Have you had a chance to explore
Chrome extensions? For those of you who haven't, a Chrome extension is a (usually free) plug-in to your Chrome browser that enhances your experience. As opposed to Chrome apps - which are like links to stand-alone webpages, extensions appear next to your Chrome omni bar (at the top right of your browser window) and are tools that can be accessed as you explore the web.
From add-ons that save you time to some that give you added tools, extensions can truly transform your life! They can be found in the
Chrome Web Store and most have a handy video or screenshots to show you how they work / what they do. I highly encourage you to explore and find one that gets you excited. Below are a few that are geeking me up lately. For more great extensions and apps, check out
this Google Doc from the GCT Chicago Reboot!
Announcify
Reads the webpage to you... and blurs out all but the selection being read. Great for readers who not only struggle to decode the text but also need to focus on one section at a time.
Evernote Clearly
Distracted by all those pesky ads and other text around your online news/magazine articles? Evernote Clearly cleans it up and creates a webpage devoid of all distractions... keeping only the article text and associated media. Sign into your Evernote account for the added tools of highlighting, annotation and saving it all to your Evernote notebooks.
Webpage Screenshot
Want to take a screenshot (picture) of a webpage beyond what you see on the screen (i.e., the entire page, scrolled down)? Or, ever want to edit the New York Times by retyping the headline or changing the titles of the bestsellers list? With Webpage Screenshot you can do both! You can take "full page" screenshots, edit type/text on a live webpage and even annotate over the shot with drawings, type, highlights, etc!
Clipular
Screenshots of your Chome browser, saved to your extension button, ready to be pasted into another browser window. Also allows you to annotate over the screenshot!
Eyedropper
Ever needed to get the text color on your webpage or document to better match a logo, photo or something else? Use this extension to find out the exact color code of any part of an image, then match the color of the rest of your document/site features as you so choose!
This great extension helps you learn the keyboard shortcuts for Gmail, saving you time and energy! Each time you use the mouse to click for a command that a keyboard shortcut could have done, a pop up appears to gently remind you!
Have you ever been filling out a long online form... only to have your webpage die, connection drop of form fail to succesfully submit? Frustrating! This extension saves your form input and allows you to magically recover all that work! Hooray!