Google Chrome Tips

Theme Google Chrome with ease

2008-09-07T18:03:00.001-07:00

It hasn't even been a week since Google Chrome's release, and there are already little tools being released to enhance the browser. This is one of them.

A lot of you guys have asked me how to change the look of the browser. Well, it's finally doablable. All you have to do is install Chrome Automatic Theme Switcher, and select a theme. Included themes include the black and green (and you can switch back to the default blue color, as well).

Simply download the app, close Google Chrome, select the theme, and click on Set Theme. Start up Chrome again, and enjoy the new appearance!

Here's what it looks like if you choose the black theme:

Sergey Brin: No Mac version 'embarrassing'

2008-09-05T10:36:00.000-07:00

A lot of you Mac users want to get in on the Chrome action, but can't yet. All we've been told so far is that "we're working on it, it's coming".

Well, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said that not having a Mac version is embarrassing. We found it on video, so skip ahead about 4 minutes and 23 seconds in:

More funny Chrome parody comics from around the web

2008-09-04T20:22:00.001-07:00

I guess my friends weren't the only ones making funny parody comics based on the images from the Chrome comic.

Internet communities like 4chan and others have made some of their own. Here are some of the best ones I found around the web.

Let me know what you think, and if you find other good ones, leave a comment! :)

Install Java for Google Chrome

2008-09-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

Some of you have messaged me saying that after you installed Chrome, you can no longer view play Yahoo games that use Java. Yes, this is very annoying, but there is an easy fix.

Download Java from Sun

After it has downloaded, close Chrome, and install Java.

Once you have installed it, restart Chrome, and it should work just fine.

The reason that it wasn't working before is Chrome doesn't seem to like to work with the current version of Java. The version above is a beta, which does work with Chrome. Don't worry about it being a beta, just make sure to update it when it asks.

Install Flash for Google Chrome

2008-09-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

Some of you have messaged me saying that after you installed Chrome, you can no longer view Youtube videos. Yes, this is very annoying, but there is an easy fix.

Download Flash from Adobe

After it has downloaded, close Chrome, and install Flash.

Once you have installed it, restart Chrome, and it should work just fine.

The reason that it likely wasn't working before is that IE and Chrome use different plugin mechanisms. So even if Flash was working in IE, it might not work in other browsers. By installing the plugin, you are making it work with Chrome (and Firefox, and Safari).

Good luck!

How to run Chrome from a USB key/stick

2008-09-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

A guy over in Germany figured out how to run Chrome from a USB stick if you can't install stuff at work.

Check it out, it's works very well.

Portable Chrome 0.2.151.0

Update: Since many have asked: sadly, this does not work in WINE for Linux.

Hilarious parodies of the Google Chrome comic (funny captions!)

2008-09-04T11:13:00.001-07:00

My friend Ron was bored last night and started creating funny captions of the Google Chrome comic. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did!

Remember to check out the originals, and to check out the captioner's site!

Update: I've added more parodies from around the web. Take a look!

How to make it so that Google Chrome does not send everything you type into the search/address bar to Google

2008-09-03T14:45:00.001-07:00

Even with all the rage about the Google Chrome EULA, some of you have other privacy issues.

For instance, the Chrome browser sends everything you type into the address/search bar to Google, to offer websites to go to. It sends it keystroke by keystroke, and many of you probably have some concerns about this.

In this post, I'll show you how to disable that. You'll lose some functionality, but you might not care, since you gain some privacy.

Start by clicking on the wrench icon to the right of the Omnibox (yeah, that is what Google calls the address/search bar), and click on Options.

This is what should come up:

Now, click on the Manage button, next to the default search.

This is what should come up:

Now, uncheck the Use a suggestion service to help complete searches and URLs typed into the address bar checkbox.

If it was already unchecked, great! If not, just hit Close and Close again, and you're done.

The stuff you type into the Omnibox is no longer being sent to Google. Joy!

Make Google Chrome more like Opera or Firefox (Ad Blocking and Gesture Support)

2008-09-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

Like many of you, I excitedly download the new Google Chrome browser moments after it was available for download.

I was impressed by the speed of the new Javascript engine, V8, and had always liked the speed and cleanliness of the Webkit engine when I started using it in Safari.

However, like many of you guys, I quickly realized that this new browser is not without it's shortcomings.

Firefox users bemoan the lack of extensions support, making must-have extensions like Adblock Plus out of reach. Opera users don't like that there is no gesture browsing.

Well, in this post, I'll show you how to put some of that functionality into Windows, so that you can continue to enjoy the web, except faster, and in the new Google Chrome browser.

Blocking ads

First thing we're going to do is restore Adblock type capabilities into the browser.

We're going to use HostsMan for this. This will install an ad blocking hosts file into Windows, so that when your browser tries to lookup something like doubleclick.net, it won't actually go to Doubleclick, and will instead display nothing.

The nice thing about this method is that it is actually cross browser, so it will actually work in IE6/7, Firefox, whatever, without any extensions.

So once you have it installed, do the following steps:

Open it up
It should look like this:

Go to Hosts > Check for Updates

Now, select MVPS Hosts, Mike's Ad Blocking Hosts, and Peter Lowe's Adservers List. Select "Overwrite current Hosts", and hit Update. Here's a screenshot of how it looks before you click Update:

Now hit close. You can exit from Hostsman, and ads will be blocked in all browsers now.

Mouse gestures

Now, for all you Opera fans out there, we all know that you guys like gesture browsing. For the newcomers out there, this basically means that you can hold down the right button on your mouse, move the mouse, and some action is performed.

Trust me, it gets addictive.

Now, you can install gesture support in Windows, but unlike Hostsman, it's not freeware. If you like the product, please pay for it.

Anyway, it's called StrokeIt. Download and install it. When it asks you to reboot, you can reboot, or just say no, and start it from your Start menu.

StrokeIt will add a white mouse icon into your system tray, so let's click on that.

Something like this window should appear:

I've gone ahead and created a config file for Google Chrome, which you can download here.

Now, simply go to File > Import config and import the simple_google_chrome.sxp file that you downloaded.

I have made it extremely simple, and only included back and forward, which you can perform by holding down your right click button and moving the mouse from right to left, and left to right, respectively.

I hope this helps you experience the browser more effectively! :)

Stuff to download

HostsMan Add ad blocking to your Windows install.

StrokeIt Add gestures to your Windows install.

simple_google_chrome.sxp Google Chrome gestures to be used with StrokeIt.