plug-in

This Firefox extension should appeal to anybody trying to minimize bookmark and open tab clutter. Read It Later gives you a one-click option for saving the links and keeping track of which ones have been read. It also now sports deep integration with Google Reader, adding little check marks next to blog posts. Clicking one lets you mark it to read later on.

When you first start the extension, it will prompt you to install the two Toolbar buttons that are used to control the extension and manage your reading list. Users can also control adding bookmarks to their reading … Read more

It slows down your browsing. It makes some Web sites inaccessible for no discernible reason. It doesn't even offer you any xiao long bao or pu'er tea for your troubles. But if you want to know what life behind the Great Firewall of China is like, then the Firefox plug-in China Channel is the cheapest and fastest way to experience using the Internet in China without actually being there.

After installation, getting to experience Web surfing the way the Chinese do isn't hard at all. Users have three ways to activate China Channel: via the China Channel … Read more

This free add-on for Firefox and Internet Explorer gives jazz music lovers something to sing about. Jazz Radio is a toolbar that lets you tune in to radio stations worldwide that play songs from the genre.

The bar won't wow or disappoint you with its appearance. A few radio controls allow for fairly quick volume control and switches between stations. You'll have fast access to jazz stations in locations from the United States to the Netherlands, so you can listen to fusion, smooth, New Orleans, and big-band jazz, to name a few. None of the stations tested missed … Read more

A system plug-in called Choosy is trying to change the way people are opening links on their computer. This small Mac OS X application gives you the option to choose which browser you'd like to open up any link with sans having to ever set a "default" browser.

In my case my default browser is Firefox, but it's not always the best solution. Sometimes I'm opening up a link for a site I know will work better in Safari or IE (like my work e-mail). With Choosy installed, clicking that link simply gives you a … Read more

Yahoo has released a plug-in called Inquisitor that gives some new horsepower to the search box in Internet Explorer (download), Firefox (download), and Safari (download).

Inquisitor is designed to help people get to information faster, according to a Yahoo Search Blog posting Wednesday. It suggests search terms as people start typing, showing an updated list of possible Web sites below the search box. The results are individualized too: it spotlights Web pages a person has already visited and customizes search results according to previous searches.

In addition, on Internet Explorer, Inquisitor can help retrieve sites a person has bookmarked.

Inquisitor got its start on Apple's Safari, … Read more

When Google, Yahoo, or any other major search engine overwhelms you with so many matches it offers more results than dollars in the national debt, ChunkIt might be the plug-in for you. Available for Firefox and Internet Explorer, it "chunks" up your search returns, providing snippets of relevant text.

The add-on splits your browser tab into two vertical sections, the left side with the ChunkIt results and the right with unchunked returns. Clicking on the text of a ChunkIt result loads the text in the right pane, highlights the relevant bit in yellow, and scrolls directly to it. … Read more

We were recently given the opportunity to kick the tires of a wide variety of hybrid electric and alternative fuel vehicles.

There were a few clean diesels, including a CR-V with a 2.2-liter four cylinder that we should see reach production in a diesel variant of the 2010 Acura TSX. Ford brought out its hydrogen fuel cell, Focus, and a pair of hybrids, one of which was a plug-in model.

According to Ed Kjaer, a representative from Southern California Edison, plugging in electric hybrid vehicles on an overnight cycle is better for the electric grid, because it evens out … Read more

Automating repetitive Firefox tasks is one way to save your fingers from undue stress, and iMacros for Firefox is a great way to do it. From a sidebar you can toggle on and off, and you can run, record, and edit macros. Recording is as simple as pressing a button before starting and clicking another to stop. For more advanced tasks you can turn to a set of demos, but the Web site wiki and step-by-step tutorials were easy enough to follow.

While iMacros can theoretically be used to input passwords, best security practices dictate that you shouldn't. Being … Read more

For some people, Web searches are second nature. They're comfortable jumping from a basic text search to using Boolean terminology to navigating a minefield of open-ended results. It's hard not to appreciates the depth of material available on the Internet, but parsing 75,000 results can be daunting to even seasoned searchers.

ChunkIt for Firefox and Internet Explorer aims to streamline your query results into a manageable list by surfacing the relevant blocks of content directly below the appropriate link. This may sound like CoolPreviews, which opens a mini-window to preview a link before you click on it, … Read more