I didn’t set a cookie 
kuber.studio
Despite the persistent nags to accept or decline tracking cookies on websites, the online surveillance industry already has more advanced techniques for monitoring your wanderings across the web. Collectively, this is called “fingerprinting”. This site shows everything a website can extract from you without needing cookies.
Google will remove the last traces of Manifest v2, the feature that enabled robust ad-blocking extensions like uBlock Origin, in Chrome versions 150 and 151. Chromium forks — Edge and Opera — have signaled they will follow Google’s lead, though no firm deadlines have been set. Manifest v3-compliant ad blockers work, albeit with limitations.
Firefox (and its derivatives) and Safari will continue to support Manifest v2.
macOS 26.4, released on Tuesday (the 24th), brought back the compact tab layout to Safari (screenshot). The five of us who use this layout — which had been removed in macOS 26.0 — are grateful.
Firefox 148, released on Tuesday (24th), features a kill switch for the browser's AI features. Below it are selective controls for specific features. All of them are located in a new area in the settings (about:preferences), called “Artificial Intelligence Controls.”
The Gemini protocol (not to be confused with Google's AI) continues to exist. On Sunday (8th), it got a significant boost on Apple devices with the launch of Lagrange, a browser for the small web that took 4.5 years to complete. In addition to Gemini, the browser also works with classic protocols such as Gopher and Finger, and other hobbyists. Free, for iOS/iPadOS.
Firefox joins Chrome and Edge in the problem of dormant extensions that spy on users
malwarebytes.com
The Malwarebytes blog warns of a new wave of compromised browser extensions. The technique used, called steganography, is ingenious:
The use of malicious code in images is a technique called steganography. Earlier GhostPoster extensions hid JavaScript loader code inside PNG icons such as logo.png for Firefox extensions like “Free VPN Forever,” using a marker (for example, three equals signs) in the raw bytes to separate image data from payload.
Newer variants moved to embedding payloads in arbitrary images inside the extension bundle, then decoding and decrypting them at runtime. This makes the malicious code much harder for researchers to detect.
A group of researchers found 17 new contaminated extensions in Firefox. They have attractive names, such as “Ads Block Ultimate” and “Youtube Download.”
The focus of malicious actors on browser extensions is understandable. They have privileged access to the most intimate app we use on a daily basis, update automatically, and, with few exceptions, aren’t household names — I believe that extensions are searched for more by purpose than by name. Another problem is the market for buying and selling popular extensions, which change owners with no transparency.
A good way to mitigate damage is to limit yourself to extensions endorsed by browser stores. In Firefox, they have a "Recommended" seal. In Chrome, extensions reviewed by Google get a green “Featured” seal, according to the store's help section. In search results, you can filter them to display only featured extensions.
Mozilla said Firefox will have a “kill switch” that disables all AI features in the browser. Someone witty quipped it will be the “Uninstall” button.
Mozilla is developing a built‑in AI assistant for Firefox that will be offered as a third browsing mode alongside Normal and Private tabs. They’re calling it “Window AI.”
Details are still scarce. Based on Mozilla’s official announcement on Thursday (13th), it looks like a deeper implementation than the existing sidebar that gives access to third‑party chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, etc.). The post stresses the feature will be opt-in and that the user “is in control.”
There’s a waitlist to try the feature and a Mozilla forum thread inviting people to “help shape” the initiative.
