Erik Vold's Blog

The Daily UserScript: Add The "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button To Google Searches

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:57:00 -0500

This userscript adds the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button to Google search result pages.

Once you install the "Add The "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button To Google Searches" UserScript then Google search results pages will have the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button.

The Daily UserScript: Stumble On Blank "I'm Feeling Lucky" Google Searches

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:45:00 -0500

If you leave the Google search field blank and hit the "I'm Feeling Lucky" then this userscript will have StumbleUpon send you to a random page.

Get the Stumble On Blank "I'm Feeling Lucky" Google Searches UserScript here.

The Daily UserScript: GitHub Auto Expand Watched Repository List

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:25:00 -0500

This userscript will automatically expand your watched repository list on your dashboard at GitHub.

The Unpleasantry:

Having to click the link that expands my watched repository list every time I want to see the whole list.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "GitHub Auto Expand Watched Repository List" UserScript the watched repository list will expand automatically.

The Daily UserScript: w3schools Ads Remover

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 06:11:00 -0500

This userscripts removes most of the ads from w3schools.com.

The Unpleasantry:

Seeing ads.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "w3schools Ads Remover" UserScript most, if not all, ads will be removed from w3schools.com.

The Daily UserScript: Remove Ads From Mixx

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:30:00 -0500

Today's userscript is another simple one to remove ads, this time from Mixx.com. Even if you are using Adblock Plus or something similar to block ads from being displayed at Mixx, the space where they would be still remains, this userscript will remove those spaces that that the pages at Mixx are easier to read.

The Unpleasantry:

Seeing Ads at Mixx.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Mixx Ads Remover" UserScript most if not all of the ads will be removed from Mixx.

The Daily UserScript: Better Mixx 'Create New Niche' Link

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:52:00 -0500

This userscript will create a better 'create new niche' link for Mixx.

The Unpleasantry:

Currently, when you are on the 'Community' tab of Mixx the link to create a new niche is in a 3002px box. Why it needs to be this huge, and not in the sub navigation where it belongs is beyond my understanding. Also it pushes the somewhat interesting information that is underneath it half way below the fold.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "" UserScript the massive 3002px box that contains the 'create new niche' link is removed and the link is added to the subnavigation of the 'Community' tab of Mixx.

The Daily UserScript: Last.fm Ads Remover

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:27:00 -0500

This userscript removes a large amount of known ads from Last.FM. It doesn't get them all, but it removes quite a few.

The Unpleasantry:

Seeing ads at Last.FM.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Last.fm Ads Remover" UserScript all of the areas where I have ever found ads on Last.FM are gone.

The Daily UserScript: UserScripts.org Better Feedback Link

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:33:00 -0500

This userscript will make the feedback button on the userscripts.org navigation go directly to userscripts.uservoice.com.

The Unpleasantry:

Currently there are two problems with the feedback link in the main navigation of userscripts.org. First the link isn't on every page.. and secondly the link uses a javascript popup which is pretty much useless except for providing a few links to userscripts.uservoice.com.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "UserScripts.org Better Feedback Link" UserScript the feedback link will be added to the navigation if it does not already exist, and it will alter the link so that it goes directly to userscripts.uservoice.com when you click it.

The Daily UserScript: UserScripts.org Advanced UserScript Admin Options

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:38:00 -0500

This userscript will add administration options to those displayed on the about page of userscripts at userscripts.org which you added.

The Unpleasantry:

When you manage a userscript at userscripts.org you will notice that there are admin options available in the right navigation of the about pages of your scripts. This are provides only some of an admin's options to him, and not all, there are more however which you can find on the admin page for the script.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "UserScript.org Advanced UserScript Admin Options" UserScript more options are provided to you on the about pages of your userscripts, such as adding a new icon, adding a new screen shot, or viewing the overview page (which has a number of stats).

The Daily UserScript: Userscripts.org Remove 'Share' From Right Nav

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:26:00 -0500

This userscript will simply remove the 'Share' section of the right navigation on userscript pages of userscripts.org.

The Unpleasantry:

Having to see the bright colored, eye attracting sharing icons on userscript pages of userscripts.org when I already have tools for that installed in my browser.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Userscripts.org Remove 'Share' From Right Nav" UserScript the 'Share' section of the right navigation on userscript pages of userscripts.org will be removed from the document making the page easier to read and use.

Start Tracking Your JavaScript Disabled Visitors With GA.CFC

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:32:00 -0500

Google Analytics depends on JavaScript to make image requests to GA servers, and therefore only tracks your JavaScript enabled visitors. This is why Remy Sharp wrote a blog post a few weeks ago called "The Missing Stat: noscript" where he outlined some work he'd done on how to track your noscript visitors with Google Analytics and PHP.

If you read the comments on Remy's post, you will see that his PHP code was ported to .NET by Erik Zaadi which is available at Github here and called "GA.NET". Erik also wrote about his project here.

So after reading all of this I decided to port the code to ColdFusion, but after reviewing the code Remy wrote I started to see some real potential for handing the GA tracking logic for the image requests made to GA servers with server side code. In other words, you should be able to track page views, events, and more on your visitors that have JavaScript disabled.

So I started GA.CFC for ColdFusion and put it on GitHub, it's basically Remy's PHP code ported to CF, with the one difference being that when using GA.CFC you must provide the domain hash which GA generates to GA.CFC, which I guess Remy thought was a random number; his code worked anyhow apparently though.

I plan to extract GA's hash function later so that you won't have to input the domain hash, and I have plenty more updates planned for the future, but I decided to upload GA.CFC to GitHub now so that others can use it in the meantime.

Currently you can track pageviews, but each page view is considered a new visitor. Please read the README file for GA.CFC for usage instructions.

Get GA.CFC at GitHub here

The Daily UserScript: Remove Kampyle

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:41:00 -0500

This userscript will remove the kampyle link that is at the bottom right corner of so many websites.

The Unpleasantry:

Having to see the Kampyle link at the bottom right of so many pages.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Remove Kampyle" UserScript this image and link will automatically be removed if ever found.

The Daily UserScript: Userscripts.org Remove Post Actions Bar

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 01:43:00 -0500

This userscript will remove the post actions bar at the bottom of a userscript's 'about' pages of userscripts.org.

The Unpleasantry:

When looking at a userscript's 'about' pages on userscripts.org there is a bar at the bottom with links for social actions, currently there is a StumbleUpon link and 'Discuss' link there. If you are like me, then you will find this an utterly useless bar, because you have a Firefox addon for all of your favorite sharing sites, and there is already a link for discussions provided (a tab link).

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Userscripts.org Remove Post Actions Bar" UserScript the bar described above will be removed from the document.

Screen Shot

This is a screen shot of the actions bar which will be removed by this userscript.

The Daily UserScript: Add Google Analytics Account Name To Page Title

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:24:00 -0500

This userscript will add the Google Analytics account name to the page title and remove '- Google Analytics' from the page title.

The Unpleasantry:

Currently the page titles are labeled as so "REPORT_NAME - Google Analytics", and this is too basic.

Yesterday I wrote a userscript to add the profile name to the page title, but after I had created that userscript I decided to write another one that would add the account name.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Add Google Analytics Account Name To Page Title" UserScript the GA account name is added to the page title (if one is selected), and "- Google Analytics" is removed from the page title for your enjoyment.

The Daily UserScript: Add Google Analytics Profile Name To Page Title

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:13:00 -0500

Today's userscript will add your Google Analytics profile name to the page title and remove "Google Analytics" from the page title.

The Unpleasantry:

Currently the page titles are labeled as so "REPORT_NAME - Google Analytics". This is sort of useful, but I thought it could even more so if I add the profile name to the page title so that I would instantly know which report and which profile the page, and even more importantly the tab, is on.

Also, since the favicon clearly shows me that the tab/page is a Google Analytics page I decided it was not necessary for me to see "- Google Analytics" in the page title.

The Alleviation:

Once you install the "Add Google Analytics Profile Name To Page Title" UserScript the profile name is added to the page title (if one is selected), and "- Google Analytics" is removed from the page title for your enjoyment.

Links for 2009-08-31 [del.icio.us]

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Websites That Don't Work Without www

Links for 2009-08-30 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Bill Moyers Journal: MONEY-DRIVEN MEDICINE
The film MONEY-DRIVEN MEDICINE reveals how a profit-hungry "medical-industrial complex" has turned health care into a system where millions are squandered on unnecessary tests, unproven and sometimes unwanted procedures and overpriced prescription drugs.
Google Analytics Blog: An API Integration To Measure Significant Change
Yahoo! Search Blog » Blog Archive » See More SearchMonkey in Your Search Results
Cheap pressure sensor by Batist - Thingiverse

Links for 2009-08-28 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2009-08-23 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2009-02-06 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:00:00 PST

TED Blog: Bill Gates' Q&A with Chris Anderson: Video unveiled
Q&A between Bill Gates and TED's Chris Anderson, which follows Gates' brand-new TEDTalk.
Bill Gates unplugged | Video on TED.com
Bill Gates gives a TED presentation and asks two questions.
Charlie Rose - A conversation with Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO Nvidia
Charlie Rose talks with Jen-Hsun Huang the CEO of Nvidia whom I had not heard from before, and I thought he had some interesting thoughts on the current state and the future of the gpu.
Charlie Rose - A conversation with Chris DeWolfe And Tom Anderson, founders of Myspace.com
Charlie Rose talks to Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson about MySpace. Even though I don't like MySpace, I thought it was an interesting conversation.
John Resig - Talk: Performance Improvements in Browsers
John Resig posts a presentation including the slides for the YUI Theater.
Official Google Website Optimizer Blog: Launching the Website Optimizer YouTube Channel
Google has launched a YouTube Channel for their Website Optimizer product, check it out the announcement.
YouTube - websiteoptimizer's Channel
Here is the Google Website Optimizer YouTube channel.
Chromium Blog: Irregexp, Google Chrome's New Regexp Implementation
The Google Chrome developers are speeding everything up!
YUI Theater — John Resig: “The DOM Is a Mess” » Yahoo! User Interface Blog
John Resig gives a good presentation of the state of web browsers for web developers.
I'm The New Product Manager for ColdFusion | Adrocknaphobia.com
Adam Lehman is the new project manager for Adobe's ColdFusion now, congrats Adam!
FireScope - HTML Brains at your Fingertips
I just found this Firebug Extension, and it is a great tool.
U.C. Berkeley Now Offers StarCraft Class | Game | Life from Wired.com
I love the StarCraft and WarCraft games, they are by far my favorite real time strategy games. If you think Chess is a game for strategic thinkers, then you haven't met a well made rts game, and Blizzard Entertainment makes the best rts games. So I'm not surprised by this news at all. I can't wait for StarCraft II !!