& Etc.

Blocking the "Green Meanie" Popup Ads

Mark Treadwell — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:32:49 GMT

I am not sure why it took me so long to implement, but I finally had it with the Vibrant Media IntelliTXT in-line text advertising and their intrusive pop-ups. You have probably seen them yourself. They are the highlighted green words with a double underscore present in many news and blog pages. While they generate money for those sites, they are as irritating as hell, so I decided to remove them.

I opened a web page which I knew would display the Vibrant advertising. A few seconds after the page displayed, the green meanies appeared. That indicated a remote Java script. Viewing the page source HTML, down at the bottom was a pretty clear text comment: "start Vibrant Media IntelliTXT script section". Target found. Well, that was easy.

The script source link was to the IntelliTXT web site, so it was clear that blocking that web site would stop the green meanies. I use IE8, so I went to the Internet Options, Security tab, Restricted sites zone icon, Sites button. I added the following to the restricted sites list: *.us.intellitxt.com. While I was at it, I also included *.tacoda.net to block their behavioral tracking.

Do it yourself for free.

Note: I know there are many add-ins which will do this for you. I try to run the computers in our house with a minimum of software which needs regular updates.

Update: I also added *.kontera.com to block their "blue meanie" popup ads.

Emergency Food Distribution

Mark Treadwell — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:03:17 GMT

While walking a street in Old Town San Diego one evening after a busy day on a business trip, the scene below was one I just had to take a picture of with my phone. I am sure the church did not intend the juxtaposition...

Maybe the trash truck crew had some fun though.

I Was CompuServe 73700,3344

Mark Treadwell — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 21:28:18 GMT

My first remote computer access outside my home was via CompuServe in 1985. I sat at my original IBM PC and connected via a Hayes Smartmodem 1200 to the service. I spent lots of geeky time sucking text through that modem and its replacements. I used CompuServe from all over the country as I traveled, and even internationally a few times. It worked great and kept down the long distance phone bills.

Remember those? Back in the day, we had to call long distance to a company's bulletin board service (BBS) to get info on hardware and software updates. Mind you, you could not buy things that way, just read about them and maybe get a patch.

That octal user ID was a function of the PDP-10 architecture of the original system. That worked great as long as things moved through slower modems. I recall things getting clogged up as the cable modems arrived.

I even tried Prodigy, God help me, and found it slow and clunky. I heard too many AOL horror stories to ever try the service -- though I got lots of CDs from them. Both CompuServe and Prodigy worked well as long as you stayed within their sandbox. Go outside the box, and things got harder. I ignored the CompuServe 2000 stuff entirely and stayed with what became known as CompuServe Classic. I canceled my service in early 2004. I recall that it was not easy, and required several phone calls. You could not cancel online. My last email from that account was from an old Fawcette newsletter telling me how to "Build a Longhorn App."

CompuServe really had no way to compete with the wilder and wider web. The fact that it has hung on this long says that the miniscule support was still covered by the few people who still paid real money to use it -- probably because it was familiar. No more. Goodbye. It was fun.

Blogiversary

Mark Treadwell — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 23:01:58 GMT

Wow. Five years of posts. Of course, the last eight months have been pretty empty, but I am starting a new WPF project at work that looks to be very interesting. I hope to get back into the posting routine as the work evolves. We are working on the design right now. More to follow on that.

I may also be posting on management of a distributed software development team.

LCD Screen Drawings

Mark Treadwell — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:59:35 GMT

My children's artwork adorns the walls of my house in several locations. It is regularly replaced with the most recent efforts, since the preschools seem to excel at a multitude of different craft projects. At home, we favor crayons and washable markers, but we keep close control of them.

This evening my three-year-old decided to climb up Daddy's chair and get onto my desk. A ball point pen beckoned from a pen holder placed far from a child-accessible edge. The canvas -- two 19-inch LCD screens. She seemed pleased with her art work when I came in, but I certainly was not.

I tried several cleaners unsuccessfully, but then had great success using full-strength isopropyl rubbing alcohol. I have been meaning to clean them for awhile. I just did not want to get around to it for this particular reason.

Technorati Tags: LCD, cleaning

Tafiti Search

Mark Treadwell — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:02:16 GMT

Microsoft announced the availability of a new Tafiti experimental search front-end based on Silverlight. I tried out the Halo 3 branded system, and it is visually very nice and functionally very smooth.

However, as a search engine front-end, it is currently a failure. I sent the team the following feedback:

Sorry guys, but I have to grade it as a complete failure.
1) You completely fail to operate under a common setting (popup blocker set at medium) in your own browser (IE7)
2) You cannot bypass #1 using a Ctrl-Click
While it looks spiffy, it is useless.

They need to test more usage scenarios.

Strange Amazon Connection

Mark Treadwell — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:33:41 GMT

We got a very strange recommendation from Amazon for our four-year-old.

We do not understand it either.

Merry Christmas: Santa's Goin' To Kokomo

Mark Treadwell — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 14:27:00 GMT

Merry Christmas!

Mike Love's Santa's Goin' To Kokomo

Google Code Search - Finding Source Code

Mark Treadwell — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:09:00 GMT

Google Labs has come out with a new means to find source code online. Google Code Search is a feature that returns hits from within posted source code. It did not take long for me to ignore the main page and set the advanced search page as my shortcut. So far, it seems heavily weighted towards Java (not surprising), with less available from C-based sites. The results layout also needs more differentiation between each separate result -- things blend together too much. More to follow as I use the system -- recommended, so far.

The associated FAQ is pretty simple at the moment:

1. What kind of code are you crawling?

We're crawling as much publicly accessible source code as we can find, including archives (.tar.gz, .tar.bz2, .tar, and .zip), CVS repositories and Subversion repositories.

2. What regexp syntax does Code Search support?

Google Code Search supports POSIX extended regular expression syntax, excluding backreferences, collating elements, and collation classes. To search for a space character, escape it with a backslash, as in hello,\ world. You can search for literal strings by enclosing the strings in quotation marks, as in "hello, world". We also support Perl extensions \d, \D, \s, \S, \w, and \W.

3. How do I restrict by language, license or filename?

You can either use the Advanced Code Search page or use our operators. Our operators include:

The lang: operator, which restricts by programming language (e.g., lang:"c++", -lang:java, or lang:^(c|c#|c\+\+)$)
The license: operator, which restricts by software license (e.g., license:apache, -license:gpl, or license:bsd|mit)
The package: operator, which restricts by package URL (e.g., package:"www.kernel.org" or package:\.tgz$)
The file: operator, which restricts by filename (e.g., file:include/linux/$ or -file:\.cc$)

The argument to each of these operators can be either a quoted literal string or a regular expression. As illustrated in some of the examples above, each of the operators can be used as a negative by placing a minus sign ("-") in front of it.

4. Can I add Google Code Search results to my website, IDE or application?

Yes. Code Search results are available via a GData/XML feed, and we encourage you to help create IDE plugins and add Google Code Search to your site.

5. How do you decide what software license to list for a piece of code?

We do our best to determine the software license for code packages by looking for a license in the comments or in a separate license file (e.g., LICENSE, LICENCE, COPYRIGHT, COPYING). If we can't find a license, we indicate that the license is "Unknown." Please note that our license detection is not perfect -- we try to list the license as indicated by the code's author, but we can make mistakes and sometimes the author indicates the wrong license. The Code Search results also can't tell you what patents may cover a piece of software. We tell you what we can about the likely license terms, but understanding the legal requirements to reuse a piece of code is your responsibility.

6. How do I add my code to Google Code Search results?

You can submit your code using our online form. Please note that we do not add all submitted code to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if it will appear.

7. How do I block you from crawling my code?

Google Code Search respects robots.txt, so there are a couple ways you can block us from crawling your code:

If you have access to the robots file for your web server, you can add the your code's path to the Disallow: line. Learn more.
Alternatively, you can simply put a robots file in the root directory of your code package. This will work for both archives and source control repositories like CVS and Subversion. For example, to indicate you want none of your code crawled, you could add a file called robots.txt in the root directory with the following:
User-agent: * Disallow: /

Please note that it may take some time for Code Search to update its index and remove your code. If you have an urgent request, please let us know by emailing codesearch-issues@google.com.

8. I have suggestions for product improvements. How do I let you know?

To share your thoughts with us, please post them to the discussion group. Google Code Search is part of Google Labs, so we're still in the early stages of development. Your feedback is important and will help us improve the product.

9. How do I let Google know if I see a Code Search result that I think should be removed?

Google Code Search is still in Google Labs, so the search results may not be perfect. If you notice a significant problem with the search results, please let us know by emailing codesearch-issues@google.com. If you're a copyright owner and believe you've found results that infringe your copyright, please follow our DMCA process to request removal.

10. What are the terms of use?

Please refer to the Google Code terms of service.

We Declare - 230 Years Ago

Mark Treadwell — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 12:23:00 GMT

It was very bad 230+ years ago in North America. Compare the bulleted list to the news of today and see if our world really compares. Personally, I like the sentence below, in red, that after listing his errors, calls the King of England a Tyrant.

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred. to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.