Web

Google removed the ability to display a custom background image on your Google Search homepage. However, there's a Chrome extension that can help you regain your little slice of customization.

Aside from allowing you to change the background image, the extension will let you do some other neat things, too. You can remove the Google logo, search and lucky buttons, footer, and promotional links.

Head to the Google Chrome Web Store and install the Custom Google Background extension.

After installing the extension, you can select where you'd like to use an image from. You can also … Read more

Are you still flying solo instead of jumping on the Mailbox or Mailstrom bandwagon? That doesn't mean you can't get a little help from Astrid, your friendly squidface to-do list app, when using Gmail in Chrome.

Each time you read your Gmail, you may star or label some of the messages that you want to get back to. This is a great idea in theory, but messages can easily be forgotten. Instead, you can add a reminder to your Astrid that will keep up with your lack of focus on the Internet.

Here's how to get started:… Read more

While Chrome has had an internal PDF viewer for a couple of years now, Mozilla only just added the feature to Firefox 19. It's a feature that most people will find convenient as is, but if you're looking to take some control over how Firefox handles PDF files on the Web, here's how:

PDF file handling options The Firefox PDF viewer is enabled by default and will display PDFs within the browser when you click on PDF links. If they don't, make sure you've disabled any PDF plug-ins you may have previously installed. If you … Read more

One of the downsides to being very active on Twitter and then signing up for a service such as Timehop is that not all of your tweets can be fetched through Twitter's API. Timehop can only go so far back in your Twitter-past, meaning you might not always see your past tweets in your daily roundup.

Timehop is a free service that will e-mail or alert you through its iPhone app of what you were doing one year (or more) ago to the day. It connects to your Facebook, Foursquaure, Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram accounts and presents it to … Read more

Outlook.com is out of preview now and available for everyone to use. Learning how to get around the new interface can be a lot easier with the help of keyboard shortcuts. So whether you're new to Microsoft's browser-based e-mail service or an old Hotmail user trying to adjust to the new design, give the shortcuts a try and get to know Outlook.com.

Before we get started, go to Settings > Keyboard shortcuts and make sure that keyboard shortcuts are enabled and set to Outlook.com mode. If you're already familiar with the keyboard shortcuts for … Read more

Ever use Google to search for an answer and when you find it in the search results and click on the page, it's gone? How annoying. Another bothersome occurrence appears when a Web page layout has changed, and the information you usually find in a certain place is now moved somewhere else. For times like this, Google's page cache is amazingly useful. The results are not 100 percent guaranteed to show you exactly what you're looking for, but hey, there's not a whole lot of 100 percent anythings left in the world.

Before Google went through … Read more

Google Reader isn't known for its beauty. The user interface is very similar to Gmail, except with fewer bells and whistles. The spacious gaps between columns and menu items can sometimes be more distracting than helpful.

As an alternative to viewing Google Reader in list or expanded mode, there's a Chrome extension that can transform it into a grid of stories. Installing and configuring the extension is quick and easy, so let's get started:

Step 1: Install a copy of Grid Preview for Google Reader for your Chrome Web browser.

Step 2: Head to Google Reader in … Read more

Dropbox is one of the top cloud storage solutions for anyone who needs to share or collaborate on documents, audio or images. As long as you have Internet connectivity, you can access your files from anywhere, giving you peace of mind that a specific file won't be forgotten when you're away from the computer.

If you're often saving documents or images from the Web, you may notice that the process isn't very streamlined on its own. You either have to use the Dropbox software on your PC and choose that folder every time you want to … Read more

Finding a discovery engine that is actually useful is rare. In my experience, they either spit out vague, useless recommendations or they return results so predictable as to prevent discovery. Thus, it was with trepidation I approached TasteKid. Turns out that underneath its odd name, TasteKid boasts an engine that successfully occupies the fertile ground between pointless and predictable.

Head to TasteKid.com and try it for yourself. Front and center, you'll find a search box and seven tabs, six of which let you narrow your search to music, movies, TV shows, books, authors, and games. You can also … Read more