Reports began to appear yesterday on Google Chrome’s official support forum about a new extension that installed itself automatically in the browser. Chrome users noticed that the Settings Protector extension appeared on the extensions page of the browser without their doing. According to reports, the extension installed itself automatically in the browser. The only information displayed on the extensions page is the name of the extension, Settings Protector, and its version, 1.0.

No information have been provided about Chrome versions, new software installations, updates, or anything else that may be related to the automatic installation of the extension. Right now, it is not clear what triggers the installation of Settings Protector in the browser. It sounds like an extension that would ship with a security program, but it can as well be installed through exploits of the browser or the operating system, malware that managed to compromise the system, or as part of an adware offer of regular applications.

Here is how you can check whether Settings Protector is installed on your system. Open the Chrome web browser and click on the settings icon at the top right. Select Tools > Extensions from the context menu and look for Settings Protector 1.0 there. If you find it there, disable it or click on the trashcan icon to delete it from the browser.

I highly suggest to run a scan with Malwarebytes AntiMalware and Dr.Web CureIt to make sure it was not dropped by malware still running on the system.

If you are a new Chrome user, or an old one who is now used to working with the browser in a certain way, you may be interested in tips to get the most out of the web browser. Maybe it is basic tips that can really help you improve your workflow, for instance by searching websites directly from Chrome’s address bar instead of loading a search engine’s website first to do that, or more advanced tips that involve keyboard shortcuts.

Google recently released a first party extension for the Chrome browser with the purpose of providing Chrome users with tips to use the web browser more efficiently.

The extension will display tips when it recognizes ineffective behavior, for instance if a user uses only windows and no tabs to browser multiple websites.

The core question here is obviously if those users would be able to find and install the Chrome Tips extension, and the answer is probably no.

Regardless of that oversight in design, it can be handy if you do not mind running the extension in the background while working in the browser.

The extension will display tips in a small toolbar on top. The core issue that I have with the extension is that the tips are time and action based, which means that you may never see a tip coming up if you are an advanced user.

I tested the extension for a long time and did not see a single tip come up, hence the lack of a screenshot.

If you open the constants.js file of the extension you will see all tips listed in the interface. Here are a few examples of the tips listed:

• Key for tip when user needs to be educated about switching between tabs.
• Key for tip when the user needs to be educated about pinned tab feature.
• Key for tip when user needs to be educated about browsing in private.
• Key for tip when the user needs to be educated about search from omnibox.

The extension in its current state offers 13 different tips. That’s not a lot and explains why some users may never see tips displayed in the browser. I personally would have preferred a link somewhere in the browser user interface to a static page that lists all the tips.

The idea is interesting especially since the extension can display tips whenever it recognizes ineffective user behavior. Still, a lot more tips and the option to display them directly would be handy.

Chrome users can install Chrome Tips from the official Chrome Web Store.

I also noticed a new design of the extensions listing in Chrome Dev. Not sure for how long it has been there but it looks clean and really nice.

Chrome: Sick of hearing about Snooki, Charlie Sheen, or anyone named Kardashian? Install the Chrome app ‘Silence of the Celebs' to put any celebrity or political figure on a gag list that will remove posts featuring those names from the top news sites. More »

Chrome: If you're still looking for a way to easily make your posts on Facebook appear on Twitter or Google+, Publish Sync is a Chrome extension that gives you the flexibility to post the same thing to one or all of your other social networks at the same time. More »

<!-- videoId: YCfzJX0a2Ts --><!-- /videoId: YCfzJX0a2Ts --> It's difficult enough to keep track of all your open tabs, so when one starts playing an ad for mo

Chrome: Eventnote is a Chrome extension that allows you to automatically send any events you enter to Google Calendar to your Evernote account as well. More »

Chrome: Buffer is a webapp that will schedule and publish articles and links that you want to share with friends on Twitter on a schedule that doesn't annoy your followers and make them want to unfollow you.More »

Firefox/Chrome/Safari/Mailplane: Rapportive, a plugin which we've previously mentioned for its Gmail-enhancing powers, has recently added Twitter capabilities. So now you can follow, reply to, and retweet your contacts—all without leaving Gmail. More »

Google Chrome: RSS Alert is a tiny extension that pops up desktop notifications for updates to RSS feeds that you tell it to watch for you. The notifications are instant, unobtrusive, and they go away as soon as you click the links they're presenting (or close them). Unlike heavier services like Google Reader, the RSS Alert extension won't automatically find a feed for you if you give it a web site's URL—you need to give it an actual feed URL, but the extension can watch as many feeds as you want. RSS Alert works with all major feed types currently in use today.More »

Firefox/Chrome: When government officials seized ownership of a number of domains last month, a lot of people suddenly found their favorite torrent tracker shut down. Many owners of the seized domains simply moved to new URLs. If you're looking for them, the MAFIAA Fire extension uses a crowd-sourced database of alternative domains to connect you. More »

Chrome: If you wake in the morning and tune in the news as you start the day, the BBC News Alarm web app for Chrome lets you wake up and listen to the headlines from the BBC World Service, downloaded while you sleep. More »

The first is a full-featured proxy API, which will, for example, allow users to set different proxy servers for normal browsing and Incognito mode. Proxy auto-config scripts are also supported by the API.

The second -- Web Navigation Extension -- is a bit more expansive. This API will allow devs to build everything from more powerful safe browsing extensions -- like Traffic Light -- to data analysis and reporting extensions.

Both APIs are currently experimental, so you'll need to enable them on the about:flags page to try out any relevant extensions. Apart from a proxy example built by Google and shipped with the Chromium source, we're not aware of any examples just yet, however. We'll let you know when we spot any slick, new extensions which do surface.

Have you ever wondered what the Web was like before the Mosaic Web browser? If you were born in the last 20-odd years, or you only discovered your inner geek recently, did you miss out on monochrome monitors and the dial-up BBS era? Well, here's your chance to get a sneak peek at history: grab the ChromeLite extension and marvel as the entire Web is transformed into ASCII characters.

Now, ChromeLite isn't actually all that functional. For the most part, it simply strips images and converts text into a monospaced terminal font. There are a few Easter eggs inserted -- such as a fun message at the bottom of YouTube (image after the break) -- and some fun ASCII art, but that's about it. Rather oddly, most JavaScript continues to work -- so you can still enjoy Google Instant Search!

ChromeLite was actually made by Google as an April Fools' joke -- and indeed, an annoying 'you can uninstall this!' message appears at the top of every page -- but we're kind of hoping that Google, or another developer, takes ChromeLite and turns it into a real ASCII browsing extension with configurable settings. If anything, it will provide an easy way to save bandwidth and CPU time.

Wikipedia Beautifier is an extension for Google Chrome that removes all the clutter from Wikipedia and lets you focus on the most important aspect of the online encyclopedia: its content. Wikipedia Beautifier has been inspired by Readability, and aims to provide the same amount of article-centered beauty, while also keeping the familiar navigation menus within reach.

Now that Google Chrome 11 has hit the beta channel, you can expect to see extension and Web app developers making use of the new HTML5 speech-to-text API. In fact, there's as least one slick extension you can already install: Speechify.

Install Speechify, and you'll see a microphone icon added into the search box on many popular sites -- like Google and Bing. Click it, and Speechify will convert the words you speak into text. You've still got to press enter or click to search, and an automatic submit option is definitely something we'd like to see added.

Hundreds of millions of people are now using Google Chrome as their primary Web browser, and a good chunk of those users have probably checked out extensions or Chrome Web apps by now. If you've ever wanted to share your favorites someplace -- like Twitter, Buzz, a favorite forum site, or even via your Gmail account -- there's a new extension out that makes the process dead simple.

Winning points for clarity with the name Share Extensions, the add-in will automatically create BBCode, HTML, Text, and Wiki markup detailing your chosen extensions. Each extension's Chrome Web Store URL is included, as is its name, and you can optionally include the developer's description as well.

I did have an issue sharing via Gmail when selecting several extensions at once, but the pop-up text generator worked just fine every time. Share Extensions also adds a browser action icon, but you can always right click to hide it or resize the action area and slide its icon behind the double-right arrows.

If you're a social networking butterfly, or if you have the malevolent aspirations of one day becoming a 'social media expert,' you almost certainly spend a vast amount of time surfing the Web. You probably use a modern browser like Firefox or Chrome, and you almost certainly have a ton of tabs open at the same time.

It can be hard work, keeping track of multiple websites. Hitting F5 is a pain in the ass -- and waiting those few seconds for a page to reload can be mighty frustrating. Then there's the matter of remembering all of your login names and passwords (because you don't use the same password on more than one site, right?)

Wouldn't it be great if there were some add-ons and extensions that could make light work of your surprisingly busy social networking lifestyle? Even if you only use Facebook or Twitter, there are still plenty of annoyances that could be offloaded to add-ons.