Eight Great, Simple Ways to Hack the Web

Hitch Your Domain to Google Apps

Owning and operating a Web domain--not to mention setting up the e-mail servers, user accounts, and hosting--used to be a pricey affair. Not any longer. If you already own a domain through another registrar, you can use it with Google Apps, which allows you to configure Gmail as the mail server for your domain, as well as to set up subdomains for use with other services, such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Calendar, and Page Creator. Go to the Google Apps page, click Get Started, choose Sign Up under Standard Edition, and either enter your existing domain name or purchase an available one for $10 a year through the registrar GoDaddy. Google Apps will then prompt you to create an administrator account for the new domain--and that's it. You'll see your Google Apps Dashboard page, where you create additional user accounts (up to 200) for your coworkers, family members, or other domain denizens, and configure chat, calendar sharing, and document settings, among other options. It doesn't provide everything you need to get your organization online, but it is an excellent (and free) foundation for your group's Web activities.

Sync Your Local Calendar With Google's

Where would I be without my online calendar? My whole life is in there. Unfortunately, I'm often not in front of my computer when an appointment alarm goes off. That's why Google Calendar and its SMS notifications are handy. I also like having my calendar available online so that family and collaborators can check my availability. If you work the same way, you can keep your local and Web calendars synchronized by using one of two tools. If you use Mozilla Thunderbird and its Lightning calendar extension, Provider for Google Calendar lets you create a new calendar in Lightning/Thunderbird that syncs with an existing Google Calendar. Outlook users should try Calgoo Software's $25-per-year Calgoo Apps, which not only allow you to synchronize your Outlook and Google calendars and contacts but also give you access to your Google Calendar offline.

Pimp Your Facebook

Facebook is a handy, general-purpose place to connect with coworkers, neighbors, and friends, but its bio, photo, and messaging features are bare-bones. Fortunately, the service's applications feature allows you to install widget-like programs into your profile that ramp up your ability to link with other Facebookers, and even stay productive while hobnobbing. To browse Facebook's gallery of more than 1500 applications, click Applications, and then Browse More Applications. Select For Facebook at the right to see a more manageable list of categories, and skip the more frivolous ones. Some of my favorites include My Flickr, which displays your Flickr photos; Zoho Online Office, a link to your free Zoho office-suite account; and the My Company's Hiring widget from LinkedIn.

Get Stylish

Bored with the look of your favorite sites? If you use Mozilla's Firefox, you can spice things up, or chill them out, by installing the Stylish extension and downloading predesigned styles for individual sites and the browser itself. To install the extension, choose Tools, Add-ons, Get extensions. Search for Stylish at the Firefox Add-ons site. When you find it, click its link, and then the big, green Install Now button. Stylish will run the next time you launch Firefox, but it won't do anything until you download and install styles from Userstyles.org. You can turn Google's bright white background a cool dark blue, improve Wikipedia's readability, or change the look of Facebook, Gmail, YouTube, and other sites. You'll also find Stylish styles that alter the interfaces of Firefox and Thunderbird.