Browser extension InvisibleHand has long been great at subtly showing you the best prices for product searches, but now it can suggest cheaper alternatives when searching for airfare as well. More »

We’ve said for a while that HTML5 will change the way you use the web, but not all browsers are ready for the big change. This interactive chart highlights which features are still missing in your browser of choice. More »

(Click the image above for a closer look.)

Helvetimail is a logical—if obvious—step in the latest craze of applying minimal designs using the Helvetica font to popular web applications (see previously mentioned Helvetical, Helvetireader, and Helvetwitter). To use the script, you’ll need to enable the Minimalist theme in Gmail’s themes settings. Then, depending on what browser you’re using, you’ll have to install the user script. (Firefox users, if you’ve installed Greasemonkey, just click the user script link on the Helvetimail page to install. For the rest of you, the script’s author has instructions for various browsers.)

Helvetimail is probably the least attractive of the Helveti-bunch of user scripts we’ve seen (I love the look of Helvetical), but if you’re a big fan of the user-contributed, minimal Helvetica designs, it’s worth a look.

After reading about how to implement the Ctrl+L shortcut key in IE, reader Mike took it on himself to improve that script and add a number of other shortcut keys, including Ctrl+K to focus the search box, and Ctrl+Shift+Enter to automatically append “.org” to the end of anything typed into the address bar.

To use his script for yourself, create a new AutoHotkey script or add the following to your existing script:

#IfWinActive - Windows Internet Explorer ahk_class IEFrame
^k::Send ^e
^l::Send !d
^+Enter::
AutoTrim Off ; Retain any leading and trailing whitespace on the clipboard.
ClipboardOld = %ClipboardAll%
Clipboard = ; Must start off blank for detection to work.
Send {Ctrl Down}ac{Ctrl up}
ClipWait 1
if ErrorLevel ; ClipWait timed out.
   return
ClipboardNew = %Clipboard%
StringReplace, ClipboardNew, ClipboardNew, .com, .org
IfNotInString, ClipboardNew, .org
   ClipboardNew := ClipboardNew . ".org"
Send %ClipboardNew%{Enter}
Clipboard = %ClipboardOld%
return

This script listens for the Firefox-style shortcut keys, and then sends the Internet Explorer specific keys to the window instead, so you can switch between Firefox and IE without constantly hitting the wrong keys by mistake. Great job, Mike!

For more Windows shortcut goodness, check out how to make Win+E open the folder of your choice, learn how to use Caps Lock for hand-friendly navigation, and see how Taskbar Overlord tweaks the Windows 7 taskbar. Brand new to AutoHotKey and its time-saving ways? Peek at our beginner’s guide to learn how to add this script, or write your own.

Best Regards from a Daily Reader

Dear Daily Reader,

For Firefox and Internet Explorer, at least, we’ll whole-heartedly recommend the newly IE-friendly and Safari-friendly Foxmarks. It doesn’t have the password support of its Firefox iterations, but it does do an admirably swift job of keeping your bookmarks and toolbar favorites synced up in the background.

As for Chrome and Opera, well, that’s a trickier task. If you’re using all four browsers equally, you might want to consider using the long-standing, well-tested Delicious as your primary bookmarking tool, since its accessible from anywhere, keeps everything in sync with or without your action, and has handy bookmark bar tools for reading and saving bookmarks from any browser. When you import your bookmarks from any browser, they’ll be set to private by default, saving you a whole bunch of work. The minor pain is that new bookmarks can’t be set to private by default (correct me if I’m wrong, readers!), but it’s truly the only way to keep your bookmarks in sync without a lot of import/export/save shuffling.

Unless, of course, one of our readers have a smart solution for shuttling or syncing each browser's HTML bookmark files around—maybe an AutoHotKey script? A clever use of syncing tool Dropbox, similar to how we utilize it as the ultimate password syncer?

Peace and soul,

Lifehacker

Foxmarks offers basically the same type of background bookmark-syncing awesomeness for IE and Safari as it does for Firefox, with a few key exceptions:

• No password syncing: A tough break, but not too hard to overcome by using Dropbox as a cross-platform password syncer.
• No syncing bookmarks to your own server: Probably not a deal-breaker for most users, but we hope it makes a showing some day soon.
• iPhone sync only for Mac Safari: Actually, this isn’t a feature Foxmarks even offers for Firefox, so it’s kind of a bonus.

If you’re still down to try out Foxmarks in its newest forms, head to the Foxmarks downloads page and grab your appropriate installer. I lack a Mac system, so I’ll be stepping through an Internet Explorer setup below.

Double-click the installer, accept all the standard “Do you want …” and “Allow …” prompts, and you’ll be asked to either create a Foxmarks account or sign in with the one you’ve got. After verification, you’ll end up at this simple screen, familiar to Foxmarks veterans:

The default action, if you simply hit “Synchronize,” is for Foxmarks to merge any favorites you’ve got on your system with anything backed up in your Foxmarks cloud. That’s fine for newcomers, but I generally like to get rid of all of the pre-loaded MSN, Windows Live, and similar bookmarks, so let’s hit “Change sync settings” and switch it up:

After that, Foxmarks gets going. Instead of installing an icon in Internet Explorer’s bottom status bar, Foxmarks plants itself in your system tray. You’ll see it pop up a notification when it’s done grabbing or placing bookmarks to/from the servers. Right-clicking this icon gives you access to your Foxmarks settings, can open up your web-based bookmarks browser, and close down the Foxmarks process. It seems to run whether or not you’ve got IE up and running, which is somewhat memory insensitive, but also convenient for those who open and close their browser regularly.

The Foxmarks options are similar to what Firefox users have been used to: a quick-sync button, choices on how and when Foxmarks synchronizes, and, best of all, the same kind of computer-by-computer selective bookmark syncing, or “profiles.”

And here’s the advanced options, where you can change your encryption demands, force a server- or computer-wiping sync, and turn off that Foxmarks tray icon. Turning off the icon still lets you at the Foxmarks options from IE’s “Tools” menu:

Here’s a video tour of Foxmarks features, composed by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal/All Things Digital. It’s somewhat introductory-level, but covers a lot of ground (and here’s his full, positive review of Foxmarks’ functionality).

Safari users, be sure to tell us how Foxmarks is working for you. Does tri-browser Foxmarks open up a new realm of synchronized browsing? Waiting for just one more platform (noting that mobile access is, of course, already covered)? Give us your reviews in the comments.