Brain Assassin » internet

Userscript Update: Keepass Autotype Enhancer

JC — Tue, 31 May 2011 05:37:09 +0000

I finally got around to updating my favorite userscript: Keepass Autotype Enhancer. There were a few things that needed ironing out but I think I finally nailed it. In short, the script adds the domain to title bar if it’s not already there and puts the focus on the username input field so that you can speed up inserting your credentials via KeePass. It has a few options that can be changed by editing the first lines of the JavaScript code.

This time around I only did some finetuning but it still may not work on all sites. For instance, there is a known issue with pages like the Miranda IM Forums. They use an INPUT tag of type text to display a password hint so the userscript will fail the first time. On these sites manually running the script a second time via CTRL+ALT+S will put the focus on the username field.

Future plans include some clean-up and optimizations as well as creating a nice graphical user interface to change the settings. I don’t know when I’m going to find the time to do all that, though. In the meantime, enjoy the updated version of a useful Greasemonkey userscript. BTW, I’m not sure about it but I think this script just might work with Opera too.

Almighty Caine Prepares to Entertain on OverWorld.tv!

JC — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 12:44:08 +0000

Hooray! Almighty Caine – one of the most polarizing, ruthless, brutal, single-minded protagonists ever conceived by a fellow Earthling from this dimension – is going on-line. If you don’t know about Hari Khapur Michaelson – also known as Caine, Blade of Tyshalle, Prince of Chaos, and Caine Black Knife – I’d humbly suggest to get your hands on Heroes Die, the first of the Acts of Caine. Matthew Woodring Stover did very, very well when he created Caine. Definitely recommended! If you don’t like wading through blood and shit or if you are allergic to swearing, you may want to stay clear. Anyway, this post isn’t about the books. If you want to know more, head over to Wikipedia or get the Heroes Die and make up your mind.

Matt managed to get some people together and they threw up OverWorld.tv, a place for all things Caine. It’s not finished yet but the team is working hard on putting things together and it’s shaping up quite nicely. Mainly, the site was created to promote the adventures of Caine and – can you believe it? – the upcoming comic. Hell, yeah! There’s also talk about some merchandising goodies and guess what: I’m gonna get some! Until everything’s ready get yourself acquainted with Caine. I think, I’ll be doing a short review of the Acts of Caine series so far.

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NicerKongregate – a Userscript for Kongregate Users

JC — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 13:57:21 +0000

Exactly ten days ago I released a Greasemonkey userscript that makes Kongregate a nicer place to be. Dubbed NicerKongregate the script will create short page titles and it will add difficulty icons to the badges. It also removes a few ads and whitespace, and re-arrange a few elements. On November 24 I added a the ability to check whether a game as badges or not. When moving the mousepointer over these game thumbnails it checks for badges.

Currently, I’m not planning on adding other stuff because in its current iteration – v1.1.1 – the script does exactly what I want it to do. If you do have suggestions though, don’t hesitate to contact me and I’ll see what I can do.

KeePass Userscript Updated

JC — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 09:26:23 +0000

Almost exactly one year ago I last updated my userscript for KeePass. Dubbed KeePass AutoType Enhancer it does a few things to make using KeePass easier. Firstly, the script injects the hostname in the title if it’s not already there. I changed the algorithm so that if the site already places its name in the title the script will only add the top level domain in the appropriate place. I did this to save some space. The title bar always looks pretty crowded to me nowadays.

Secondly, the script tries to locate INPUT tags of the type password on the site it’s executed. It then looks for the first INPUT tag of the type text that comes before the password input field which usually accepts the username and tries to set the focus on this input field. This way you only have to press your KeePass shortcut (CTRL+ALT+A by default) to insert your credentials automatically. The new version of the script will also detect login fields if they’re placed in IFRAMES. So now the script should work on sites like techreport.com as well.

Of course, the script will not set the focus on the login fields if the input box isn’t visible in the viewport. To force the script to always set the focus on the username input field, simply press CTRL+ALT+S, which will set the focus on the first username field it finds – even if it is outside of the viewport. In this case, the browser will scroll as needed to make the input field visible.

Make Thunderbird a Better IMAP Client

JC — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:34:59 +0000

Back in March I started looking for a new mail user agent, commonly referred to as email client. During the last few days I had a little time at my hands and I tried Claws Mail, eM Client, Postbox and Sylpheed. Regarding Postbox I went for the 30-days trial of the full version after I’ve compared the two editions (Postbox and Postbox Express). I set up a few IMAP and POP3 accounts and then I just used each client for a short time.

Once again, I’ll stay true to Thunderbird. To be honest, I liked Postbox a lot but it’s not that much superior to Thunderbird especially if you consider the add-ons situation. What I liked best about Postbox was the way they organized the accounts. That’s where Postbox really shines. So, instead of wasting more time with other clients I just went ahead and did what I wanted to do for a few years – I finally created a nice User.js to store some helpful preferences. I thought I’d share a few of the most important settings that I found with you:

// Thunderbird 3 adds a disk cache. Activate it to cache any remote content.
// Messages and attachments are now cached for IMAP accounts as well.
user_pref("browser.cache.disk.enable", true);
// Grant 50 megabytes of storage
user_pref("browser.cache.disk.capacity", 51200);

Now, let’s move on to the IMAP settings. Here are some subscription settings:

// check every IMAP folder for new messages
// This way you don't have to subscribe to every folder
user_pref("mail.check_all_imap_folders_for_new", true);
// Automatically subscribe to new folders when they are created (or renamed)
user_pref("mail.imap.auto_subscribe", true);
// Automatically unsubscribe from new folders when they are deleted
// Also, unsubscribe from old names of folders when they are renamed
user_pref("mail.imap.auto_unsubscribe", true);

Now, let’s optimize the mail fetching in chunks:

Keep in mind that Google recommends to turn off fetching messages in chunks for its GMail accounts.

// Fetch the message in chunks
user_pref("mail.imap.fetch_by_chunks", true);
// Maximum chunk size to use when fetching IMAP messages in chunks. Defaults to 10240 bytes.
user_pref("mail.imap.max_chunk_size", 40960);
// Don't fetch the message in chunks unless its at least this size. Defaults to 15360 bytes.
user_pref("mail.imap.min_chunk_size_threshold", 98304);
// Initial chunk size to use when fetching IMAP messages in chunks. Defaults to 10240 bytes.
user_pref("mail.imap.chunk_size", 65536);
// Number of bytes to adjust chunk size by when dynamically adjusting the chunk size. Defaults to 2048 bytes.
user_pref("mail.imap.chunk_add", 8192);
// If a chunk is fetched faster than this, it will increase the chunk size to improve throughput. Defaults to 2 seconds.
user_pref("mail.imap.chunk_fast", 2);
// Ideal amount of time it should take to fetch a chunk. Defaults to 4 seconds.
user_pref("mail.imap.chunk_ideal", 4);

Other IMAP settings you may want to consider:

// Download headers for new mail
user_pref("mail.imap.new_mail_get_headers", true);

// Search folder for deleted messages. If none are found the expunge is skipped
user_pref("mail.imap.check_deleted_before_expunge", true);

// Cleanup (expunge) on exit. Messages marked for deletion will be expunged.
user_pref("cleanup_inbox_on_exit", true);
// If you'd rather have them expunged when you delete them in your client uncomment the following line:
// This will also expunge messages marked for deletion after a move operation (moving a msg in a subfolder, for instance)
// user_pref("mail.imap.expunge_after_delete", true);

How to handle attachments:

// fetch attachments only when needed
user_pref("mail.imap.mime_parts_on_demand", true);
// controls how many leels of nested attachments there has to be before fetching the whole message
user_pref("mail.imap.mime_parts_on_demand_max_depth", 15);
// Always fetch the complete contents of a IMAP message unless its size is greater
// than this value (not worth optimizing whats fetched).
// Defaults to 30000 bytes.
user_pref("mail.imap.mime_parts_on_demand_threshold", 30000);

With these settings Thunderbird works very well for me. If you have any suggestions don’t hesitate to comment!

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Mortal Kombat: Rebirth Isn’t Exactly a Movie Trailer

JC — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 09:29:58 +0000

With the debut of a short Mortal Kombat film titled Rebirth speculation has run rampant on the internet yesterday. The nearly eight-minute clip featured a very interesting and dark and gritty take on the fighting franchise. The short is directed by Kevin Tancharoen and features a cast that includes Ian Anthony Dale (Scorpion), Lateef Crowder (Baraka), Mat Mullins (Johnny Cage), Jeri Ryan (Sonya Blade) and Michael jai White (Jax). According to Jeri Ryan’s twittering Rebirth isn’t a live-action trailer for the next Mortal Kombat game and it’s not a trailer for a new MK movie. Looks like an independent production to sell Warner Brothers Tancharoen’s reimagining of the franchise.

So, there’s no guarantee that there will be a reimagining or if there is that the same actors will play the characters in a feature film version. Despite all that, the ‘teaser’ looks like a huge success online. Lots of talk here and there and I have to admit, I like Tancharoen’s vision more than the first two films and I definitely like it more than that sorry excuse for a series titled Mortal Kombat: Conquest. Anyway, enjoy the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4WKGweLeeY

What’s the Best URL Shortener out There?

JC — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:42:16 +0000

Performance results for the tested URL shorteners

The guys over at WatchMouse did a really interesting comparison: The set a bunch of URL shorteners against each other to see how good they really are. WatchMouse monitored 14 popular URL shorteners for a month and took a long, hard look at availability and speed. Interestingly enough, only goo.gl and twt.tl were always available during the testing period. In terms of speed, Facebook’s fb.me ist by far the slowest of them all and goo.gl reigns supreme.

Also, it seems that only a few of the shortening services optimized their DNS servers for international use. If you’re in the same country as some of the services have their servers stashed, you can look up the IP address half a second faster than an international visitor. In addition to these findings, WatchMouse figured out that bit.ly’s pro service – a paid version offering more options – is slower on average than the free counterpart.

Personally, I don’t use URL shorteners because I like to see where a link gets me. There are a few add-ons and/or userscripts for Firefox to keep you on the safe side though, by expanding shortened URLs. Anyway, if you can’t avoid the use of such a service check out the new website the guys from WatchMouse have set up: the site provides real-time status reports for URL shorteners.

http://blog.watchmouse.com/2010/03/url-shorteners-make-the-web-substantially-slower-facebooks-fb-me-is-slowest/

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Create Mind Maps with Bubbl.us

JC — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:15:11 +0000

A few minutes ago I stumbled over an interesting article over at Lifehacker. The new beta at Bubbl.us allows users to do some productive brainstorming by offering a free, web-based and simple to use software. You can start to produce good-looking mind maps without registering. If you want to save your mind map though, you should register. It’s free and they don’t want your e-mail address.

Bubbl.us is very easy to use and you will intuitively grasp its options. Most options are very streamlined and can be accomplished without ever needing your mouse. Best of all, apart from printing your mind map, you can export it to JPG or PNG. If you did register, you are able to share your mind maps with others. It’s very speedy although it took me a while to properly save a mind map I created.

It’s good to know that there is a free, web-based solution out there that’s easy to use. If you are not into web-based products, take a look at FreeMind which is a mind-mapping software written in Java. FreeMind offers some attractive features licensed under GPL. Let’s get to work and sketch out your ideas for world domination!

Mind over matter

Gametrailers Userscript Updated

JC — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:57:34 +0000

I don’t really have time to fix my userscript Tweak Gametrailers but I just did anyway. The latest changes over at Gametrailers.com introduced a new flash player and banished QuickTime and Windows Media Player. In addition with few moderate changes in the naming scheme my script didn’t work anymore. Now it’ll work again and it’s even smaller than before.

Ah, just to let you all now: Obviously, the guys over at Gametrailers made some bigger changes. Effective immediately you only need to register to completely bypass the age verification. Of course, my script still will take care of that annoyance. Have fun!

Userscript truly enhances KeePass

JC — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:55:13 +0000

So, during the last few weeks I’ve been looking for a password manager. I recently stumbled over RoboForm which is a quite interesting product if you’re looking for a password manager that runs in your browser and acts as a form filler. I tested it for a few days but I didn’t really like it all that much. RoboForm is convenient but it only works within your browser. I’d like to have my password manager available to me all the time, though. Plus, you absolutely have to pay for RoboForm after a trial period of 30 days or it will become seriously crippled in its functionality.

That’s why I once again turned to KeePass which I’ve used for a short while a few years ago. So, I installed KeePass on my systems and dropped the heavily encrypted database in my Dropbox account. After configuration I immediately discovered the awesome potential of a feature called AutoType: Just set the focus on the control accepting your username, press your defined shortcut and the magic happens. KeePass logs you in with the credentials you provided. Nice, you might think. Well, it didn’t work all too well in the browser. I discovered a few scripts on Userscripts.org but not one of them worked as I wanted them too.

No problem, I thought. Just create one yourself … and here it is: KeePass AutoType Enhancer. This script sets the focus on any username field it detects on a web page. You can configure the script to even focus controls that are outside the viewport so that the browser scroll as necessary. If you don’t, it will ignore controls outside the viewport. I’ve implemented the shortcut CTRL+ALT+S to manually focus on the username field. The shortcut will always set the focus on the appropriate field even if it isn’t inside the viewport, thus ignoring the switch provided in the script. Enjoy!