hacks
SuperGenPass patched for Google Chrome
I am a huge fan of SuperGenPass. There are so many obvious reasons why it’s a great concept that I won’t bore you with a rehash of all of them.
Unfortunately, in Google Chrome, SuperGenPass chokes on some pages. I do not blame Chrome for that: it’s for security reasons.
I’ve patched the basic version of SuperGenPass so that it can now work on those pages. I am not sure that it fixes everything for everybody but I hope it makes your life easier, like it does mine.
Just go to this page and get the patched bookmark.
If you are using a customized bookmark, I am afraid that you will have to patch it yourself. Here is what the patch looks like:
Look for
var%20FrameTest=window.frames[i].src; |
Replace with
var%20FrameTest=window.frames[i].src;var%20FrameTest=window.frames[i].src;FrameTest=window.frames[i].document.forms; |
Done!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Add your Google App account to Thunderbird 3 beta 4
Beta 4 is out and it is *very* sweet. It even offers Gmail integration like never before.
Well, if you have a @gmail.com account, that is.
But don’t worry! If you have a Google App account, it can be made to work with little extra work. Here is how:
1. You need a standard @gmail.com account. Create a bogus one if necessary.
2. You will not want to do anything with this account. Not really. Thus, in Thunderbird, go offline: File > Offline > Work Offline.
3. Select File > New > Mail Account…
4. Enter the information for your @gmail.com account. Thunderbird will recognize the address and automatically fill out the following box with the correct GMail information: imap.googlemail.com, etc. Green dots all around! Just click [Create Account]
5. Now, in the left-hand tree, right-click on your account name and select ‘Settings…‘
6. Change your account name to something meaningful, then click [OK] — If you do not do this and exit the dialog, the other screens will not be updated correctly.
7. Re-open the dialog, select ‘Server Settings‘ and enter your Google App email account where your @gmail.com account is currently displayed.
8. Select ‘Outgoing Server (SMTP)‘, then ‘Google Mail – smtp.googlemail.com‘ and click [Set Default]
9. Click [OK], leave offline mode, restart Thunderbird to be on the safe side.
10. All set! Thunderbird will start synchronizing with your Google App account using these optimum settings.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Rich-text editor in Sharepoint with Firefox
If, like me, your company’s insistence on using Sharepoint as an Intranet tool contributes to rapid neurons death, there is as least a glimmer of hope: you can still use Firefox without being punished by having to type raw HTML code when editing a page (Sharepoint, unsurprisingly, only likes IE)
Simple steps to use your own rich-text editor:
- Install Xinha
- Edit SharePoint page
- Right-click, select “Open Xinha here!”
- Edit! then click [OK]
- Now, submit page with all its HTML code. Note: You can edit existing pages as well.
Done!
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Mount a recalcitrant .dmg file
I have no idea why but sometimes a .dmg file will just-not-mount.
For instance I just downloaded the latest PostBox from http://postbox-inc.com/ and the silly little image will *not* cooperate.
My amazingly quick’nt dirty workaround? Convert it to another format file (using the command-line)!
hdiutil convert postbox-1.0b12-mac.dmg -format UDTO -o postbox_iso |
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Sunday Hacking: Cue:Cat, Delicious Library
Sunday Hacking is going to be this new and irregular feature, where I blather about how I made my week-end a bit geekier by doing such or such hardware hack. I do not guarantee originality, nor much software-related content. If you’re not into that kind of thing, I promise that it shouldn’t feel much worse than a flu shot.
I like hacking on Sundays; that’s how I ended up with a stack of Wiimotes even though I did not own a Wii.
Anyway, I was in the process of sorting my various cables when I found her. And by “her” I mean my USB Cue:Cat.
This gave me an idea: my friend Tom and I both swear by Delicious Library. Now, there are two things you really need to know about Tom:
- He does not hesitate to spend money when he needs a good quality product
- He is insanely competitive
Regarding #1: he bought a nice barcode reader because it works better than an iSight.
Regarding #2: if I can come up with a cheaper barcode reader, it will totally feel like victory!
So, I googled “cuecat” and “delicious” and, of course, it’s easy to use the feline with Delicious Library.
Step #1: If you do not already have a Cue:Cat, you need to get one. It’s very easy: more than 2 million Raminagrobis were distributed before Digital Designs’ predictable demise (it’s one of those times when it’s not just hindsight, that should have been 20/20) — Make sure you get a USB model.
Step #2: Now, to “fix” it! By default, the device was dedicated to Digital Designs applications and this was achieved through the use of a very simple protocol (originally described by Steven Satchell)
Obviously, this is going to be confusing for programs that expect standard barcode information.
Hmmm...bad kitty!
All you need if a wife who’s a med or a vet student and — voila! — you have a very convenient scalpel that you can use to remove pin #5 of the 8-bit chip labeled ‘HMS91C7316′
The circle shows where you need to remove pin #5. The arrow shows which way to go when counting pins (counter-clockwise)
And that’s it! Your malkin will now deliver compatible messages:
Amusingly, it is seen by your Mac as some kind of keyboard (not doubt through USB-HID); therefore, each scan operation will be an opportunity for your computer to play the bongos.
You can check what’s happening by scanning a barcode while in TextEdit rather than Delicious Library.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
