Prevent Google Chrome from Opening PDF Files in the Browser

I’ve been working on a project lately where I have to download a lot of PDFs from a website and then go through them and highlight text, add comments, etc. In Google Chrome, whenever I click on a link to a PDF file, it just opens the file inside the browser window.

This is pretty convenient for most people and it was fine for me until I started this project. Other than viewing the PDF file, you really can’t do anything else with the file if it’s opened in Chrome. So basically, I was clicking on the save button, saving it to the hard drive and then opening it from there. After a while, this started to become a little annoying and time consuming.

I was using Adobe Acrobat on my Mac to make the edits to the PDF files, so I wanted to use that instead of Chrome. Finally, after playing around with stuff for a while, I managed to figure out a good solution. In order to prevent Chrome from opening the PDF files, I had to disable the Chrome PDF Viewer. Here’s how you can do it. Open Chrome and paste the following into the address bar:

chrome://plugins/

Now find Chrome PDF Viewer and click on the Disable link.

Once you disable Chrome PDF Viewer, when you click on a link for a PDF file, it will now just download it like a normal file as shown below:

Now when you click on the file, it will automatically open in the default application set for opening PDF files on your machine. Note that in addition to disabling Chrome PDF Viewer, you might also have to disable Adobe PDF Viewer in the Chrome plug-ins section. When you install Adobe Acrobat, it also installs a PDF viewer in Chrome too, so if you want to open the PDF files in the desktop Adobe program, you’ll need to disable all PDF viewers that are Chrome plug-ins.
In addition, you may have to change the default program for opening PDF files on your computer. For example, on my Mac, the PDF files were opening in Preview rather than Adobe Acrobat. To change the PDF viewer on a Mac, you have to right-click on a PDF file and choose Get Info.


Then you have to expand the Open with section and change the program to the desired PDF viewer of your choice. Then click the Change All button, which will ensure all PDF files open using that program.

For Windows users, you can check out my previous posts on changing the default program to open a file with and setting default programs in Windows 7. Hopefully, if you are one of those folks who doesn’t need the default PDF viewer in Chrome, you can use the technique above to solve the problem

How to Activate and Use Google Voice Outside the US

If you had received a Google Voice invite and you are outside of the United States, you are very lucky. Not many people have that, not even all US users have that. Google Voice is currently available by invite only.
So now you have Google Voice but when you try to activate it, Google says it is not available in your country. Bummer. You are not alone, I have the same problem too. Here is my sure working guide as oppose to some guides out there that use the SIPGate exploit to get a US phone number for verification and activation. That doesn’t work anymore.

Let’s Get Started!

First thing first, to get rid of this message (see below) you need to tell Google you are from US.

Get a US Proxy (IP)
Basically, Google check your country based on IP. So, get an US proxy (IP). The best free and simplest way is to use UltraSurf. Very small download, no installation needed and works like a thunder.
Note: I assume that you downloaded the executable version (works in IE and Chrome) and not the Firefox plugin.
Double click and run UltraSurf and IE will be launched automatically. Now (still in IE or you can use Chrome if you want) go to Google Voice. Now you should be able to bypass the country checking. Bingo!
Now you are able to see the first activation page.

Now select “Choose a number” to get your unique Google Voice US number. Now we need to go through a step by step activation process.

Choose your Google Voice number

Enter your PIN

Get a US Phone Number
To enable successful activation, you must have a local US phone number. The suggested way using SIPGate no longer works. You need to have a US cell phone number in order to signup. But no worries, you can use Virtual Phone Online.

Virtual Phone Line Service gives you a new phone number pointed to your existing phone line or IP Address or IP PBX system. This new number can be of another state or another country, even if you are not geographically/physically there. Choose any regular phone number, anywhere in the world you wish for it to ring to. Have as many Virtual Phone Lines as you need. One for your friends. One for your family. One for your business. Virtual Phone Line is for INCOMING CALLS.

So, just signup and you will get a forwarding US phone number that you can forward any calls to your Skype, GTalk, Windows Live Messenger and more. I’n my case I choose Skype.

Forward your calls to various IM networks

OK, now you have a US phone number (25-day trial). Configure it to forward calls to you preferred services and your number is ready to use.

Enter your free Virtual Phone Online number

Now enter your US phone number to allow Google to call you and confirm your account. In the next step, you will be prompted to call that number, go ahead and call.
Note: If you forwarded the number to call your Skype, you will receive a call on your Skype.
Just pick up the call, open up your dial pad and enter in the security code. Done.
Congratulation, your Google Voice has been activated. Now you can enjoy:

Use Google’s What Do You Love to Get a Variety of Search Results

So most people are probably familiar with the basic Google search filtering options. From Google.com, you simply enter any search term and Google presents you with the web search results. However, these listings are also filterable by everything, images, maps, videos, news, shopping and more simply by using the sort options on the left side of a Google search page.

Google’s search engine plus filtering options usually work great for helping you search the web, and even sort the results by specific formats. However, what if you want to use one search to return a variety of different search result formats? For that, you may want to try out Google’s What Do You Love (WDYL) search engine.

To get started, simply jump to the What do you love? homepage, which is hosted at URL wdyl.com. From there, simply enter any search term you’d like, but as the WDYL search engine’s name implies, it’s best to enter a search term that has something to do with something you love. I love lamp food, so let’s try searching for food. Enter your search term and click the love button.

From here, Google will present you with search results… but you may notice that they are a bit different than traditional Google web search results that you may be used to.

The WDYL search engine presents you with search results from all of Google’s most popular services. Thus, you won’t just get basic web results, but rather, search queries for Google Groups, News, Books, Earth, Mobile, Translate, Patent Search, Alerts, YouTube, and many more.
Using the What do you love search engine is a great way to get a variety of simple results and information about basic, more generic search terms. If you are a person that uses Google quite a bit, this is something that you should bookmark.
Of course, it’s best to be signed-in to your Google account when using the WDYL search, as some of the different varieties of listings may require that you be signed-in to your G account in order to use that particular service.
That’s basically all there is to it. Today’s post, although not extremely complex, provides a quick tutorial for using Google to search the web in a different way. For anyone that wants to add a bit more variety to their web searches, or prefers to draw search results from multiple Google services with one search, you may love, What do you love

Create Shortcuts to Customized Google Analytics Reports

Google Analytics is a great free tool from Google that millions of small and large websites use to keep track of their website visitors. The Google Analytics team has released a new feature that makes viewing customized reports a lot easier. The feature is called Shortcuts and it basically lets you view a report with any customizations including advanced segments, secondary dimensions, sorting, graph views, etc.
Any Custom or Standard report can be added to shortcuts. However, any Real-Time on Intelligence Events reports cannot be added to shortcuts at this time. Also, Goals reports cannot be added either. Other than that, though, you can start saving your customized reports to shortcuts. Here’s how.
First, go to a report and then customize it however you like. For example, I went to Traffic Sources – All Traffic report and then chose Search Traffic under Advanced Segments. Then I chose Country under Secondary Dimension and lastly I sorted the whole thing by Avg. Visit Duration. Now in order to save this report with these settings, click on the Shortcut link at the top navigation bar.

Go ahead and give your new Shortcut a name. You can type in a fairly long name so make sure to include any relevant details. I named mine Search Traffic by Country Sorted by Duration.

Now you’ll see the header for the report change to the name you just gave it.

Pretty sweet! Now I can access this customized report anytime by clicking on Home and then clicking on Shortcuts in the left-hand pane:

So that’s one really useful new feature of Google Analytics that will make it a lot easier for webmasters to view reports with customized settings quickly

Use Google’s What Do You Love to Get a Variety of Search Results

So most people are probably familiar with the basic Google search filtering options. From Google.com, you simply enter any search term and Google presents you with the web search results. However, these listings are also filterable by everything, images, maps, videos, news, shopping and more simply by using the sort options on the left side of a Google search page.

Google’s search engine plus filtering options usually work great for helping you search the web, and even sort the results by specific formats. However, what if you want to use one search to return a variety of different search result formats? For that, you may want to try out Google’s What Do You Love (WDYL) search engine.
To get started, simply jump to the What do you love? homepage, which is hosted at URL wdyl.com. From there, simply enter any search term you’d like, but as the WDYL search engine’s name implies, it’s best to enter a search term that has something to do with something you love. I love lamp food, so let’s try searching for food. Enter your search term and click the love button.

From here, Google will present you with search results… but you may notice that they are a bit different than traditional Google web search results that you may be used to.

The WDYL search engine presents you with search results from all of Google’s most popular services. Thus, you won’t just get basic web results, but rather, search queries for Google Groups, News, Books, Earth, Mobile, Translate, Patent Search, Alerts, YouTube, and many more.
Using the What do you love search engine is a great way to get a variety of simple results and information about basic, more generic search terms. If you are a person that uses Google quite a bit, this is something that you should bookmark.
Of course, it’s best to be signed-in to your Google account when using the WDYL search, as some of the different varieties of listings may require that you be signed-in to your G account in order to use that particular service.
That’s basically all there is to it. Today’s post, although not extremely complex, provides a quick tutorial for using Google to search the web in a different way. For anyone that wants to add a bit more variety to their web searches, or prefers to draw search results from multiple Google services with one search, you may love, What do you love

Overview ofOverview of Google 3D for Maps and Earth, Offline Mode and Fly-over View and Earth, Offline Mode and Fly-over View

Google’s Maps and Earth programs are by far some of the best navigation and exploration apps available for consumers. Recently, Google held a press conference where they debuted some new technology that will be incorporated into their Maps and Earth apps. These technologies mainly effect street view and a new fly-over view, but updates such as offline mode and 3D are also some great things to look forward to.

Fly-over View
So Google sent out a fleet of cars equipped with panoramic view cameras to tour the world, in order to initially create the function that we now know as Google Street View. This popular feature of Google maps provides a realistic, well, street view of many destinations throughout the planet.
So, how would Google create their new and soon to be released feature, Fly-over View? The answer is, by contracting out a fleet of small airplanes equipped with similar, but more advanced high-speed panoramic cameras.
With Fly-over view, you will be able to use Google Maps to explore cities and popular destinations from of course, the view from an airplane. Aside from this, the aerial view will provide more range for basic Google Maps features.
3 Dimensional
Additionally, Google is banking on the popularity of 3D in today’s technology word by adding some 3D features of their own to their Maps and Earth apps.
The advanced cameras that were outfitted on the Google powered airplanes were able to capture tons of images at a time, from several different angles. With some editing, via a process called stereophotogamitry, a network of computers takes all of these captured images and processes them through algorithms to find the highest quality images.
From there, the computer composes these pictures and fits them together to form a 3D view.

Street View Extended
Although Google is focusing a lot of their efforts towards the new technology going into Fly-over view, they still want to grow and make the existing Street View better, also.
As mentioned above, cars were initially the main source of capturing images for Street View. However, Google is now using a full range panoramic camera that can be outfitted on a simple backpack.
With this more versatile camera, Google will now be able to capture images from what was before unexplored territory. Outfitted with the new Google backpack, a motocross rider or BMX biker could capture images that are more out there and less urban, for example.
Here are some pics of some of Google’s awesome Maps and Earth devices:
Airplane

Backpack

Trolley

Trike

Snowmobile

Car

Offline Mode
Google has also announced offline mode for their Maps and GPS services. With offline mode, you will now have the option to download a portion of a map prior to taking a road trip or other commute.
With the map downloaded and stored to the device, Google software can render the map for turn by turn directions, even without an active internet or 3G/4G connection. So, even if you’re out of wireless range, Google Maps can still provide accurate navigation using Offline Mode.
Thank you for stopping by the site for today’s post. Although not a tutorial, today’s post was simply an overview of some Google Maps and Earth features that will likely be introduced very soon. Google plans to release some of the features, such as Fly-over view, in selected cities, for the initial launch. However, after the debut and the beta stuff, Google will likely push this technology to more locations. Enjoy!

View Your Google Maps Search History

I recently discovered something cool about Google Maps that I didn’t know existed. A few weeks back, I had searched for a local restaurant that a friend told me about and now that I had some free time to go check it out, I could not remember the name of the place! Since I didn’t search for it in Google, it didn’t show up in my Google web history, which is the first place I checked.
So then, I went to Google Maps and tried to figure out how to see my maps search history. There was nothing obvious on the main home page for Google Maps, so I clicked around for about 10 minutes until I happened to find it. In this article, I’ll quickly show you how to view your Google Maps search history, which can be convenient for seeing what directions you searched for and what places you searched for.
First, go to Google Maps and then click on the My Places button. Make sure that you are logged into your Google account.

This will load up any custom maps you have created and also all of your maps search history. It’s pretty much as easy as that! Not very hard to get to, but definitely not something I had ever noticed before. It would have been nice if they kept the search history under a different heading as My Places sounds more like a place to find my custom maps, not my search history.

Simply click on any of the history items and it’ll either bring up the directions or the location on the map.

So that’s our simple tip of the day. Of course, for your history to show up at all, you have to be logged into your Google account while using Google Maps. If not, then you won’t be seeing any previous search history. Enjoy!

Allow People to Send You a Message in Google+

Even though I use Facebook a lot more than I use Google+, I have started checking the Google+ iOS app a little more often lately because there are some interesting people who do post there. One thing I noticed about Google+ is that you can really control how people connect with you via email or messages.
For example, there is no way to post on someone else’s wall. You can comment on a post made by someone else, but there is no way to actually post something onto another person’s Google+ wall. I wanted to get in contact with someone, so I figured there had to be a way to email or send a message. In Google+, you can completely hide these options if you do not want anyone to be able to contact you.
However, being a blogger myself, I wanted people to be able to send me a message or email me if they wanted to get in touch. In this article, I’ll walk you through the steps to change your contact settings in Google+ so that people can either email you or send you a message.
First, log into your Google+ account and click on Profile.

Next click on the Edit Profile button at the top of your profile.

You should be automatically switched to the About tab, but if not, go ahead and click on the About tab. You’ll see a button called Change contact settings.

Now you will see options for letting people send you a message or email you via a link on your profile:

You can choose from Extended Circles, Public, Your Circles, Only You, or Custom. This really gives you fine-grain control over exactly who can contact you.

Once you allow people to contact you, you should see links at the bottom of your profile like this:

That’s about it! Not sure why my profile was setup by default so that no one was able to contact via or send me a message, but it’s simple to change. Check out my profile on Google+ and stay in touch. Enjoy!