extensions
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Disconnect browser extension keeps pesky cookies in check, blocks third-party tracking requests
Internet Explorer 9 may block 'em in 2011, and the US government's on the case too, but you don't have to wait for Microsoft or bureaucracy to keep your privacy paramount if you browse with Rockmelt or Chrome. That's because former Google developer Brian Kennish just released Disconnect, an extension for either one, that banishes Digg, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo tracking requests (more companies are on the way) as you make your merry way across the web. Install and you'll find a nice little "d" icon on your browser's status bar, with a drop-down menu exposing exactly how many requests you've blocked from each service, and the option to manually disable blocking at will. Why bother? Don't you want to keep that secret love of Thanko products all to yourself?
Safari Extension highlight: Stop animated GIFs, make your own CSS
Earlier today I was looking for a Safari Extensions that could stop animated GIFs, and another to allow me to override CSS on a particular page. After a fruitless search of the official Safari Extensions page, Google turned up both Deanimator and User CSS. Deanimator takes care of my first request. Namely, it stops animated GIFs dead. Meanwhile, User CSS lets me override a page's CSS. I can use it to change fonts or colors, hide ads and more. Both are quite useful. The next time you're searching for an extension to complete a particular task, consider checking out the Safari Extensions Tumblr site. That's a great site that keeps growing. As an aside: I've got 22 Safari extensions installed, and exactly half of them are designed to make the web less annoying.
iPad and Chromium OS dance on video
Oh Hexxeh, you sly tease. Yesterday, we saw the Chromium OS impresario post up an image of Google's browser-centric environment running around inside Apple's iPad and today he's followed it up with a video. Unfortunately, it's not the best performance demo in the world and is all too brief, but it does show touch sensitivity (kinda) functioning and -- the strongest evidence that we're no longer using iOS -- a mouse cursor! Join us after the break as we follow the fascinating journey of an attempted Spotify Extension installation in Chrome. [Thanks, Aaron]
Safari Extension highlight: gleeBox
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. gleeBox will certainly delight keyboard jockeys, as it replaces many browser-based tasks you'd typically complete by mousing around with super-easy hotkey commands. For example, you can call on URLs by hitting the proper command and typing the name of the URL in the resulting overlay. In fact, it'll recognize what you're typing so you needn't type the whole thing. gleeBox also executes bookmarklets in the same way, so you can add a long article to Instapaper, for example, without ever touching the mouse. It's not for everyone, but those who like keeping their hands on the keyboard at all times should find it useful.
Safari extension highlight: Add to Reader
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW is highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Today's extension highlight is Add to Reader by Richard Käll. Like most of the extensions we've highlighted so far, it makes one aspect of online life easier. In this case, it's adding feeds to your Google Reader account. Instead of clicking a site's feed button and adding the address to Reader, you simply press the little toolbar button and presto! You're done. You're still bumped away from the page you're reading, which is unfortunate. I'd be happier if it worked in the background or by popping up and then closing a separate window the way the Instapaper bookmarklet does, but I still like it. Finally, if the extension just doesn't quite do it for you, the author has made the source code available, too. Have fun subscribing!
Safari extension highlight: Minimal Gmail
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website over the last few days, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Minimal Gmail is my new favorite Safari extension. It allows you to "clean up" a lot of the GMail interface, including turning off several items that you can't disable any other way. Yes, that means that you can disable ads, although to be honest I really haven't noticed the ads in Gmail for a long time. However, now that they are gone, it is nice to have that space for reading the message, especially if you are on a smaller screen. What's more exciting is the ability to hide things that I never use such as the "Invite" box. I mean, come on, when is the last time anyone invited someone else to Gmail? I'm guessing it was 2005. Also, I never use Gmail chat through the webpage, and never have it enabled, but Minimal Gmail allows me to hide that box completely. Minimal Gmail will also hide the footer and header information. The footer alerts you to other IP addresses accessing your Gmail account, so some may want to keep an eye on that, but for me it was just clutter. Hiding the header means the links to Google Calendar, Documents, Reader, etc which I never accessed using those links anyway. That said, it also hides the links to the Settings and Labs on the right side of the header. I used the Google Lab "Quick Links" feature (which I was already using anyway) to make quick links to Settings and Labs, and then disabled the header as well. There are a lot of other options as well, but that should give you a feel for it. If you use Gmail in Safari as often as I do, it's definitely worth checking out. (Yes, it also supports Google Apps too.) Important note to uses of Minimal Gmail v.1.0: you will have to manually update to version 2, but from now on Safari should be able to automatically update it, if desired. Thanks to the SafariExtensions Tumblr (which is where I learned about Minimal Gmail) for continuing to point out useful new extensions. I use that site more than Apple's official page.
Safari extension highlight: Awesome Screenshot
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Today's featured extension is Awesome Screenshot which lets you capture, annotate and share screenshots to awesomescreenshot.com. The way it works is pretty neat. Once you're at a webpage you'd like to share, simply click the extension's button. A toolbar appears that lets you annotate the page in a variety of ways. You can draw freely or use boxes, circle or lines. There's even a tool to blur out information that you'd rather keep hidden. Once you're done, you can save the image as a local file or get a url to share with coworkers or friends. It's a useful tool that could make far-flung collaboration a little easier, all handled directly within the browser.
Safari extension highlight: Safari Access Keys
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Fellow keyboard jockeys will appreciate this one. Safari Access Keys displays a site's keyboard shortcuts in the browser's toolbar. Many sites like Wikipedia employ keyboard shortcuts, which make navigation faster and easier. However, they aren't always readily apparent or even consistent. Safari Access Keys solves the problem by displaying each key combo clearly. As a bonus, the extension's author explains how to enable the HTML accesskey attribute on your own site. Well done, Dale!
Safari extension highlight: Facebook Photo Zoom
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Here's one from the "fun" category. As Facebook overtakes the Internet and our collective consciousness, we're spending more and more time there. How else will I be forced to look at photos of people's kids? Speaking of photos, they're small in the timeline and enlarging them means loading a new page. Who has time for that? Facebook Photo Zoom solves the problem. Once installed, you can enlarge any photo you find in Facebook simply by mousing over it. What's really nice is that you can turn it on and off without having to open Safari's preferences. At the bottom of any Facebook page you'll see a small button (right next to the chat). Just click it to enable or disable the extension. Now go and enjoy large photos on Facebook while saving yourself precious seconds.
Safari extensions highlight: A good-looking Google Reader
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Many of Google's Web apps have been long on functionality but short on looks. Google Reader, the Web-based RSS reader, is a good example of this. Fortunately, Google Reader Mac OS X Snow Leopard + Delicious is a Safari extension that makes Reader look good. Once installed, this extension makes Google Reader resemble a Snow Leopard application (like iTunes). The sidebar is that same faint blue, and the rest is white and gray. Additionally, dialog boxes are the same nearly-transparent black that we've come to expect from Snow Leopard. This extension is simply a new set of clothes for Google Reader, so its functioning is unchanged. There, now doesn't that look better?
Safari extension highlight: SnapBack and Reload
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Today we're highlighting two extensions that restore functionality to Safari that's been lost: the reload button and the snapback arrow. Reload Button is a Safari extension that puts a big, healthy reload button back into your toolbar. Safari 5 moved it inside the address bar, and many users (myself included) liked it better in the toolbar. SnapBack adds a button to your toolbar that emulates the old snapback function. It'll let you jump back to the first page in a tab or window's browsing history, or let you designate which page should be the snapback point. Give it a click to jump back, or right-click to bring up a helpful contextual menu. If you aren't an old fuddy-duddy like me who fears "the new ways," you probably won't try these out. But the rest of us will be happy to. Now get off my lawn.
Safari extension highlight: Better Geocaching
Although I don't get a chance to do as much geocaching as I'd like to, I still check the Geocaching.com cache maps on occasion to see what's new in the area. Usually, I do this by checking with the US$9.99 Geocaching app, but sometimes I find myself logging into the Geocaching.com website to do my searching. Carlos Fonseca has developed a nice Safari extension that smooths out the rough edges on the Geocaching.com site. Better Geocaching, as the extension is called, adds two features when you're visiting Geocaching.com. First, a click on the View Map link immediately displays a fullscreen map instead of the usual partial page map. The second feature adds a Tweet This button near the cache code on the description page, so you can share your find with friends. The extension is also supposed to revert the map back to normal view by clicking a Better Geocaching button, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find that button. Fortunately, the Safari Extensions Gallery includes links to developer pages, so I quickly determined that that button was simply a small arrow in the upper right corner of the fullscreen map. The extension adds nothing to your toolbar and works silently behind the scenes. If you're a geocacher who uses Safari, you'll definitely want to head out to the Safari Extensions Gallery and install Better Geocaching.
Safari extension highlight: Exposer
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website over the last few days, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. I was recently very glad to learn that I'm not the only one who keeps many tabs open in Safari at once. And I got reprimanded for it. But it's hard to teach an old dog like me new tricks, especially when an extension like Exposer provides a great overview of all open tabs. Once installed, Exposer puts a Spaces-like icon in your Safari toolbar. When you've got multiple tabs open, just click it and a set of thumbnails appear, each representing one of those pages. Mouse over any one to highlight it, and click it to jump right over. It can be a bit slow to load those thumbnails, depending on how many tabs you have open, but it's still quicker than scanning cryptic (or crowded) tab titles. Try it out!
Safari Extension highlight: A Cleaner YouTube
With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website over the last few days, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun. Here's a nice extension for those who visit YouTube but dislike its visual clutter. A Cleaner YouTube by 200ok Web Consulting removes all of the ads, sidebar items, comments and pretty much everything else that isn't the video you're watching. Once installed, youtube.com simply shows a search field. Enter your criteria and hit return to review the neatly-presented results. Select a video to watch and it appears centered in a field of white all by its lonesome. Nice, eh?You'll notice that some features are missing, like comments and the embed link, but who needs those, right? The developer says that comments at least are in the works. If you like things to be nice and tidy, check out A Cleaner YouTube.
Cool off with TUAW on a hot summer afternoon -- TUAW TV Live
It's a hot one today in most of the U.S., so hopefully you're hanging around the air conditioner trying to stay cool. This afternoon at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT), your host Steve Sande will present another episode of TUAW TV Live. For those of you who haven't watched the show before, think of it as participatory TV. We have a live video stream with news, reviews, and commentary about all things Apple, and you can add your comments and ask questions through a live chat. It's fun, it's free, and it's another excuse to stay inside and keep cool. On today's show, Steve will be talking about and demoing the new Safari 5.0.1 and extensions, showing off some exercise tracker apps for iPhone, demoing some new app layout tools for iOS development, and showing an iPad app that will make you want to sell your laptop. To join in on the fun, come back to TUAW just before 5 PM EDT and we'll have the livestream viewer and chat tool all warmed up and ready to go.
Safari extensions gallery, Safari 5.0.1 available
That wasn't a very long wait. Apple has finally published the Safari extensions gallery we've been anticipating for a few weeks. There's a large number of extensions available right off the bat, including some from The New York Times, Major League Baseball, Amazon and Bing. There's also an official Twitter extension that looks similar to the Ostrich extension we pointed out yesterday. In fact, extensions are available across several categories, like social networking, news, photos, productivity and security. Root through and find something you'll like; we're partial to Brett's Tablinks extension for copying all the URLs from your open tabs. Note that you'll need Safari 5.0.1, which was also released today (check Software Update). In addition to the extensions support, Safari 5.0.1 includes more accurate top hits results in the address field and improved scrolling through MobileMe Mail. It's also notable that the Safari Extensions Gallery is now an option in the Safari Menu, just below About Safari. A restart is required to complete installation. Enjoy the new extensions gallery and point out any gems you find.
Apple releases Safari 5.0.1, Extensions Gallery now open
Safari 5's extension support just got a whole lot more useful this morning, as Apple's just released Safari 5.0.1, which enables the feature for end users, and opened its official Extension Gallery. Extensions can be installed from anywhere, but you might think of the Gallery as the App Store for browser add-ons -- and it seems decently stocked at launch, with notable entries from Amazon, eBay, Bing, MLB.com, the New York Times, and Twitter. We'd expect that number to grow over time, as extensions are apparently quite simply built in HTML5, CSS and JavaScript. PR after the break. Update: We're also told Safari 5.0.1 fixes that nasty AutoFill vulnerability, so that's good news. [Thanks, Robert]
Ostrich: A Twitter extension for Safari
Oh, the ever-growing mountain of Twitter apps. Not since the Cola Wars has such a fierce battle for commercial dominance been waged. Today's combatant is unique in that it's a Safari 5 extension. It's young, and with a little work could be quite nice. Ostrich is an extension for Safari 5 that monitors twitter while staying out of the way. Installation is easy. First, make sure you've got extensions enabled. From the Develop menu, select Enable Extensions. Next, open Safari's preferences, click Extensions and turn it on. Once that's done, download the extension, double-click it and give Twitter permission to connect when prompted to do so. You'll notice that a tiny ostrich head has been added to your toolbar. As new tweets arrive, a numbered badge appears just above the poor fellow's eye. Click it to reveal the Ostrich UI. This simple drop-down displays up to 20 tweets at a time. New arrivals are tinted yellow. Across the top you see icons for your friends' stream, replies to you and your favorites.
Apple collecting Safari extensions for gallery
A marquee feature of Safari 5 is its ability to use 3rd-party extensions. Apple is collecting examples of great ones from registered developers to be featured in a gallery. There's no word on Apple's judging criteria or when the gallery will be launched, but Apple is really pushing this technology so be assured that it's going to get a publicity push. It's also unclear just how Apple will distribute the extensions. A blurb inviting submissions reads "The Safari Extensions Gallery will feature a one-click installation process that allows users to seamlessly install extensions from your website without ever having to leave the Gallery." That sounds like developers will host the extensions while Apple provides the link. Some serious vetting will have to ensure quality. While we wait for Apple's gallery, check out the collection at Safari Extensions. It's a nice collection that's growing all the time. [Via Macworld]
Mac 101: taming Safari toolbars with shortcut keys
As you've probably noticed, there are suddenly a lot of Safari Extensions floating around, thanks to the new features in Safari 5. PimpMySafari is ramping back up, and the Safari Extensions Tumblog is doing a great job of keeping track of all of them. I'm going to wait until the dust settles, the cream rises, and several other clichés come to pass before I dig in and start featuring my favorites. I do, however, want to offer a quick tip for dealing with Extensions that add toolbars. Most of the Extensions I've tried that add a toolbar to Safari don't make it easy to show and hide it (and I don't really need every extension I install polling my keyboard, anyway). Aside from my url bar, my bookmarks bar, and my tabs, there's no toolbar in the world that I want to have open all the time. What is this, Firefox? Fortunately, there's a simple way to add shortcuts to show toolbars when they're useful, and hide them when they're irrelevant.
