Would you like to have quick and easy access to everything Google with just one or two clicks of your mouse in Firefox?  That is what the Google Shortcuts add-on for Firefox promises to deliver.  The idea here is simple.  This extension will display any or all Google services as buttons next to your address bar or anywhere else you would like for it to show up.

One installed, you can quickly pull up Google Reader, Analytics, News, Notebook, Maps, Mail and anything else that is Google related.  Your shortcuts can also be displayed under a Google icon drop down box, to save on clutter too. 

Now, you might say you do not need access to every Google service out there.  You only need a few shortcuts.  You can easily customize and select which services you can see – and which will be hidden.

Overall, if you are a big Google fan – this is an add-on for Firefox you have to try out.  You can pick up the Google Shortcuts add-on for Firefox on the Firefox Add-ons web site. 

It is no secret I am a big fan of Gina Trapani’s line of “better” add-ons for Firefox, so I can tell you I was more than excited to see that they had been rolled together as an add-on collection, so you can grab them all at once. 

Which extensions make the list?

Better Gmail 2 – Add useful extra features to Gmail, like hierarchical labels, an unread message icon on your browser tab, file attachment icons, and more.

Better Amazon -  Highlight Amazon listings with free shipping, automatically enlarge product images, clean up book pages, shorten URLs and more on Amazon.com. Enhances Amazon.com with a compilation of user scripts and styles. All scripts copyright their original authors. Click on the script homepage in the Help tab for more information.

Better Flickr -  Adds collapsible header and sidebar, event title text wrap, colored weekend days, week numbers, and skins to Google Calendar.

Better GReader -  Preview web pages inline in Google Reader, collapse the header and sidebar for more reading area, add favicons to feed subscriptions and more with Better GReader.

Better YouTube – A compilation of some of the best Greasemonkey user scripts for YouTube in one interface.

Go pick up the Better Pack of Firefox Add-ons and find out what is so great about them yourself.

Here are all the Google services you can quickly show or hide via the extension.

You can customize how much space you want to save with the options across the bottom (by making the menu a toolbar or a drop down menu).  You also have the option of a horizontal or vertical menu.  You can then right-click on your toolbar, go to “Customize” and then drag and drop the GButts Toolbar you created on to your toolbar layout – anywhere you might need it.

If you are a heavy Google user – the GButts add-on should be right up your alley.

Can you believe that is Google Reader?  Nah, me neither.  There has to be some sort of oddball voodoo magic going on here, right?  What?  You say it is a Greasemonkey script?  Helvetireader breaks Google Reader down to just the things you need.  I true, “Woah, that is awesome” fashion – the userscript creator also encourages people to customize the CSS and make it their own.  (found via Lifehacker)

The hardest part about Simple RSS Reader is adding the RSS feeds.  Just click on the blue RSS icon and give a name and URL to each.  That is it.  The thing I like most about this add-on is the fast forward, rewind,  pause, stop and play options for the ticker you get at the top.

You have your headline or link at the left, your source in the middle and then your controls on the far right.  An entire feed reader all in one toolbar.  It also has a very small memory footprint, so if you are staying away from add-ons that eat up too much of your RAM you have no need to worry about the Simple RSS Reader.  It might be the best of the RSS news ticker extensions.

You can pick it up at the official web site or the Firefox Add-ons site.  Oh and if you need an RSS feed to start your collection with, I have a great one for you: http://feeds.feedburner.com/firefoxfacts (shameless plug I know…)

Here are the list of the “better” Firefox extensions and what has come with the most recent update:

Better Gmail 2 – Version 0.5.2: Updates and fixes the Redesigned skin; Adds Hide Gmail chat script.

Better Flickr – Version 0.3: Adds Firefox 3 support, Rich Edit, Photo Page Enhancer, and Thumbnail Page Enhancer.

Better GCal – Version 0.3: Adds the Redesigned skin beta by Globex Designs.

Better GReader – Version 0.3: Adds Colorful List View; Updates the Minimalistic skin; Adds international domain support including google.co.uk, google.es, google.de, and others.

Better Lifehacker – Version 0.2: Adds HTML Helper and Nested comment replies.

Better YouTube – Version 0.4.3: Adds Firefox 3 compatibility; Fixes FlowPlayer (alternate, non-autoplaying player) and YouTube Theater view.

I’ve always enjoyed Gina’s work on these plugins, cause with each I am shocked and amazed with how much functionality she’s able to pack into there. Make your Firefox a little better with these additions too!

Time for another one of those awesome, put “insert web site here” in the Firefox sidebar tips.  This time around, it is the Google Reader iPhone version we are going goofy about.  Open up this link here:

http://www.google.com/reader/i/

After doing so, drag it to your links bar or bookmark it.  Then right-click the bookmark, and select the Load this bookmark in the sidebar checkbox.  Now save and your good to go. 

Now I have talked before about the Gmail + Google Reader greasemonkey script before. After giving it another shot the other day though I noticed the experience is much more polished. What does that mean? Well looking at it right now it really looks like it belongs there – and doesn’t just look like an out of place web page stuck on another web page.

If you haven’t given this greasemonkey script a try in a while, it might be time to do so. Also if Google Reader isn’t your thing – you can do the same thing with Google Calendar too.

This script adds the “Add to del.icio.us” button to the bottom of each post and then gives you all the regular fields, so you can edit the extended info, description and tags before sending it to your del.icio.us list.

The Google Reader Watcher does just this. There are several tools out there that help you get more out of Google Reader but this one does the best job ad giving you updates.

This extension will checks your Google Reader for unread feeds and if you have, the plugin will display them on your browser’s statusbar. Keep your feed addiction going and pick up this extension.