Chrome Extension of the Week: After the Deadline

Posted 05/13/2010 at 2:58pm | by David Murphy

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A recent litany of comments to various Maximum PC articles reminded me of a particular extension for Google Chrome that is, hands-down, one of the best add-ons you can possibly grab for the browser. And I'm totally serious this time. This extension doesn't wiggle the screen, play dumb music, or otherwise summon some kind of cutesy effect overtop your browsing session.

The extension, After the Deadline, is a comprehensive spelling- and grammar-checking application that will help you turn any hunk of normal, crudely written prose into something that will look like it was typed by 900 monkeys sitting in a room (Shakespeare). The only sticking point to this super-helpful extension is that it allegedly works best in the beta versions of Chrome. I tried it in the "common" version of the Chome, however, and couldn't find any issues to report.

Just make sure that, prior to activating the spelling and grammar checking, you've actually gone and enabled some of the different scanning options via the extension's configuration screen. As well, After the Deadline doesn't just activate by default within Chrome--you have to mash the default shortcut of ctrl+shift+S for the extension to fire up its spelling-correcting goodness.

After that, however, you're in the clear. Be prepared for an onslaught of postings that... are grammatically correct!  Emails that fly out full of intelligence and wit!  Capital letters to start sentences!  The possibilities are endless.

Even though Chrome itself has a spell-checker, After the Deadline ratchets up the awesomeness a little bit by catching both grammatically inappropriate and poorly constructed forms of writing--like clichés. Now if there was only a way to have it automatically delete all instances of adverb use...

Maximum PC picks one new Chrome extension as its favorite of the week each... week. Have a nifty extension that you can't live without? Twitter David Murphy @acererak with your latest suggestions.