Battery calibration issues can be resolved by discharging the battery entirely. This may resolve any related issues. Note that the device was not losing power faster than before, but that the battery load indicator was working incorrectly.

Anyway, if you notice similar behavior, you may want to give this a try.

You may extend Windows 10 support beyond 2025; for a price

Posted on December 6, 2023December 6, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Windows 10, the operating system that barely anyone loved when it first came out, is supported until October 2025 by Microsoft. The operating system is still widely used with a commanding lead over Windows 11.

Statcounter, for example, lists Windows 10’s usage share at about 68% and Windows 11’s at just 26% as of November 2023. Windows 10’s usage share will drop until October 2025, but it seems unlikely that Windows 11 will overtake it by then.

A percentage of Windows 10 devices is compatible with Windows 11. These can be upgraded to Windows 11 and a good portion will likely be upgraded in the coming 2 year period.

Millions of Windows 10 devices are not compatible with Windows 11 on the other hand. Microsoft changed the operating system’s hardware requirements. Main restrictions affect the processor and also the TPM security component.

A Windows 10 support extension is coming

Microsoft confirmed yesterday that it will offer Extended Security Updates for Windows 10. These extend the life of the operating system beyond the official date.

Notable is the inclusion of individual consumers. When Microsoft launched ESU for Windows 7, it restricted the offer to Enterprise and business customers.

This changes under Windows 10. Everyone, basically, may extend support of Windows 10 beyond October 2025. This option comes at a price though. Microsoft did not reveal it at this point.

A look back at ESU for Windows 7 may provide estimates. Microsoft increased the cost of support each year.

Businesses could get support extensions for Windows 7 Pro for $50, $100 and $200 per device. Enterprise customers paid half of that. To extend support by three years, businesses paid Microsoft $350.

Microsoft might use the same system for Windows 10 and consumer devices. The company has no vetted interest in keeping users on Windows 10 and likely won’t make the offer too cheap.

Some might say that Microsoft’s main motivation behind the move is to avoid the risk of losing millions of users to alternatives.

As a reminder, here are the available options that Windows 10 users have if they want to keep the device:

Keep on using Windows 10 without updates.
Keep on using Windows 10 with Extended Security Updates.
Keep on using Windows 10 with third-party security updates by 0Patch.
Keep on using Windows 10 and use ESU updates or other updates restricted to certain editions or subscriptions unofficially.
Upgrade to Windows 11 (enforce upgrade if hardware is incompatible).
Migrate to Linux.

The right option?

Most options make sense. You may not want to run Windows 10 without security updates support, but all other options work for a period or even indefinitely.

The selection between an ESU and a 0Patch subscription is not as straightforward as it looks on first glance. 0Patch subscriptions cost about $25 per year, whereas Microsoft is likely going to charge a multiple of that.

Microsoft patches are official on the other hand and they include patches for security issues that are not critical. 0Patch focuses on high-risk security updates for the most part.

The upgrade to Windows 11 is a free option. It works for most devices, even those that are incompatible. Running Windows 11 on incompatible devices is not all that different from compatible ones. A few features may not work, but the main inconvenience is that feature updates require another compatibility check.

You could install a feature update every second year, as Microsoft supports all major Windows 11 versions for 24 months. Still, you need to bypass the compatibility checks again when updating.

Microsoft fuelled uncertainties by stating that it can’t guarantee any update or support if a device is incompatible. At least the update part of the statement is unsubstantiated up to this point.

Linux is another option, but it has the highest hurdle of them all. There is no direct migration path from Windows to Linux. This means that users need to back up data, install Linux and import that data to Linux after installation. Other issues include that some programs are not available for Linux, but there are usually alternatives.

Gaming has improved on Linux in the past couple of years, but there are still games that you can’t run on the platform.

Closing Words

ESU for Windows 10 adds another option for home users, which is good. No one is forced to subscribe, but users may do so to extend support.

Now You: do you run Windows 10? What will you do in 2025?

Gmail launches improved text classifier to combat spam

Posted on December 5, 2023December 5, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

Email spam is still a great problem on today’s Internet. Most users who have email accounts receive spam regularly. While most of the spam is detected by mail filters, at least when it comes to most providers, there is still enough spam that slips through the cracks.

Google launched a new text classifier on Gmail that promises better detection rates, less false positives and also improved performance. Called RETVec — Resilient & Efficient Text Vectorizer — it is improving spam detection on Gmail by 38% and reducing false positives by almost 20%.

Google says that RETVec achieves this “combining a novel, highly-compact character encoder, an augmentation-driven training regime, and the use of metric learning”.

Its architecture makes RETVec compatible with any language out of the box and all UTF-8 characters without the need for text processing.

Spammers and malicious actors use different methods to bypass spam filters. Frequent methods include the use of homoglyphs, characters that look very much alike, or the use of invisible characters.

Google claims that Gmail’s new anti-spam system is better suited to identify these tactics and deal with them accordingly.

The company trained the new model internally at Google for a time to better understand its effectiveness. Google says it found it “highly effective for security and anti-abuse applications” as a result of its internal tests.

RETVec in detail

RETVec is released as open source. You may visit the GitHub project website for access to the source. There, you will also find more information, including the paper and links to demos.

Google describes RETVec in the following way on GitHub to a development-focused audience:

RETVec is trained to be resilient against character-level manipulations including insertion, deletion, typos, homoglyphs, LEET substitution, and more. The RETVec model is trained on top of a novel character encoder which can encode all UTF-8 characters and words efficiently.

Google notes that RETVec may also be a choice for “on-device and web use cases”. The technology is supported natively in TensorFlow Lite and there is also a custom JavaScript implementation.

Closing Words

Gmail users benefit from the new anti-spam filter on the site. A reduction by 38% is a massive improvement, especially considering Gmail’s daily mail volume. Google benefits from the deployment as well, as performance improves significantly thanks to the lightweight nature of the new text vectorizer.

Now You: do you use Gmail?

This script deals with YouTube’s Adblock Popup and Ads

Posted on December 4, 2023December 4, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

This year has seen a fundamental shift on YouTube regarding advertising and adblockers. Not only is YouTube showing popups to some users who use adblockers, to get them to uninstall them or buy YouTube Premium, Google is also working on making adblockers in Chrome less effective.

Without going into too many details. Chrome’s system for extensions will be updated in 2024 to only allow extensions that follow a new rule set. Called Manifest V3, Google claims that it improves privacy of users and combats rogue extensions. At the same time, it is also limiting legitimate extensions, many of which impact Google’s bottom line.

Most content blockers work fine right now. While you may get the “ad blockers are not allowed on YouTube” popup message, it is easily dealt with by updating the filter list of the extension.

The change impacts other Chromium-based browsers to a degree. Some, like Brave or Vivaldi, include native adblockers that will continue to work.

2024 changes everything, or maybe not

Come 2024, things may not be as straightforward anymore. Extensions need to be updated by their developers to support the new rules set. Those that are not updated can’t be used anymore.

Those that are updated need to follow the new rules. Besides imposing certain limits on extensions, Google is also enforcing all updates through its Web Store.

Content blockers rely on frequent updates to deal with an ever changing advertising landscape. Advertisers may rename scripts or move them, and content blockers need to update filters before these are blocked.

Most content blockers rely on filter lists. These lists are updated directly at the moment. Once support for Manifest V2 is dropped, these updates need to be pushed through the Chrome Web Store.

One problem here is that updates take anywhere from a few hours to days or even weeks. Google is in control of these updates, and the situation will worsen only if everything is forced through the Web Store’s review process.

Imagine the following scenario: Advertiser A makes a change on the site. Filter lists are updated. Updates are pushed through the Chrome Web Store. The review takes hours or days. Until it passes the review, ads may be displayed on the advertisers property.

Now imagine an advertiser that constantly changes scripts and tactics.

Remove Adblock Thing

Extensions are not the only option that users have to combat advertising and privacy invasions on the Internet. There are several other options, including DNS-based solutions and also userscripts.

Remove Adblock Thing is such a script. You need to install an extension in your browser of choice that supports scripts. A popular option is Tampermonkey, which is available for Chrome, Firefox and many other browsers.

The userscript blocks YouTube’s anti-adblocker popup. Besides that, it will also mute, skip or speed up ads on the site to improve its usability.

Here is how you install it:

Download Tampermonkey for your web browser. The official website has links to all stores.
Load https://github.com/TheRealJoelmatic/RemoveAdblockThing/blob/main/Youtube-Ad-blocker-Reminder-Remover.user.js next in your browser.
TamperMonkey should identify it immediately as a script and display its install option.
Select install to add it to the extension.

The script works automatically on YouTube and it includes an update URL as well.

Closing Words

The main benefit of the script is that it offers another option to skip or bypass ads on YouTube. Even if adblockers stop working temporarily or permanently, you may use Tampermoney with this script instead.

Now You: do you use adblockers or userscripts?

Need another reason why you shouldn’t “buy” digital content?

Posted on December 2, 2023December 2, 2023 by Martin Brinkmann

There are three different types of digital content that you can pay money for. The first is rented, the second purchased and the last is handed over temporarily as part of a subscription.

Purchase is the wrong word for the second option, as it is more of a right to watch or access the content based on parameters set by someone else. Borrowed is a better term as it describes the transaction better.

The problem for users is that this right can be revoked at any time. The last decade is full of examples of this. To name a few: Google Stadia (digital games, refunded), Amazon Prime Video (select videos, temporary issue), Xbox 360 Store (digital games, only some playable on newer Xbox consoles), or Microsoft Store (ebooks, refunded).

Now it is Sony that can be added to the list. According to a Kotaku report, Sony is informing affected PlayStation users currently about the matter.

You bought it, we take it away

The issue affects PlayStation users who purchased TV shows on the PlayStation Store made by Discovery. Sony cites “content licensing arrangements” and tells users rather bluntly that they won’t be able to watch previously purchased Discovery content anymore going forward.

In other words, Sony removes the purchased content from the user’s PlayStation library. From January 1, 2024 on, users won’t find the purchased shows in their library anymore. They won’t be able to play the content anymore, and there is no option to mitigate the issue.

Sony’s support page lists all affected titles. Titles include MythBusters, Naked and Afraid, Outrageous Acts of Science and dozens of other shows.

Sony is not offering refunds for purchased content. This means, that users will lose access to the content without full or partial reimbursement.

The terms of service include the following paragraph that makes it clear that content may not be available indefinitely:

Access to Other Licensed Content that has been purchased may also be subject to compatibility between the Authorized Device and the video format of the Other Licensed Content, continued availability to the Other Licensed Content from our third-party licensors, and other applicable restrictions.

Digital content is only borrowed, never purchased

When you buy digital content, you borrow it only. The company that you buy it from loans it to you. There is a good chance that you may access the content indefinitely, but there is always a chance that access is removed.

This can be because of licensing changes, but also when companies decided to terminate services.

This is different when you buy physical media, especially movies or TV shows. Games may require an active Internet connection and access to a gaming Store nowadays to download data, but for most games, it still means that you own the game. Also worth noting is that you can resell physical games but not digital goods.

Here is the golden rule: if you want to access something indefinitely, buy the physical product, if available. If it is not available physically, either make the purchase knowing that you may lose access to it in the future, or skip it.

Not all content is available in physical form. This is true for all kinds of content, from TV shows and movies to games and so-called DLCs (downloadable Content).

Now You: do you buy digital content?