Last week I started a look at some of my favorite Chrome browser extensions. We started with “Behind the Overlay.” To learn how to install them check out last week’s column.
Today we will start with one for your security. We all keep reading about protecting your privacy while online and I agree that is important. When you are in a coffee shop, fast food joint, airport, basically anywhere that offers free Wi-Fi you could be giving away information. If you are at one of those places and visit your bank’s site to check your balance, etc. you could be giving away your username and password. A VPN protects your data while on that Wi-Fi connection. For more info search Google for, “What is VPN?” However, many of the VPN applications cost money and some of the free ones are questionable. One of the many solutions is to install “Hotspot Shield.” It is free with an upgradable premium version and it easily adds the extension to your browser.
Like all the other VPN apps it basically provides a “pipeline” to reroute everything from your computer to a secure server where no one else can see what goes on. It can also show you in a different location. That way you could watch a TV show in England that you may not get in the U.S. They also provide an application for your computer if you wish. I am using it now in a coffee shop and it shows my computer as being in the Netherlands. I am actually in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. You can use it without signing up for anything; however, you will get ads and requests to rate it, etc.
Next one of the few that is still in my favorite extension list is, “IE Tab.” I wrote a separate article about this in February of this year, so go check that out for lots of details. But here is a quick review. “IE Tab” allows you to view those pesky websites that will only allow you to use the Microsoft Internet Explorer or EDGE browsers to view their sites. This is fairly old-school developing but it is still around. Use “IE Tab” and you can enter the sites you want to view correctly in Chrome. It works well.
The final ones for today are “Invisible Hand” and “Honey.” (Yes, I said I would list these extensions alphabetically last week but these are similar and I like IH most so it is first.) They are both shopping extensions that work well to save you money online. Invisible Hand works by popping up when you are looking at buying something on a site. It will be searching the web in the background for the same item at a better price. When/if it finds it, you can click the suggested link and go to the other site. Be careful as I have noticed that it does not always include shipping or free shipping in its calculations.
“Honey” works a differently. When you are on the checkout screen on the site you are purchasing your product from Honey goes to work. It quickly scans the web looking for discount coupons that may help you out. It has worked sometimes for me and occasionally it does not; however, it is worth installing it to save some money.
