Chrome: If you want to restore browsing sessions anytime—and not just after a browser crash—Session Buddy for Chrome easily creates custom sessions and restores them whenever you wish.

After installing Session Buddy, clicking on the Session Buddy link in the Chrome toolbar brings up all your current Chrome windows and open tabs. From there you can save entire sessions or selectively edit out tabs from the list before saving. Saved sessions appear to the left of the current session list and remain until manually deleted.

You can use Session Buddy for something as simple as automatically saving your current session on browser close—available in the options menu—or for making custom session lists for various tasks like reading your favorite sites every morning or opening all the sites you use for bill paying.

Session Buddy is free and works wherever Chrome does. Have a favorite Chrome extension to share? Let's hear about it in the comments.

Games-Tech-Film-TV-Stuff

Google's Chrome browser has been heavy hit by people claiming it has serious privacy issues.

After an interesting discussion with people who are, “relevant to my interests”, the topic of Google Chrome soon came up. Most predictably what was mentioned was the privacy issues raised with it. As a believer in the open-source vetting process, I heavily disagree that Google could be doing anything subversive to our personal data.

To settle this argument in a non-subjective way I decided the best course of action would be an experiment. Essentially, what I wanted to test was the difference in packets between Google Chrome on first boot-up and search term “test123″ and a comparable browser with similar conditions. This way, we test Chrome against a vetted control browser. A few conditions before we get started:

• Experimental Browser: Google Chrome Beta for Linux (Ubuntu Karmic 9.10 x64) with experience reporting disabled.
• Control browser: Midori 0.2.3 (Ubuntu Karmic 9.10 x64), a WebKit browser licensed under a similar permissive license as Chrome.
• Analysis Method: A tcpdump, sudo tcpdump -w testbrowser.pcap -s 1550 dst www.google.com, command and Wireshark analysis.
  • This tcpdump commands monitors all traffic going to the Google domain (216.239.32.0 – 216.239.63.255)
  • Wireshark was to make the dump look pretty.
• Procedure: Start the dump, load up the browser and enter a search term to Google for “test123″. Stop the packet dump after this and monitor the results.

What I found:

The results actually surprised me in a very positive way. Not only did the two browsers communicate on exactly the same ports but Chrome also used around 60 less packets in the final dump. A cruel twist of irony that a third-party browser communicates with Google over 100% more than Chrome does. Anyway, without further hesitation, here is the dump from the different conditions.

Tipsters like theworldisasheep saw it, this editor confirmed it, and Google even mentioned it in their blog post, at the very end: the latest release of their Chrome browser often crashes when loading Gmail with Offline enabled. It will likely get fixed in a small new update coming soon, but in the meantime, if you're desperate to get back into Gmail without your browser dying, you can create a temporary bookmark to the no-labs version of Gmail head to your Options, switch to the "Under the Hood" tab, click "Gears Settings," and click the "Remove" link next to Gmail and Google-related items. You may lose your offline data for now, but you'll be able to re-synchronize it when two of Google's best products finish duking it out. [Google Code]

Whenever we talk passwords, we always preach the same thing: Use strong, difficult-to-remember passwords, and different passwords for every site. Easy to say, extremely difficult to do through sheer willpower. I've tried many password-remembering systems, and this is what I've stuck with.

To paraphrase photographer Chase Jarvis, the best password manager is the one you have with you. Of all the password management utilities out there, I consider LastPass the most elegant compromise between convenience and security, and if you're not using it already, I recommend you start. It's mostly free, plugs into nearly any browser or smartphone, is KeePass compatible, and just works.

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<!-- /videoId: HqmUbNGkM9I -->Windows/Mac/Linux: The latest Beta update for Google Chrome does away with the need for clever bookmarklets by automatically dropping down a translation bar when you're browsing another language. It also adds whitelist-type controls over Flash, Java, and other browser content.

The video up top demonstrates Chrome's translation bar in practice. It's worth noting that if you don't want Chrome to offer a translation bar for certain foreign languages (those different from the language you set in the preferences), your best bet is to add that language to your list in Chrome's settings—there doesn't seem to be a way to turn it off entirely.

For those of you who like to put bookmarks on the Bookmarks Bar in Google Chrome but hate that a few bookmarks or any bookmarklet doesn't have a favicon, this tip is for you. Here's how to change the favicon to any bookmark and any bookmarklet in Google Chrome.

For this example, I'll be working with changing the favicon for the Readability bookmarklet.

Note: Make sure Google Chrome is closed.

1. Download SQLite Database Browser [sourceforge.net] and extract it.

2. Open it and go to FileOpen, or click on the open folder icon on the toolbar.

3. Navigate to your Google Chrome application directory:

In Windows XP:

C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR USER NAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

In Windows Vista/7
C:\Users\YOUR USER NAME\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default

Note: Change "YOUR USER NAME" to your real user name.

4. Open the "History" file

5. Click on "Browse Data," and in the "Table" drop down menu, select "urls."

URL stands for abbreviation of Uniform Resource Locator which is the global address of web pages, documents or other services. It consists of two main parts: one is protocol identifier and second is document address in from of domain name or IP. They are separated by a colon “:” and two forward slashes “//”. URL needs to be unique which may result in a longer URL as the World Wide Web is growing at an exponential scale. Also there is a tendency to pass descriptive attributes in the URL to forward different kinds of information. This may result in awful situation where URL looks ugly and can’t fit in Human Memory.

The solution produced to tackle the problem is URL Shortening which takes long URL addresses as input and outputs a unique and short URL. This short URL actually redirects you to the original web page. The URL shortening services became even more constructive with the popularity of micro blogging service known as Twitter which imposes a limit on maximum messages in a character. bit.ly is by far the most popular URL shortening service. The convenience of URL shortening services has pushed Google to launch goo.gl and youtube.be while Facebook to start fb.me.

It solely depends upon you which one you prefer for URL shortening. During web browsing on Google Chrome, you may need to shorten URLs quite often. Instead of moving to service’s webpage, you can use following extensions in Google Chrome for time saving.
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ChromeMUSE
This extension serves the both purposes.

• Shortening long URLs
• Expanding short URLs

It supports many popular URL shortening services. By default, goo.gl is enabled which can be configured from extension’s options. A favicon appears at the end of address bar. A click on the icon will short the URL according to preferences. This short URL is automatically placed in clipboard and can be pasted anywhere. The notable URL shortening services which can be chosen are bit.ly, is.gd, and TinyURL.

If you browse to a web page where shortened URLs are present, this extension will involuntarily expand the URLs. The titles and destination are shown when you move mouse cursor over the short URL.

You can configure ChromeMUSE to show a list of desired URL shortening services when you click the icon. Besides, the extension can be set to replace the short URL with actual URL after expansion.

Computer Mouse is really helpful for a normal computer user because it provides an easy way to navigate. It becomes even more convenient when browsing web. The user can easily select links, images, or text in a web page. Despite this functionality, there is some more juice which can be extracted from computer mouse. As a result, Mouse Gestures have been developed to provide more functionality. Mouse Gestures functionality is available as a utility for operating systems like Windows XP or they are available in modern web browsers like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome.

I will review here best available Google Chrome’s Extension which let you use mouse gestures. If you are using Mouse Gestures for the first time then it should not be a problem but users who have migrated from Mozilla Firefox may feel some irritation in using the solutions as the solutions are not fit when compared to the mouse gesturing add-ons developed for Firefox.

Smooth Gestures
This extension works almost perfect. There are a plenty of already built gestures available. These gestures can be identified from extension’s options page and they are also customizable. Mouse Stroke supports and recognizes three types of gestures.

Simple Gesture: Draw a gesture by moving the mouse while pressing the right mouse button and then release
Scroll Gesture: Scroll the mouse wheel while pressing down right button
Rocker Gesture: Hold down either the right or left mouse button, and then press the other one.

The default mouse gestures provided by this extension are divided into three categories which are Page Navigation, Tab Management, and Miscellaneous. These mouse strokes almost will satisfy needs of any user. Any gesture can be disabled or modified. The modification is pretty straight forward.  When you will click on “+” sign, a canvas will be shown on which you can draw your own stroke for specified task. If the gesture already exists, it will show a warning. You can ignore it and over write the gesture or re draw.

Google Chrome is growing and so is it's arsenal of extensions. Google Chrome recently stole the limelight from Safari browser and became the third most popular web browser in the world. With its recent emphasis on teaching people about web browser in general through innovative Google Chrome advertisements, it is genuinely going places. Slideshow is a beautiful yet functional image viewing extension for Google Chrome.

• The slideshow currently appears for Picasa, Flickr, Facebook, Google Images.

• I have tested it on facebook, and I have to say, this is among the better looking image viewing extensions.

• Super light weight, you won't even know that you are actually running an extension.

Firefox/Chrome: If you love using your keyboard and shun your mouse, you'll definitely want to try gleeBox, an awesome add-on that lets you effortlessly browse the web without your mouse. Check out the video inside to see it in action.

Click on the picture above for a closer look.

Browsing the web without a mouse isn't easy. Without any add-ons at all you're stuck furiously punching the tab key to move through all the available links on the page. Other add-ons help you to navigate without your mouse but often not very intuitively.

Gleebox offers a highly customizable and intuitive way to navigate web pages via keyboard. At its most basic gleeBox allows you to hit the G key, and every link on the page is highlighted and you can navigate to it by typing part or all of the link name into gleeBox. Check out the videos below to see it in action.

I'm using the beta channel of Google Chrome and I recently discovered something about extensions. If you right-click any extension icon in the toolbar, you will be presented with a menu where you can go straight to the Options page for that extension, disable the extension, uninstall the extension, or manage your extensions.

To me, this is the fastest way I have found to change options for a particular extension.

I'm not sure how long this feature has been there, but I hadn't noticed it before and I thought other people might not have seen it either.

#tips #googlechrome #extensions

jinkerz7

Chrome: We love Gina's Better Gmail Firefox extension, a bundle of user scripts that improves the Gmail experience. Now that Google's beefed up support for Chrome extensions, reader Dimitar Gruev has taken a shot at bringing an unofficial Better Gmail to Chrome.

Almost a year ago our own How-To Geek put together a version of Better Gmail for Chrome, but that was way back when Chrome didn't even have extensions (his were all bundled into a single user script). This new Chrome extension is an unofficial Better Gmail for Chrome that was inspired by Gina's Firefox extension and our earlier Better Gmail for Chrome bag o'scripts.

Once installed, access Better Gmail's options by clicking the wrench -> Extensions -> Better Gmail Options. Tick the boxes of the features you want activated and you're good to go. You can choose to hide little used fields like "Invite Friends," remove ads, show the number of unread emails in the favicon, and more.

Gruev says future versions of Better Gmail will hide spam count, move to next message on delete or archive, and include support for POP3 email. A big round of applause goes to Gruev for putting this together. What kinds of features do you hope for in future versions of Better Gmail? Share your ideas in the comments.

Ever seen a picture online that you're kicking yourself for not saving, especially now that it's been removed? There's a good chance it may still be saved on your computer; all you need to do is familiarize yourself with your browser's cache.

Front page photo by Jeffrey Beall.

We've covered resurrecting images from your browser cache once before, highlighting how to recover images in Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari, but the browser landscape has changed a little since then. Luckily, recovering images from Firefox hasn't really changed, and popular alternatives like Chrome and Opera all have similar recovery methods. In Firefox, it works the same as last time we posted it:

Tabbed interface in web browsers boost the user experience in many ways. The user does not need to switch between separate windows. All of the browsing can occur in a single window which makes shifting between different web pages more convenient. You can even browse a website and the related links in a different window while other browsing activity may take place in a separate browser window.

Each web browser has its own policy of ordering tabs. It is difficult to get accustomed with tab ordering if the user switches from one web browser to another. This is the case when someone is migrating to Google Chrome from Mozilla Firefox. Some prominent differences between the tab ordering strategy of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are regarding

• Position of New Tab.
• Which Tab should be active upon closing a Tab.

Some solutions in form of extensions have been developed which replicate the tab ordering Policy of Firefox in Google Chrome. This makes the migration of users from Mozilla Firefox to Google Chrome trouble-free.

Also take a look at: How to Manage Tabs in Google Chrome with Extensions

Tabs Plus
This extension changes tab ordering of Google Chrome to work like Firefox. The behavior can be changed from options.  Position of New Tab can be fixed to Default, First, or Last. You can also opt whether to open new tab in background or foreground. If an active tab is closed, the tab which was used last time will get active. If a specific tab is required not to be considered as Last Used Tab, it can be excluded.

Tab Stack
It is a useful extension with nice feature which moves tabs in a way that they are always arranged in a Most Recently Used order from left to right. In this way, the most recent active tab is always at left of tab strip. When you will use Ctrl-Tab key combination to navigate through tabs, it will work like Alt-Tab combination in Windows. The most recently active tab will be visible.

These extensions will modify the tab ordering strategy of Google Chrome so that the migrating users from Mozilla Firefox can feel at Home.

Keyword bookmarks are my absolute favorite time-saving Firefox feature. I use them literally hundreds of times a day—a good system of keyword bookmarks saves all kinds of time in the browser. Unfortunately Chrome isn't so friendly to keyword bookmarkers.

After searching high and low for a way to tweak the bookmark dialog in Google Chrome to display an option to add a keyword to my bookmarks, turns out all I needed to do was turn to the help of a few clever readers who'd emailed in how to achieve keyword bookmark bliss in Chrome. The imperfect-but-workable solution:

I just realized that keyword bookmarking is as easy as managing your search engines. Right-click the omnibox (address bar), click "Edit search engines," and add a search engine. Use a Name you will recognize, enter the keyword you want to use, and just enter the URL for your bookmark in the URL box. Voila!

If you're a fan of universal memory service Evernote, but can't or won't run its desktop software for quick access, the service suggests making Evernote.com easy to search from the address bar.

Evernote's team explains the process in the video above, but it's also easy to describe in text. Right-click on Chrome's address/OmniBar, select Edit Search Engines, and hit the Add button in the next dialog. From there, enter these results into the three fields:

• Name: Evernote
• Keyword: Evernote.com
• URL: http://www.evernote.com/search?q=%s

If you'd spent a good deal of time with Evernote.com, or read our power user's guide to Chrome, you might have already figured this one out. If not, it's a nice little convenience.