Tag: Chrome

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Technology

The New Version of Chrome has Interesting Changes

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Chrome 70 has proven to be quite a divisive browser. While a lot of users are excited for the new changes to security, some are also worried about whether Chrome can maintain this security and its user-friendly interface. Here are some of the changes being made to Chrome 70 so you can choose whether this browser update is for you.

Extension Restrictions
One of Chrome’s largest advantages over its competition has to be its library of add-on extensions. Unfortunately, any kind of functionality with these additional “programs” can lead to security concerns. Google has had to slow down the production of extensions to create new requirements for developers to adhere to. One example is how cryptocurrency continues to be a major talking point, prompting extensions to include cryptocurrency mining and cryptojacking in their features. Google is shutting down these supplemental programs, as well as generally holding developers to higher standards than they previously were. It now demands that developer accounts be protected by two-factor authentication, as well as paying closer attention to apps that require lots of permissions or host their code remotely.

Security Measures
Chrome 70 is also packing in all kinds of new security features to keep phishing attacks away from end users. In particular, Chrome is trying to push education of its native password management tools, as well as warn users when the links they are about to access aren’t secure. In essence, this simply states that websites need to be secured if they want visitors, reinforcing the fact that websites need to prioritize security these days.

Login Concerns
While some changes have been accepted with open arms, others… not so much. While Chrome has allowed users to use the browser without logging into the browser, some have noticed that Chrome appears to log a user in, even if they are only using one service out of the many provided. This is primarily an issue because Google could potentially share the user’s data (think browsing history), which is not something that users traditionally take lightly. In the time since then, Google has announced that Chrome isn’t necessarily logging users into Chrome–it’s more of an in-between measure to show a user which of their accounts is currently logged in.

As with any new solution, there will be roadblocks and concerns that users might be faced with during the experimentation phase. What kind of experiences have you had with Chrome 70 so far? Let us know in the comments.

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: Using Your Computer to Its Full Potential

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Your computer, and the many resources you use it to access, are made for utility. As a result, there is an assortment of useful features built into many commonly used systems and solutions. For this week’s tip, we’ll go over some of the shortcuts that you may not have known about.

For Windows
The Windows operating system itself comes with a few shortcuts that can make using your computer much more convenient.

A cluttered screen can be extremely distracting, but minimizing and maximizing each window each time you need a different one can add up to be a major time sink. Arguably even more so, it gets annoying pretty quickly. Windows provides a fix that sounds a little silly — to quickly minimize every window other than the one you want to keep, click and hold the bar at the top (where the minimize, full screen, and close buttons are located) and shake your mouse. All other active windows will minimize. Repeating this action calls your windows back to your display.

  • You can also use your taskbar to accomplish a similar result. Pressing the Windows key and the number of the application on your taskbar will open it, and then can minimize and maximize it.
  • If you have a file selected and you need to rename it, pressing F2 will allow you to do so without right-clicking and selecting Rename from the options.
  • If you want to speed up deleting a sentence you just typed, pressing Ctrl as you hit backspace will delete your text word-by-word, instead of character-by-character.
  • Windows also makes it easier to take specific screenshots of your active window: all you have to do is press Alt and Print Screen.

For Chrome
Google Chrome is a highly utilizable browser, with plenty of shortcuts and features baked in.

  • We’ve all had those searches we regret, and Google never seems to let us forget about them–until now, that is. Using your arrow keys, select the unwelcome suggestion, and press Shift + Delete to eliminate it.
  • If you’ve ever wanted to move multiple tabs to a new browser window, you know how quickly the back-and-forth gets old. By holding Ctrl, you can select multiple tabs and drag them to an existing window or create an entirely new window.

For Any Browser
If you aren’t a Chrome user, there are still plenty of shortcuts that will work for any of the popular browsers.

  • Selecting text in a web page can be frustrating, as you can easily grab an unwanted chunk by drifting your mouse too far one way or another. This can be avoided by clicking in the text where you want to begin highlighting, then pressing Shift as you click on the end of your desired segment.
  • You can quickly access the address bar at any time by pressing F6, or Ctrl + L.
  • Once you’re done with one of your tabs, middle-clicking it will close it.

How many of these tips did you know about? Are there any you know of that we missed? Share them in the comments!

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: These Shortcuts Can Make You A Google Chrome Power User

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Do you use Google Chrome? While it’s a great option in and of itself, you can make your experience with Chrome much better simply by using many of its keyboard shortcuts. Here are some of the best shortcuts that you can use to get more out of your Google Chrome web browser.

  • Alt+Tab: Move through your open tabs.
  • Alt+Home: Open your homepage.
  • Alt+Left Arrow: Move backward a page.
  • Alt+Right Arrow: Move forward a page.
  • F11: Show the current website in full screen mode.
  • Esc: Stop a page from loading or a file from downloading.
  • Ctrl+(+) or (-): Zoom in or out on the screen.
  • Ctrl+0: Reset the zoom to normal.
  • Ctrl+1 through 8: Jump to the corresponding tab in your web browser.
  • Ctrl+9: Jump to the last open tab.
  • Ctrl+Shift+B: Hide or show your bookmarks bar.
  • Ctrl+D: Make the currently opened tab a bookmark.
  • Ctrl+H: Show history in a new tab.
  • Ctrl+J: Show downloads in a new tab.
  • Ctrl+F: Find something on the page.
  • Ctrl+N: Open a new window.
  • Ctrl+Shift+N: Open a new window in incognito mode.
  • Ctrl+R or F5: Refresh the page.
  • Ctrl+T: Open a new tab.
  • Ctrl+W: Close the currently open window.
  • Ctrl+Shift+T: Open the most recently closed tab.
  • Spacebar: Move down a page at a time.
  • Shift+Spacebar: Move up a page at a time.

Will you use these shortcuts to get more productivity out of your workday? We hope so! To learn more about how you can take full advantage of your organization’s business technology, subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.

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Casserly Consulting Blog

Tip of the Week: How To Enable Flash In Google Chrome

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Flash is going the way of the dodo, with support from Adobe expected to end in 2020. Many popular browsers like Google Chrome have started to do away with Flash by default. However, there are still websites and online tools that use it. Here’s how you can enable it when you need to.

Keep in mind, Flash is being phased out due to compatibility and security issues, so under most circumstances it’s best to have it disabled unless you really need it.

The first step is to check the current Flash settings for your Chrome browser. To do so, navigate to a new browser tab and type chrome://flags into the search bar. You want to make sure that a pair of settings are set to Allow instead of Default. These settings are Prefer HTML over Flash and Run all Flash content when Flash setting is set to “allow.”

Next, open another Chrome tab and type chrome://components into the search bar. Look for the Adobe Flash Player selection and click the Check for Update button. Once you’ve done so, open Chrome’s Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of this page and select Show Advanced Settings. Scroll down further and you’ll see options for Content Settings in the Privacy tab.

In the box that pops up, scroll down until you see the option for Flash. Be sure that the Ask first before allowing sites to run Flash (recommended) is selected. If you’d rather just block Flash on your browser completely, make sure that the Block sites using Flash box is checked. You should never allow sites using Flash to run automatically, as it could be a security issue.

But what if you want to allow specific sites to allow Flash without being blocked? You can create exceptions to this by clicking on Manage exceptions, which is found under Content Settings – Flash. You then enter the URL and select Allow under the Behavior column. A shortcut to this can be found by clicking in the left-most section of your address bar, and under Flash, selecting Always allow on this site.

For more great tips and tricks, be sure to subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.

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How To

Tip of the Week: Browse Incognito Mode Better By Enabling Your Extensions

b2ap3_thumbnail_extensions_in_incognito_mode_400.jpg Fans of Google Chrome are familiar with using Incognito mode to cover their tracks and keep their Internet browsing private. Although, one downside of Incognito mode is that it disables your browser’s extensions by default. If this has been an annoyance for you, then you’ll be pleased to learn that switching on your extensions for Incognito Mode is easy to do.

Incognito mode might be a great way to browse the Internet with some semblance of privacy, but if it’s at the cost of your efficient browsing thanks to extensions, it’s somewhat unfortunate. Thankfully, there is a very simple way to make sure that your extensions work at all times, even when in Incognito mode.

Just follow these short directions and you’ll have extensions in your browser during Incognito mode:

  • Click Chrome’s menu button
  • Make your way to the More Tools
  • Click on Extensions
  • Go through the extensions and find the one that you want to enable in Incognito mode
  • Click on the Allow in Incognito Mode button

Well, there you have it. Now you can use your extensions even while in Incognito mode! Just keep in mind that there’s probably a very good reason why Google Chrome blocks extensions by default, so try to limit it to only extensions that you absolutely trust. The last thing you need is a security discrepancy caused by you trying to find a more convenient way to go about your daily business.

For more great tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your technology, subscribe to COMPANYNAME’s blog.