Just released a new version of the Better Gmail 2 Firefox extension, with bug fixes, the addition of the show CC and BCC scripts, and an update to the Redesigned skin. Download Better Gmail 2 0.5 here.

Mac only: Free utility Shades adds finer screen brightness controls to your Mac than the defaults. Once you install the Shades Preference pane and turn it on, you can brighten or darken your screen across a much wider range than the Mac's built-in controls, and make your laptop in bed much more bearable to your sleepy significant other or the guy on the red-eye flight in the next seat. Shades doesn't affect OS X's default controls and colour profiles. If you get carried away by the range Shades provides and dim your screen too dark, Alt+Esc will set it back to the default brightness. Thanks eyeRmonkey!

Web-based information manager MyGADs lets you create, share, and retrieve important bits of information like flight confirmation numbers, birthdays, phone numbers, and more. Store address books, calendars, tasks, and notes in personal or public "GADs" with text messages, instant messages, or using the web site. Need to remember Uncle Billy's birthday? Instant message it to your GAD. Forgot when it was? Ask your GAD. The interface is easy and conversational. Set GADs permissions so friends and family can edit and/or view your GAD (i.e., Mum sets the schedule, kids can check it.) Kind of like a lo-fi cross between Sandy and Google SMS, MyGADs isn't just limited to retrieving information you have already fed to it. Queries like "Weather in New York", "Population of Britain", or "Who is Albert Einstein" will return relevant answers from sites like Wikipedia or the national weather service, too.

Windows only: The free Picasa2Flickr plug-in uploads photos from image-editing application Picasa to photo-sharing web application Flickr at the press of a button. We've mentioned Picasa2Flickr once before, but when Picasa changed its plug-in structure a while back, it broke Picasa2Flickr. This new and improved version actually just sends your selected photos straight to Flickr Uploadr 3.0, Flickr's default tool for uploading photos. There were always good workarounds for perfecting your Picasa to Flickr workflow, but it doesn't get much better than Picasa2Flickr.

Windows only: Freeware application Desk Drive monitors your computer for new media—like a new CD, DVD, or thumb drive—then automatically creates a desktop shortcut pointing to your newly mounted media. Disabling autoplay is safer and less annoying than leaving it enabled, but that means you have to open up My Computer every time you plug in a thumb drive or insert a new disc. Desk Drive gives you quick and easy access to that media from your desktop as soon as you plug it in, similar to the default (and arguably better) behaviour found on Macs. The downside: Desk Drive takes up way too much memory (around 17MB in my test), so it may not be worth it unless you've got boatloads of RAM.

Windows Vista only: Freeware Vista Media Centre plug-in vmcNetFlix streams Netflix Watch Now videos to Windows Media Centre extenders, including the Xbox 360. You can also manage your queue, browse movies, and do just about anything else you'd want from a Netflix plug-in. Previously mentioned MyNetflix incorporated all of these features, but so far it does not support streaming to extenders. If you've been tempted by the new Netflix streaming box but don't want to throw down cash when you've already got a 360 in your home theatre, vmcNetFlix is a sure winner. It's in beta and still a touch buggy, but it's very promising. Hit the jump to check out a video of vmcNetFlix in action.

Windows only: Put your high-priority programs and files in the most easily-accessed parts of your hard drive with UltimateDefrag, a free Windows utility. The program does all the normal data-ordering of a standard defragmenting app (and probably runs at roughly the same speeds), but lets you choose which data to place on the outer, or faster, portions of your disk. You can also ask UltimateDefrag to analyse your drive and see which files have been most recently accessed, which works best for drives or partitions set aside for data, or automatically try to improve ease of access. UltimateDefrag can also run as your default defrag tool, and run only when a screensaver is active. UltimateDefrag is a free download for Windows systems only.

On the heels of Better Gmail 2, the Better GReader Firefox extension is now fully compatible with Firefox 3. The latest compilation of the best Greasemonkey scripts for Reader got an update to the nifty Preview Item inside Reader feature, too. Download it here.

Windows and now Mac OS X only: The beta NY Times reader application which Adam gave the full screenshot walk-through treatment is now available for your Mac. The application definitely provides a better reading experience than the web site only; there are fewer ads, more ways to customise the page's layout (headlines only, headlines with excerpts, different photo sizes), and it helpfully grays out articles you've already read. (Click the image to see a full-size screenshot, where the American Idol article I read is grayed out.) The NY Times beta reader is a free download, and it requires (ugh) Silverlight to run on your Mac, as well as login details to NYTimes.com (free registration).

Windows only: Web site and software HomeCamera turns your desktop webcam into a web-enabled surveillance camera. Just sign up and download their desktop software to get started. In just a few minutes, you can check an image or video from your webcam in real-time from any browser. Even better, you can set up motion-detecting alerts that will email you with a shot or short clip of what triggered the alert. The Windows-only HomeCamera is completely free during their beta and will remain free with limitations once they leave beta.