Posted 02/23/10 at 10:35:38 AM by David Murphy

I've spoken of the wonders of Chrome's Google Mail Checker Plus extension before.  If you missed the memo, here's a quick hit: Mail Checker Plus drops a little icon next to your address bar that gives you a frequent update as to how many unread messages are in your Gmail account.  You'd think that was it, given the simplicity of what said extension has to do.  However, Google Mail Checker Plus dumps a ton of options into your lap for complete and total customization of this little icon and its functionality, including the ability to drop a preview window that gives you a quick glance as to what said emails actually are, as well as complete color controls and "always-on" SSL connectivity.

Great, eh?  But frequent users of Google's services will note that there's more than just Gmail to worry about.  What's going on in your Google Reader feed?  Any new messages come through Google Voice?  What the heck is Wave and how many unread messages do you have on your watery messaging service?

That's where the simplicity of the extension One Number comes into play.  To find out what this helpful add-on does, and learn all about its extensive configuration options, hit the jump!

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Posted 01/06/10 at 10:30:56 AM by David Murphy

Boo. That's exactly what the various advertising networks on the Internet are saying to one another as they possess your browsing experience without your knowledge. Okay, so the situation isn't that grim--it's not as if the various Web tracking services and advertising networks are typing strange messages into your search boxes or sending you off to arcane locations via your address bar. Still, nobody likes the feeling like their activities are being looked at.

And that's where the Firefox add-on Ghostery comes into the picture. Like Casper, this friendly little ghost-themed program does an excellent job of showing you exactly who's tuning in to your Web activity. But that's not all--this extension does a bit more than just notify you of the fellow spooks in the room.

Click the jump to check out the rest of Ghostery's feature-set!

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Posted 01/06/08 at 10:13:07 PM by Erin Simon

Sears adds surreptitious tracking software to its catalogue

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