My Favorite Chrome Extensions

I'm hoping most of you reading this have adopted either Firefox or Chrome as their default browser and have completely ditched Internet Explorer.

That being said... There are many ways to completely enhance your browsing experience with either of the above mentioned browsers. Below I will list each extension I use for Google Chrome along with a brief description of what it does.



1 - AdBlock - This extension is one of my favorites! I'm sure you notice ads on almost any web page you go to... This uses an extensive 'blacklist', put together by many users, to automatically block those unwanted ads. This not only helps prevent accidental clicks to sites that could potentially have malware, but also increases page load times (meaning you're browsing will be faster!!!)

2 - Blog This! - Avid user of Blogger? This handy little extension gives you quick access to posting blogs related to whatever page you're currently viewing.

3 - F.B. Purity - Cleans Up Facebook - The title does everything you'd imply from it. This one's designed for those who are simply tired of seeing a constant barrage of annoying games, game invites, etc. It hides them all before you even have to see them. (And as a plus, if you HAPPEN to decide to peek at what sort of invites and annoying posts you've been missing out on, it has a quick link to view them)

4 - Facebook Disconnect - Worried about privacy? This extension keeps Facebook from tracking your online browsing habits.

5 - FastestChrome - Browse Faster - I have to say, this one is great! There are MANY reasons why I use this particular extension, but I believe the title gives a good reason why. It helps make your browsing experience much more efficient and fast. Below I've copied (directly from the developer's details in the chrome web store) a few details that will help you better understand what this one actually does.

★ Endless Pages automatically loads the next page just before you reach the end so you don't have to click "Next" or wait
★ To open searches in a new tab middle click the icon
★ Look up definitions instantly by highlighting a word
★ Hover over a link to see how popular it is on Facebook and Twitter (now off by default, go to Options -> Show link info to enable)
★ Better Google: shows you relevant results from real-time and shopping search engines such as OneRiot and Amazon
★ Search more conveniently: select text then click on a search engine to search
★ Automatically turns text URLs into links
★ Adds related articles to Wikipedia
★ **To disable Superfish slide-ups** go to chrome://extensions/ -> FastestChrome -> Options


6 - FlashBlock - Another performance booster! SOOOOO many pages out there are using flash to present information to you. The biggest downside to this is pages will load much slower (especially on slow internet connections). FlashBlock conveniently puts any flash web media on 'hold' until you permit it to continue. Example: Install this, go to youtube and try to watch a video. It's automatically blocked, and a big "Play" button appears. Click this and the video loads as normal. **Another note** - Many malware writers use flash to distribute unwanted tracking software, viruses, adware, etc., using flash. This is a good preventative measure if you're worried about security

7 - Google Voice (by Google) - This is one I use regularly. Assuming you already have a FREE Google Voice phone number (if you DON'T, I HIGHLY recommend you get one! I'll probably do separate post on this later on) you can quickly access your texts and/or make calls from any page.

8 - LastPass - I have to say, I use this extension more than any other (not including ones that work themselves like flashblock and adblock of course). Having various, complex passwords in today's age of hackers is a MUST. The problem with this? REMEMBERING THEM ALL! LastPass makes it VERY easy to remember all those complex passwords. AND you can set it to automatically put your username and/or password in to your favorite, most commonly visited websites, saving you from having to type it in at all!

9 - Lazarus: Form Recovery - Have you ever been filling out a form of some sort online, only to have the page time out, or refresh, or simply lose connection. You then find yourself in a serious state of frustration an anger because you spent the last half an hour typing away using your two index fingers... This is a situation where Lazarus comes in. It is constantly monitoring everything you type into any sort of web form. If that particular form happens to crash, or you lose your work, it's quickly and easily recoverable. Saving you plenty of headache and frustration.

10 - LinkPeelr - Have you ever noticed that the actual address of some web pages are ridiculously long? A lot of people use address-shortening services to give you links that look something like this: http://goo.gl/jf7ED That is a link back to the home page of my blog here. However, just by looking at it, you'd have no clue where it actually goes! This poses a huge risk if you're clinking the link from an unfamiliar source. LinkPeelr aims to help you determine where the actual link goes BEFORE you click it.

11 - New Tabs Always Last - I simply like this one because I tend to keep my open tabs organized and I hate when a new one opens up in the middle of my organized mess... This forces all new tabs to open on the far right.

12 - Quick Note - This isn't a very critical one, but the name implies exactly what it does. A simple note taking extension for when you just need to write something down.

13 - TabCloud - Have you ever had a bunch of tabs open that you want to save, but don't have time to go through and bookmark them all? TabCloud integrates with your (hopefully) already existing google account. Once installed, you can save an entire set of tabs to be reopened at a later point in time. You can also name tab sets to remind you of why you saved it in the first place.

14 - WOT - WOT (Web Of Trust) is another favorite of mine. It's large user base helps support this extension by providing ratings and feedback on many websites out there. The benefit to this? Lets say a site becomes known to contain malware of any sort, users can rate the site poorly and give reasoning why. Once enough users have rated a site as 'poor' it becomes blacklisted. If you have this extension installed and try to visit a blacklisted site, you get a pretty pop-up warning you of it's rating. From here you can continue to the site at your own risk, or use it to close the page quickly without getting yourself into trouble.

15 - Xmarks Bookmark Sync - This one is pretty self explanatory. It's an extension used to keep track of and synchronize your many bookmarks across as many computers (and portable devices) as you want.

Honorable Mentions

Below are a few more extensions that I don't necessarily use on a regular basis, but I feel they do serve a useful purpose.

PriceBlink - This one automatically tracks the page you are viewing, constantly looking for better deals from other websites. Only serves a good purpose if you're shopping around for something and you need a quick insight on someplace that may have it a little cheaper.

** I'll post more as I come across them**

Posted in: Extensions, Favorites, Google Chrome, Security