Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cloud computing: the lowdown


Much of our computing (including the storage of our personal data) is now being done remotely via the 'cloud'. But what is it? Here is a brief history of this radical shift while, below, we assess the relative merits of four cloud computing services
    cloud graphic
    Much of the media we use is acquired, stored and accessed though the 'cloud'.
    'Where did the computer go?" was the slogan Apple used in 2004 when it launched the first of its current range of iMac desktop computers. The question was designed to draw attention to the ingenuity with which the company's designers had managed to pack the components of an entire desktop computer into what was effectively an enclosure for a large flat screen. But actually it's a question with a more contemporary relevance, because nowadays most of us rely on "computing" that's provided by machines we never see and could not locate even if we tried. They are somewhere out there in the internet "cloud" (so called because the network is often drawn as a cloud in technical diagrams), which is how so many of us came to be users of something called "cloud computing".
    It's very different from how things used to be. Once upon a time the computer was the PC (or the laptop) on your desk. If you wanted to do word processing, or calculations on a spreadsheet, or to read and write emails, you did so by launching a program that ran on your computer. And the data – the documents, calculations or messages – that you produced were likewise stored on the hard drive inside your machine. Even if the PC was connected to the net, most of your computing activity happened inside the box on your desk.
    And now? First, most of what we think of as "computing" is increasingly done using a smartphone or an iPad or a simple, stripped-down, laptop or "netbook". Much of our data – documents, emails, photographs, spreadsheets – is no longer stored on our devices but is held in distant server farms operated by the likes of Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. And if you're a serious user of computing resources you will not only store your stuff in the cloud, but rent virtual computers from companies such as Amazon on which to run your own programs.
    What made this possible was the penetration of broadband – ie internet connections that were fast enough to ensure that interactions with distant machines happened at a tolerable speed. Once these types of connections became widespread, the die was cast.
    For individuals, reliance on cloud computing came about mainly because companies such as Microsoft, Google and Yahoo offered useful services – think search (Google, Bing), webmail (Hotmail, Gmail), image hosting (Flickr, Picasa) and social networking (Facebook) – that were apparently free (ie supported by advertising) and required no special software (other than a browser) running on their computers.
    For companies, the route into dependence on cloud computing was driven by economics. Building and running IT services for thousands of employees is an expensive and unrewarding business. But for several decades companies had little alternative – just as a century ago they had no alternative except to build and operate their own electricity generators. But eventually it became possible to purchase electricity off the grid, and so most companies shut down their generators and left the messy business of producing electricity to utility companies. Now they're doing the same with computing services, which they regard as a utility – just like electricity or water. In other words, the net has become another kind of grid. JN

    Apple / iCloud

    iCloud logo Key features iCloud launched in early October, promising a simple and elegant way to store music, photos, documents and other files on Apple's servers and then access them from iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and computers. The key point is that a lot of this is done automatically in the background without you having to do anything. For example, a feature called Photo Stream makes all the photos you take appear on your other devices for up to 30 days.
    iCloud also lets you download all your previous purchases on Apple's iTunes Store to your Apple-registered devices. Meanwhile, developers making apps for Apple devices can also use iCloud's storage. Early examples include game saves being accessible across iPhone and iPad, and document editing apps working across all these devices.
    Devices iCloud works on any iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running the iOS 5 software, as well as any Mac running the OS X Lion operating system. But it also works on PCs, through iTunes.
    The cost iCloud is free with 5GB of storage space for your content, although anything you buy from iTunes doesn't count towards this total, nor do your Photo Stream pictures. 10GB of additional storage costs £14 a year, while 20GB costs £28 and 50GB costs £70.
    Ease of use The key to iCloud is that, often, you don't have to "use" it: the service does things in the background without you needing to upload or download anything. The idea being that quickly, you'll just assume your files and content are available on whatever device you're using at the time.
    Privacy and security iCloud involves a lot of your personal content being sent over the internet and/or stored on Apple's servers, although the company uses encryption technology to keep it secure. Apple also has a policy of only storing location data from individual devices for 24 hours on its servers before deleting it.
    Great for… Anyone with an Apple device, but particularly for those with two or three. SD

    Microsoft / SkyDrive

    Microsoft logo Key features Microsoft's SkyDrive is part of its Windows Live service, with strong links to services such as Hotmail, Windows Messenger and Xbox Live. It's more of a virtual hard drive in the cloud, using a similar system of folders to organise your stored files.
    You can store documents, photos and videos in your SkyDrive, as well as other files. Documents can be edited within Microsoft's Office web apps – just like Google. Meanwhile, Hotmail is the basis for synchronising your contacts, email and calendars across all these devices.
    SkyDrive also has the ability to make certain folders public – to share their contents with friends and family, for example. This feature is useful for workmates collaborating on big documents or projects. Like Apple, Microsoft wants developers to incorporate SkyDrive into their apps, both on PCs and Windows Phones.
    Devices SkyDrive is accessible from PCs and Macs, but also from smartphones running the Windows Phone operating system. It has a good mobile website, too, which works on other mobile devices.
    The cost SkyDrive is free, and you get 25GB of storage for your documents and files. At the time of writing, there is no way to buy additional storage.
    Ease of use One easy way to use SkyDrive is from within Microsoft applications, such as the latest version of Office, which lets you save documents directly to your SkyDrive. It's also integrated into Windows Phones, allowing you to save photos to your SkyDrive immediately after taking them. Using the main website to upload and access files is simple, too.
    Privacy and security Microsoft gives every file you store on SkyDrive its own web address, making it easy to share them with friends – and the URLs are long and complex enough not to be guessed. You can also set files and folders to share with specific contacts or to be entirely private.
    Great for... Anyone with a Windows Phone and the hardy people who are still using Hotmail in 2011. SD

    Google

    Google logo Key features Google has a number of cloud services that increasingly interlink. Gmail, for example, now offers an impressive 7.6GB of free storage for emails and attachments, while also storing your contacts.
    Another Google cloud service is Google Calendar, which stores your engagements in the cloud so you're never far from a device telling you when your dentist appointment is.
    Google Docs is for creating, editing and sharing documents, spreadsheets and presentations – an online equivalent of Microsoft's Office (although in response to Google Docs, Microsoft now has one of those too).
    Google eBookstore is a cloud service for buying ebooks and accessing them from any web-enabled device, while the company has a music service live in the US, and coming our way soon.
    Devices Google makes its cloud services available across every device possible: computers, tablets and smartphones. On the latter two, this is a mixture of apps and (often superior) mobile websites. They work particularly well on devices running Google's Android software.
    The cost All Google's cloud services are free. That said, if you find yourself bumping up against the upper storage limit on Gmail, 20GB costs $5 a year, 80GB costs $20, 200GB costs $50, 400GB costs $100 a year and 1TB will set you back $256.
    Ease of use Google's experience shines through: its services are easy to use, with Google Docs presenting no problems for anyone switching from desktop tools such as Office. Over time, the different services have also linked together in some good ways, such as prompting you to make a calendar appointment from within Gmail.
    Privacy policy Google's policy of selling ads relating to keywords in your emails can spook new Gmail users, but the company says its systems are entirely automated – and are also used to screen out viruses and spam from your inbox. Security-wise, Gmail can offer a two-step verification process to enter an additional code when logging in.
    Great for... Cost-sensitive web users who buy into the Googleplex dream. SD

    Dropbox

    Dropbox logo Key features Dropbox is the independent option in the four main cloud services we have chosen: it's a startup that doesn't make its own devices or operating systems. Its pitch
    is simple sharing, with files saved to Dropbox made instantly available across all your other devices.
    Other key selling points are the fact that Dropbox works when you're offline because the files are actually stored on your devices, but it also keeps data usage to a minimum – important for mobile users – by only transferring the parts of files that change when you edit them.
    Dropbox also includes sharing features to give friends, family and colleagues access to specific folders, so that it'll feel like that folder is stored on their computer too. You also have a Public folder where every file has a link for anyone to view.
    Devices Dropbox works on just about anything: its website is fine for PCs and Macs, while it has apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry. Phone users can edit files and then upload their photos and videos.
    The cost Dropbox is free at its basic level, which provides 2GB of storage for your files. You pay $9.99 a month for the Pro 50 package (50GB) and $19.99 a month for Pro 100 (100GB).
    Ease of use Dropbox has been designed to be easy to start using straight away, even if you're not a geek. The focus is on simplicity, from uploading files to sharing them with others. From the moment that your different devices are set up to synchronise your files, it's seamless.
    Privacy policy Dropbox caused a stir earlier in 2011 with a change to its terms and conditions taken by many people as a claim to ownership over the files stored on it. The following week, however, it clarified to users that "You retain ownership of your stuff… We don't own your stuff."
    Great for… Independently minded souls with a range of devices from different manufacturers. SD

    Cloud atlas: Specialist providers

    Photos: Digital cameras and smartphones mean a lot of people have thousands of photos stored on their computers. Why store them in the cloud too? Partly to make them easier to share, but also for security: a back-up in case your hard drive comes a cropper.
    Flickr is the best-known cloud photos service, although in recent years it has faced serious competition from Facebook. You can upload to Flickr from your computer or mobile device, and it now makes it easier to post them on social networks too. Rivals include Photobucket and Picasa Web Albums, although now there are also mobile cloud photo apps such as Instagram and Picplz, which let you apply a range of visual effects before sharing.
    Music: Apple's iCloud will soon be the most high-profile cloud music service in the UK, but there are already rivals available.
    Sony's Music Unlimited is one of the best, because it combines the ability to store your existing music collection in the cloud with a Spotify-style library of songs you don't own, to stream. It works on computers, but also Android devices and the PlayStation 3 console.
    Carphone Warehouse also has a cloud music service, My Music Anywhere, which stores your collection online, including playlists, and allows you to access it from other computers and your smartphone.
    There is also US service MP3tunes, which is controversial within the music industry (record label EMI sued it), but it was one of the first to offer a music locker, with 2GB of free storage and more for customers who pay.
    Games: When it comes to games, the term "cloud" means something different. It's not about uploading your games to a remote server, but about never having to own the games in the first place: no downloads or discs required. Your chosen game runs on OnLive's server, delivering video to whatever screen you're playing on – PC, Mac, TV or tablet – then transmitting your controls back up to the server. One key advantage is that you don't need the most powerful hardware to run even the latest, most graphic-intensive games.
    To play on a TV, you'll need the OnLive Game System (a set-top box and joypad) which costs £69.99 plus subscription at £6.99 a month, although you buy access to brand new games separately.
    One rival is Gaikai, which aims to strike deals with websites to make games and demos playable within the web browser.

    Cloud hardware: The lowdown

    Most of the talk around the cloud concerns software and websites, but increasingly there is hardware too. Google's Chromebooks are laptops designed to be used with the company's cloud services. They even boot up straight into the web browser. Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet works with that company's cloud services. It goes on sale in the US this month, but no UK release date has been set.

ChatTime offers free calls to 53 countries


ChatTime, a voice communication app for iPhone, is offering free calls between registered ChatTime users in 53 countries. If you’ve never heard of ChatTime before, it’s not a voice over IP (VOIP) application like Skype or Tango. Instead, it uses the voice network of your cellphone, so it works even when data isn’t available.
I personally think of it as a very fancy electronic calling card that doesn’t require me to type in a long series of numbers. In fact, the integration with the iPhone is quite good and the call quality was pretty decent (in a test call to the UK).
All in all, this is an interesting alternative to Skype, especially if you can get free calls to other ChatTime users, without having to rely on the data network. I wonder how long ChatTime will offer free calls…

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Pokki Provides Desktop Apps for Gmail, Facebook, and Others



Clean gmail
arrow Windows Windows only arrow
When it comes to popular services like Gmail and Facebook there are a wide range of extensions available to make their appearance look a little nicer, but the free Pokki app takes an even more interesting approach to this. Instead of skinning the services in-browser like the extensions do they have their own Windows desktop app that can be used to download other standalone apps for Gmail, Facebook, Grooveshark, Tweeki, Instagram, and several others. As you can see in the screenshot above they’ve spent a lot of time simplifying the interface to only provide the features that users need the most.
I view Pokki as the next generation of gadgets/widgets. They don’t offer the full experience of the original websites, but they do cover 90% of what most people use on a regular basis. Here’s a screenshot of the featured Pokkis that are available:
Pokki apps
The only thing you have to keep in mind when using these Pokkis is that each one tends to use 30-50MB of memory, but that’s not too bad if you only end up using a few of them.
Pokki Homepage (Windows only; Freeware)
Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNetNews.com
Pokki Provides Desktop Apps for Gmail, Facebook, and Others

Vapor4Life (V4L) Electronic Cigarette Review


“Damn Erik, cigarette is injurious for your health. It can give nothing but a slow death to you as well as your family.” I have tired hearing such words from my friends already and knowing all the bad effects from smoking, I can only pretend if cigarette is making me and my family’s dying then let it be.
If quit smoking was as easy as it sounds, millions of webmasters would have never opted for building billions of websites in this issue. In my country, a highly renowned writer, also a 30-cigarette a day smoker, got affected by lung cancer. He wrote a story for the daily newspaper from hospital. In that story, he said that those who think quitting smoking were tough, they were absolutely wrong, as he had quitted smoking for 157 times in his entire life.
After so many excuses above against quit smoking (you already know why), I would like to focus on writing the V4L Electronic Cigarette review. I must remind you though, I’m new to vaping, this would be my first experience with e-cigarette. The first thing struck in my mind right after opening the box was, if I used this electronic cigarette in public, I’m pretty sure everyone would laugh at me. I mean, neither the size and shape nor the look of V4L cigarette resembles with a real cigarette, unless you use the white battery with brownish colored cartomizer. Johnny Depp went through an awkward situation in the movie “The Tourist” in front of Angelina Jolie with an e-cigarette when that cigarette looked just like a real one, I was wondering what would have Jolie said to Johnny if he was smoking a V4L cigarette. By the way, Tuvie is planning to host a giveaway for V4L electronic cigarette to help you smokers quit your smoking habit, would you be interested?
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
V4L Electric Cigarette Review

Considering the functions and customizability, this product grabbed some of my respect. This electronic cigarette is highly customizable in taste and flavor using a range of cartomizers and liquids available in the V4L store. Moreover, it gives the opportunity to adjust the amount of vapor as well as the strength of the smoke as per the user’s preference. I received the kit with low nicotine strength and premium coffee cartomizer. Boy, I love the coffee flavored vapor, because aside from addicted to nicotine, I’m also addicted to coffee. The built-in atomizer eliminates the need of replacement more frequently since every time you replace the old cartridge with a new one, you are getting a new atomizer in-built with it, making the electronic cigarette user-friendlier than the usual one.
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
The rechargeable battery will reduce the cost of replacing significantly and the charging kit comes with the box too. However, new batteries are also available in the V4L store. The overall package seems quite cost effective to me if you are a chain smoker. Do I see this as a solution to quit smoking? Well, as a matter of fact, I do. You can feel it in your throat and chest, except this time, you inhale flavored vapor that can contain nicotine in the level of your choice, not deadly toxin. In the future, you might want to gradually decrease the nicotine strength level and finally end your smoking habit.
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
V4L Electric Cigarette Review
Overall, let me tell what I really think. The thing is like believing in God but not following his shown path. I think the number of smokers in the world should not be more than a big ZERO. Even I am having a lot of troubles, but still can’t think even a couple of hours (except when I am sleeping) without a cigarette. After a few days using electronic cigarette from V4L, I have been able to successfully resist my cigarette cravings from time to time, hopefully for good.

8-way video card

8-way video card


It's gadgets like this Matrox 8-way video card -- which lets you drive eight 2560 x 1600 displays at once -- that make me think seriously about going back to a desktop machine and abandoning laptops. If only I could find 1) room for eight displays and 2) a graceful way of using the home partition on my laptop as my desktop's home partition as well, without sacrificing speed (NFS), or having to reboot each time I sit down.

The Matrox M9188 PCIe x16 multi-display Octal graphics card addresses the need to visualize large amounts of data at once in order to effectively make decisions. The latest offering from the M-Series family is the world's first single-slot PCIe x16 octal card, featuring the ability to support both DisplayPort and DVI Single-Link outputs to ensure wide compatibility with today's monitors. With 2 GB of memory and advanced desktop management features, such as independent or stretched desktop modes, the M9188 drives energy, transportation, process control, financial trading, and other mission-critical environments with extraordinary performance.
 
 
 

Google service-cleanup updates

Google logoEarlier this year Google announced the shutting down of many of its services, and already started doing it. Well, today the company reported on the progress of the clean up, letting us know how it’s been coming along. Google Bookmarks List – an experimental feature for sharing bookmarks will be saying good bye on December 19th. Google Bookmarks will stay, but the feature to collaborate and share your lists with your friends will be gone. Google Friend Connect will be retired on March 1st, 2012 – folks are encouraged to create Google+ pages for their followers instead.
Google Gears for Gmail and Calendar offline will stop working on December 1st, and will be not be available to download. Google Search Timeline will no longer no longer be available, Google Wave will be read-only on January 31st and completely turned off in April 2012. Knol will stop working on April 30th, 2012 and become read only when you can download or migrate your files, until October 1st where it will be shut down. Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal (RE<C) has also been shut down, with Google letting other companies do the job instead.
Will any of you be missing these Google services?

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Avoid the Top 10 Resume Mistakes


It's deceptively easy to make mistakes on your resume and exceptionally difficult to repair the damage once an employer gets it. So prevention is critical, especially if you've never written one before. Check out this resume guide to the most common pitfalls and how you can avoid them.
1. Typos and Grammatical Errors
Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect. If it isn't, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like: "This person can't write," or "This person obviously doesn't care."
2. Lack of Specifics
Employers need to understand what you've done and accomplished. For example:
A. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting.
B. Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.
Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but the details and specifics in example B will more likely grab an employer's attention.
3. Attempting One Size Fits All
Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.
4. Highlighting Duties Instead of Accomplishments
It's easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example:
  • Attended group meetings and recorded minutes.
     
  • Worked with children in a day-care setting.
     
  • Updated departmental files.
Employers, however, don't care so much about what you've done as what you've accomplished in your various activities. They're looking for statements more like these:
  • Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference.
     
  • Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance.
     
  • Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department members.
5. Going on Too Long or Cutting Things Too Short
Despite what you may read or hear, there are no real rules governing resume length. Why? Because human beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned, will be reading it.
That doesn't mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two pages. But don't feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Conversely, don't cut the meat out of your resume simply to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.
6. A Bad Objective
Employers do read your resume's objective statement, but too often they plow through vague pufferies like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth." Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in fund-raising for nonprofits."
7. No Action Verbs
Avoid using phrases like "responsible for." Instead, use action verbs: "Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff."
8. Leaving Off Important Information
You may be tempted, for example, to eliminate mention of the jobs you've taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the soft skills you've gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think.
9. Visually Too Busy
If your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. So show your resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find it visually attractive? If what you have is hard on the eyes, revise.
10. Incorrect Contact Information
I once worked with a student whose resume seemed incredibly strong, but he wasn't getting any bites from employers. So one day, I jokingly asked him if the phone number he'd listed on his resume was correct. It wasn't. Once he changed it, he started getting the calls he'd been expecting. Moral of the story: Double-check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details -- sooner rather than later.

7 free/open source Flash editors



Flash SWF editor
 is also know as flash builder. it’s a software that allow you to edit an existing SWF file or create a professional Flash animation from scratch. Here is 7 useful free/open source flash SWF editors for web.
  1. Ajax Animator

    Ajax Animator is a fully standards-based, online, collaborative flash Integrated development environment (IDE) specially designed for simplicity and community. The Main goal of the project is become usable Flash IDE alternative, but has evolved into a cross-platform/cross-format animation tool, primed to support Animated GIFs, SWF (Flash), SVG Animations, and more. It is currently built using JavaScript and PHP.
  2. FlashDevelop

    FlashDevelop is a one of the most powerful and popular open source Action Script 2/3 and web development environment built on the Scintilla editor component and is a Microsoft .NET 2.0 application. it has very nice user-friendly docking interface that you can reorganize as you like. A collapsible file explorer that makes bigger coding projects easier to navigate. The layout includes a useful snippets panel that has keyboard commands to show predefined commands. It has built-in support for many workflows and seamlessly integrates with Flash CS3, Flex SDK, MTASC, haXe and Swfmill .
  3. Open Dialect

    Open Dialect is an open source Flash IDE based on Adobe Flex created with the intent to help System Dynamics Modelers to create and publish Interactive Learning Environments to their work. it’s a free flash IDE which allows anyone from beginners to advanced Flash coders to create Rich Internet Applications quickly and easily. These apps can also be published to the desktop using the Adobe AIR runtime. Open Dialect supports 17 different components and action script scripting can be done using either a wizard (for beginners) or by hand (for advanced users).
  4. Salasaga

    Salasaga is an Open Source flash IDE for creating Flash based eLearning. it has a easy to use GUI authoring environment that helps you create visually impressive and actually useful learning material. Initially similar to Adobe Captivate, but will eventually incorporate an AJAX (browser based) playback capability for advanced content. Salasaga written in C, using GTK, libxml, gconf, and ming.
  5. minibuilder

    Flash minibuilder is a free and lightweight IDE specially designed fordeveloping programs written in ActionScript 3Flash MiniBuilder is itself written in ActionScript and provide a completely free and cross platform alternative for developing ActionScript projects. Extending, changing (and even integratingMiniBuilder with other software) is very easy.
  6. Ming

    Ming is a library for generating Macromedia Flash files (.swf), written in C, and includes useful utilities for working with .swf files. It use PHP Module that allows for the dynamic generation of Flash animations. In addition to PHP, the library can also be used in the programming languages C++, Perl, Python, and Ruby.
  7. MTASC – Motion-Twin ActionScript 2 Compiler

    MTASC is the first ActionScript 2 Open Source free compiler. It can compile large number of .as class files in a very short time and generate directly the corresponding SWF bytecode without relying on Macromedia Flash or other tools.

Log in to LIVE Messenger by using Gmail id



Yesterday while chatting with my friend I came to know that she is using her Gmail id with Live Messenger to chat with me. As a big fan of Microsoft products I was quiet surprised to see how come I don’t knew this. So I searched across and found some relevant information which I would like to share so that you can also use Live Messenger with Gmail or any other email id you want.
It doesn’t matter which email id you are using to login into Live Messenger, So here is a simple little tutorial on how to achieve it. For this tutorial all you need is a Gmail account or any other email account which you want to use and Live or Windows Messenger
How to do it-
1. Go to http://www.passport.net
2. Scroll down a bit and click on the Get started now link as an Use an e-mail address you already have field.


3. Fill up your email address which you want to use, your password, secret question and answer and finally the verification code, then click the Continue button.

4. On the next page sign the agreements by typing your email address in the box and then click I Accept.
5. Now Login to your email account and look for verification link from Winows Live Team click on it to verify your email id.
6. That’s it now you are able to access Winows Live Messenger by using your email id.

You can now sign in to Windows Live Messenger using your Gmail or any other email address.

The 101 Best Chrome Extensions

Bookmarking


Diigo
A perfect tool for students/researchers. Diigo lets you highlight, sticky, share and save web pages for organization. Download
Read Later Fast
Read selected content both online and offline. It includes an excellent interface for organization of content you want to save quickly and easily. Download
Xmarks
Xmarks syncs your data across both computers and browsers. With Xmarks, you’ll also be just a few clicks away from your bookmarks, passwords and tabs. Download



Browsing Aids


Autopager
With Autopager, the next page on a website is loaded automatically as you scroll. Won’t work with every site but is compatible with many, including The New York Times, Google, and Amazon. Download
Clickable Links
This extension automatically detects and turns any link text into a hyperlink. Download
Download Assistant
Download Assistant lets you use third party download managers in place of the default manager in Chrome. Download
FlashBlock
As the name suggests, this extensions will block Flash from running in Chrome. You can whitelist sites, however, so that Flash isn’t blocked when it is crucial. Download
Goo.gl URL Shortener
This handy extension lets you shorten URLs with Google URL shortener from the browser itself. Download
Hover Zoom
Hover Zoom solves this by making images larger when you hover your cursor over them. Download
Scroll to Top Button
This button scrolls to the top of an open web page, instantly. That’s about all there is to it, but that’s enough to make it useful. Download
Plain Clothes
Plain Clothes reduces webpages to a less attractive, but simpler, format. Download
Stylish
Stylish lets a user add their own style elements to a website and the save them. The opposite of Plain Clothes. Download
Readability
This extension cuts fancy features and sexy styles and enhances the text, but only when you want it to. Download
Bubble Translate
Bubble Translate allows you to translate specific text on a web page immediately. Download
Google Dictionary by Google
Want to know what that word means? Just double click! A definition will appear in a pop-up bubble. A number of major languages are supported. Download



Developer Tools


colorPicker 0.9
ColorPicker 0.9 lets you experiment with colour and hex codes. Download
IETab
IETab helps developers who enjoy Chrome see what their sites look like in IE. Simple, but crucial. Download
Image Properties Context Menu
Displays the properties of an image and makes that information easier to access. Download
IP Address
With this extension, you can find out your IP in the blink of an eye. Download
PageRank Status
What’s the PageRank of your site? This extension will help you keep track of your site’s performance from the Chrome toolbar. Download
Pendule
Consider Pendule to be a toolbox. It can validate code, disable style elements on the fly, show hidden page elements, and much more. Must-have for serious developers. Download
QR Code Generator
Want to let a visitor send something to their mobile device? This extension will create QR codes with no fuss. Download
Speed Tracer (by Google)
Web page performance can impact its ranking in Google. This tool will help you see how your site’s load times fair, and provide what you need to find the culprits behind slow performance. Download
WhatFont?
See a font that you like? Use WhatFont and discover what font it is in seconds. Download
Zemanta
Zemanta is a blogging dashboard designed for bloggers who frequently make reference to other online content. It supports popular blog platforms including WordPress, TypePad and Blogger. Download



Email


WiseStamp
WiseStamp makes it easier to send out a signature with your social networking information with all of your emails or just some, if that is what you prefer. Download
Minimalist for Gmail
Allows you to disable entire features, change colors, and more in Gmail. Download
Boomerang for Gmail
Do you know that you need to send an email, but you won’t be near your PC? Boomerang adds email scheduling functionality to Gmail. Download
Rapportive
Rapportive searches and displays available information about your email contact, including their occupation, photo, and even location. Download
Offline Google Mail
Another extension that fills the gap between Gmail and traditional email clients. Download
Send From Gmail (by Google)
Allows you to compose email in Gmail whenever you click on an email address. Quite handy, and works smoothly. Download



Maps and Weather


Full Screen Google Maps
This is an excellent extension lets you make Google Maps full screen. Great for browsing Maps. Download
QR Maps
Need another way to send maps from Google Maps on your computer to your mobile device? QR Maps generates a code that can be read by a smartphone’s camera. Download
Rain Alarm
Thinking of going for a walk, but don’t want to get rained on? Rain Alarm can help by alerting you when precipitation is incoming. It tracks snow, too. Download
Weather Watcher Live
This simple weather extension adds a real-time temperature readout to Chrome, which can be clicked for additional local weather information. Download
Quickrr
Click on the Quickrr icon, enter the search term, and you’ll be directed to Google Maps search results instantly. Download



Mobile


Android Push Contacts
Push, shove, and send contacts from your browser to your phone. You can even send SMS messages straight from your computer. Download
MightyText
Another way to send SMS messages to and from your Android while using Chrome. Requires its smartphone counterpart. Download




Music / Video


Anesidora
Like Pandora? Don’t want to keep it open in a tab while listening? Anesidora can help by building Internet radio straight in to Chrome. Download
Clea.nr Videos
Another un-styling extension focused on YouTube and Amazon video. It eliminates almost everything on a page except for the video itself. Download
Auto HD for Youtube
The name says it all. With Auto HD, you’ll never have to mess with YouTube resolution settings again. Download
Illimutix
Great extension for those who download videos online. It bypasses the free usage restrictions of sites like MegaVideo. Download
Radio Player Live
Bored with Pandora? Radio Player Live is a multi-channel online radio player. You’ll need to download additional plug-ins, but the effort is worthwhile. Download
Turn Off The Lights
This extension solves the problem of videos embedded on light backgrounds with a single mouse click. Download
Xbox Live Dashboard
This Chrome dashboard will let you go on Xbox Live. It includes a friends list and allows for reading and replying to messages. Download
YouTube Options
No surprises here. With YouTube Options you’re able to make change how the site looks or disable certain video features, such as annotations. Download
YouTube Downloader
Download any video from YouTube to MP3, high definition MP4, or FLV. Adds a download button to YouTube video pages. Download



News and Feeds


Feedly
This extension organizes feeds into an attractive thumbnail-and-headline centered format. Download
Google Alerter
Need to be notified of the latest events from multiple sources? Google Alerter draws information from Google Reader, Gmail, Voice and Wave at once. Download
iReader
Despite the name, this as nothing to do with Apple. It’s a reader that strips out extraneous page elements and allows users to view multiple feeds at once. Download
NewsSquares
This feed reader organizes feeds visually in your web browser. It’s the most attractive reader around, very functional. Download
RSS Subscription Extension (by Google)
A must-have for anyone who uses RSS. Automatically places a RSS subscription button in the browser when you visit a page that supports RSS. Download
Unburner
Unburner removes junk data from RSS subscriptions. You’ll no longer have to slog through Feedburner code you don’t need to see. Download
Minimalist for Google Reader
Minimalist for Google Reader can significantly clean up the interface and completely customizable. Download



Productivity


Send to Google Docs
This extension lets you save websites using your Google Account and sends it to Google Docs and is thus accessible from any PC. Download
StayFocused
StayFocused can help by providing an on-screen timer and alerting you when you’ve wasted more time than you’d wanted. Download
Sumo Paint
Sumo Paint is a web-only image editor. It is free, quick, and acts as a real web app. Download
Time Tracker
Logs how much time you spend on various websites. Keeps track of your productivity if you don’t have a boss leering over your back. Download
Write Space
This text editor is easy to use, and the app is entirely self-contained and offline, so it can be used at any time on any computer with Chrome. Download
Webpage Screenshot
Takes a PNG/JPG image of a website which can then be shared. Because it captures an image, the content you share can’t be changed, altered or taken down. Download
Minimalist for Google Calendar
Much like the Gmail extension, Minimalist offers a wide range of customizations for Google Calendar. Download
Awesome Screenshot
Awesome Screenshot makes it possible to capture all or part of a webpage as an image, then annotate or apply basic edits if you desire. Download
Cloud Save
Save online content using the cloud service or services of your choice. Save links, images and more by right clicking and using the new menu option. Download
Quick Note
Quick Note allows you to type and organize notes online, then access them on other computers with your Diigo account. Download
Mega Button
Mega Button acts a simple interface improvement that makes many features of Chrome accessible from a single “mega” button. Download
Smooth Gestures
Smooth Gestures makes it even easier to navigate your browser through mouse gestures. Many functions are available, and gestures can be customized. Download



Security


Click&Clean
This extension clean your hard disk, scan for malware, erase temporary files, and much more. Download
Ghostery
Ghostery takes the veil off the web, exposing tracking cookies, hidden page elements, and much more. Download
Hide My Ass! Web Proxy
Sometimes you may want to bypass site restrictions or browser the web anonymously. Hide My Ass! can help by sending your connection through a proxy server. Download
LastPass
Saves and encrypts your passwords on the LastPass web server. Log in to websites with a single click. Download
Personal Blocklist (by Google)
Frankly, this should be included by default. It adds the ability to block websites that you find suspicious (or just annoying) at any time. They’ll no longer appear in search results. Download
ScriptNo
Tired of websites running scripts without permission? ScriptNo can fix that by blocking some or all of them. Download
ViewThru
With ViewThru, you’ll be able to see the full site URL before clicking on any shorted link, which can be a huge benefit in terms of security. Download
Web of Trust
Web of Trust rates websites based on the experiences of others, so you can avoid sites that are known to be harmful and stick to those known to be legit. Download



Shopping


Add to Amazon Wish List
Wse this extension to add anything you want to your Amazon wish list. Wish List is also available on most smartphones via Amazon’s mobile app. Download
Currency Converter
Looking to buy something from a store that doesn’t use your currency? Currency Converter supports most world currencies and can convert to multiple currencies at once. Download
eBay Extension for Chrome
This official eBay extension is essential for anyone who uses the site frequently. It notifies you have new bids, allows for easy auction monitoring, and much more. Download
Ookong
Of the several Amazon price trackers on the market, this is the best. It provides a clear and accurate price history for items on Amazon. Download
PriceBlink
PriceBlink’s big advantage is that it is cross-platform and cross-store. It will help you find pricing on products from multiple stores. Download



Social Stuff


Amplify
Amplify lifts character limits in social networks and makes it easier to share blog posts. And as a bonus, clips you share can be viewed later in the Amplog. Download
Buffer for Chrome
Buffer helps by putting your tweets in a queue and sending them out over time. You can write many tweets at once, and then have them sent throughout the day. Download
Facebook for Chrome
This unofficial extension brings Facebook features to the Chrome interface. Must-have for anyone who frequently checks the news feed or uses the chat features. Download
No Theater Facebook Image Gallery
Removes the newer Facebook Image Gallery in favor of the older solution, where each image was displayed on its own page. Download
Pigeon Carrier
Pigeon Carrier makes it possible to share files over Twitter using your Dropbox account. Share files in your tweets by clicking the Add Attachment button. Download
Reddit Companion
A must-have for any Reddit fan, this extension places site functions such as vote, save and more in the Chrome interface. Download
Replies and More for Google+
Want to reply to someone who has posted an update on Google+? This extension adds Reply and Reply to Author links, as well as a few other seemingly random enhancements. Download
Silverbird
Once installed, Silverbird makes it possible to access Twitter functions from a button in the Chrome interface. Download
Shareaholic
This simple link sharing extension can connect with a number of social networking services including Facebook, Twitter, Evernote and more. Download
Surplus
Surplus provides access to Google Plus in Chrome through an interface button. Desktop notifications are also available. Download
TweetDeck
Another alternative Twitter interface, TweetDeck works in full screen and re-arranges the interface so you can see more at once. Download
G+me for Google+
Like Google+, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by the updates to your stream? G+me simplifies this by making comments collapsible. Also adds notification features that will help you stay informe. Download
eBuddy Web Messenger
Just a nice, unified web messenger built in to Chrome. It supports Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo!, FaceBook Chat, AIM and more. Download



Tab Management


MuteTab
It lets you mute audio from as many tabs as you’d want, so you can listen to what you want to without interference from other sites. Download
Reload All Tabs
Reloads all open tabs. Obviously, that’s much quicker than reloading each tab individually, so this is a must-have for serious tabaholics. Download
TabCloud
Tab Cloud lets you transfer your browsing session from one computer to another. You can also see saved sessions with a built-in interface. Download
Tabs Expose
This extension provides an alternative tab interface that includes thumbnail previews. It’s a good choice for users who keep 5-20 tabs open at once. Download
TabsPlus
TabsPlus lets you modify the default behaviors of tabs. You can change what happens when a new tab is opened, or the tab Chrome will switch to when you close an open tab. Download
Tab Scissors
Snip! Now your single browser window is cut in two. This is an awesome extension for people who need to compare websites or online documents side-by-side. Download
TooManyTabs
Designed for people who keep 20+ tabs open at a time, this extension offers a unique tiled tab interface, tab search, tab restore, and much more. Download
Speed Dial
Speed Dial replicates the functionality of the New Tab page, but allows for customization. Specific sites can be added or removed. Download