How to Organize Your Web Browser with Chrome Vertical Tabs

How to Organize Your Web Browser with Chrome Vertical Tabs

Google Chrome now lets you arrange open tabs along the side of your screen instead of crowding them across the top. Moving your tabs vertically keeps full page titles visible and helps you manage large research projects without losing your place.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 26, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Opening dozens of browser tabs during a busy workday used to turn your tab bar into a row of tiny, unreadable icons. 

Squinting at tiny favicons to figure out which page holds your spreadsheet or research document drains focus and slows down your momentum. 

Modern widescreen monitors offer plenty of side-to-side space, yet traditional browser layouts compress tabs horizontally until the title text disappears completely.

Here’s a Cool Tip: Switch Chrome to Vertical Tabs.

Google introduced native vertical tabs to help solve this daily workspace clutter. 

By shifting your tab layout to a vertical column on the side of your window, you can read full page titles, organize tab groups, and reclaim vertical screen space for reading websites.

Stop Wasting Time Re-Uploading Sources With Gemini Notebook Auto-Sync

Stop Wasting Time Re-Uploading Sources With Gemini Notebook Auto-Sync

Google recently rebranded NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook and introduced automatic syncing for Google Drive documents. This update means your AI workspace always reflects the latest versions of your files without manual intervention.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 25, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Keeping track of multiple document versions while researching often leads to frustrating mistakes. 

You might outline a project in a Google Doc, upload it to your AI assistant for analysis, and then make further edits to the original file. 

In the past, those edits meant you had to manually delete the old file from your workspace and upload the new one just to ask questions about your latest changes.

Here is a Cool Tip: Connect your Google Drive documents to Gemini Notebook for automatic updates.

In May 2026, the company added automatic Google Drive syncing to the tool. 

Then, on July 16, 2026, Google officially renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. 

This rebrand brings the tool deeper into the Google ecosystem. 

The combination of a new identity and background syncing makes the research process much faster.

Paint Abstract AI Masterpieces With Google Splash Canvas

Paint Abstract AI Masterpieces With Google Splash Canvas

Create digital masterpieces using playful sea creatures as your paintbrushes. Google Arts and Culture Splash Canvas brings fluid physics and artificial intelligence together for a highly interactive creative experience.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 24, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Digital painting tools often feel sterile and overly technical. 

Staring at a blank digital canvas with a massive toolbar of brushes can intimidate even an experienced artist. 

Here's a Cool Tip: Turn sea creatures into digital paintbrushes.

Google Arts and Culture recently introduced a web experiment that changes the atmosphere entirely. 

Splash Canvas turns your web browser into an interactive studio filled with opinionated sea creatures. 

Instead of selecting a standard brush, you drag an animated octopus or squid across the screen. 

These characters bring the canvas to life with realistic fluid physics, synthesizing sounds as you create.

Listen Together: Windows 11 Shared Audio Explained

Listen Together: Windows 11 Shared Audio Explained

Learn how Windows 11 Shared Audio allows compatible PCs to share audio with two Bluetooth LE Audio devices, making listening together easier.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 22, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Whether you're traveling with a friend, studying with a classmate, or reviewing content with a client, sharing audio from a laptop has traditionally involved compromises. 

Most PCs connect audio to a single Bluetooth device at a time, leaving users searching for splitters, adapters, or awkward workarounds.

Here's a Cool Tip: Share One Audio Stream with Two Listeners Using Windows 11 Shared Audio.

Microsoft recently released an update with Shared Audio, a Windows 11 feature designed for compatible devices that support Bluetooth LE Audio. 

The feature allows users to broadcast the same audio stream to two supported listening devices from a single PC.

For people who frequently share videos, music, presentations, or training content, it offers a more convenient way to listen together without additional accessories.

Automate Complex Forms with Chrome and Google Wallet

Automate Complex Forms with Chrome and Google Wallet

Typing lengthy identification numbers into web forms is frustrating and prone to errors. Google Chrome now integrates directly with Google Wallet to safely populate complex data like passport numbers and vehicle information on your mobile and desktop devices.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 21, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Booking an international flight to a destination like London often involves a frantic search for your physical passport. 

You find the booklet, prop it open, and carefully type a long string of alphanumeric characters into the airline website, hoping you did not transpose any letters. 

This manual data entry process is tedious and slows down routine online tasks like event check-ins or paying parking fees. 

Here is a Cool Tip: Connect Google Chrome to Google Wallet to Automatically Fill Your Most Complex Web Forms.

Google recently addressed this friction by updating how the Chrome browser interacts with stored data.

Turn Big Projects Into Finished Work With ChatGPT

Turn Big Projects Into Finished Work With ChatGPT

ChatGPT Work gives complicated assignments a dedicated workspace where source files, research, instructions, and revisions remain connected. Powered by the GPT-5.6 model family on eligible plans, it can help produce documents, spreadsheets, presentations, reports, analyses, and, on supported web and desktop experiences, interactive Sites.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 20, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

A regular ChatGPT conversation works well when you need an answer, an explanation, or a quick draft.

The experience becomes less efficient when an assignment involves several files, multiple research steps, a required template, outside services, revisions, and a finished document that must be ready to share.

Here’s a Cool Tip: Use ChatGPT Work.

ChatGPT Work is designed for those larger assignments. 

Instead of treating every request as another conversational response, Work can research a topic, analyze information, create editable files, follow reference material, and move through a multi-step workflow while you review its progress.

Users can answer questions, redirect the assignment, and approve important actions while Work proceeds. 

It can also handle scheduled or recurring tasks when those capabilities are available to the account.

Watch YouTube With Fewer Ads

Watch YouTube With Fewer Ads

DuckDuckGo’s free browser can now block most advertisements that play before and during YouTube videos. You can continue using the familiar YouTube website without installing a separate ad-blocking extension or paying for a subscription.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 19, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

You open YouTube to watch a quick tutorial, product review, or news clip. Before the video begins, an advertisement appears. Another interruption arrives halfway through.

Here’s a Cool Tip: Watch YouTube with Fewer Ad Interruptions in DuckDuckGo.

DuckDuckGo now offers a free alternative for people who watch YouTube in a web browser. 

Its built-in YouTube Ad Blocking feature blocks most video advertisements that appear before and during videos.

DuckDuckGo introduced the feature on July 8, 2026. It is available in the company’s browser for Windows, macOS, iPhone, iPad, and Android. No DuckDuckGo account or paid subscription is required.

There is one important limitation: You must watch YouTube through the DuckDuckGo browser. 

The feature does not work inside the native YouTube app on a phone or tablet.

Make Your Drive Quieter and Smarter With New Waze AI Features

Make Your Drive Quieter and Smarter With New Waze AI Features

Waze is adding powerful Gemini AI capabilities to customize your commute, minimize interruptions, and improve route accuracy. Learn how to activate these new features for a calmer, smarter driving experience.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 18, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Driving through city traffic is stressful enough without your navigation app talking over your favorite playlist or missing your preferred shortcut. 

We all have specific driving habits, and a single navigation approach often falls short. 

Here is a Cool Tip: Upgrade Your Daily Commute with the Newest Gemini Features in Waze.

Waze is addressing these common frustrations by rolling out a suite of intelligent updates designed to adapt to how you actually drive and ride.

Play Thousands of Classic Games in Your Web Browser

Play Thousands of Classic Games in Your Web Browser

ArcadeSpace.org lets you explore thousands of classic video games through a browser-based emulator, without downloading separate emulation software. Search for an old favorite, start playing, and rediscover an earlier generation of game design.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 17, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

Playing an old video game often requires more work than people expect.

You may need to find an emulator, configure its controls, locate compatible game files, and determine which settings work with your computer. That is a lot of preparation when you simply want to revisit a game you remember.

Here’s a Cool Tip: Turn your Browser into a Retro Arcade with ArcadeSpace.org.

ArcadeSpace.org organizes classic games by platform and category, then runs supported titles through an emulator inside your web browser. 

Arcade Space says its catalog includes thousands of games that can be accessed without installing a separate emulator.

The site is particularly appealing to casual players who want to sample older games without building a dedicated retro gaming system.

Simplify an iPhone with Assistive Access

Simplify an iPhone with Assistive Access

Assistive Access replaces the standard iPhone interface with larger controls, selected apps, and fewer onscreen choices. A family member or trusted supporter can customize the experience around the needs of the person using the phone.

By Rodger Mansfield, Technology Editor

July 16, 2026

Subscribe | Read the Newsletter Version

An iPhone can be difficult to use when its Home Screen is crowded with apps, buttons are hard to identify, or too many choices appear at once.

Here’s a Cool Tip: Create a Simpler, More Focused iPhone.

Assistive Access offers a different approach. Instead of expecting someone to adapt to the standard iPhone interface, it lets a trusted supporter simplify the phone around that person’s needs.

The user can see a small selection of essential apps, larger buttons, recognizable contact photos, and fewer distractions. Calling and messaging can also be limited to trusted contacts.

Assistive Access is designed primarily for people with cognitive disabilities. 

It is not simply a larger Home Screen or a general-purpose “senior mode,” although some older adults may benefit when cognitive load is a concern. 

Apple introduced the feature with iOS 17 and continues to document it for iOS 26.