June 11, 1999

People will say they live inside their Web browsers, but after a trip to Bookmarklets that phrase may not be just idle bragging. The site collects mini-applications, written in the "JavaScript" programming language understood by most Web browsers, which you can add to yours by bookmarking them. (For the technically inclined, each JavaScript widget is stored as text right in the bookmarks file.) The most helpful bookmarklets clean up other people's bad Web design, letting you switch background colors, silence page soundtracks, hide background images and patterns or bail out of cluttered frame arrangements. Others embed everyday-chores functions in your browser – you can search for words at thesaurus and dictionary sites, do simple math calculations or check how many days are left in this year. And some are just plain silly, such as the bookmarklet that places a dancing red heart on the screen.
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Rob Pegoraro rob@twp.com