Hello and welcome back to the Free Line. Due to the Christmas holiday, we believe that the last thing anyone wants to do is read up on hardcore, “serious” tech news. So with that in mind, we once again welcome our good friend, Browser Extension Friday. Our traditional format, featuring loads of that “web 2.0 news you can use,” will return on Monday. With that said, here we go:

Act One: Expand Your Mind – As many of you already know, today’s web browsers can do much more than just … well … browse the web. Here are five extensions and widgets designed to truly push what a web browser can do.

1. Presdo Event Calendar Organizer Doodad – For Firefox. Add a comprehensive “coming events” calendar to your browser. Many popular sites and social networks are supported, including MySpace, Gmail, and Ticketmaster.
2. Artist’s Sketchbook - For Opera. A handy little widget that allows you to edit pictures. While it isn’t exactly Photoshop, the Artist’s Sketchbook is more than suited for the occasional “touch up.”
3. Scientific Calculator - For Opera. A full calculator, complete with trigonometry functions, memory slots, and a random number generator.
4. iTunes Widget – For Opera. Add a little bit of iTunes functionality to everyone’s favorite Norwegian browser.
5. Tetris -For Opera. Because we all need a little “Tetris” in our lives every now and again.

Act Two: My Top Five – These are my top five favorite Firefox extensions that have yet to be covered on the Free Line. Be assured that I actually use all five of these attachments in my daily life.

1. Adblock Plus -Easily the best advertisement/image blocker out there today. A definite “must-have.” Adblocker Plus is also available for the somewhat obscure, Firefox-based, K-Meleon browser as well.
2. Download Statusbar – Moves the “download” list from a separate window to the bottom of the screen. Not only does it make downloads easier to track, it cuts down on desktop clutter as well.
3. Fancy Numbered Tabs – Adds — you guessed it — fancy, numbered tabs to Firefox. While it might seem a bit goofy, this extension can be very, very useful. The only real downside is that it stops counting at “eight.”
4. Locationbar² – Adds “links” to the address in the location bar.
5. TubeStop – Removes the “auto play” feature found on many online video sites. It will also disable many of the oddball “overlays” that tend to accompany YouTube videos.