LeechBlock is one of the cornerstones of my online life; it is an add-on that lets me set up a list of "time-wasting" websites and forces me to stop using them after some time has elapsed. It's one of the main add-ons that's keeping me on Firefox (rather than Chrome or Opera, which I really do like).

StayFocused tries to bring a very similar feature set to Chrome. I looked at this extension a couple of months ago, and a second look this morning shows that, with many new features added, the developer has been hard at work.

In addition to specifying which sites to block, you can now configure active days and hours (meaning, when to apply the blocking), blocked sites, and allowed sites (for white-list functionality). There's also a "nuclear option" for blocking access to all but the white list (or all including the white list, which would render your browser useless), and there's a "require challenge" option that forces you to type in a random string before you can change the options.

If any of these seem familiar to you, that's because StayFocused seems to have taken a page right out of LeechBlock's book. LeechBlock has all of these features and many more. For example, LeechBlock lets you configure five different blocking sets and control the length of the string. With LeechBlock, I can configure it to let me access my time-wasting websites for "5 minutes every hour."

Don't get me wrong, StayFocused is taking steps in the right direction. If you're serious about blocking distracting websites, though, it doesn't come close to the versatility and simplicity that LeechBlock offers. Also, I wish that StayFocused would give a bit of credit where credit is due; I could find no mention of LeechBlock in the FAQ or elsewhere.

There is always at least two ways of doing something on a Windows PC. If you've learnt by doing, rather than from a book, you probably only know one way. Watch your mother use a word processor one day -- I bet she uses File > Save rather than hitting Ctrl+S. What about you? Do you know your shortcuts?

Keyboard shortcuts are by far and away the best way to a) speed up your work flow and b) prevent RSI. The single worst thing you can do, as far as your wrist and elbow is concerned, is move your hand to the mouse. The best thing you can do is read this list of shortcuts and be amazed at what you can do with just a couple of keystrokes.

I've sorted these lifefinger-savers into three categories: life-changing, really neat and kinda cool. Some of you will already know most of them, but you won't know all of them. You owe it to yourself to read the first block -- but try and keep going until the end!
Life-changing Keyboard Shortcuts
First, the shortcuts that are so fundamental to computer use that you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. Almost all of these shortcuts should be performed with the LEFT hand, with your thumb on Alt or Ctrl.

• Ctrl+T -- opens a new tab in all major Web browsers.
• Alt+Tab -- cycles through currently-open programs. If you also hold down Shift, it cycles backwards.
• Ctrl+Tab -- cycles through Web browser tabs (you can use Shift to go backwards too).
• Ctrl+W -- closes the current window or tab. Some applications can be closed with Ctrl+W, but Alt+F4 is universal.
• Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V -- copies selected text (you can use Shift and arrow keys to select text!), and then paste it. Use Alt-Tab to switch between source and destination for bonus points.
• Ctrl+Z -- undoes your last action. This works in almost everything except Web browsers. 'Redo' varies from program to program (check the 'Edit' menu to find out!)
• Ctrl+Mouse scroll wheel -- zoom in, zoom out. This works in almost every kind of app, including Web browsers. Great for increasing the size of tiny 'aesthetic' text on normal websites... or tiny thumbnails on nefarious ones. Also scales the size of icons on your desktop, if they're too small for you!
• F5 -- refreshes your current folder/directory or Web page. Yes, you can hammer a button on your keyboard rather than foolishly clicking a button over and over!
• Alt+D -- selects the address bar in your Web browser or folder/directory view! Yes, I know -- how awesome is that?

I only just covered this bad boy in last week's Firefox Friday -- and now there's a Chrome version! RescueTime advertises itself as a 'Productivity Meter' but really it's just a cool way of seeing how you spend your time on the Internet.

All you have to do is install the extension and it'll do the rest. At any time you can click the menu button to see a quick breakdown of how distracted you are as well as how productive you are compared to other RescueTime users. If you visit sites like Facebook or Flickr, your distractedness rises; stick to work-related stuff and you're 'safe'. Talking of 'safe', no login is required to use this extension -- you are anonymous (for all intents and purposes)!

The proof is in the pudding, though: after a few hours or days, check out 'Detailed Stats'. Prepare to be shocked, awed, amazed and disgusted by the damning but beautiful graphs. The amount of data that the RescueTime team and its users have collated, and thus the accuracy of the reports, is quite stunning.

(Incidentally, if you're a manager of some kind, there's a 'pro' version which you could no doubt use to improve the efficiency of your team...)

Since you last saw an edition of Chrome Corner, we've done some re-thinking about what it should be. Instead of trying to force together a weekly update when there's sometimes just not enough news to justify doing it, the Corner will now crop up whenever the crew at Download Squad has a nice haul of of Chrome-y goodness to post about.

Today's topic: syncing across multiple computers!

Google Chrome can sync your bookmarks, but what about all the other bits and pieces that you want available on all your machines? Passwords? Form data? Notes?

The Extension Gallery has plenty of awesome options that can help you keep all your Google Chrome installs marching in step -- read about eight useful ones after the break!

Passwords and form data: LastPass, RoboForm
Apart from not having the same set of bookmarks available on every machine I use, nothing irks me quite as much as having to recall and re-enter all my passwords manually. LastPass and RoboForm both handle the task admirably, and they have other benefits as well. LastPass, for example, includes a strong password generator which makes creating hard-to-crack passwords easy.

Both extensions can also auto-fill form data for you with your pre-entered information (name, address, phone number, etc.).

Tabs and Sessions: TabSync, FreshStart
FreshStart is a fantastic session manager and synchronizer (which I wrote about before), with the ability to restore sessions from machine to machine. It's also great at recovering from crashes. TabSync is more minimalistic in its approach. Set it up to auto-sync or press the button to do things manually, and your current window's tabs are locked in so you can restore them again later.

Google Chrome: If you're a Chrome user that uses the Pomodoro Technique to get things done, you'll definitely want to grab this handy little Pomodoro timer for the Chrome toolbar. Unfamiliar with the Pomodoro Technique? Read on for more details.

We shared the Pomodoro Technique, the brainchild of Francesco Cirillo, with you back in October. While Cirillo has a free e-book on his techniques the basic framework is:

1. Choose a task to be accomplished
2. Set the Pomodoro to 25 minutes (the Pomodoro is the timer)
3. Work on the task until the Pomodoro rings, then put a check on your sheet of paper
4. Take a short break (5 minutes is OK)
5. Every 4 Pomodoros take a longer break

Chromodoro is a small Google Chrome extension that puts a little Pomodoro tomato in the toolbar. Clicking the icon starts the timer and when the time is up a break reminder pops up. The default settings are 25 minutes of work/5 minute breaks, but you can tweak the times in the options menu to suit your work situation and needs.

Filed under: Productivity, Google, Browsers

Filed under: Productivity, Google, Browsers

Chrome only: Extension Don't Break the Chain tracks your progress with Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret—a calendar that tracks how many consecutive days you've successfully achieved a certain goal.

All the extension really does is bundle up the calendar from previously mentioned webapp Don't Break the Chain and move it into an easy-access button on your toolbar, but it's a great way to keep yourself productive without a lot of effort. Simply click the box for each day you complete a task, and skip the days you don't—the app will tell you when you've been dropping the ball. Don't Break the Chain is a free download, works wherever Google Chrome Extensions do.