Ad blocker expired on Chrome? Here's the solution
Google will soon update Chrome to use a new system for extensions, and that's pretty bad. This change has been introduced as a part of the Manifest V3 API, which will end support for many extensions. It also affects the ability to block ads in the browser, which means uBlock Origin for Chrome is not going to work. This means users will either have to live with ads, or use uBlock Origin Lite, which has a number of limitations.
Chrome recently started displaying a warning that older extensions may soon stop working in the browser. Continue using uBlock OriginBy enabling support for the Manifest V2 extension by changing the policy options in the browser. However, Google says it will end support for this policy in a year, i.e. in June 2025. The Brave browser has announced that it will continue to support uBlock Origin, Vivaldi says it will support Manifest V2 for an additional year, but other Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge will be affected by this change. The developers of uBlock Origin have advised users to switch to Firefox, to continue blocking ads on websites efficiently.
Steam user reviews are now much more useful thanks to this feature
Valve has made a significant update to the user review system on Steam. The largest digital game store now has a New help system To filter out reviews that are deemed useless. When checking the user reviews section of a game on Steam you may notice funny jokes, one-word reviews, ASCII art, etc. This is the problem Valve wants to solve with the latest server-side update to its store.
The new helpfulness system is enabled by default for all users, and will hide all low-effort reviews from the top of reviews. Instead, it prioritizes reviews that are actually informative. This can even influence the purchasing decision of potential buyers. The best part is that the new user review system is universal, so it works on mobile devices, the Steam client on PC, and desktop browsers. Users who don't like the new helpfulness system can toggle an option under the display settings of the review section to get the old system back.
Is your computer running slow? Windows updates could be the cause
Microsoft released KB5041585 update The update for Windows 11 version 22H2 and 23H2 has been released this week to fix some security issues and other bugs in the operating system. However, the cumulative update itself has introduced some new problems. Many users have reported that their PC has started slowing down since installing the update. They also said that CPU usage was high, and apps were slow.
A problem reported on Microsoft's Support Center indicated that this could be a memory-related error. Some users were able to resolve the issue by uninstalling the update on their computer. This could be a useful solution if your programs are failing to launch. Some reports mentioned that the update failed to install on their computer even after multiple attempts.
Windows 11 Start menu is getting a new layout
Windows 11 Start Menu is is being redesignedBut that's not what you probably expected. The main page isn't being revamped, however, the All Apps section is being revamped. Currently, all your apps are listed through alphabetical order, so it takes some effort to scroll down the page to find a particular app. Or, you can click on a specific letter, which opens a dial-like page with all the letters listed, and you can select one to immediately go to the relevant section. It's not a particularly quick experience.
Microsoft is testing a new layout for the All Apps page in Windows 11's Start menu. Instead of a vertical page, the new style presents apps in a horizontal mode. Apps are automatically categorized into compact tiles based on their type, such as entertainment, productivity, etc. This style looks similar to app folders on iOS's App Library. The Redmond company is also testing a grid view for the All Apps page to create a list
Google Pixel phones at risk of being attacked
A cyber security company has revealed Security Vulnerability in Google Pixel smartphones. The firm said a flaw exists in an APK called Showcase. The app, which is hidden by default, was originally designed to show off demo devices in Verizon stores.
Showcase was created by Smith Micro Software, and has existed for over 7 years, since 2017. It is a system-level app, which average users cannot delete or uninstall. The app package communicates with a server belonging to Amazon Web Services to obtain its configuration file. This connection is made through an unsecured domain, and the report claims that a hacker could potentially intercept the connection, or spoof it to deliver malware to Pixel phones. This could then be used to gain additional system privileges to spy on the user.
Google has confirmed that the vulnerability is real, but has denied that the issue has been exploited, and has also suggested that it is unlikely that hackers can use it to attack a device. The search giant plans to release an update to fix the problem. However, this security update may only be available for some Pixel phones. The security flaw discovered by iVerify affects millions of Pixel phones worldwide. It is reported that the upcoming Pixel 9 phone does not have a showcase package.
OpenAI releases new version of ChatGPT
Latest version of ChatGPT It seems to be affecting users, and that's because it's based on a new GPT-4o model. OpenAI released an update to its popular chatbot last week, and although it didn't announce what changes the new version brought to the chatbot, keen users quickly recognized some improvements. The new language model reportedly supports multistep reasoning techniques. But OpenAI denied that the new model has such changes, and said that users were only experiencing results based on their prompts with the chatbot.
Despite this, the new model, called ChatGPT-4O-Latest, managed to outperform its competitors in a popular benchmark test that analyses the performance of various language models in coding, mathematics, multi-turn interactions, etc.
