How to Fake your Location in Google Chrome

Sometimes websites may request access to your location so that they can serve more relevant information. For instance, if you are looking for a gas station, a maps website may use your current geographic location to display stations that are near your place.

Google Chrome will only share your location if you click Allow.

How Browsers Determine your Location

Earlier, websites would use the IP address to determine your approximate location but with the HTML5 Geolocation API, web browsers can more accurately detect your location using data from GPS, Wi-Fi networks, cell towers, Bluetooth and the computer’s IP address. If you agree to share your location, the browser will send these details to Google Location Services for estimating your location which is then shared with the requesting website.

To give you an example, open the Where am I app in your browser, allow it to use your location information and the app should be able to display your latitude and longitude coordinates (it is more accurate on mobile browsers as those devices have built-in GPS).

Fake your Geolocation Coordinates

When you happen to visit a location-aware website, the browser will always ask for a confirmation before sharing your location. If you aren’t keen to share your geographic coordinates, you can always deny that request or, if you are using Google Chrome, you can even send a fake location to the website.

Here’s how. Press F12 (or Ctrl + Shift + I) in Google Chrome to open the Developer Tools. Click the Settings icon in the lower right corner and switch to the Overrides tab (see the next screenshot). Now you can specify the exact latitude and longitude coordinates* that you want to share with that website.

[*] You can use the Postal Address finder to know the latitude and location of a place.

Make sure that the “Override Geolocation” setting is checked and then refresh the page to send that fake location. And this is obviously a useful feature for web developers who would like to test their geolocation-enabled apps from the same location.

Related tip: Geotag your Tweets with any Location

Gmail To Auto-Delete Emails Older Than A Set Number Days

A few days ago, we reviewed Mailstrom, an amazing web service that helps you clean your messy inbox. It’s an amazing service that can help tame even the wildest inboxes and it’s worked great for us. Once your inbox is clean though, you might want to keep it clean. The simplest way to do that would be to read your email regularly, archive the messages you want to keep and delete the useless ones. Of course, if it were really that simple, we wouldn’t have messy inboxes to begin with. If you’re often unable to remove read messages or unimportant ones from your inbox, you can use the following Google Script to automate it for you.

To use this Google Script, you need to first filter out the messages that you are mostly unable to read (and those that are generally useless for you). If you’ve never created a filter before, here’s how: click the cog wheel icon at the top-right corner of Gmail’s web interface and select Settings. Here you will find a lot of tabs. Go to the Filters tab and click the ‘Create a new filter’ link at the bottom. The search bar will expand with fields for the filters you can apply.

We created a filter for email addresses (From, To). You can create a similar filter for the Subject too if you like. Label your filter “delete me” and apply it to all existing messages.

Next, go to Google Scripts and create a blank project. Paste the following script in the new file and save/run it from the Run menu.

function cleanUp() {  
var delayDays = 2 // Enter # of days before messages are moved to trash   
var maxDate = new Date(); 
maxDate.setDate(maxDate.getDate()-delayDays);    
var label = GmailApp.getUserLabelByName("delete me");  
var threads = label.getThreads();  
for (var i = 0; i < threads.length; i++) {  
  if (threads[i].getLastMessageDate()<maxDate)
  {  
    threads[i].moveToTrash();
  } 
} 
}

Next, you need to set triggers for this script, i.e., how often it should run in a day. Go to Resources >Current project’s triggers and set it to run either on a per-minute, hourly, or daily basis. Now choose how often within the selected interval the script should run. We set it to run every other minute, which is more frequent than the regular user’s requirement. You can set it to run every 12 or 24 hours to make sure the messages are sent to Trash everyday.

That’s about it. Run the script and you will see all emails with the “delete me” label have been moved to Trash. You can change how long an email stay in your inbox before this script sends it to Trash by editing the following this line in the script:

var delayDays = 2 // Enter # of days before messages are moved to trash

Replace the 2 with a higher number or even with 0 so that all emails with the “delete me” label are sent to Trash within the current day.

[via Lifehacker]

Are You SURE You Know How to Use Google?

Most of you are probably thinking “you bet!” or “what’s there to KNOW?” right about now. I believe you. The truth is, if you know how to enter a query and hit enter, you know how to use Google. At least in its basic form. And if you search often, you’ve probably also encountered Google’s OneBox results once or twice before.

What are these OneBox results? While you may not have heard the name before, OneBox results have been around for years now, and have been helping you get focused and clearer results for your search queries. Have you ever searched for the local weather and got a small widget on top showing you what the weather is like today? That’s a great example of OneBox results. This is not to be confused with Knowledge Graph results, which appear to the right of the page. Knowledge Graph results were added less than a year ago.

The new and slick Knowledge Graph aside, there are still dozens of useful things you can find out from OneBox results. All you need to know is the right syntax to activate them, and you’re into a whole new world of Google results. This could take you all day to read if I try to mention them all, but here are some you definitely don’t want to miss. Looking for more useful search tips? Check out our Google Search cheat sheet.

Entertainment

When it comes to movies, books, music, etc., Google is full of useful surprises. Want to explore the full discography or filmography of an artist? Look for [artist] movies or [artist] albums. This yields a visual display of all movies/albums, complete with covers, names and release dates. Click on any album/movie to read more about it in Knowledge Graph.

This works just as well with authors: search for [author] books. You can get the roster for any sports team in the same fashion by looking for [sports team] roster.

You can also search for [artist] latest album to quickly find what the latest release was.

Found a movie you want to watch? Search for [name of movie] [zipcode] to find local show times (works in the US, Canada, and most of Europe, might also work in other regions). Can’t decide which movie to watch?movie [zipcode] will find local show times for all movies playing around you.

Want to find when your favorite team is playing next? Searching for the team’s name will yield all upcoming and recent games, complete with scores (if applicable), rival teams, team logos, times and ticket links.

Numbers

In the olden days, people calculated things in their heads, or using pen and paper. Later on, we started using calculators for everything. Today, you don’t even need to launch (or bring) your calculator for most things, just use Google. Google’s calculator can handle anything from simple calculations to more complex ones. All you have to do is search for the equation, and Google will present the result.

Want to continue calculating with your result? Google’s calculator is completely usable, and you can use it to continue your calculations.

You can also use Google to draw graphs, from simple ones to 3D ones. Enter an equation in the search box and see what happens.

But there’s more to numbers than math equations. In day-to-day life, we commonly use numbers as measurements. Google has you covered there too. How many milliliters are there in a cup? How many grams in an ounce? Google shows immediate results for all such queries. You can even play around with the dropdown menus to get further conversions.

The same trick works with currency conversions. Just search for “23 usd in euro” (or anything similar) and get an immediate conversion, along with a full graph of currency-rates history.

Travel

Flying somewhere? Google shows OneBox results for general flight searches as well as flight information for specific flights. Look for [airline] [flight number] to find out where this flight is at the moment, where it’s coming from and when and where it’s landing.

If you search for “flights from [X] to [Y]” you’ll find a list of available flights with current prices. But what if you’ve decided to drive this time? How long is it going to take you?

Try searching for [starting point] to [destination] and see what happens. This trick doesn’t always work, and I only got it to work with US addresses, but you can play around and see what you get.

Already there and looking for things to do? Searching for “things to do in [place]” will yield a visual guide to the most popular local attractions. Clicking on an attraction will show its specific Google search results.

General Knowledge

There’s an endless amount of facts to be found on Google, and you may encounter hidden OneBox results you didn’t know existed just by entering your queries. But in case you’re curious, here are some interesting ones worth trying.

Looking for health information? Google provides instant information on some diseases and medicine. Type in the name to see what you get.

Interested in gaining some general knowledge? Google offers instant results for questions like “how big is Paris?”, “who is the president of Micronesia?”, “how tall is the Empire State building?” and many others.

You can also find such oddities as team mascots and dog-breed characteristics in this way.

Google also helps you in the language department, by providing both instant translations and instant dictionary definitions for English words. This doesn’t work for every word in the English language, naturally, but it usually works for words you might need a definition for.

To get instant translations, search for “translate [word] to [language]”. This works in all languages supported by Google Translate.

Are You Sure NOW?

While I’m sure you could search Google before, these neat tricks sure make it easier and much more fun. The most exciting part about it, is that Google keeps adding more and more of these. When writing these post, I kept searching for random terms and queries to see if I can find some cool OneBox results.

Looking for yet more tips and tools to improve your search? Check out some more Google search tools you might not using so much.

Have you found a really useful one I missed? Is there one you use all the time that I didn’t mention? Share your favorite search tips in the comments.

Use Multiple Profiles Simultaneously in Chrome to Separate Out Work from Personal

Last year Google started to play around with adding profiles to the Chrome browser, and I feel like its usefulness is often overlooked. Most people attribute having multiple user profiles with being able to share a computer between multiple family members. You may not think about how useful it could be to have multiple profiles for yourself.

Personally I rely on Google Chrome’s multiple profiles each and every day. I generally keep multiple user profiles to help separate my work and personal stuff on some of my machines. Each Google Chrome profile can run simultaneously, and each one will have its own icon on the Windows Taskbar. The Taskbar icon will place the profile’s avatar in the bottom-right corner of the Chrome icon so that you can distinguish between them.

The other thing I like about creating multiple profiles is that each one can get tied to its own Google account for syncing. I have one Google account for personal, and another for work. All my bookmarks and extensions are synced across machines, which helps provide some independence from the machine you need to use. It’s really nice having full access to both my personal and work-related bookmarks available on the same machine while still keeping them separated.

So how do you set up new users/profiles in Chrome? Just click on the wrench icon and pull up the Settings. When you scroll down a little bit you should see a Users section toward the bottom. Click the Add new user button and a new Chrome window should immediately pop up. You are now running two Chrome profiles simultaneously. You can always use a single window and switch between profiles by clicking on the profile’s icon located in the upper-left corner of the Chrome window. When you click on the icon it will list out all of the available accounts on the machine.

That’s all there is to it. Now with this little trick you can easily separate out your personal and work stuff while still retaining quick access to data from both on the same machine.

Token authentication for Gmail using a eZ430 Chronos watch

Two-factor authentication allows you to use your chosen password, as well as a one-time password to help keep your services secure. The one-time passwords traditionally come from a dedicated piece of hardware, but there are also solutions for smart phones. [Patrick Schaumont] shows how a TI eZ430 Chronos Watch can be used to generate authentication tokens. After walking through the process he uses it to beef up his gmail login.

This method of token authentication is often called Time-based One Time Passwords (TOTP). It’s part of the Open Authentication (OATH) initiative, which seeks to sort out the password-hell that is modern computing. A portable device generates a password by applying an algorithm and a private encryption key to an accuarte time-stamp. On the server side of things a public key is used to verify the one-time password entered based on the server’s own time-stamp. In this case the portable device is the Chronos watch and the server is Google’s own TOTP service.

You can do this with other simple microcontrollers, we’ve even seen an Arduino implementation. But the wrist-watch form factor seen here is by far the most convenient — as long as you always remember to wear the watch.

14 Special Google Searches That Show Instant Answers

Google can do more than display lists of websites – Google will give you quick answers to many special searches. While Google isn’t quite as advanced as Wolfram Alpha, it has quite a few tricks up its sleeve.

We’ve also covered searching Google like a pro by learning the Google search operators – if you want to master Google, be sure to learn those.

Calculator

You can use Google as a calculator – just type in a quick calculation and Google will provide an answer. Google now offers a clickable calculator tool when you search for a calculation, so you can use Google like you’d use a calculator application on your desktop or smartphone.

Unit Conversions

Google can also convert between a variety of units. Just type a search in the form X unit to unit. For example, 40 degrees f to c converts 40 degrees Fahrenheit to Celsius.

As with the calculator, the unit conversion tool is clickable.

You can also combine unit conversations and math. For example, the search two miles plus 500 yards in kilometers will return a valid answer.

Currency Conversions

Google can also do currency conversions for you. You can do a search such as usd to cadto see the exchange rate between two currencies, or do a search such as 500 usd to cadto see how much a certain amount of currency is worth in another currency.

Your IP Address

You can determine your current public IP address by typing what is my ip into Google – or just search for my ip.

Weather

To see the weather in a specific location, search for weather location – for example, search for weather new york to see a weather forecast for New York. If you enterweather without a location, Google will show you the weather for your current area.

Sunrise and Sunset

You can also view the sunrise or sunset times for a location by typing sunrise location orsunset location. Like with the weather search, searching for sunrise or sunset without a location will show you the sunrise or sunset times for your current location.

Times

View the current time for a location by typing time location – for example, searching fortime paris will show you the current time in Paris, France.  Like with the weather searches, searching for time without a location will show you the current time where you are.

Package Tracking

If you want to track a package, you can enter a UPS, USPS, or Fedex tracking number directly in the Google search box. Google will link you to the appropriate package-tracking page.

Dictionary Definitions

To view the dictionary definition for a word, search for define word – Google will show you the definition of the word, along with a button you can click to hear the word pronounced aloud.

Flight Tracking

View the status of a flight by typing an airline name followed by a flight number.

Flight Schedules

Search for available flights by searching for flights from city to city. Google will show you a list of available flights along with their prices, durations, and airlines – you can enter your dates and locate flights right from the search page.

Movie Schedules

Want to see a movie in a theater? Search for movies followed by your postal code to view a list of movies playing near you.

Data

You can view many types of data for different cities and countries, such as the population and unemployment rate, by searching for them. For example, searching for population location will show you the population of that location, whether it’s a city, state, or country.

Stock Information

View about a stock, including its price and a graph of its price history, by searching for any stock symbol on Google.

agmark: Save Webpages As Tags & Add Notes For Them [Chrome]

Tagmark, a Chrome extension, is a simple solution to bookmarking and tagging content on the web.  It brings together fast one-click bookmarking using tags to organize your favorites. With Tagmarks, the URLand the title of the page is automatically added to the pop-up, and users can enter notes and a tag for the website. The extension then adds the tags to the Tagmark webpage, which can be accessed by clicking the Tagmark logo in the pop-up. Tagmark requires a simple sign up, after which all your tags are saved to the cloud. Tagmark works by letting you bookmark webpages both for personal or professional purposes without cluttering the bookmark bar.

Once you’ve installed the extension, you will find a T+ button right next to the address bar. When you come across a website or webpage that you would like to bookmark as a tag, simply click the button in the toolbar and a pop-up will be displayed with the Title, Url, Notes and Tag options.The Title and URL for the page are automatically added to the pop-up. Moreover, you can add notes and a tag for the page. Once done, click Save Changes and you’re good to go.

Whenever you want to access your saved tags, click the Tagmark icon in the pop-up and the Tagmark webpage will open in a new tab with the list of all saved tags. Clicking a link opens the tag with details such as Title, Date Added and Tags. Click the link under the title and the website will be opened instantly.

The extension gives you quicker access to your bookmarks without having to search them in the bookmarks toolbar or folders. You can install it from the link below.

Install Tagmark For Chrome

Stop Loading Of Webpages After A Specific Amount Of Time [Chrome]

If your webpages take forever to load and if you want to stop loading of webpages after a specific amount of time, then Stop Load, a Chrome extension, can be of help. This simple but useful extension stops pages from loading automatically after a certain amount of time. After installing the extension, all you need to do is set a time from the Stop Load Options. Moreover, Stop Load can be used to see the amount of content that loads after a specific amount of time, or can be used for other testing purposes.

The Stop Load Options allow you to set a time for the second delay. Enter your desired time and hit Save.For instance, if you set the time to zero seconds, then the page wont be able to load at all, and a blank page for the website will be displayed. You will notice that the  webpage immediately stops after the set amount of time.

The extension can be quite useful specially when you’re working with a large number of tabs that never stop loading. Instead of manually stopping the loading process for each tab, set a time from the extension’s options to stop loading. The extension can be grabbed from the link below.

Install Stop Load For Chrome

How to Search Google Like a Pro: 11 Tricks You Have to Know

Google is a powerful tool, but you’re missing out on a lot of that power if you just type words into it. Master Google and find the best results faster with these search tricks.

Whether you’re an inexperienced user or a seasoned professional, you’ll probably find at least one search operator you weren’t aware of here. Many of Google’s search operators aren’t very well-known.

Exact Words and Phrases

One of the most basic and widely known search tricks is using quotation marks to search for an exact phrase. For example, perform the following search and you’ll only get pages that contain the word “Hello” followed by the word “World.”

“Hello World”

This same method now works for exact-word queries. For example, if you search for “mining,” Google will also show pages that contain the words “miners.” Previously, you’d use a plus sign and search for +mining, but now you have to enclose the word in quotes:

“mining”

Excluding a Word

The minus sign allows you to specify words that shouldn’t appear in your results. For example, if you’re looking for pages about Linux distributions that don’t mention Ubuntu, use the following search:

linux distributions -ubuntu

Site Search

The site: operator allows you to perform a search in a specific site. Let’s say you’re looking for information on Windows 7 on How-To Geek. You could use the following search

site:howtogeek.com windows 7

You can also use the site: operator to specify a domain. For example, if you’re looking for high-quality references, you could use site:.edu to only pull up results from .edu domains.

Related Words

The tilde (~) operator is the opposite of enclosing a single word in quotes — it searches for related words, not just the word you type. For example, if you ran the following search, you’d find search results with words similar to “geek”:

~geek

Apparently, “Linux” is the most similar word to geek, followed by “Greek.” “Nerd” comes in third. (Hey, no one ever said Google was perfect.)

The Wildcard

The asterisk (*) is a wildcard that can match any word. For example, if you wanted to see what companies Google has purchased and how much they paid, you could use this search:

“google purchased * for * dollars”

Time Ranges

A little-known search operator allows you to specify a specific time range. For example, use the following search to find results about Ubuntu from between 2008 and 2010:

ubuntu 2008..2010

File Type

The filetype: operator lets you search for files of a specific file type. For example, you could search for only PDF files.

filetype:pdf how to geek

One Word or the Other

The “OR” operator lets you find words that contain one term or another. For example, using the following search will pull up results that contain either the word “Ubuntu” or the word “Linux.” The word “OR” must be in uppercase.

ubuntu OR linux

Word Definitions

You don’t have to Google a word and look for a dictionary link if you want to see its definition. Use the following search trick and you’ll see an inline definition:

define:word

Calculator

Use Google instead of pulling one out or launching a calculator app. Use the +, -, * and / symbols to specify arithmetic operations. You can also use brackets for more complicated expressions. Here’s an example:

(4 + 2) * (6 / 3)

Unit Conversions

The calculator can also convert between units. Just type “X [units] in [units]”. Here’s an example:

5 nautical miles in kilometers

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Combine these search operators to create more complex queries. Want to search a specific website for a PDF file, created between 2001 and 2003, that contains a specific phrase but not another phrase? Go ahead.