There are distinct advantages to opening a customized start page in every new tab you open in your web browser. Most modern browsers come with a tiled list of thumbnails to give you access to your most frequently visited sites. The potential problem with this approach is that these personalized pages can often lead to random web browsing. If you visit, say, Facebook often, you may open a new tab with the intent of going to a specific page, only to be reminded that you haven't visited Facebook in the past hour... and now Facebook (and all its distractions) is only one click away. 

To streamline your web browsing, try setting your new tabs to redirect to a page that forces you to make a conscious decision as to where in the world wide web you'd like to go. If you use Chrome, you can use this extension to specify exactly which page will open in new tabs. This Firefox extension will do the same thing. (Note: by default, Firefox opens a blank new tab, which is perfect for our purpose, but a bit too bleak). Although I'm not extremely familiar with Safari, I'm sure a bit of Googling will help you find a similar extension. I'm unaware of any such capability for Internet Explorer (which you shouldn't be using, anyway).

Here are a couple of my favorite pages to use in a new tab:

Minimal Start Page: 

It doesn't get any more minimal than this. You are presented with one search box (powered by yubnub) and nothing else.

Helvetictoc:

 Helvetictoc is my new tab page of choice. It's a simple clock, presented in real language, that pays homage to the most popular and timeless of fonts: Helvetica. During daytime hours, it's presented as black text on a white background. During nighttime hours, the colors are inverted. There are no search boxes, so again you must make a conscious decision as to what website is worthy of your attention at a given moment. By subtly reminding you of the time, you can also be aware of how much time was spent doing whatever task you were previously attending to in your last tab.

By eliminating the visual reminder of your most-visited or favorite sites with the opening of every new tab, you eliminate the possibility of random web browsing, which means your online journey becomes a much more deliberate and conscious one. Try it for a few days, if just to remind yourself how unconscious your web browsing habits have become.

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The fragmentation of your personal data is one of the more frustrating aspects of experiencing life on the web. Photos, documents, notes, status updates- anything and everything is spread out across a plethora of services, giving the sense of a disconnect between you and your data. Greplin would like to remedy that.

Greplin is a simple search tool that allows you to connect your current web services (Gmail, Dropbox, Evernote, and a whole lot more), and then use its simple search feature to search for anything across all of those services. It presents the results in a clean, minimal interface, organizing results by service. You can also filter results to restrict your search to notes, mail, events, etc. 

Greplin offers free and premium plans. Currently supported services on the free plan include:

- Gmail

- Facebook

- Twitter

- Dropbox

- LinkedIn

- Google Calendar

- Google Docs

- Google Contacts

- Yahoo Mail

Premium features can be added for $4.99 per month (or $49.00 yearly) and include the following services:

- Evernote

- Basecamp

- Salesforce

- Yammer

- Highrise

- Campfire

Some services listed include a mysterious “unlockable” ribbon, though it’s unclear what constitutes an unlockable service. I was able to add my Reddit, Google Reader, Delicious, and Pinboard accounts, all of which are listed as “unlockable.”

Other than the fact that Greplin is available on your phone, there’s not much more to say about the service, and therein lies the beauty: it’s a simple, no-frills service that allows you to search across virtually all of your data on the web. What would’ve taken you hours to find without this product now, literally, takes seconds.

Greplin / @greplin

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One of the more frustrating aspects of life on the web is the scattering of your property across various services. This is especially true of photos- easily one of the more personal aspects of your digital self. The granddaddy of photo sharing sites is Flickr, but since its inception many other services have competed for the right to host your pictures, chief among them being Facebook. Google has its own web app, Picasa, which it has integrated into its new social network, Google+, and within Twitter there are numerous apps fighting for your attention, not to mention the various services integrated into your mobile experience. The result is an labyrinth of personal pixels and memories difficult to navigate. This is the problem Pictarine attempts to solve.

The first and perhaps most valuable feature of Pictarine is the ability to connect all of your photo-hosting accounts, then back them up locally by downloading a single file to your hard drive. This feature in and of itself makes Pictarine worth the time to sign up. They also give you the option of downloading all of your friends*** photos across services.

 

After logging in and connecting your various accounts, you’ll be presented with the default Pictarine view, an attractive interface that presents your photos in collage format. To the left, you’ll see the sidebar, with your accounts at the top. Simply click an account to see your photos, consolidated into one page and organized by date. There’s even an option to search all of the photos available, from all of your friends, across all services.

Below your albums are all of your contacts from each service, listed alphabetically. Simply find a contact whose photos you’d like to browse, click their name, and Pictarine presents their photos in the same beautiful interface, again organized by date. Clicking on an album presents you with that album’s photos, and the option to download it to your hard drive. You can also click on a specific picture to bring up the picture viewer, in which you can browse single photos or play a slideshow of all of them:

Here's a snapshot of all supported services:

Pictarine seems to have a very simple mission: simplifying your photo experience on the web, and they seem to do it quite well. If you have pictures scattered across the web, it’s hard to deny the allure of this app.

Pictarine/ @pictarine

 

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Many of the leading websites are blacked out today. Wondering what all this SOPA/ PIPA business is about? It's a direct threat against the freedom of the Internet currently being debated in Congress. Google explains it well, and tells you what you can do about it.

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If there is one underlying secret in simplifying the web, it must be to make the web work for you. The vast majority of web users will jump from website to website, browsing until they find an item of interest, then moving on to the next. Power users, however, make the content they want come to them, rather than actively seeking it out.

This is a valuable web philosophy in and of its own right, but I’d like to concentrate on how it applies to your morning routine. There is no more opportune time to get your most important work done- but getting lost in the maze of the web is particularly harmful to your productivity in the wee hours. That being the case, here are my recommendations for creating your morning web.

Some say email is dead. I beg to differ. On the contrary, it can be a very valuable tool, especially to your morning routine. Newsletters are going strong, and are a wonderful way to bring the web to you. The following is a list of newsletters I find valuable enough to warrant my attention on a daily basis:

New York Times

There is still no more valuable source of information than the Times. Every morning, their newsletter arrives in my inbox with the headlines I need to know. Once logged in, you can also subscribe to individual sections of headlines from their digital paper. The Huffington Post is a great alternative (or complement).

Summify

Summify is an indispensable tool to my morning arsenal. Every morning, it scours your Twitter and Facebook feed for the top five most-recommended stories among your friends, and sends them to your inbox. Whether it’s been five minutes or five days since you last checked in with your stream, the cream of the crop is never farther away than your inbox.

NextDraft

NextDraft is a beautifully curated list of articles from Dave Pell, who chooses ten pieces from around the web that he deems worthy of your interest, adding his own commentary and insights to each piece. I’ve subscribed for a few months now, and I eagerly anticipate each new edition.

Using these simple tools, I never have to leave my inbox to satisfy my web hunger- I’m up-to-date on what matters to me, and I’ve completely eliminated random browsing. Once my email is read, I’m ready to move onto the tasks at hand. It’s an easy way to remove friction from your morning web experience, and removing friction is at the heart of simplifying your web.

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One of the great conundrums of the modern day is our capacity to focus. So many distractions fight for your attention on a second-by-second basis, especially if you spend a substantial amount of time on the web.

Much research has gone into the exploration of white noise and its effects on our ability to concentrate on a given task. While the jury is still out on specifics, accumulated knowledge supports the notion that white noise is very beneficial to calming your chaotic mind. Enter SimplyNoise.

SimplyNoise does exactly what it says on the tin- open the website, and you’re presented with a simple noise generator. The first time you visit, SimplyNoise is preset to a certain volume of white noise, easily adjustable by sliding the volume button to the left or right. You’re also given the option to oscillate the volume up and down. If white noise doesn’t quite suit you, try the pink or brown noise options. In my experience, these options will be restored the next time you visit, provided you haven't cleared your browser's cookies.

In a recent study, researchers found that white noise enhances the ability of children with easily distracted minds to focus on their given task. (For more, read this). On its own site, SimplyNoise lists a few other benefits of the application:

+ Sleep Aid

+ Enhance Privacy

+ Block Distractions

+ Mask Tinnitus

+ Pacify children and pets

+ Soothe Migraines

+ Increase Focus

+ Melt Away Stress

Personally, I have a SimplyNoise tab open in my browser when any focus-intense task is at hand- especially reading and writing- and I'm not the only one. It’s a perfect companion to your daily browsing habits, and it’s a crucial tool in simplifying your web.

SimplyNoise provides iOS and Android apps available to help you focus on the go. There's even a free download of a "Thunderstorm" soundscape. 

SimplyNoise


 

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CircleMe is an interesting and beautiful take on the phenomenon of “liking” the web, popularized by Facebook, allowing you to curate items of interest into a centralized place, explore new items you may like, and even set to-do’s based on your newly-found interests.

To begin, CircleMe asks you to import your likes from Facebook, thankfully allowing you to be selective in which likes are imported. There are also importers for Goodreads, Netflix, and Foursquare, allowing you to curate your most-beloved books, movies, television shows, and venues. To start importing, simply hover over the “account” button, and click on “import likes” from the resulting menu. You can also connect your account to Gmail or Twitter, although it’s not clear what extra functionality this adds to the experience.

Once your likes are imported, CircleMe presents you with a list of your likes on your profile page, headed by a seemingly random image prominently displaying your most recent interest. If you prefer, you can minimize the image. The list can be sorted chronologically or alphabetically, and can also be viewed by type, ie. places, books, etc. You can also manually add likes on this page.

Clicking on the “Inbox” button at the top of the page presents an interesting feature. Initially, this takes you to a standard inbox, where friends can send you standard messages. By clicking on the “new suggestion” button, you can suggest new items of interest to friends, and see the items suggested to you.

Clicking on the “Explore” button allows you to find new items of interest, presenting you with a selection of stories or users, although it’s not clear how these are selected. There’s also a “Hyped Topics” and “Popular Topics” section. Once you find something that interests you, clicking on it will display a short description of the item, along with the options to add it to your own interests, add it as a to-do, or suggest it to other users. You’ll also see stories on the subject to the right of your interest, and related items to the bottom.

Lastly, clicking the dotted icon on the menubar will display the activities of your friends, and what they’re currently “into.”

The trend of content recommendation is baked into nearly every startup to hit the web in the past year, so to differentiate your app, a company must find a new and unique way to tackle this problem. CircleMe does just that, and is a fascinating and gorgeous way to discover new and interesting things and share them with your digital peeps.

CircleMe is currently in invite-only beta. If you’re one of my Facebook friends, you’re already in- simply sign up with your Facebook account. If not, send me an email for an invite.

CircleMe | My profile on CircleMe

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