MakeUseOf Directory » browsing

Friend-Pointer: Share & Navigate Websites With Your Friends

Israel Nicolas — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 01:01:02 +0000

Do you want to share websites and navigate through them with your friend? Then here is a simple browser extension that will get the job done. Friend-Pointer is a cool tool that lets you surf and navigate websites from multiple PC’s with your friends in real-time. The implementation is pretty simple – once you have the extension installed and connected with your friends, you can control a common cursor that will serve as a marker on where you are on the website.

In addition, Friend-Pointer has a chat window so you can discuss the website you are currently viewing. You can also invite friends through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, and more. The extension is available for Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and the Android Browser.

Features:

Browse websites with friends at the same time.
Chat with your friends on the same page.
Browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Similar tools: Channel.me

Check out Friend-Pointer @ http://friend-pointer.com/homeen.html

Evernote Clearly: Simplified & Clean Online Reading Experience

abhijeet — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:01:52 +0000

The market for clutter-free reading on the web seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. Instapaper and Readability are already fighting for dominance and suddenly we see Evernote jumping into the fray out of nowhere. It has launched a Chrome extension called Clearly that basically does the same thing – clearing the clutter from a webpage and presenting only the main text and images – albeit with more options. It allows you to select smaller or larger fonts, has three themes (grey background, white background etc) and of course, the clip to Evernote option which could steal the show.

Those who use Evernote a lot should find this useful because it allows them to ditch those other services and aggregate all of their read-later content right inside their Evernote account through the Clip to Evernote option in this extension.

Features

Get a clutter-free web reading experience.
Clip to Evernote integrated into the add-on.
Available for Chrome.
Similar tools: TextOnly, Links In Text-Only Mode, NotForest, Readmeo, TidyRead, Readability, Readable, and AllTextPaper.

Check out Evernote Clearly @ chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/iooicodkiihhpojmmeghjclgihfjdjhj (via Ampercent By Abhijeet from Guiding Tech)

Bookflavor: A Better Way To Browse Books On Amazon

Umar — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 21:01:35 +0000

Amazon’s website does not have the best interface for browsing and discovering new books. Yet, it remains one of the most economical online places to purchase new book and ebooks. What you need is a friendlier way to browse Amazon’s books section. This is precisely what a web service called Bookflavor provides.

By default the display shows Amazon’s list of bestsellers. The book titles are displayed without any rankings or numbers against a reader-friendly white background. You can switch from Amazon’s bestsellers to the New York Times bestsellers list anytime.

Clicking on a book title takes you to its Bookflavor page. Here you can read the book’s synopsis along with its reviews. The book reviews are fetched from Amazon as well as GoodReads. The Amazon purchasing link for each book can also be found on this page.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you easily browse Amazon’s books.
Provides a reader-friendly interface.
Lets you read reviews for books from Amazon and GoodReads.
Similar tool: Zoomii,

Check out Bookflavor @ www.bookflavor.com (By Umar from AllThatIsApple)

SurfControl: See How Much Of Work Time Is Wasted On Facebook & Other Sites [Firefox]

MOin — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:01:16 +0000

People whose work is primarily done on computers often find themselves distracted by sites such as YouTube and Facebook. At the end of the day, these sites adversely affect a person’s overall productivity. Here to help you realize how much of your time is wasted on such sites is a tool called Surf Control.

Surf Control is a browser add-on for Mozilla Firefox. The add-on analyzes your browsing trends for the week and displays them as informative graphs. You get an informative graph explaining the time wasted and the time worked. Wasted time is based on sites like Reddit, Facebook, and YouTube. A pie chart along with a bar graph with time spent on each site is also displayed by the add-on.

To help you control the time spent on sites, the add-on lets you set time limits for individual sites or block sites altogether.

Features:

A user-friendly browser add-on.
Compatible with Mozilla Firefox.
Lets you see time spent on various sites.
Shows how much time you wasted on non-work sites in the week.
Lets you block sites in your browser.
Similar tools: StayFocusd and MinutesPlease.
Also read related articles:

Check out SurfControl @ addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/surfcontrol (by MOin from Urban Savior)

Cocoon: Browse The Web Safely & Securely

azim — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:01:26 +0000

When you visit websites online, most of them are tracking you with cookies to serve you more targeted ads. A few can be quite malicious and infect your computer with viruses and other malware. So check out Cocoon which is a browser add-on for Firefox and which provides you with a safe browsing environment.

It first stops companies from collecting data about you. Secondly, it protects your computer against viruses, spyware and other malicious software threats whenever you go online. Thirdly, it lets you create a new email address on the fly to keep spam out of your personal inbox. All of your settings (history, bookmarks, etc) are stored in the cloud, so you can access them from any computer.

Features:

Browse the web in a safe environment.
Browser add-on. Firefox only (3.6 or later).
Protects your privacy by blocking websites from collecting data about you.
Protects you against viruses and other online security threats.
Protects your personal inbox from spam, by giving you an alternative on-the-fly email account.
All your settings are stored online. Access them from any computer.
Free, provide your email to download the Firefox add-on.
Similar tools: Startingpage, Yauba, Startpage and QuietAgent.

Check out Cocoon @ www.getcocoon.com (via CNET)

DualWeb Browser: Android Split Screen Browsing App

Umar — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 19:01:55 +0000

Split-screen browsing allows a user to simultaneously view and use two websites without having to change browser tabs. While desktop users have been making use of this feature for quite some time, phone owners have only recently been able to benefit from it, thanks to an app called DualWeb Browser.

DualWeb Browser is a smartphone app for Android devices running version 3.0 or later. The app comes in a free version that includes ads and a paid version without the ads. The app is a straightforward smartphone browser that lets users browse two websites simultaneously through split-screen browsing.

Features:

A user-friendly smartphone app.
Compatible with Android devices.
Supports devices running Android 3.0 and later.
Lets you view 2 websites simultaneously using split-screen browsing.

Check out DualWeb Browser @ market.android.com/details?id=com.mu.dualweb (By Umar from TechCityInc)

Eyeooo: View Multiple Websites On A Single Page

azim — Thu, 26 May 2011 03:01:26 +0000

If you want to open multiple websites and view them all on one page, then check out a service called Eyeooo. It is a simple online service which lets you view and compare multiple websites (up to 3) side by side from a single pane. You simply choose a layout template, enter the sites’ URLs and then hit “Go”.

You can then resize the frames up and down, or right and left as you see fit or go back and apply a different layout template for the frames. There’s no need for an account registration.

Here are 3 sites displayed side by side.

Features:

View multiple sites at once.
Apply different viewing templates.
Resize frames up and down, right or left.
No account registration needed.
Similar tools: SitePouch, Screen2, Linklump, UrlOpener and MultiLinks.

Check out Eyeooo @ www.eyeooo.com

ChannelME: Browse The Web With Your Online Friends

MOin — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:01:13 +0000

Imagine you have a test website running. Instead of sending your friend a link and waiting for their feedback, wouldn’t it be convenient to browse the site together? In this case and in many others, browsing a website simultaneously with your friends can bridge communication gaps and quickly let you point out a site’s interesting aspects to each other. Such simultaneous web browsing can be done by using ChannelME.

ChannelME is a free to use web service that lets you and your friends simultaneously browse a particular website. You start by providing ChannelME with a website URL. A virtual browsing room for you and your friends will then be created. You can share the URL of this room with your friends who, upon visiting the URL, will be required to enter a nickname. These nicknames are used to chat with your friends while viewing the webpage. Links on the webpage are clickable and you can leave notes anywhere on the page for your friends to see.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you and your friends browse the web together.
Lets you and your friends leave notes on the site.
Notes can be dragged and reordered.
You can chat with your friends.
Similar tool: Nur.ph and Screen2.

Check out ChannelME @ www.channel.me (by MOin from ThumbPress)

SitePouch: View Multiple Sites Within The Same Tab & Share With Friends

MOin — Fri, 20 May 2011 21:01:51 +0000

While browser tabs are easier to deal with than multiple browser windows, there are still ways that browsing multiple websites could be made easier. One way is to divide the browsing area into different sections, one for each website. But that often leaves very little viewing room. Here to offer an effective solution for the issue along with helping you share a list of websites is a service called SitePouch.

SitePouch is a free to use website that lets you view multiple websites together. You start by visiting the homepage of SitePouch and entering the URLs of websites you want to visit. Next your websites list is stacked. Clicking on a site URL opens it up while the other sites remain on the stack. Clicking on a new site in the list opens it up and hides the previous site. In this simple manner sufficient viewing space is ensured.

SitePouch is also helpful in sharing a list of websites with your friends. Once you enter your list of websites, you are provided with a unique URL for your stack of websites. This URL can be saved or shared with friends; visitors to this URL are able to view the sites in the same way that you are.

Features:

A user-friendly web service.
Lets you easily browse and view multiple sites at once.
Lets you view multiple websites within the same browser tab.
Saves your list of sites under a unique URL.
URL can be shared with friends to share your list of sites.
Similar tool: Screen2, Linklump, UrlOpener and MultiLinks.

Check out SitePouch @ www.sitepouch.com (by MOin from ThumbPress)

Linkclump: Open Multiple Links On A Page [Chrome]

Israel Nicolas — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:01:07 +0000

Opening multiple links within a page can be a very time consuming, not to mention tedious process. To do this, you have to either right click each link to open in a new window or tab, or use the CTRL + click shortcut on each link to open them, which is not a very efficient thing to do. Linkclump is a Chrome extension that will allow you to open multiple links using a special customized mouse drag command. This way, you can select and open multiple links within a page easily, without having to click them one-by-one.

The basic use of Linkclump is to do a right-click drag to create a box that will let you select and open multiple links at once. However, you can select an optional key combination so that you don’t accidentally activate it while browsing. Linkclump also has a smart select option which will open only the important links that you have selected. You may also filter links that contain particular keywords so that only they get opened. Furthermore, you can choose to open the selected links in a new window.

Linkclump is a simple Chrome extension for power users since it can save you a lot of time when dealing with multiple links.

Features:

Open multiple links within a webpage using a customized drag command.
Smart select opens only important links selected.
Option to open the selected links in a new window.
Filter links that contain particular words.
Page automatically scrolls up and down while dragging.
Works on Windows, Mac, and Linux.
Similar tools: UrlOpener and MultiLinks.

Check out Linkclump @ chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/lfpjkncokllnfokkgpkobnkbkmelfefj?hl=en