I knew this day would come. Chrome might be rock solid in its security features, but the fact that any odd person on the planet can write non-peer reviewed and non-standards compliant extensions for Chrome is a major drawback. Someone has just finished an elaborate hack to steal all your Gmail contact emails if you are using Scratchpad - the nifty app that lets you use Chrome as a notepad and syncs all of your notes to Google Docs as a backup.
The very fact that the zillion extensions I try out ALL need blanket access to ALL my browsing history and whatnots is a a bit disturbing. So what do we do? Chuck out all extensions? Chrome wouldn't be half as useful without these extensions that I use constantly. I am in a big quandry right now, as are several other Chrome fans, I am sure.
My current list of extensions:
- Add to Google Bookmarks - Version: 0.1.2 ID: idhcimbcedikofokpoignmlnnkidpeld
(Can't get rid of this, this is how I sync my bookmarks ALL the time.)
- Autocomplete = on - Version: 1.0 ID: ecpgkdflcnofdbbkiggklcfmgbnbabhh
(Nopes. this can't go. I need password filling...)
- Autofill - Version: 5.5 ID: nlmmgnhgdeffjkdckmikfpnddkbbfkkk
(Maybe this can go... but then I will have to refill forms over and over. Maybe not then.)
- Chrome IE Tab Multi - Version: 0.9.7.6 ID: fnfnbeppfinmnjnjhedifcfllpcfgeea
(Ridiculous work email OWA sometimes blocks attachments and I need this to access the attachments. I would gladly let go of this had it not been for the paleolithic work email.)
- FlashBlock - Version: 0.9.31 ID: gofhjkjmkpinhpoiabjplobcaignabnl
(I need this. I am so terribly annoyed by all the annoying ad videos that start loading automatically when you visit a website. This extension just blocks them all till you really want to watch a video.)
- History 2 - Version: 0.6.0
ID: cahejgbbfgmlmjgdjlibphdjeldhagkp
(The native history in Chrome is SO horribly structured, you can't find anthing. This extension eases the pain.)
- Lazarus: Form Recovery - Version: 3.0.3.1 ID: loljledaigphbcpfhfmgopdkppkifgno
(Can't do without this at all.)
- Link grabber - Version: 1.0 ID: modbohgknhnjilkoaggaacedmmfbfapn
(This could go... why can't Chrome have an Opera like view links features. Makes me want to switch to Opera which has all these features built in without the need for unsafe extensions.)
- MiddleButtonScroll - Version: 1.1.0 ID: ibehnpdcgpabccnlefccelhblhphbbpl
(This is for my linux box. It is again so annoying in linux, chrome doesn't let you scroll with the middle click button. This is probably the only difference that matters between Chrome on Windows and Chrome on Linux)
- One Window - Version: 2.15 ID: papnlnnbddhckngcblfljaelgceffobn
(I hate popups. Enough said. Can't get rid of this and am again annoyed that Chrome can't implement this natively.)
- OWA Chrome Companion - Version: 0.1.2.5 ID: gmloogbeidmnmkdeoibnfcglaenjcmah
(Keeps track of work email. Indispensible.)
- Readability Redux - Version: 1.3.2 ID: jggheggpdocamneaacmfoipeehedigia
(With the amount of ugly out there on the web, this is a lifesaver.)
- Scratchpad - Version: 2.2.4 ID: kjebfhglflhjjjiceimfkgicifkhjlnm
(Hmm... considering parting with this because of the latest hack. I could always pull up the Google Docs website directly, even though it does take a whole minute more to load and post.)
- Screen Capture (by Google) - Version: 5.0.3 ID: cpngackimfmofbokmjmljamhdncknpmg
(Pretty handy for any illustrations that I am doing. WAAAY more efficient than using the PrtSc button followed by Paint.NET edits.)
- Shortcut Manager - Version: 0.7.9 ID: mgjjeipcdnnjhgodgjpfkffcejoljijf
(Remaps annoying keyboard combinations. Chrome should have native support for this. Again dissatisfied with the lack of choices on chrome. Opera has this feature, why not chrome?)
- Tab Glutton - Version: 0.4.0 ID: ekfmaibfpamaegficfifofnlhalkbdfm
(I will go nuts without this. My average number of tabs usually hover around 50+)
Hmm.. yeah, doesn't sound like CUL will work. It works really well for journals. Zotero might be another option. But I have always found Zotero to be frustrating because of its association with firefox and its rudimentary (almost non-existent) support for chrome.
I tried PDFing everything and it was really annoying - I was cataloging 50+ articles a day.
Hmm.. couldn't you just save these pages as PDFs on the site?
Yeah, that flashblock thing really makes surfing tolerable by eliminating a zillion useless videos all trying to load in the background and stealing your bandwidth.
I really like the FlashBlock extension. :-)
It automatically saves a copy of each page that I bookmark so that if the page goes away (common with newspaper sources), I still have the content.
What is a cache option? Can you elaborate?
Yeah, I looked at it as an option when I picked diigo. Since so much of my research isn't journal-based, I'd still have to type in all the citation information. Citeulike doesn't offer a cache option, and it's not in current development.
Good luck on the scratchpad clone.
To get around all these security hassles, I am now thinking of creating my own scratchpad like extension that would save things on google docs. But the problem is I have no idea about how to start. I read this :::link::: and extracted the .crx files of two of the apps I am interested in (Quicknote and Scratchpad). The idea is to the take the best features of each and combine them together... but its an uphill task since I have zero familiarity with all of this right now. More importantly, I have no time.
(e:heidi), have you ever looked at citeulike? I use that for all my work and school citations and references. There is no way I can trust anything else. All my PDFs, notes, fragments of writing, ideas, hypotheses are all on citeulike. It has numerous citation formats which are extremely convenient. I am now a "Gold member", not because the paid account is very different from the free account, but because I just like the service so much and know the developers personally... it's sort of like (e:strip) for me in a way but for work.
I use a bunch of extensions and stuff from diigo. I keep my tagged, cached bookmarks there in a pro acct: :::link::: which has worked wonderfully for tracking all the articles I read about gas drilling. It made writing that ridiculous paper at the end of the semester really easy. Diiogo in the Chrome store: :::link:::
I've been using Quicknote but it doesn't have all the features of Scratchpad. There's a screen capture thingy too.
fwiw, I can middle scroll with chrome in fedora and chromium in pclinuxos. I didn't feel like booting into Ubuntu to see if I could scroll with the middle mouse button there.