Extensions basically allow users to customise Chrome by adding features and functions that they require. A lot like add-ons for Internet Explorer or Firefox.

Here is a list of 10 extensions that we think are worth downloading:

1. Goo.gl url shortener
   This extension allows you to shorten website addresses with Google’s URL shortening service Goo.gl. Once compressed the url is automatically copied to clipboard and you can share it with twitter, facebook, blogger, gmail or your default mail client.
2. HTML2PDF
   This extensions lets you create a PDF from any webpage instantly with a single single click.
3. Invisible Hand
   InvisibleHand discreetly notifies you if the product you’re browsing is available more cheaply from another retailer. The notification provides a convenient link straight to the relevant product page on the competing retailer’s website. (Disclosure: Invisible Hand is a Speed client)
4. SendTo Extension
   This plugin lets you send the web page that you are viewing currently to various internet services directly from your Chrome browser. It support a whole host of sites including WordPress, Facebook, Delicious and Bit.ly.
5. Zemanta
   Zemanta is great extension, designed to assist bloggers. It expands the user’s regular blogging dashboard, populating it with content suggestions relevant to the current text. Zemanta also presents images, links, articles, and tags that can be instantly added to the post at the touch of a button.
6. Chromed Bird
   Chromed Bird lets you to follow your Twitter timelines and interact with your account.
7. Google Mail Checker
   This extension displays the number of unread messages in your Google Mail inbox. You can also click a button to open your inbox instantly.
8. Tech Crunch
   The TechCrunch extension for Google Chrome can help you to keep up-to-date with the latest technology news by providing a feed of the latest news stories posted on Tech Crunch.
9. Google Translate
   This extension adds a button to your browser toolbar that enables you to translate entire webpages into a language of your choice with one click.
10. Shiny MPs
    The Shiny MPs extensions gives you regular updates on your local MP’s parliamentary activity as well as quick links to important information.

Silicon.com – Europe has becomes world’s highest spender on outsourcing
Europe has overtaken North America as the region that spends the most money on outsourcing in the world.

Computer Weekly – Millions to text their season’s greetings
Mobile phones will unite millions of people this Christmas and New Year, with hundreds of millions of messages expected to be sent on Orange’s network alone.

Financial Times – Microsoft loses appeal in $290m patent case
Microsoft on Tuesday lost an appeal against a $290m patent infringement case in its biggest legal setback in an intellectual property case this year. In spite of the upholding of an injunction barring it from using the infringing code in its widely used Word program, Microsoft said it did not expect the decision to disrupt sales of its Office suite of applications, of which Word is part.

The Register – Apple angling to transform TV?
Apple is reportedly talking with CBS and Disney in its search for content partners for a planned US subscription-based television service.

Computing.co.uk – Unused phone lines to be subject to broadband tax
Unused phone lines will be subject to the so-called broadband tax outlined in Lord Carter’s Digital Britain report, according to a consultation released by the Treasury.

BBC – 4G mobile phone network comes to Scandinavia
Swedish and Norwegian mobile users could be among the first to use a fourth-generation (4G) mobile network.

Computerworld UK – Microsoft, Google competition changing the face of search
Advances in online search have been picking up momentum in recent months, culminating in a burst of announcements this week that could change the face of search all together, according to industry watchers.

Computerworld UK – Firefox exec recommends users leave Google
Firefox users are being urged to install the browser extension that adds the Bing search engine to Firefox. Mozilla director of community development, Asa Dotzler, made the recommendation in a blog post in response to Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s recent comments on privacy.

It is five years since the launch

First, a quick history lesson. After launching Internet Explorer, Microsoft poured millions into the product. This meant it successfully squashed the first independent mainstream browser, Netscape. Job done, it disbanded the development team, leaving users stuck with the same technology and little chance of upgrades.

Enter Firefox and the not-for-profit Mozilla Foundation which provided a clear, and function rich alternative. The result? 24 per cent of surfers now use Firefox. While it isn’t likely to topple the inertia that keeps IE at the top of the charts, it has stimulated diversity in the browser market – witness the introduction and growth of Apple’s Safari, Opera and Google Chrome in recent years.

In fact, it provides a template for what can be achieved with open source collaboration, listening to users and providing innovative solutions. Here’s to the next five years!

Total Telecom – EMC says worst of recession over for IT companies
EMC Corp. believes the worst of the global recession is over for information-technology companies as the pressure on clients’ budgets is easing, the U.S.-based storage-equipment maker’s chief financial officer said Wednesday.

Computer Weekly – Technology addiction disrupts teenagers’ learning
Technology addiction among teenagers is having a disruptive effect on their learning, according to research by Cranfield School of Management. More than 60% of 11 to 18 year olds surveyed by Cranfield said they were “very” or “quite” addicted to the internet, and over 50% were addicted to their mobile phones. Students spend, on average, one to two hours a day on social network sites, the research revealed.

The Register – Google Android future haunted by fragmentation past
With four billion connected mobile phones on the planet – compared to one billion PCs – handhelds offer developers the mother of all opportunities: ubiquity and mass market. But the reward comes at a great price: market fragmentation, thanks to so many different devices using so many different hardware configurations.

Silicon.com – Mozilla patches Firefox 3 critical holes
Mozilla on Wednesday released two new versions of its browser, Firefox 3.5.3 and 3.0.14, that patch three critical security holes and fix assorted other bugs. The updates can be found through the Help menu’s Check for Updates option, or can be downloaded directly.