Hassle-Free PC

Add AOL's 'You've Got Mail' Announcement to Gmail

Or maybe you're just a die-hard fan of the eponymous movie.

Either way, if you use Chrome to access your Gmail account, you'll appreciate this: The You've Got Gmail extension adds that familiar catchphrase to your inbox.

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Thunderbird Tip: Show Only Unread Messages

I'm increasingly of the opinion that Mozilla's Thunderbird is the best email client for Windows. It's fast, free, versatile, and reasonably easy to use.

I say "reasonably" because there are a few valuable features hiding in plain sight. Thunderbird has no instruction manual, per se, so you might overlook some or all of those features if you don't know where to look -- or even what to look for.

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How to Recharge Your USB Gear Faster

As a result, many users top off their devices' batteries by plugging them into laptops, desktops, or mobile USB chargers. That's a convenient way to go--but often a slow way as well.

See, a typical USB 2.0 port (like the kind found on most PCs) delivers up to 500 millamps (mA) of juice. But a typical AC wall charger for, say, a smartphone will supply more like 900mA or 1,000mA--even though you're plugging that same USB cable into the charger.

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Print From Your iPhone or iPad to Any Printer

Want to print an email you received on your iPad? How about a photo you snapped with your iPhone? Or a document you just downloaded from Dropbox?

Apple's AirPrint technology promises to make that easy -- but only if your printer has the support built in. What about all the models that don't? Do you really have to buy a new printer just to enjoy this capability?

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Save a Web Page as a PDF with Just One Click

Typically, when you want to save a Web page for future reference, you bookmark it. But what happens if that site gets taken down? Or the content of the page gets changed? Or you want to actually preserve that page in a format that doesn't require a Web browser?

All good questions. The simplest answer: Save important Web pages as PDFs. That gives you a much more permanent solution for storing, sharing, printing, and otherwise manipulating important Web content.

There are a number of ways to do this, but I'm partial to Web2PDF. There are actually three ways to use this handy free service: Copy and paste the URL of the page you want to convert; e-mail the URL of the page you want to convert to submit@web2pdfconvert.com; or install the Web2PDF bookmarklet.

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Three More Browser Shortcuts You Should Know

Today it's all about navigation -- using your keyboard to work in and around your browser without reaching for the mouse. Learn to adopt these shortcuts and you'll enjoy a faster, more productive browsing experience.

These shortcuts work in all the major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.

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Turn Chrome's New Tab Into a Stylish Clock and Weather Station

When you open a new tab in Google's Chrome browser, you typically see thumbnails of your most-visited sites or a collection of Chrome apps.

Those are handy options, to be sure, but there are other useful ways to take advantage of that "tab estate."

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