extension

Protect yourself with SpywareBlaster

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and that's especially true when it comes to spyware; wouldn't you rather protect your system than spend hours trying to rid it of malicious visitors? SpywareBlaster is a simple program that provides protection from ActiveX-based software and unwanted cookies for both Firefox and Internet Explorer users.

SpywareBlaster has a simple interface that will be easy for even novices to navigate. The main screen shows the protection status for Internet Explorer, restricted Web sites, and Firefox. By default, protection is disabled for each of these, but you can easily … Read more

Easily manage Chrome's privacy settings from a single screen

Accessing Chrome's privacy settings normally requires you to click on the wrench icon, select Settings, click on Advanced Settings, then scrolling down to see the privacy options. A quicker and easier way to manage your privacy settings is by using Privacy Manager.

Privacy Manager is a Chrome extension that puts all of Chrome's privacy settings on a single screen. Just click on the toolbar icon to see them. It also includes some of Chrome's experimental settings, that you can normally only get to by typing "chrome://flags" in the omnibox (address bar).

Keep in mind … Read more

Stop Facebook from marking messages as 'Seen'

Remember when you could read a Facebook message and ignore it, without thinking twice about replying? Then Facebook rolled out read receipts for Facebook Messages, thus forcing your hand to reply. Luckily, there's now a browser extension to disable the "Seen" notification on messages you've read, as reported by The Next Web.

The browser extension is called Chat Undetected, and was developed by Crossrider. It's compatible with Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. I was unable to install the extension in Safari, even though The Next Web report lists it as a compatible browser.

To install … Read more

Five productivity-boosting Google Drive tips

Twice in the last month I had to become reacquainted with Microsoft Office because a company I was working with required a genuine Office file. Both experiences made me appreciate Google Drive's simple, straightforward apps all over again.

Yes, there are tasks Google Drive's word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program can't handle well or at all, but for 99.9 percent of the files I work on, Google Drive fits the bill nicely. Here are five ways to use Google Drive to shave minutes off your workday.

Keyboard shortcut opens a list of keyboard shortcuts After a … Read more

Add AOL's 'you've got mail' alert to Gmail

One of the most infamous alerts for new e-mail, AOL's "you've got mail," is now available as a Chrome extension to alert you of new Gmail messages, as reported by Mashable.

Setup of the extension, aptly titled You've Got Mail, is all that lies between you and a trip down memory lane.

Install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.

Log in to your Gmail account. You can close the tab, or leave it open -- you'll be alerted either way.

Sit back and wait for a new e-mail, or send yourself one to … Read more

Spoilsports rejoice: Olwimpics wipes Olympics from your browser

Ah, the Olympics. We get three weeks of athletic prowess, medal counts, moving personal stories, and slow-motion replay of swimmers touching the side of the pool. If you can't stand yet another headline about sporting glory, turn to the Olwimpics browser extension for relief.

Olwimpics' sole purpose in life is to expunge the Olympics from your browsing experience. It's available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. It thoughtfully covers up keywords with Olympics-color blocks, though it doesn't make the accompanying images disappear.… Read more

Display time and weather info on Chrome's new tab page

The new tab screen in Chrome normally displays a thumbnail grid of your most visited sites or a list of your Chrome apps. But how often do you really make use of either of those screens? If you're a weather junkie, you might like a Chrome extension called Currently. It's a very simple extension that displays the current time, date, and weather forecast.

You can still access your old screens by clicking on the icon in the lower-right-hand corner of the screen. If you don't like the dark color, you can change it to light (gray) or … Read more

Save time with these three Chrome extensions

What makes someone choose one browser over another? Often people use whichever browser is closest at hand: Internet Explorer in Windows and Safari on Macs.

Lots of folks choose Firefox because of the browser's many useful add-ons. But the best reason to go with one browser over another is speed. In my experience, no browser is faster than Google Chrome.

There's no easier way to start an argument among geeks than to claim one browser is the speed champ. If you look hard enough you can find a reliable study naming each of the most popular browsers the … Read more

Open links in Chrome via keyboard with DeadMouse

The DeadMouse extension for Chrome might be the final piece of the puzzle if you are trying to go all keyboard shortcuts all the time. You can perform all manner of task in Chrome with keyboard shortcuts (here are helpful lists for PCs and for Macs), but opening a link still requires a click of the ol' mouse.

If losing your mouse is something you aspire to, give DeadMouse a whirl. With it, you simply start typing the first few letters of a link you see on the page you are viewing and the link will begin to wobble. Hit … Read more

Dolphin gets a Garage to stash add-ons

SAN FRANCISCO--Tugging on Chrome's coat tails, the popular Dolphin browser has announced alongside the Google I/O developer conference a new framework for developers called Dolphin Garage.

Garage is an open API program for extending the functionality of Dolphin. Powered in part by Adobe Phonegap and Dolphin's own HTML5 framework called Engine, it will include the release of more than 150 APIs, which will allow developers to create their own add-ons for the browser.

Engine has proven to be a big boon for Dolphin, explained David Dehghan, technical architect at Dolphin. While at a W3C Web standards meeting … Read more