Are you a Firefox user? If so, this feature is especially for you. There
are plenty who still use IE, but the popularity of Firefox is rising,
with more and more users getting hooked to it. I like Firefox mainly for
the add-on plugins, which are easily available on the official website.
You will find scores of them, but I shall list the five I find most
interesting. There are so many options that no two persons will have the
same list. So if you have anything to add, or if you disagree with me,
do leave a comment. It will provide readers with more options.
Stumble Upon
This is simply the best add-on any Web browser could use. It appeals
mainly to those who love to go through anything interesting on the World
Wide Web. The way it works is very simple: after installing it you will
see an icon on the top left of your browser. Every time you have the
time, just click it and it will take you to any of the sites that other
stumble users have tagged as "I Like".
It could be anything; an interesting Flickr
account, or an obscure site with 3D fractal generators. If you like what
you are reading, you can even write a review. It's all available to you
at a click of a button.
That's not all. Interestingly, the site
maintains a tab of what you like and what you have shrugged off as
boring, and will regularly display content that matches your tastes. In
fact, if you discover a website that you like, you can add it to the
list for others to see as well.
You can get the plugin
here.
Me.dium
Me.dium comes in handy when you make travel/movie plans with friends.
How? "Be social when you surf the Web" is what the guys who made Me.dium
tell you. Simply put, this plugin allows you to chat and surf the same
web page (with your friends) at the same time.
To do this, everybody in your social circle
will need to install this plugin, and add each other as friends. You
will see your friends on your Me.dium network list (on the left of the
browser). Below each name will be a link to what they are surfing
presently. This especially comes in useful when everyone is researching
the same topic.
Don't worry; it won't take your friends to
your Gmail account if that's what's bothering you. One thing to remember
is that by installing this plugin you are allowing Me.dium to gain
access to your surfing history. It works across Facebook, YouTube,
StumbleUpon, MySpace, Flickr, Digg, Yahoo, and Google.
Get the plugin
here.
Better Gmail 2
Ever since it launched (and even before it actually did), Gmail's gained
prominence. I don't know anyone who isn't on it. So it makes sense to
talk about a plugin that improves the way you use Gmail.
Better Gmail 2 does exactly what the name
suggests. Apart from being able to change the skin at the click of a
button, you get many other options. Firstly, every mail with attachments
will have the respective display icons in the inbox, so you'll know
whether it's (say) a word file or a PDF.
One important tweak this plugin offers is that
every mailto: link you click will in turn be diverted to your Gmail
account, rather than the erstwhile
.Outlook express You can also learn additional keyboard shortcuts. That's brilliant, I think.
You can get the plugin
here.
DownThemAll
I use this so often that I don't know what I'd do without it. On the
face of it, DownThemAll is promoted as a download accelerator that's
capable of increasing speeds by 400 percent. It gives you 'pause' and
'resume' options, and the best part is it allows you to download all the
links or images on a web page by clicking a single button.
After installing, if you right-click on any
page (say, Flickr) and click on DownThemAll, it will show a window with
all the available pictures and download links. You can select what you
like and start downloading. With this plugin you won't need an external
download manager.
Get the plugin
here.
Fast Video Download
I'm sure many of you techies will have this already installed. For the
clueless, it's a useful plugin for YouTube fans. It allows you to
download vedios from sites such as hi5.com, metacafe.com,
vids.myspace.com, YouTube, and more.
A small icon at the bottom right of the
browser page will show up after the plugin is installed. All you need to
do is surf to the page where the video is streaming, and click on the
icon. It will ask you if you would like to download it. Click on 'yes'
and you are done. For downloading from YouTube, you will need an FLV
player. Download it from the official website, or just get the VLC media
player
Get the plugin
here.
