LaslowNET

I’ve tried to use Google Chrome before, but it always fell short of Firefox. I’m happy to report, however, that I’ve now made the switch and couldn’t be happier!

The biggest thing that bugged me about Chrome was the lack of extensions. Everything else, including the odd bookmark system, was fine once I stuck with it for a while, but I just couldn’t live without extensions. That’s changed now.

Adblock+ for Chrome: Finally Chrome has Adblock+, just like Firefox. Chrome had an adblocker almost as soon as extensions were enabled, however Adsweep uses an odd proxy system which slowed down browsing, had privacy issues, and failed to block a large number of ads. Adblock+ for Chrome uses the same blacklists as Adblock for Firefox, so it’s easy to use custom lists or the same subscriptions you used with Firefox, such as EasyList USA.

Gmail Checker: Provided by Google as a sample extension (with source code), Gmail Checker allows you to check a single Gmail account. This is fine, however aside from a standard Gmail account, I also have a Hosted Gmail account that I use more often. Because they provide the source code for the extension, though, it was easy to modify it to check my account. Here’s how:

Update: this section is now largely just an exercise in modifying extensions as Gmail Checker Plus has been released. It supports checking both Gmail and Hosted accounts (you can do one, the other, or both).

1. Download the source code for Gmail Checker. Put all of the files together in one folder (don’t forget the images). Make sure to leave all the filenames as they are.
2. Open ‘background.html’ in Wordpad.
3. Find the line var gmail = “http://mail.google.com/”; – Change it to var gmail = “https://mail.google.com/a/laslow.net/”; (replace laslow.net with your domain).
4. Find the line var gmailAtomRef = “http://mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom”; and replace it with var gmailAtomRef = “https://mail.google.com/a/laslow.net/feed/atom”; (again replacing laslow.net with your domain).
5. Save and close the file.
6. Open ‘manifest.json’ in Wordpad.
7. Change the name and description to something of your liking. This will identify the extension on the extensions page. If you leave it as the defaults and install both your version and the official Gmail version, you won’t be able to tell the difference.
8. Save and close the file.
9. (Optional) Edit the images so that you will be able to tell the difference between your custom extension and the Google one (otherwise you’ll end up with two identical icons beside each other when both extensions are installed).
10. Open Chrome.
11. Click the Wrench Menu, then choose Extensions.
12. Click the ‘+’ beside Developer Mode on the right, then choose ‘Pack Extension’.
13. For the ‘Extension root directory’, point it to the folder you saved the source files in. Leave ‘Private key file’ alone (unless your updating the extension – then select the .pem file Chrome created when you first made the extension).
14. Chrome will now create two files – a .crx file and a .pem. Keep the .pem safe, as you’ll need it if you want to update the extension later (see step 13). The .crx file is your extension.
15. Open the .crx file in Chrome – when prompted, allow it to install the extension.
16. Sign in to your Hosted Gmail account. Life is now good!

The lack of these two extensions had kept me from Chrome for a long time. Now that they’re here, though, I’ve made the switch and I’m not looking back!