by Kathy Brasby | May 31, 2026 | Technology, Uncategorized
In the last newsletter, I told you about Facebook’s incursion into our privacy.
Well, Google has just launched a new incursion into your hard drive. Many use Chrome as their primary internet browser. Now Chrome (Google’s browser) is installing a 4 GB file onto hard drives, hogging up a chunk of space.
Google defends this because the file, weights.bin, supports Gemini Nano, Google’s AI which powers features like page summaries, smart paste, scam detection, tab organization, and the special “Help me write” option.
Did you give permission for this? Probably you did if you did not read the initial permission document. I mean, who does? I’ve wondered if I’m signing away my firstborn when I agree, but do I read it? Nope.
So this is largely on us. But this new file is causing a lot of uproar on the internet because Google installed it without notice. And if you delete it, Google will quietly re-install.
Do You Want It?
It isn’t malware or spyware.
You’ll need to decide if your disk space matters more than Google’s AI features.
If you’re OK with Chrome’s AI features and you have plenty of hard drive space, you can move on to my next article.
But if Google’s process bugs you, I have some suggestions.
First Try This
First, identify your hard drive free space. You’ll want to know that to be sure that weights.bin has been deleted.
Then try this (on both a Mac and Windows):
- Open Google Chrome.
- Click the three dots in the top right corner.
- Click Settings.
- On the left side, click System.
- Find On-device AI and turn the switch off. (You may have to search for this inside Chrome. This setting may not yet appear on all Mac versions of Chrome.)
This often makes Chrome delete the big file by itself. Close Chrome completely, reopen it, and check if your storage space increased.
Notice I said often because this doesn’t always work. If your storage space has not changed, then you’ll need to go deeper. If you’re ready to dive in, here are more instructions:
On a Windows Computer
- Close Chrome completely (check Task Manager if needed: right-click the taskbar, click Task Manager, end any Chrome tasks).
- Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard.
- Cut/paste or type the line below into the window. Then press Return:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data
4. Look for a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel
5. Right-click that folder and choose Delete.
On a Mac Computer
- Quit Chrome.
- Open Finder.
- In the top menu, click Go, then click Go to Folder.
- Cut/paste or type the line below into the Go to Folder window. Then press Return:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/
5. Look for a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel
6. Drag that folder to the Trash, then empty the Trash.
Or Switch Browsers
Or you can uninstall Chrome and switch to another browser.
I use Firefox. Other safe browsers are Brave, Vivaldi, LibreWolf and Tor. Some (like Tor, for example) are harder to install but lock down your internet browsing.
Let me know if you have another browser that is focused on privacy. There might be a future article about that.
by Kathy Brasby | May 2, 2026 | Technology, Uncategorized
Facebook pulls information like a black hole pulls in light.
Last month, I was considering trading vehicles and got a quote on my car from Carvana. When I lifted the lid on the settings I’m going to give you, Carvana was already reaping my Facebook information. I never mentioned Carvana on Facebook — or vice versa, for that matter.
It was like opening a trunk and getting pelted with black bats.
Facebook tracks our activity on other websites and apps — even when we’re not on Facebook (like my Carvana story illustrates). If that bothers you, you can stop it in your account settings by clearing previous off-Meta activity and disconnecting future tracking.
Here’s how to do it in six steps:
- Open your Facebook account (be sure you’re logged in) and click on your photo in the upper right-hand corner. (I’m using a browser window. You may have to adjust if you’re trying this in a phone app.)
- Choose Settings & Privacy from the dropdown menu. Then Settings.
- Go to Accounts Center.
- Select Your Information and Permissions > Your Activity Off Meta Technologies.
- Choose Clear Previous Activity. (If you want shivers up your back, view the previous activity first — you’ll see what companies are hanging onto your account like leeches.)
- Choose Manage Future Activity > Disconnect Future Activity.
I’m not on other social media much, so I don’t know the process for other platforms. If you do, email me — I’ll consider it for a future newsletter.
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 18, 2026 | Humor, Newsletter, Personal
If I ever start a story with the line “My sister and I…”, buckle up. We have some strange adventures. For example, last weekend my sister and I went shopping for an anvil and came home with two armloads of old books. That story is coming in a future newsletter.
But let’s jump into this story.
My sister and I were on a road trip, driving close to the edge of the Earth. We hadn’t seen a house for 5 miles. We hadn’t even seen a cow for 5 miles. The only living things in sight were two antelopes racing across a far hill.
Not to worry. We weren’t bored; we were talking. Then I looked down at the speedometer. I was driving 80 mph.
“Oh, man,” I said and immediately lifted. Lifted is a racing term I learned from my husband. I don’t race. Except maybe when driving at the edge of the Earth.
As I lifted, we flew past a crossroad with a state patrolman sitting at the stop sign.
He pulled me over. He walked up to my window. “Do you know why I stopped you?”
“I was going too fast,” I said, and he nodded. “How fast did you catch me at?” I wondered if I had managed to slow down at all before he clocked me.
“Eighty.”
“Yeah,” I said.
He took the usual stack of paperwork back to his car. When he handed it back to me, he leaned down and looked into the car. I don’t think my sister waved at him, but, knowing her, she might have. Then he said, “Use your cruise control after this.”
He walked back to his car and pulled away. No ticket. No warning ticket.
My sister and I both took a deep breath as he drove over the next hill.
I owe that nameless patrolman big time.
And that’s why I have given my sister permission to nag me about the cruise control.
by Kathy Brasby | Apr 3, 2026 | Reviews
What if the sun were dying, and you were sent to stop it? And what if your only ally was someone you couldn’t shake hands with?
The movie Project Hail Mary deals with those questions, dishing out drama and hope while tackling unexpected friendships along the way.
Ryan Gosling plays Ryland Grace, a middle school science teacher with a doctorate in molecular biology and a chip on his shoulder after the academic world rejected his theory that life could exist without water or a habitable zone. That same paper grabbed the attention of those scrambling to solve an extinction-level crisis.
Watching Grace piece himself back together is half the joy of the film. The other half is Rocky. But that's a spoiler. You'll just have to trust me.
Project Hail Mary trusts its audience. We're treated as people who can follow complex storylines, feel the weight of impossible stakes, and still laugh out loud.
The music is top-notch. The character arc is even better. Grace begins the story running from something and ends it running toward something. He’s found meaning in his life in unexpected but funny, tender, hopeful ways.
A note for parents: the high stakes and intense drama make this a better fit for teens and adults than younger children. Language is mild.
Go see it. The hardcore sci-fi crowd might want to bring a calculator. The rest can bring tissues. Either way, go.
by Kathy Brasby | Mar 20, 2026 | Leadership
As you get to know me better, you’ll know things that my kids may someday pay you to keep to yourself. This is a great reason to keep track of me. Think of it as retirement planning. Just fill out that email signup over there and the money may well come flowing one day. No promises, though.
Don’t you, by the way, get annoyed with promises coming at you in the mail and on your phone and email? You know what I mean. I have gotten a garden catalog in the mail for years. Most of the catalogs have a big red sticker on the front: “Warning: this may be the last catalog you receive unless you order.” Yeah, yeah, big promises. I’ve never ordered. I’d be OK if this were the last catalog but no such luck.
I’ve been promised that the IRS is about to pick me up if I don’t pay my past-due IRS bill with a Target gift card. And that this is my last chance to get that great loan (no fine print mentioned). What? They’ll leave me alone if I miss my last chance?
I don’t make promises like that. I promise.
OK, I digress. I call this squirreling, but I’m not going to explain that today or I’ll never get to my story. What was I talking about again?
Oh, yeah, I’ve had several jobs in my life, none related to the one before as far as I can tell. I’ve been a property manager for four years. Managing rental units provides endless story possibilities. That’s almost a good enough reason to keep managing.
As you can imagine, we occasionally have tenants who don’t pay their rent. This particular tenant not only got behind on his rent, but he had creative excuses. One month, his check must have gotten stolen since we hadn’t gotten it.
In fact, the police had contacted him about the stolen check, and he was getting another one issued. We asked, could he send us a copy of the police report? Of course not, since the police were in another state.
What, they hadn’t heard of faxing or email?
He did get that rent payment paid. It was sort of the sweet-and-sour-sauce with that tenant. One month, he was great and the next, lots of complaints and no rent.
I reported the final events to my business partner, who is also my sister, Ann, via texts:
Me; “Guess what? No rent today again.”
Ann: “Still nothing? Didn’t he promise?”
Me: “Yep.” Captain Obvious is my texting handle.
Ann: “Can’t you just email him and tell him to send us his kidney.”
I was typing, “I’m OK with a kidney,” when Ann answered, “No! Ack! Money. Not kidney. Money”
I liked kidney better.
