A few months ago, I became impressed with Google Chrome's handling of streaming video. Now, on my new machine, which has a helluva lot more memory than my XP box had, I find that I'm using Chrome more often than any other browser. One reason for this switch is that my friends -- who really should know better, because they're painfully aware of my tendency to obsess -- got me hooked on FarmVille. That's right. I spend my days raising cranberries and rice on Facebook, and it's been my experience that Facebook is just less glitchy in Chrome than it is in Firefox. And since I'm spending all that time using Chrome, anyway, I might as well dig the hooks a little deeper, right?
Done. A few extensions later and Chrome is that bad girl who just won't play safe (no script control), lets me do pretty much what I want, and looks good the whole damned time. The extensions I've installed are Chromed Bird, Google Mail Checker Plus, and Google Voice (by Google). The icons for these extensions appear just after Chrome's address/search bar, and they really are kind of pretty:
Yeah. That's right. I've got 504 unread messages in my Gmail inbox. In fact, as I write this, that count has grown to 507. And it would probably grow exponentially if not for one little thing: The extension I've installed in Chrome lets me delete emails directly from the pop-up panel:
I can also hop straight to an e-mail, archive it, or send it to spam, directly from that pop-up. This thing is a saviour of both time and space, man. But I still keep Google Notifier running, too, so that I can actually hear when a new e-mail arrives.
Next up is Chromed Bird, my new favorite Twitter thingy. Note that it has a pop-up similar to the Gmail checker's:
It's pretty much a standard Twitter client, but it's the first one I've used that has a column just for my lists. (Yes, that last tab does say "Xena-related".) I'm sure that's an old experience for some of you, but keep in mind that this is my second Windows machine, and that I sometimes learn from my mistakes. I tried out heavy-ass desktop Twitter apps, most of which ran on a heavy-ass platform I also had to install, on my old machine. But the new box won't be subjected to install-a-go-go. Twitter thingies have to be either gadgets, browser extensions/widgets, or Windows-native apps to even get a consideration.
And the last extension is only rarely useful. I don't call people very often, and most of the people who call me don't use my Google Voice number. You can see by the datestamps that there's just not a lot of urgency in my Voice inbox:
What's truly useful about this extension, though, is the ability to make calls from the pop-up:
This is especially handy if, like me, you have a phone in another room, and some of the buttons on that phone are stubborn, but people insist on making calls with the other-roomed, stubborn-buttoned phone, and they want you to do the dialing.
A summary of what we've learned so far:
- Google Chrome is pretty, and its extensions are, too.
- Some of Chrome's extensions are actually really useful.
- Chrome extensions enable folks like me to get roped into being other people's FarmVille neighbor and/or telephone dialer, without it putting major crimps in my online lifestyle.
- As enjoyable as Chrome's company is, for security's sake, one should probably stay married to Firefox.
- There's a strong chance that your Facebook friends are evil.
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