The new Firefox add-on Badges on Favicon takes advantage of that idea very well.  It allows you to put a rounded badge over the tab favicon of some pages.  Where does this come in handy?  Well what if you could see in your tab the number of unread Gmail messages you had?  Or how about if it told you how many new posts were in Google Reader?

Nuggets of Information for Your Tabs

The extension uses little scripts, called badgets. The badgets define both the appearance of the badge (color, position, size of the text, etc.) and how to get the data from the current page. The extension comes with three sample badgets that work with Gmail, iGoogle Reader Gadget and Zenbe. But you can install your own badgets and even create your own for your preferred site.

This add-on was also a runner up in the Extend Firefox 3 contest.  It is still listed as “experimental” so you might need to visit BugMeNot for a user name and password (or sign up on Mozilla.org) to use before trying to download.

If there was one innovation on the Web I had to pick that I could not live without, it would be our friend the favicon. It just makes browsing through links a little less challenging on the visual side. Now thanks to a Firefox extension you can add favicons to your Google usage as well.

Google Icon enhances search results by adding the favicon next to each search result (if available). Icons make it easier to recognize your favorite websites and breathe more life into that dull search page.

+ Download and Install the Google Icon Extension for Firefox!

Smart Bookmarks Bar extension comes right here by hiding bookmarks names and only showing icons. Bookmark name will be displayed on mouse over. (this feature can be deactivated if you just want icons without the rollover effect)

+ Download and Install the Smart Bookmarks Bar Extension for Firefox!

After being kind of disappointed the first time around, I do have to say that I am becoming a little more hooked on the idea now. The whole process is easier, but there was just something missing from the interface.

I needed favicons on these links!

Well, I had a look around and I hunted down a Greasemonkey script that did the job. This script, fav.icio.us2, does one simple job and it does it well. It adds favicons to all the links you see that have been saved to del.icio.us.

Now all I need is more time to save all my favorite links.

[Read More About Managing Your Bookmarks Toolbar!]