plug-ins

One of the very best Firefox extensions, the All-in-One Sidebar add-on creates an active, collapsible sidebar that forces the default add-on window, your history, Web development tools, and what can seem like an endless amount of content to open in it.

By making all this extra content available via the same sidebar window, it takes one click on the sidebar's menu to switch among them, minimizing the clutter multiple Firefox extensions can unfortunately create. By default, the sidebar appears as a narrow panel of icons on the left of the screen, but even that can be set to automatically … Read more

Updated 10:30 a.m. PDT: Added photos and a link to Chrysler's electric car site.

Struggling automaker Chrysler on Tuesday unveiled a line of electric cars scheduled to start shipping at the end of 2010.

The surprise announcement brings Chrysler in direct competition with General Motors, which last week showed off the Chevy Volt, an extended-range electric car also due in late 2010.

Chrysler's plans call for two electric cars, using the same concept as the Volt and two other all-electric cars.

Chrysler's top executives showed off an extended-range electric Jeep Wrangler and a mini-van to CNBC on Tuesday. … Read more

It's all been very gentlemanly so far. No name calling. No punches thrown.

But a fight is brewing between heavyweights Toyota and General Motors over the way the government should support plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

Robert Wimmer, a Toyota research manager, told a Senate committee last week that proposed legislation "redefines plug-in electric vehicles to seemingly eliminate consumer tax credits for all but one plug-in vehicle design. Toyota believes this approach is counterproductive."

He didn't identify the Chevrolet Volt by name. But the GM hybrid would be the main beneficiary of the bill, which would provide … Read more

Maxthon and Maxthon Classic are Earth-2, alternate-reality versions of the Internet Explorer engine, topped with customization features that more closely resemble Firefox. Especially popular in China, it's one of the most popular browsers around. It renders pages fast and comes loaded with features--as if Firefox came with 90 percent of its most popular plug-ins.

The differences between the two versions are not readily apparent. Maxthon 2 features loads more customization ability, but sacrifices a bit of stability for the privilege. Its design is stylish compared to the old version, and its new approach to accessing functions makes it more … Read more

Me.dium is a free social networking tool for Firefox and Internet Explorer with a twist. It lets you browse the Internet alongside your friends, and even make new ones.

The interface is modern without being obnoxious. A sidebar and a toolbar appear in your browser window. The top panel of the sidebar is a map that lets you view what sites your friends are visiting. The bottom panel of the sidebar lets you view your friends profiles and send messages. Me.dium will definitely appeal to Facebook users because you can send messages directly to your Facebook friends from … Read more

Think that every conceivable useful feature not included in Firefox has been created? Not likely. At least now, though, we can take attachment drag-and-drop off the list with dragdropupload.

The add-on works with most major Web mail services and message board systems. Once installed, simply go to your Gmail, for example, and "compose" a new message. Hit the "add attachment" button, and instead of browsing through your complex file tree from there, you can grab the file from Windows Explorer and drag it over the file location box in the page. The plug-in supports multiple files, … Read more

This is one of the best Firefox extensions around and makes tabbed browsing even better than it already is. Tab Mix Plus can change the close button on each tab feature, control the rows of tabs when you exceed the width of the browser window, and almost everything else associated with tabs. Use your scrollwheel to browse tabs, or control tab switching via mouse gestures. You can specify where Web pages will open--in the background or the foreground, in a new tab or the current one--based on how they were created: by clicking a link, typing an address, or using … Read more

With Toyota's announcement that it's testing plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHVs) in the U.K., it seems like the Brits are getting all of the plug-in love these days. The announcement comes with the news that Toyota is partnering with EDF Energy to make the PHVs part of EDF's company fleet. The vehicles will be driven by EDF Energy employees and evaluated in real-world conditions. Electric company employees have all of the fun.

The PHVs, which is essentially a modified Toyota Prius, can be charged at a standard electrical outlet or any of the 40 charging posts in … Read more

Web site The Car Connection on Tuesday managed to get its digital hands on photos of the what is said to be the production version of the Chevy Volt, the much-ballyhooed plug-in hybrid from General Motors.

The photos were made available on GM's media Web site unintentionally, a company representative told The Detroit News. They were quickly taken down from GM's site after The Car Connection posted them.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the photos, besides the fact that the product managers feature prominently in many of them, is that there is a significantly different look between … Read more