What's your take on chrome?

Haven't used chrome myself, as it's still Windows only, but from what I've seen it has a lot of security issues. Since it's been so long since a new major browser came out and the security landscape has changed so much, I can't say how much of that is growing pains or how much is just the engineers at Google not paying attention to security while they were trying to pack features in. Certainly, Google's view that everything should be possible from your browser makes it likely that the attack surface of Chrome is going to continue to be larger than any other browser. Furthermore, it's going to be a popular target because lots of security researchers want to be able to claim they broke something the all-powerful Google built.

The Google Chrome installation assigns a unique user ID to your local application which can be used to track your internet usage. Google does something a bit similar with Gmail. Since Firefox currently has such a wide array of add-ons and Chrome has no support for add-ons, I am going to stay with Firefox for the time being. If you like Chrome, you should probably consider a tool like Unchrome or the alternate German browser called Iron to avoid becoming some sort of Google statistic.

In fact, your internet usage can be tracked no matter what browser you are using. Google just has it programmed in. Try using something like Tor if you are using another browser.

Yes you can be tracked online in applications or on web pages since cookies are stored on your computer. I you're concerned about this (which I am) and you FireFox as your web browser I would recommend the CustomizeGoogle AddOn which can mess it up for them by anonymizing the cookie user ids. It also removes click tracking. There are other ways to do the same in Yahoo but it's not as easy.

If you hate the new MSOffice this is like working with a version similar to Office XP. But you will have to download upgrades, a dictionary, etc. But get one in Russian if you need.

I use the new MS Office at work and on my home desktop and I am actually surprised by how much I like it. There was about a 3-day learning curve, but after a few adjustments it can be kinda neat.

They really changed MS Office I think around 2003, and they keep changing it. Some people can't stand it. I always recommend this.

I love this app. It runs in your system tray like a cluster of little Gmail Notifiers allowing you to simultaneously monitor as many different email accounts as you should wish.

skype rocks. \m/ \m/ people i usually chat with are slowly transitioning to this - finally (including clients). it's so versatile + easy (IMO) to use. i do need to upgrade to the latest version tho... do you use 4.0 (for windows)?

I just know that this app has some serious potential for somebody, I just haven't found a need to run any web-based apps locally on my desktop... yet. When I do think of something, I'll be the first to let all of you know. Anyone have any ideas for this? It just seems too terribly useful not to have discovered some innovative or niche use for this... I simply must be taking too narrow a view of the limitless opportunities to enlist this app. Or am I?

I'm not sure about this, but a thought occurred that this might be good for using with google calender. Which would be another way of getting back a little privacy from google.

I used this recently to create an application of one of my "recommended radio" stations on Last.fm and it has actually been very neat. I now have a Last.fm icon in my Quick Launch toolbar which allows me to start the radio station with just one click. I am going to try to make a dedicated Kaboodle application with Prism and see if I hit any snags, but I am suddenly really warming up to this add-on.

Have you actually used this? I'm always afraid to try something like this with no idea of what I'm getting into.

I would agree that most of the anti-spyware and other system tools that you might see advertised are total junk. Most are trying to get you to purchase their software, and others claim to be something that they are not so as to get you to install a toolbar or can even be spyware themselves. In my opinion, this is indeed a reputable program. I am amazed at the room it makes for me, especially on my little netbook. I would definitely recommend it over anything you might find in a pop-up ad. Give it a try. You can blame me if your komputros starts to smoke. =)

Thanks. I seriously don't like smoke coming from any of my stuff though. I don't install anything I'm not pretty sure of. I just didn't have time to check this out yet. I use AVG above ^ ^ and Ad-Aware and SpyBot and a few other tools. I hate toolbars and won't install them nor would I ever install anything from a popup. I don't even have the Kaboodle button, heh. I don't trust much. Thanks again. This is a great list.

This is a really helpful tool in cleaning up/fixing your registry. And it is much better than the system's own clean up tool. However, for application removal I would recommend you use Revo.

Just a heads up to others. This installs, by default, a Yahoo toolbar. :( I find that quite strange for a program that is supposed to "clean" things off your computer. There is a checkbox during install you can uncheck to not install it, but if you're like me and in a hurry sometimes, it's easy to miss. So it was my fault, but I dont feel installing a toolbar should be the default. I think it should be the other way around.

Again, much better than the tool that comes with windows.

Yeah, Windows defrag is the worst. Mine would always run for 10+ hours and would freeze at least 1/3 of the time.

I never quite mentioned the utility of this particular little web app. Okay, okay, so by now anyone who is reading this is well aware of the relative ease by which one can use the site to make wishlists and categorized lists that can be ranked and sorted, but there are also so many other uses. I like to use public and private lists to identify steps in a DIY process, or share private lists with someone when working on a shared research project. I also like to keep a list of bookmarked articles so I can come back and read them or reference them later (especially tech tips & tricks). One might also use the site to manage links while shopping for a used car, looking for something on Craigslist, looking for an apartment, or finding a new job. Really, any undertaking that can benefit from the use of web-based, itemized & sortable lists (including bookmarks) can be tackled with this site. For each of these reasons, Kaboodle has become an integral tool for me to wield in my effort to absorb even some small percentage of the enormous wealth of information which confronts us while on these here interwebs.

Okay this post got me because we just put in a for sale advert for my car on Craigslist today among other websites and we have been browzing it for new employement for my Hubby. I want to use Kaboodle to save jobs for the Hubby I happen to come upon and when we start looking for a new car for me. You are da man!!!!

This is a great little tool to watch NetFlix in a Firefox window.

This add-on is rad, but don't install the toolbar. You can right click on any word and define it, translate it, look it up on ebay/amazon/craigslist, or wiki it. It turns the 3-step cut/paste/search into 2-steps, right-click/select.

Found thanks to lavabunny.

I am not a huge fan of this add-on, but if you prefer the obvious status bar of the Safari browser, then this is probably for you.

If you have lots of add-ons, your menus will start to look cluttered. This utility allows you to decide which should appear and hide those that you don't use.

If you use XP, this is a neat little add-on to make your drive menus look a little more like those in Vista & Windows 7.