Google has recently opened up its treasure trove of Google Chrome Extension gallery (say bye to Chrome Extensions). And within days of its arrival, people have downloaded the extensions some hundreds of thousands of times. With new extensions being added every day, Firefox (as a platform) is losing its place. More and more people are switching to Google Chrome as their default browser. Here are some extensions that you may like to add to Google Chrome.

Google Mail Checker

Developed by Google, this extension may remind you of the Gmail Notifier. Unlike the Firefox add-on, Google Mail Checker doesn't ask for Google account credentials - it uses Chrome's cookies to log into Gmail inbox. Number of new unread mails are highlighted in red.

Zoho Notebook

Well, Evernote may be your favourite note-taking tool, but if you haven't checked Zoho lately, you're missing out on a lot of things. None can organize your notes as effectively as Zoho Notebook does. And now, all this in the form of a tiny extension. You can clip the URL of the page you're currently browsing; you can take a screenshot of the page or you can clip selected text to Zoho Notebook with this extension.

RSS Subscription Extension

Google Chrome lacked a very basic feature that Firefox boasts of, for a long long time — RSS subscription option in the address-bar (called the Omnibar). Addressing this 'problem', Google developed this extension to give quick access to subscription options.

Xmarks Bookmark Sync

"Xmarks is the #1 bookmarking add-on. Xmarks synchronizes across multiple computers, and across web browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer. After you install the add-on, click on the notification to set up Xmarks and start backing up and synchronizing your bookmarks. Xmarks sync profiles give you full control over which bookmarks are synced to which computers, allowing you to keep private bookmarks at home while syncing everything else to your work computer. Xmarks automatically keeps a backup of each bookmark change, making it easy to backup and restore your bookmark sets." Download and enjoy!

LastPass

"LastPass is a free online password manager and Form Filler that makes your web browsing easier and more secure. LastPass supports Chrome, Firefox, and IE as Plugins (Opera, Safari, Opera Mini via Bookmarklets), allows you to import from every major password storage vendor (such as Roboform, Keepass, PasswordSafe, MyPasswordSafe, Sxipper, TurboPasswords, PassPack, Firefox and IE's built in password manager) and export too, captures passwords that other managers won't including many AJAX forms, and allows you to make strong passwords easily. Your sensitive data is encrypted locally before upload so even LastPass cannot get access to it. One Time Passwords & Screen Keyboard help protect your master password." (See also: Keepass Password Manager)

Feedly

"A magazine-like startpage. A fast and stylish way to read and share the content of your favorite sites and services. Provides seamless integration with Google Reader, Twitter, Delicious, YouTube and Amazon." Once you install this extension, you would why it's your new addictive homepage.

Chromed Bird

It's a Twitter client inside Chrome. It has (almost) all the feature Twitter offers. The developers are quick to add new features to Chromed Bird as they are being introduced in Twitter.

Google Reader Notifier

"Displays the Google Reader unread count. Clicking the icon shows a preview of your reading list in a popup (or it can open Reader in a new tab, see the options page for configuration)." Great extension for Google Reader fans.

Aviary Screen capture

Remember Screengrab add-on for Firefox to take screenshots of web-pages? Well, this extension does more than what Screengrab offers - you can also edit the screenshots taken, through Aviary Image Editor.

Firebug Lite

Web-developers, rejoice! Firebug finally for Google Chrome. One of the reasons why many developers were reluctant to turn to Google Chrome was that they were missing Firebug, the have-it-all web-development add-on for Firefox. Firebug Lite misses out on a lot of things Firebug-on-Firefox offers. Considering the number of people switching to Google Chrome, Firebug Lite will definitely see some major updates in near future.

IE Tab

Another very useful extension for debugging IE style errors. This extension displays any webpage using Internet Explorer rendering engine. Webpages which can only be displayed in IE can be viewed inside Google Chrome without leaving it.

Shareaholic

Shareaholic is a web-application, "The Better Way to Share Across Twitter, Facebook, E-mail, and More." This extension gives one-click access to share links to different networks. You can create an account with Shareaholic to choose which of the services to show. By default, it creates a shortened link of the page you're browsing (using Bit.ly), so you can also use it as an alternative for Bit.ly's extension.

Google Tasks

Are you a Google Tasks fan? Then, this is for you! It might not as simple and effective as Remember The Milk but Google Tasks is well integrated with almost all Google applications. Besides, lot more features are being added to Google tasks. This extension lets you add, edit and mark tasks (as done).

Wikipedia Chromium Edition

"Wikipedia Chromium Edition gives you one click access to your favorite encyclopedia. Search and browse Wikipedia right on the webpage you are viewing. Must have extension for all Wikipedia fans." My favourite!

I meet a lot of people who say that they are fascinated by photoshop and the artworks it creates. But either they hardly have the time and patience to learn photoshop or they don't know where to start. Here are few of the hundreds of screencasts that teach you Photoshop basics.

Photoshop 101: Learn About the Tools Palette

Photoshop 101: 50 Minutes of the Basics of Photoshop

Basic Photoshop Tools

Photoshop Tutorial — Tool Uses and Basics

One Minute Makeover

Basics of Photoshop Painting

Photoshop CS3 Tutorial: The Basics of Pen Tool

The Basics of Selection

How to Use the Magic Wand Tool in Photoshop

Basic Photoshop Tutorial: Cropping Tutorial

Learn How to Use the Slice Tool in Photoshop

How to Use Patch Tool in Photoshop

Photoshop Tutorial Brush Tool

Photoshop Clone Stamp Tool

Photoshop Tutorial How to Use and Master the History Brush Tool

Photoshop Magic Eraser Tool

Photoshop Gradient Tool Techniques

Basic Photoshop Tutorials: Photoshop Blur Tool Tutorial

Basic Photoshop Tutorials: Photoshop Sharpen Tool Tutorial

Photoshop Tips & Techniques : Adobe Photoshop Smudge Tool Tips

How to use the Dodge Tool and Burn Tool in Photoshop Tutorial

Photoshop: The Pen Tool — In Depth

OpenGoo is an open-source online office solution. If you are looking for web-based application that can be a good alternative to Google Docs or hundreds of task management and project management apps, OpenGoo might be your answer. Built on the excellent ExtJs javascript application development platform, OpenGoo can be installed on any modern web-server running PHP and MySQL (with InnoDB support). Download the zip file, unpack it, upload to your server, and after a super-simple installation, you're up and running!

OpenGoo is a modular application which uses various modules such as 'Notes' (for taking notes), 'Contacts' (for managing contacts), Calendar and Tasks (for managing tasks and appointments), 'Web Links' (for bookmarks), 'Email' (for sending and receiving emails!) and a 'Time' module (for managing your time). The task module is very effective and feature-rich. Apart from adding and completing tasks, you can create 'milestones' which, in turn, may contain various tasks.  OpenGoo uses 'workspaces' to keep you focussed and clutter-free. You can create different workspaces for different projects, goals. Each workspace uses the same modules (you can turn off certain modules too).

OpenGoo is great for collaborative works. You can create users and assign tasks to them. Each documents show revisions which help you keep track of who edited what and when. You can even create clients and show them only certain amount of data (ideal for ongoing project status).
Not everything is great about OpenGoo. The current version of the application is 1.6 but it still lacks .doc, .pdf support. Spreadsheet module is also missing. The document editor is much like wordpad on Windows, nowhere close to Microsoft Word or Open Office Word Processor. If you are heavy Google Docs user, you might also miss the Drawing feature Google Docs provides. Although the OpenGoo wiki says that it supports themes, I found no fitting themes for OpenGoo. Since it's written on ExtJS, ExtJS themes should theoretcally work with OpenGoo. But, in fact, they looked horrible.

OpenGoo is ideal for schools, small companies, freelancers, group of people involved in certain projects. If Google Apps and Zoho pinch your pocket, go for OpenGoo. Also, it's much more secure since you're installing it on your server — not into the clutches of some web-firm that blunders with the security of your documents.

PlaylistNow.fm is new web-application that generates playlists based on what you're currently doing. Whether you're partying or working at library or focusing on your work, PlayListNow has a playlist for you. In case, you don't like the songs you are listening to, just sign up (using Facebook or Twitter) and start adding customising the playlists. You can also discover new songs from the recommended songs.

The interface of PlaylistNow at first glance may look like Twitter's landing page. It also offers a bunch of keyboard shortcuts for easy navigation. You can even share playlists with your Facebook network or Twitter followers, right from PlaylistNow.

It's a nice application to find new songs but may not be useful since it still doesn't have any iPhone app.