Brave

I have started using Secure, Fast & Private Web Browser with Adblocker | Brave Browser, not in a huge way but I have started. So, let me introduce Brave, the browser, which is built on Chromium but has ad-blocking and privacy built in, using a very fast Rust engine. In my view the real "selling point" of Brave is the funding model for content providers so they do not lose out from ads being blocked. The funding is all anonymous and done with a crypto currency called BAT (Basic Attention Token) which you can either load from real money or earn by viewing ads but also they occasionally give out free BAT. I suggest reading About Brave Rewards | Brave Browser to get an introduction before you install it.

If you wish to apply extra funds to your Brave Rewards account so you can give away more then go to Brave Rewards FAQ – Brave Help Center and see "How do I fund my Brave Wallet?". Personally I created an account with Uphold - Buy, Sell, and Send BTC, XRP, And MORE In Seconds, hopefully there will be more options in future.

Getting signed up as a content producer and thereby receiving BAT is a little more involved but go to Earn more for content you publish to the web - Brave Creators and follow the instructions. As you will notice if you browse this page with Brave, I am signed up. Note that not only is this site setup I can also receive BAT tips via Geoff Lawrence (@geoffdoesstuff) / Twitter.

Important

I do not recommend using Brave on a managed device, whether this belongs to your employer, a client, or any other organisation. This is because Brave uses Tor, only if you select "New private window with Tor" but even without this elements of Tor get installed. Using Tor can set off security warnings and land you in trouble you do not want. Therefore only use Brave on personal devices.

Settings

If you want help with keyboard shortcuts in Brave then see What keyboard shortcuts can I use in Brave? – Brave Help Center which explains everything you need to know.

Language Settings

Having got Brave on a couple of different machines I noticed that the time format was not always the same, turns out I had different language settings, so this is how you change the language:

  • Start Brave and if necessary open a new tab
  • Bottom right, click the settings cog
  • Then go to "Additional Settings" and "Languages"
  • Click on the down arrow to expand the language section
  • Add, remove and re-order languages as needed
  • Done!

I have standardised on English (United Kingdom) but you can set it up how you want.