MakeUseOf Directory » Browser / Browsing

Select & Speak: An Easy To Use Text To Speech Extension [Chrome]

Hammad — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:01:34 +0000

Select and Speak is a handy extension for Google Chrome that allows users to listen to text from almost any website. The extension has a list of voices (accents) to choose from; you can choose any of the voices that you recognize the clearest and the easiest.

To get started, simply install the extension and visit any website. Now, select the text you want it to read and then click on the Select and Speak icon to start listening to the text being read aloud. You can pause/stop the playback anytime by clicking on the pause button when the text is being read aloud. You can also configure a shortcut to use the extension from Select and Speak options page.

Features

Configure voice and speed of narrator.
Listen to news/blog articles/etc while browsing other websites.
A very helpful app for people with vision problems.
Similar tools: QR Voice, Chrome Speak, Announcify, Zazu, TweJay, RoboVoice, Text To Voice, BlindSpeak, DragonDictate, Vozme, SpokenText, Odiogo, Text-to-Speech, PedioPhon and Spesoft Text to Speech Software.

Check out Select and Speak @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/gfjopfpjmkcfgjpogepmdjmcnihfpokn

Tranquility: Cleans Up Webpages & Makes Them More Readable [Firefox]

Dave LeClair — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:01:10 +0000

Some websites are filled with so much extra stuff that they can become unreadable. There are adverts, crazy background images, ugly fonts and all kinds of other stuff that make websites hard to read. In some cases, they can be downright ugly. Tranquility is an add on for Mozilla Firefox that is designed to clean up these ugly websites and create a more tranquil reading experience.

Tranquility makes it easy to clean up a webpage. You can either click the icon in the status bar. You can also use the keyboard shortcut CTRL+ALT+T to make things prettier and easier to read. If those weren’t enough options, you can also right click on a link and choose “Tranquility” from the context menu. This will open up a new tab with the page already cleaned. This way, you never have to look at the ugly page to begin with.

Once you have a page cleaned up you can change the font size. You can choose to disable the background image, if it bothers you. Tranquility is a great option for anyone looking for a small way to clean up the Internet and make it a more pleasant place.

Features:

Free add on for Firefox.
Cleans up webpages and makes them easier to read.
Launch using icon in status bar, CTRL+ALT+T or right clicking a link.
Customize font size.
Similar tools: Evernote Clearly, TextOnly, Links In Text-Only Mode, NotForest, Readmeo, TidyRead, Readability, Readable, and AllTextPaper.

Find Tranquility on the Firefox Add On Store

DoNotTrackPlus: Block Companies & Networks From Tracking You

TehseenBaweja — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:01:10 +0000

You may think you are browsing a simple shopping website or social network, but the truth is that we all have no idea how many advertisers, networks or profiling companies are tracking us every second. On the surface, they are just collecting data about our browsing habits, but why should they without our permission?

DoNotTrackPlus is a tool that helps by blocking all sorts of tracking online right from your browser. Not only that, the tool actually displays the number of trackers it is blocking at that very moment on your browser bar. By clicking on it, you can see exactly which companies were trying to track you. Moreover, it also tells you exactly how many social buttons are present on the webpage you are currently browsing.

Features:

Block companies from tracking you online.
Displays the number of trackers it blocked.
Displays list of actual companies/networks trying to track.
Works on Windows/MAC and all major browsers.
Similar tools: Internet Anonymity Test, YouHaveDownloaded, Open Port Check Tool and ShieldsUP.

Get DoNotTrackPlus @ www.donottrackplus.com

Terminal For Google: Quick Shortcut To Google Services Within Browser [Chrome]

Israel Nicolas — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:01:52 +0000

If you rely on Google services to get your online work done, then you’ll probably appreciate that Google’s services are quickly being integrated into a singular experience. Terminal for Google is a Chrome extension that takes this integration a step further by displaying shortcut icons to Google services from the browser toolbar.

Once you have Terminal for Google installed, just click the extension’s icon to display the list of Google services. This plugin supports almost all services including favorites like Gmail and Google Reader. It also includes notification indicators to relevant icons like the number of unread messages in your Gmail account, or the number of unread articles in your Google Reader.

Terminal For Google lets you disable icons of services that you are not using for a cleaner layout. This extension is a great launcher for Chrome users who rely heavily on Google and its services.

Features:

Install shortcuts of Google services to your Chrome browser.
Enable or disable Google services’ icons in the plugins.
Displays notifications relevant to the service.
Quick access to Google’s URL shortener.

Check out Terminal For Google @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/denbapicipbiplggmfebiogiphopgjca

Side Tabs: A Simple Way To Manage Opened Tabs [Firefox]

Hammad — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:01:25 +0000

Side Tabs is an amazing add-on for Mozilla Firefox that allows users to keep a much better eye on the tabs they have opened. Usually, the default tab system on Mozilla is cluttered when you open up 20 tabs or more, and then it becomes hard for anyone to keep track of the tabs open.

Side Tab removes the hassle by bringing the tabs to the sidebar – thus the name, Side Tabs. You can configure to either bring your tabs to the left or the right hand of your screen and is a great feature for widescreen monitors. Side Tabs allows users to keep a lookout for more than 30 tabs.

Just visit the Mozilla add-on repository and install the add-on. Once installed, configure the side which you want to keep the tabs (left or right) and configure the width of the side tab.

Features

Simple and easy to use.
Manage 30+ opened tabs.
Customize placement according to your own needs.
Similar tools: Page Snooze and FreshStart.

Check out Side Tabs @ www.side-tabs.com

Convert Bookmarklet to Chrome Extension: Easily Convert Bookmarklets To Chrome Extensions

abhijeet — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:33:40 +0000

Convert bookmarklet to Chrome extension is a pretty self-explanatory name. Yes, the tool helps you convert a bookmarklet to an extension for Chrome is a simple drag and drop way. Well, that’s a part of the process. You do need to follow some steps which involve extracting the extension file and then loading it on Chrome through the Developer mode in Extension Settings. But it’s all very easy and neatly explained step-wise on the homepage of the tool.

The tool was created by Peter Legierski when he found that the existing methods of converting bookmarklets to extensions did not yield the desired result. If you frequently use a lot of bookmarklets then you might consider going this route and reduce some bookmarklet clutter on your Chrome toolbar.

Features

Convert bookmarklets to extension in Chrome.
No registration needed.
Drag and drop method with some additional steps.
Similar tools: Boo.Kmarked, Bookmarklet-Combiner and Marklets.
Also read related articles:

Check out Convert Bookmarklet to Chrome Extension@sandbox.self.li/bookmarklet-to-extension/ (via Hacker News By Abhijeet from GT Mobiles)

Web-Developer: Developer Environment Within Your Browser [Chrome/Firefox]

Israel Nicolas — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:01:36 +0000

Web developers see websites differently. Instead of the usual front-end, web developers see the blueprint where they visualize the layout, structure, CSS sheets, and headings of a webpage. Web Developer extension is a development tool within your Chrome browser to let you filter views, edit, and diagnose webpages to check for implementation issues.

Once installed, you will get a toolbar where you can toggle all features of Web Developer. It lets you work on outlines, forms, CSS, and images. You also get miscellaneous tools like color picker, ruler and more. You can also view the source of the webpage and automatically validate your pages to different web standards.

Web Developer is also a great learning and intelligence tool for those who want to check out how other websites are designed and coded.

Features:

Web development tool within browser (Chrome and Firefox).
Auto-validate web page to different standard.
Color picker too lets you find the color of an element.
View layouts, hide images, and view all in column.
Toggle CSS views.

Check out Web Developer for Chrome @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bfbameneiokkgbdmiekhjnmfkcnldhhm – You can also get the Firefox version @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/web-developer

Skip Ads On YouTube: Skip YouTube Ads Easily [Chrome]

Hammad — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:01:58 +0000

If you do not like wasting time watching the ads before the start of any video on YouTube, check out this nifty little extension for Google Chrome that will allow you to skip the ad and jump right to the main video.

The extension is totally legit and authentic. It is legal as it does not block the ads but only allows you to skip them manually. This also ensures that you never miss out an interesting ad. However, the tool works only on YouTube and not any other site. The developer has also included a paid version of the tool which allows users to skip ads automatically.

Using the extension is easy and simple. Once you open a YouTube video where an ad plays, a small blue icon will appear on the top of the ad – clicking on it will allow you to skip the ad and jump directly to the video.

Features

Free and easy to use.
Skip ads and save precious time.
Legal as ads are skipped and not blocked.
Paid version available for $4.
Similartools: FlashControl and AdblockVideo.
Also read related articles:

Check out Skip Ads on YouTube @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/epbmnbdplhcomkedpjfceakddnbgfjmf?utm_source=chrome-ntp-icon (via gHacks)

FindList: Add-On That Turns Your Searches Into A Drop-Down List [Firefox]

TehseenBaweja — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:01:14 +0000

When searching for the same word or phrase on multiple webpages, it becomes annoying that Firefox doesn’t remember the word or phrase and you have to re-enter it every time. FindList solves this problem by saving your last 50 webpage searches into a drop-down list.

It eliminates the re-typing or copy-pasting of keywords when doing extensive searches on a webpage and keeps you more organized. You can set preferences such as the number of entries you want to keep in the list (default is 50) and the field width. If you want, you can also set the option to stop it from keeping entries for a while. One thing that can be added to make the extension even better is the ability to delete individual search terms from the list.

Features:

Firefox extension that turns your recent Ctrl+F searches into a drop-down list.
Change the number of entries you want to keep in the list.
Set field width.

Visit FindList @ Mozilla [Via Addictive Tips]

iFind: Find & Send Android & iOS Applications To Your Smartphone [Chrome]

Umar — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 02:01:04 +0000

Searching for smartphone apps can be a little inconvenient as you have to go to sites dedicated to phone apps and often jump from one site to another. But if you are a Google Chrome user, you will find an extension called iFind to be very helpful.

iFind helps you search for phone apps through your favorite search engines. After you install the extension you specify which type of apps you are interested in – Android, iPhone, or iPad. You can also select the search sites that the extension should work with; right now the list includes Bing, Yahoo, and Google.

When you enter a query on one of these search engines, a list of applications is opened on the right pane. Your regular search results are still visible on the left. This list of apps might take a moment to fully load up.

The apps you like have their name and price mentioned. You can either go to an app’s direct URL by clicking on its name or use the icon on the right to send it to your device.

Features:

A user-friendly browser tool.
Lets you search for phone apps.
Covers Android and iOS applications.
Works with Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Provides direct app links along with names and prices.

Check out iFind @ https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/nfpdkehcgigcaoomfjafgonehimgchlc (By Umar from AllThatIsApple)