I personally like to have some applications accessible from the menu bar. A few of the applications listed below run in my menu bar most of the time. It just makes it easier for me personally. The items with the * in front of the title are the applications that are my favorite and are used on a daily basis.
I normally do not run all these applications at the same time. Only 6 or 7 of them are run on a daily basis. I took the screenshot to give you an idea of what the icons look like in the menu bar. The icons in the above screenshot from left to right are: coconutWiFi, Ecoute, CoverSutra, CoverStream, GimmeSomeTune, Snapplr, Skitch, Spark, JustNotes, Evernote, Dropbox, Twitterrific, DeliBar, DragThing, Cinch, MailUnreadMenu, ShoveBox, (WeatherDock2), SlimBatteryMonitor, Facebook Notifications, and MenuCalendarClock.
Now, let’s get to the list of these useful menu bar applications.
DESKTOP CUSTOMIZATION/SYSTEM TOOLS
Cinch
Cinch gives you simple, mouse-driven window management by defining the left, right, and top edges of your screen as ‘hot zones’. This application lets you instantly resize any document by dragging it to one side of your screen. To maximize your window, just drag it towards the top of your display. To return back to the original location, just drag the window back. There is a free trial (nagware) or you can purchase for $7.00 from Irradiated Software.
http://www.irradiatedsoftware.com/cinch/
*coconutWiFi
coconutWiFi displays a small aqua-bubble in your menubar which indicates whether you’re in range of a wireless network or not. It also lets you know if the wireless networks in your range are encrypted or open. (FREE)
http://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutwifi/index.html
*DragThing
DragThing is a dock designed to tidy up your desktop. It puts all your documents, folders, and applications just a single click away. It is also highly flexible, allowing multiple docks, customized to suit your exact needs. Free trial/$29.00 to purchase.
http://www.dragthing.com/english/about.html
*Mail Unread Menu
Mail Unread Menu is a simple menubar application which can provide you with a quick and easy way to see how many unread email messages are in Apple’s Mail. (FREE)
http://loganrockmore.com/MailUnreadMenu/
*SlimBatteryMonitor
SlimBatteryMonitor is a space-efficient replacement power gauge for your Mac OS X menu bar. It is highly customizable and takes up little space. (FREE)
http://www.orange-carb.org/SBM/
SOCIAL NETWORKING
DeliBar
Delibar is a full featured Delicious.com Mac client. It focuses on giving you a quick and easy tool for searching, managing and sharing your Delicious bookmarks. Free to try/$18 to purchase.
http://www.delibarapp.com/
*Facebook Notifications
Facebook Notifications adds notifications to your desktop, alerting you when interesting activity happens in your Facebook account. It gives you quick access to your feeds, friends updates, and more by opening your default browser. (FREE)
http://www.facebook.com/notifier?v=info
*Twitterrific
Twitterrific runs in your menu bar allowing you to both read real time updates from your friends and publish ‘tweets’ to your Twitter account. It also has a really nice HUD like interface. Free to try/$14.95 to purchase.
http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific
FILES AND CLIPPING SERVICES
Dropbox
Dropbox works like iDisk and allows you to store files on the Dropbox server. You can use a free Dropbox account that offers 2GB of free storage. They also offer paid accounts which offer $50 a year for 50GB storage and $100 a year for 100GB storage. Using Dropbox allows you to share your files with others also.
https://www.dropbox.com/
Evernote
Evernote lets you easily capture information from any environment and makes your information accessible and searchable at anytime, anywhere. Using the menu bar icon gives you the option to add a new note, paste to Evernote, clip screenshot into Evernote, and Find in Evernote. (FREE)
http://www.evernote.com/about/download/
*Shovebox
Shovebox sits in your menu bar and allows you to add snippets of information by dragging to the icon or using a hot key. You can also organize your information from the menu bar icon. This is one of my most used menu bar applications. Free to try/$24.95 to purchase.
http://www.wonderwarp.com/shovebox/
PRODUCTIVITY
JustNotes
JustNotes runs in your menu bar and is ready for you to enter notes whenever you need to enter a quick note. It syncs (to your SimpleNote account or iPhone) and saves your notes automatically and you can mail your notes with a simple right-click or Control+M. (FREE)
http://selfcoded.com/justnotes/
*MenuCalendarClock
This application sits in your menu bar and gives you instant access to your iCal calendars from the icon. MenuCalendarclock is also available for Entourage users. Free basic features/$19.95 for advanced features.
http://www.objectpark.net/mcc.html
Spark
Spark is an application that sits in your menu bar ready for you to create lists with notes. It also allows you to group your lists to create projects. Spark also syncs with iCal. (FREE)
http://www.sparkmac.com/
IMAGES
Skitch
Skitch sits in your menu bar and once you click the icon, it brings up a window for you to start using. Skitch also allows you to snap a website, capture a chat moment, screenshot an application and much more. (FREE)
http://skitch.com/
Snapplr
Snapplr takes and shares screenshots. It offers a wide range of options but its main feature is to upload screenshots automatically to Snapplr.com, giving you a URL in your clipboard that you can share. Free to try/$19.99 to purchase.
http://www.snapplr.com/
MUSIC AND ITUNES
CoverSutra
CoverSutra gives you a handy way to control iTunes without having to leave the currently active application. It features a powerful music search feature along with global keyboard shortcuts and informative bezels that provide you with song and album details in an unobtrusive way. In addition, it has integrated support for Last.fm. Free to try/$19.95 to purchase.
http://www.sophiestication.com/coversutra/
CoverStream
CoverStream allows you to control, browse, and search you music, without interrupting your workflow. It presents you with an iTunes Cover Flow view in a floating window right on your Desktop, for quick and easy access from any application. Free to try/$14.95 to purchase.
http://www.coverstream.net/
Ecoute
Ecoute plays your iTunes music, videos, and podcasts without having to launch iTunes. Some other included features are the ability to search for missing artwork, last.fm, customizable themes and more. Free to try/$10.00 to purchase.
http://www.ecouteapp.com/
GimmeSomeTune
GimmeSomeTune allows you to download lyrics and album covers without having to do anything. Some other features include Last.fm integration, use of Apple remote, customization of GimmeSomeTune window, and more. (FREE)
http://www.eternalstorms.at/gimmesometune/GimmeSomeTune/GimmeSomeTune.html
This is a continuation from a previous article about menu bar apps. Just to refresh your memory, the items on that list are GeekTool, Anxiety, aLunch, AllBookmarks, *WeatherDock2 (I use on a daily basis), Bowtie, *Growl, Yahoo Widgets, iStat, and Flux. Click here to be directed to that article. Of course, if there are any applications that I may have missed that you find to be useful, leave a comment and share the wealth with our fellow readers. If you liked this article, leave a comment and share the link with others.
Firebug Lite is not a substitute for Firebug, or Chrome Developer Tools. It is a tool to be used in conjunction with these tools. Firebug Lite provides the rich visual representation we are used to see in Firebug when it comes to HTML elements, DOM elements, and Box Model shading. It provides also some cool features like inspecting HTML elements with your mouse, and live editing CSS properties. (View more info. from link.)
One Number offers previews of unread items, a UI that fits with Chrome, the ability to selectively choose which services you want to check with One Number, and two-click access to open all services with unread items at once. The following items included preinstalled are Google Voice, Google Reader, Google Mail, and Google Wave.
This extension pulls PageRank, domain links and rank metrics, aggregates social media reactions from Twitter, Facebook, Digg and SEO releated tags. It validates CSS and HTML, displays server software, checks for gzip compression, page headers and shares even more on-page suggestions based on accepted SEO knowledge… oh and it can defeat those stupid no right click scripts and does window resizing to see where fold would be on different size monitors. (View more info from link.)
This extension is a twitter client for Google Chrome. Some of the features include desktop alerts**, follow your Twitter lists, translate your tweets, change your Twitter API, alerts that display the most recent tweet and more. (View more info. from link.)
This extension is for convenient syncing of bookmarks by using Google Bookmarks. It is very simple and easy to use.
This extension allows you to create a personal “Friend Mural” to keep updated with your favorite friends and family profiles. Some of the features include a one click to see your news feeds directly in the extension, notifies you of updates from the Chrome toolbar, and customize the wallpaper for extra style points. Some of the upcoming features will include the ability to update your status from the Friends Mural and comment on friends’ posts directly in the Friends Mural.
This extension allows you to launch the Bit.ly Sidebar with the click of a button. Preview long urls beneath short urls before you click them. A note to users experiencing problems directly after install: Chrome doesn’t allow execution of content scripts on already open pages. If you try this immediately after install on existing tabs, it won’t work, so we recommend to restarting Chrome after installing the extension.
This extension allows you to search (filter) tabs and drag and drop to rearrange tabs. It displays a tabs counter and has a keyboard control. It also gives you the ability to view your tabs in a vertically by clicking on the icon in the toolbar.
This extension is pretty straight forward and there are really no fancy features. It will let you browse your bookmarks by tags with an integrated browser feel, do a quick search of your bookmarks and tags, view your recently added bookmarks, save a new bookmark with code from the bookmarklet (made available by the Delicious team), automatically sync your bookmarks when an update is detected or manually sync your bookmarks. (View more info. from link.)
This extension allows you to share any web page with your friends right from the page you are on! It adds a button to your browser toolbar. Click the shareaholic icon or use a custom keyboard shortcut whenever you want to share, save, or e-mail the page you’re visiting. They currently support over 100 services with weekly updates and additions.
StumbleUpon helps you discover great websites that match your interests. Simply click the Stumble button and see the best websites. There are over 500 topics to choose from, and, the more you use it, the better your recommendations become! The current features include stumbling, rating, sharing, and reviewing. PLEASE NOTE: Some of the features you might be familiar with on StumbleUpon aren’t available in this extension. (For more info. click the link.)
This is an unofficial extension lets you check your Facebook news feed, wall and notifications. Additionally, you can now refresh the news feed and your wall, by clicking the currently selected tab.
This is a simple extension that watches for deviantART messages. When you have messages, the number of messages will be displayed in the icon on the toolbar. For security reasons, this extension doesn’t save login credentials – it prompts user to login manually if deviantART is logged out.
This extension helps you discover web pages similar to the page you’re currently browsing. When you click the Similar Pages button, your browser will send a search query to Google to see if there are any similar pages for the page you are viewing. Please be aware that this extension is still an early beta release so many aspects of the extension may change in the coming months.
This replacement for Firefox’s AdBlock Plus does everything possible to make your browsing experience awesome, including speed optimizations to save every millisecond of your time that it can, an intuitive blacklisting wizard (press Ctrl-Shift-K on any page with an ad), and a button beside the Wrench that is there if you want it and gone if you don’t.
This extension is a compilation of userscripts and userstyles for Gmail. It makes e-mail better. It gives you options to remove ads, fix page width, reposition the print button, hide Chat, hide the Footer, hide the Invite Friends field, hide sponsored messages, show unread message counts in the tab Favicon, show attachment icons of the attachment file type, adds row highlight on mouse over, and handles e-mail (mailto) links with Gmail by opening the gmail compose screen. To change the Better Gmail options, click Window>Extensions then scroll down to Better Gmail (Unofficial) and the options will be on the right hand side. Then change whatever you want to change.
Super iGoogle allows you to toggle the header, footer and sidebar; (your toggle settings are automatically saved). All useful links will be gathered into a neat menu in the top-right corner (with keyboard short-cuts). A mini search-field will (optionally) be added to the top of the page. Finally, your email address will be compacted and will link to compose a gmail.
This extension adds favicons to each link offered in Google search results. It also works well with AutoPager with continuing throughout the screens. 
This extension adds a button to omnibox, allowing you to click on it when you want to subscribe to a feed in google reader.
This extension relinks the Google Image results thumbnails to the actual images. It works on all current Google TLDs. (google.com, google.de, etc.)
This extension enhances Google Reader by adding missing favicons, fixing missing images in enclosures, better unread counter, better viewing on wider screens, fullscreen, preview, colored list view, filtering, multi columns display, jump top bottom, close entry, fit height, open in background tab, read by mouse, share news on Facebook, Twitter, Instapaper, mark as read, and simple advertising remover. You can choose your favorite theme in different available skins, shortcuts can be easily customizable and this extension supports translations (english, french).
Autopen is a google-chrome extension that allows you to create html email signatures for gmail/google apps. It has a full rich text editor that makes creating html signatures easy and still allows you to drop into the html source for more power. You can create as many signatures as you want and associate them with your ‘from’ addresses to set up multiple defaults. (For more info. click the link.)
This extension makes Facebook a little bit nicer to look at by displaying a nice gradient background, shadows, rounds corners, the navigation bar is fixed in position, the title of the page is changed, adds an emotion bar for chat, displays favicon alerts, and the ability to use keyboard shortcuts (Shift+H for Home, Shift+P for Profile, Shift+F for Friends, Shift+I for Inbox, and Shift+S for Settings).
The official extension was loading the core code from an external site, making it slower to load (and less secure), so this one is faster than the original Facebook Fixer. When saving the photos from the “Show Big Pictures” option, each image was always named photo.jpg, overwriting the previous. Now each image has the correct file name. It fully supports the latest Facebook layout. To configure this extension, go to Account (in Facebook menu) and scroll down to Configure Facebook Fixer.
This extension adds emoticons to Facebook chat. It is based on a script first made by Mike S., then edited by DMaster and finally converted in a Chrome extension by me.
This extension adds many news features in Facebook. It adds a color status, smileys, ‘I don’t like’ next to ‘Comment’ and ‘Like.’ and allows you to skin your profile (which didn’t work for me), allows you to use a star rating, and more.
This extension is for enhancing Flickr. It adds keyboard shortcuts, tag autocomplete, a lightbox for large previews, quick access to EXIF data, easily copy Flic.kr short URL to the clipboard, and a page action that allows you to easily get from a Flickr image URL back to it’s photo page.
This extension links to image files (JPEGs, PNGs, GIFs etc) as a default open up in a new tab or the current tab. Many websites have begun to use lightboxes to display images instead of just linking to them, but not all. This extension creates the lightbox functionality for all web pages. Image Preview is unobtrusive and you’ll barely notice that it is even there. If you want to save an image or view it in a new tab, you can still right-click on it or do it from the menu. This extension currently does not work with links to images that were rendered with AJAX requests.
YouTube autoplay is annoying when you open a lot of pages at a time, but many extensions that turn it off also stop the pre-buffering of the video, which is crucial for slow networks. This extension stops YouTubes autoplay but continues buffering.
