Project Insomnia

Block comments on SFGate.com

2010-02-02T19:38:00.001-08:00

The "comments" section under every SFGate.com article is a cesspool (I'm not the first person to say this but I can't immediately find where it was said first) filled with hate, bigotry, trolling and various evil. Sure, you don't -have- to click through to the comments but SFGate helpfully shows the three highest-rated comments below each article--and the worst, and most prolific, commenters have hacking scripts that artificially inflate their comments' ratings. Here's another view on SFGate's comment section: link.

Feeling that "out of sight, out of mind" is a good policy, my first UserScript hides several DIVs associated with comments on SFGate article pages. Here's the source:


// ==UserScript==
// @name SFGate-NoComments
// @namespace http://www.userscripts.org
// @description Hide comments on SFGate.com articles
// @version 0.2
// @include http://www.sfgate.com/*
// @copyright 2010+, Andrew Rich (http://www.project-insomnia.com)
// @license (CC) Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike; http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
// ==/UserScript==

var commentsDiv = document.getElementById('commentspage');
commentsDiv.style.display = 'none';
var commentslinksSpan = document.getElementById('commentslinks');
commentslinksSpan.style.display = 'none';
var commentBoxWrapperDiv = document.getElementById('articlePageCommentBoxWrapper');
commentBoxWrapperDiv.style.display = 'none';
var recCommentsDiv = document.getElementById('sfgate_recommended_comments');
recCommentsDiv.style.display = 'none';
var commentsListDiv = document.getElementById('commentslist');
commentsListDiv.style.display = 'none';
var commentsContainerDivAttrs = document.getElementById('Comments_Container_viewall').attributes;
commentsContainerDivAttrs.getNamedItem('class').value = '';
var commentsContainerDiv = document.getElementById('Comments_Container_viewall');
commentsContainerDiv.style.visibility = 'hidden';

I hope this is useful to you and thank you for reading. You can install it easily from the UserScripts.org link above. Tested in Safari 4.0.4 (5531.21.10) with GreaseKit 1.7 on Mac OS X 10.5.8 Build 9L30. Should work in other UserScript-supporting browsers (Firefox, Opera, Chrome "Dev Channel") without issue.

Windows shell extension to easily add any folder to the PATH

2010-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

How many times has this happened to you? You've downloaded a new Windows command-line tool and want to be able to use it from wherever your current directory happens to be, but the only way to add a folder to Windows' system PATH is via an unwieldy and hard-to-find modal dialog in the System Properties' Advanced tab. Well, I had just this problem last week when I was configuring some new machines and wanted to add some of my favorite command-line tools (mostly ports of Linux/Unix tools like which and less). I was about to go through System Properties to add their directory but figured there had to be a better way.

After a few minutes of Googling, I found this post by "/\/\o\/\/" which demonstrated a way of using Windows PowerShell (the next generation advanced command-line environment for Windows) to add a shell extension, used by right-clicking on any Explorer folder, which adds the selected folder to the system PATH.

Unfortunately, the code shown in the post didn't quite work as-is and besides I'm not too comfortable yet in PowerShell. So I decided to fix the code and build a script that does the same thing but from CMD (or by double-clicking). It's very simple to use; just execute the script from a CMD session or double-click it in Explorer. To uninstall, just run it again; it automatically backs out its changes when run a second time.

License and acknowledgement: The original (though non-working) code sample is by "/\/\o\/\/" and linked above; I claim no credit for it. However, I made it work and packaged it into a user-friendly script and so claim copyright over that portion under the GPL.

With that out of the way, here's the code:


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: AddToPath.cmd                                                            ::
:: Written by Andrew Rich (andrew.rich@project-insomnia.com)                ::
:: Copyright (c) Andrew Rich under GPL (http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html)   ::
:: Based on code by "/\/\o\/\/" at http://bit.ly/58hYYh                     ::
::                                                                          ::
:: This command script adds an Explorer shell extension which, when         ::
:: selected on right-clicking a folder, will add it to the system PATH. The ::
:: change takes effect immediately for new CMD or PowerShell instances      ::
:: started after adding the folder to the PATH. CMD or PowerShell instances ::
:: started adding the folder will continue to use the PATH in effect at the ::
:: time they were started.                                                  ::
::                                                                          ::
:: Usage:                                                                   ::
:: Double-click AddToPath.cmd or execute AddToPath.cmd from a CMD session.  ::
:: The only command-line parameter available is /? which shows this text.   ::
::                                                                          ::
:: Requirements:                                                            ::
:: - Windows XP SP3 or later. Not tested on Vista or Windows 7 BUT should   ::
::   work unaltered. Please send feedback if you run AddToPath on Vista or  ::
::   Windows 7.                                                             ::
:: - The user executing the command script must be a local Administrator.   ::
::   However, the PATH update will affect all users.                        ::
:: - reg.exe must be on the system PATH. This should be the case for any    ::
::   properly functioning Windows machine.                                  ::
:: - Microsoft PowerShell must be properly installed. This should be the    ::
::   case for any Windows machine which is current on Windows updates. The  ::
::   command script will verify that PowerShell is installed. If the script ::
::   reports that PowerShell is not installed, download and install it from ::
::   http://bit.ly/mYzg4.                                                   ::
::                                                                          ::
:: Uninstall/remove:                                                        ::
:: Just run AddToPath.cmd again. If the "Add To Path" shell extension       ::
:: installed by AddToPath.cmd exists, running the command script a second   ::
:: time will cause the shell extension to be removed.                       ::
::                                                                          ::
:: Manual uninstall:                                                        ::
:: From a CMD session, type:                                                ::
::                                                                          ::
::   reg delete HKCR\Folder\Shell\Add_To_Path                               ::
::                                                                          ::
:: Note that uninstalling only removes the Explorer shell extension, and    ::
:: does not affect any system PATH entries which may have been added.       ::
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
::ENDHEADERCOMMENT

@Echo Off
SETLOCAL ENABLEEXTENSIONS ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

:: setup
SET ShellExtKey=HKCR\Folder\Shell\Add_To_Path
SET ShellExtKeyText="Add to Path"
SET PSPathKey=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell

:: check command params
IF [%1]==[] GOTO CmdParamsDone
IF /I %1 EQU --help GOTO ShowHelp
IF /I %1 EQU /? GOTO ShowHelp
IF /I %1 EQU -? GOTO ShowHelp
GOTO ErrBadParam

:ShowHelp
ECHO.
FOR /F "delims=" %%A IN (%~fs0) DO (
IF /I %%A EQU ::ENDHEADERCOMMENT GOTO :EOF
ECHO %%A
)
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrBadParam
ECHO.
ECHO "%1" is not a recognized command-line parameter for %0.
ECHO Type %0 /? for help.
ECHO.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:CmdParamsDone
:: check overall prerequisite: reg.exe must be on the system PATH
reg 2>>NUL 1>>&2
IF NOT [%ERRORLEVEL%]==[0] GOTO ErrNoRegExe

:: is the Add_To_Path shell extension already installed?
:: if the reg query fails (errorlevel=1) then it's not installed
reg query %ShellExtKey% 2>>NUL 1>>&2
IF [%ERRORLEVEL%]==[1] GOTO Install
GOTO UnInstall

:Install
:: check install prerequisite: PowerShell must be installed
:: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PowerShell\1\ShellIds\Microsoft.PowerShell should contain the full path to powershell.exe
:: e.g. C:\WINNT\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
FOR /F "usebackq tokens=3" %%a IN (`reg query %PSPathKey% /v Path ^| FIND "powershell.exe"`) DO SET PSPATH=%%a
IF NOT DEFINED PSPATH GOTO :ErrNoPowerShell
IF [%PSPATH%] EQU [] GOTO :ErrNoPowerShell

:: build the shell extension's command line
:: does powershell.exe's full path include spaces? if so, add quotes
FOR /F "tokens=2" %%a IN ("%PSPATH%") DO SET s=%%a
IF DEFINED s (
SET AddToPathCmd="%PSPATH%"
) ELSE (
SET AddToPathCmd=%PSPATH%
)
SET AddToPathCmd=%AddToPathCmd% -NonInteractive -NoProfile -Command [system.environment]::setEnvironmentVariable('path',$env:path + ';%%1','machine')

:: create the shell extension's base key under Folder\Shell
reg add %ShellExtKey% /ve /d %ShellExtKeyText% /f 2>>NUL 1>>&2
IF NOT [%ERRORLEVEL%] EQU [0] GOTO ErrRegAdd1

:: add the command line
reg add %ShellExtKey%\Command /ve /d "%AddToPathCmd%" /f 2>>NUL 1>>&2
IF NOT [%ERRORLEVEL%] EQU [0] GOTO ErrRegAdd2

ECHO Installed. Right-click on a folder in Explorer to add it to the system PATH.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:UnInstall
reg delete %ShellExtKey% /f 2>>NUL 1>>&2
IF NOT [%ERRORLEVEL%] EQU [0] GOTO ErrRegDel
ECHO UnInstalled.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrNoRegExe
ECHO Error: reg.exe was not found on the system PATH.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrNoPowerShell
ECHO Error: Windows PowerShell is not installed (or is not installed correctly).
ECHO Go to http://bit.ly/mYzg4 to download and install Windows PowerShell.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrRegAdd1
ECHO Error creating the shell extension's base key.
ECHO Run %0 again to back out any changes.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrRegAdd2
ECHO Error adding the shell extension's command line.
ECHO Run %0 again to back out any changes.
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

:ErrRegDel
ECHO Error removing the shell extension's registry entry.
ECHO To remove manually, type the following at the CMD prompt:
ECHO   reg delete HKCR\Folder\Shell\Add_To_Path
PAUSE
GOTO :EOF

You can copy, paste and save that as AddToPath.cmd, or just download it (I recommend downloading it because line wrapping doesn't show properly here). AddToPath.cmd.zip

I hope this is useful. Please send me feedback if you use it!

I'm with CoCo

2010-01-16T00:12:00.000-08:00

Source

I stay warm with a fire in the fireplace

2010-01-14T09:14:00.001-08:00

It's been a cold winter here in the Bay Area. Yes, it's been colder on the east coast (even in Florida!) and for some people, low-40s isn't cold at all, but it's been cold FOR ME.

The Fireplace

My preferred method of staying warm during the winter is lighting a fire in the fireplace and curling up under a blanket with one or more cats. I'll turn on the central heat if necessary but prefer not to.

A good breakfast better include...

2010-01-12T09:20:00.001-08:00

Coffee
Coffee brings me back to life in the morning. It's not just a preference, it's a requirement. I usually like it with milk or half-and-half and sugar (real "raw" sugar, please) but if it's the good stuff I might forgo the milk.

Pancakes
I've always liked pancakes though I don't smother them in butter and syrup like most people. A little butter and, hold your breath, a little salt is all I need. A friend sent us a "breakfast kit" from LL Bean that includes buttermilk pancake mix, coffee (see above), real maple syrup and blueberry jam.

Bagel with lox, cream cheese and veggies
A meal in itself, but the bagel had better be nicely toasted and the smoked salmon had better be very very fresh. Appropriate veggies include red onions, capers, cucumbers and perhaps a little mesclun salad.

Alex on the Disney Magic will do your 'do right

2010-01-08T10:14:00.001-08:00

I have long hair. Really long hair. I don't get it cut often (or as some would say, often enough) but the second-to-last time was on our 2008 cruise on the Disney Magic. The lead hairdresser in the onboard Vista Spa, Alex, took care of me personally and did a terrific job.

I don't recommend booking a Disney Cruise just to get your hair done, but if you are on the Magic and it's due (or overdue) then you can't go wrong with Alex.

The nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me is... fix my car for free

2009-12-29T09:53:00.001-08:00

The time: early 2000s, probably mid 2001.

The place: Cerritos Pontiac, Cerritos, California.

We were on our way down to Disneyland for MouseAdventure, and a strange and troubling noise had started coming from my car, a 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, as we went through Kettleman City. The mechanic at a local gas station said it was a transmission problem but they couldn't do anything unless I wanted to leave the car for a few days. In Kettleman City.

View Larger Map

We had (and have) AAA Plus service, so elected to keep going and hope we'd make it to Southern California, knowing that if the car failed we could get a tow pretty much all the way. We made it to Cerritos Pontiac, where I'd originally bought the car a few years before, an hour or so before the service department closed.

The service professionals there took a quick look and determined that the transmission was toast and needed to be replaced. The service coordinator, a woman named Solange (memorable name), looked over my warranty details and informed me that although I was still within the 36 month period, I'd gone just a bit over the 36,000 miles and therefore the repair wouldn't be covered.

And then she said, "But we'll cover it anyway, because clearly a three year old transmission shouldn't just fail like this."

We rented a car to drive home and I drove back down a week later to pick up my car, fully repaired and good as new.

I don't know if Solange is still at Cerritos Pontiac, and given GM's troubles I don't even know if they still sell Pontiacs, but this is definitely the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for me and I wish her the best in whatever she's doing.

Chinese take-out tastes better when it's left over

2009-12-29T09:24:00.001-08:00

Chinese take-out
Like many dishes that are combinations of many ingredients, a day or so in the refrigerator gives the flavors a chance to meld and deepen. One day later, it's better than it was when we brought it home.

My favorite local Chinese take-out place is Jing Jing, on Emerson St in downtown Palo Alto. They specialize in hot-and-spicy Szechwan Hunan‎ cuisine and, barring a couple of missteps, almost everything I've tried has been very tasty and well executed.

View Larger Map

Some past MouseAdventure scavenger hunt items: Tabasco sauce packet, invalid FastPass...

2009-12-23T20:29:00.001-08:00

Back before MouseAdventure got to its current maximum size of 200 teams / 700 players, we occasionally had actual "scavenger hunts" as some of the quests. These days having 200 teams actually bringing us things during the event would be... a little more difficult to deal with.

Tabasco sauce packet

Having teams bring us Tabasco packets was just part of one of the quests, but it did ensure that we had a ready supply of travel-size seasoning whenever we needed it. For a year.

Invalid FastPass

To get an invalid FastPass, you first have to have a valid one. Most teams figured this out quickly and just hit the same FastPass machine twice in succession to get an invalid one.

Whiz ticket
I couldn't find a picture of this, and it's part of the history shared by just a very few people who played the first two a.d.d-quests. One of the items Kevin asked us to find, without explaining, was a "whiz ticket". I don't remember how we thought to ask at City Hall, but as it turns out a "whiz ticket" was used, back in the days before ubiquitous credit card terminals, for Disneyland cash handling paperwork. Needless to say City Hall would not let our team have one, but they would let me take a picture and Kevin accepted that.

One day is too long to go without showering...

2009-12-23T20:17:00.001-08:00

...but that's only because "half a day" wasn't an available option. Of possible mini-OCDs/fetishes, needing to be clean (take showers) and wear clean clothes is surely among the least disruptive or difficult. And that's how Andrew "C"s it.

If I can't sleep, I turn to melatonin

2009-12-23T20:15:00.001-08:00

Actually, I take melatonin before bed every night and it usually works.

Day 180: Sadly I have had to use this

Which is to say, when I remember to take the melatonin (which is most of the time) I can usually get to sleep within a reasonable amount of time and stay asleep all night. Sometimes it doesn't work, and then I'm awake all night. Thus the name of this site and its origin.

Combat Skiing should be added to the Olympics

2009-11-23T09:37:00.001-08:00

Combat Skiing
Combat Skiing is an evolution of the Biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing with target shooting. I'd replace the live ammunition with paint pellets and get rid of the targets altogether; competitors would be shooting at each other as they're skiing. Think of it as live auditions for a James Bond movie.

I'm a Mac. Are you surprised?

2009-11-18T10:14:00.001-08:00

I grew up with PCs. My first PC was an actual, original IBM PC model 5150 (which still lives, dormant for decades now, in my garage). Along the way, I worked on Commodores (VIC-20 and C-64), an Osborne, a Sinclair ZX-80, and there must have been an Apple ][ in there somewhere. But the PC standard won out and by the late 80s that was all I used. I went through a series of ever-more-powerful PCs, mostly home-built but some mass-market branded, for a number of years. I got to the point where I knew Windows, up through XP, like the back of the proverbial hand.

Meanwhile, Apple was evolving the Mac OS and finally released OS X, a true Unix-class OS with no legacy baggage. I watched from afar but as the OS and machines got better and better, I thought that I might be interested in making a switch--especially when Apple moved to Intel processors and it became possible to easily run Windows on Macs. Finally, I decided that when my then-current PC (a Dell Inspiron laptop) died, I'd buy a Mac notebook to replace it. Perversely, the Dell hung on for a year or two past its expected lifetime, but finally gave up the ghost when I (accidentally, I swear!) spilled most of a bowl of soup into it while working at home one day.

So I bought a MacBook Pro. I acclimated myself to OS X very quickly and was able to keep my Windows applications and workflows mostly intact with VMWare, running Windows side-by-side on OS X. But then a strange thing happened: I found I really didn't need Windows on my Mac after all. I tried keeping VMWare turned off for a week, then for a month, and then I just didn't turn it back on again and finally uninstalled it. There isn't anything that I could do on my Dell on Windows XP Pro that I can't do on my Mac, but (in my experience, as always) OS X beats Windows in the usability and stability department by a mile. And it's trite and over-used, but the Mac does indeed "just work". Things I want to do are right where I subconsciously expect them to be and work the way I instinctively want them to. There's tons of power under the hood, since OS X is a true Unix, but I don't need to deal with it unless I have to, or want to.

So yes, after years and years of being a PC, I'm a Mac.

I ran 2.33 miles around the Epcot Resort area this morning.

2009-11-12T21:56:00.001-08:00

Here's the route: on MapMyRun
11/12/2009 Route
Find more Runs in Bay Lake, Florida

My vanity plate is OMNIMVR

2009-11-12T20:54:00.001-08:00

"OmniMover" is the generic name for the ride vehicle system used in the Haunted Mansion and other Disney attractions. The word has always appealed to me so when I discovered "OMNIMVR" was available I had to get it for my first new car.

Forgive me, supreme release engineer deity, for I have sinned.

2009-11-06T17:51:00.000-08:00

I have coded multithreaded recursive Windows command scripts which call other multithreaded recursive Windows command scripts which then call Ant scripts. I have caused Window scripts to execute code on Linux servers. Further, I have exhibited pride about these actions. What shall my penance be, O supreme release engineer deity?

You'll probably see me in my combat boots and jeans

2009-11-06T08:50:00.001-08:00

combat boots

A properly broken-in pair of combat boots are the most comfortable footwear I've ever owned. I've had a pair or two ever since getting out of the Army.

blue jeans
Why does anyone wear jeans? They're comfortable, casual and look good. With the combat boots (see above) and a dark sweater I'm ready for work or nearly anything else.

The very best cold remedy is matzo ball soup, from Max's.

2009-11-03T16:54:00.001-08:00

Matzo ball soup, from Max's, is what I request every time I'm sick, and it almost always works. Huge matzo ball in the best chicken soup ever.

Palo Alto, CA to New York City, NY

2009-11-03T11:10:00.001-08:00

Ask me to drive cross-country and this is what you get.

This is not actually the route I'd pick, though it is what you get if you ask Google for "Palo Alto to New York" without any specifications. I'd probably stick with the suggested route early on, through Tahoe and Reno, and then branch off the Interstate a bit.

There's cat food in my pantry, among other things

2009-11-03T10:43:00.001-08:00

cat food

With three cats, always hungry all the time, we need to keep a lot of cat food (both canned and dry) on hand. We stock up at Pet Club whenever there's a sale on cans, almost always the 3 oz. Nutro Max Cat in various flavors.

Aussie cookies / Aussie bites

Aussie bites or Aussie cookies are tasty, energy-rich little morsels which are just right for a quick breakfast with some coffee or a protein shake.

Coffee, usually iced but sometimes hot, wakes me up in the morning

2009-11-03T10:24:00.001-08:00

Iced coffee is especially good because I can drink it faster, thereby getting the caffeine kick all the quicker. Hot coffee is okay when I don't need to be awake right away but can come to consciousness more gradually.

I haven't yet been to the Walt Disney Family Museum...

2009-11-03T10:12:00.001-08:00

The WDFM opened recently in the Presidio of San Francisco, and while I haven't been there yet I'm sure we will eventually. If not before April 2011 then definitely on the San Francisco overnight of the Disney Wonder's Los Angeles-to-Vancouver repositioning.

Note that Plinky's auto-inserted map is completely wrong. The Museum is here.

Hacking PicasaWeb's slideshow

2009-10-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

My MousePlanet article today is a 135-image photo tour of "HalloweenTime" at the Disneyland Resort. That many photos would have been way too many for a traditional album format, so (since my photos are all on PicasaWeb anyway) I used the PicasaWeb embedded slideshow player. Unfortunately, it has some design issues that bother me: text (caption) color, size and background; speeding by the pictures way too quickly (3 seconds!) and a Picasa logo in the bottom right corner.

A bit of Googling found this blog post at Mat.Su which explains how to set the slideshow interval. The author mentions "taking a peek inside" the Flash file that actually powers the slideshow and so I thought that I might see what other hidden parameters I could find. Note, however, that I don't know the first thing about Flex or ActionScript except in that it seems to be pretty similar to other C-style languages.

I ran slideshow.swf through Trillix Flash Decompiler and searched through the script code for variables which can be specified via the embed URL. It seems that these are part of a _root array. Some of them are understandable, others are not. Here's what I found:

host – should always be picasaweb.google.com
port – presumably a TCP port
scalemax – unknown
interval – as described in the linked blog post above
gp – setting it to anything disables the display of the PicasaWeb username and icon, though the user icon is still shown
attachMovie – seems to call a function, but is part of the _root array so included in this list
getNextHighestDepth – seems to call a function, but is part of the _root array so included in this list
feed – the actual PicasaWeb album being displayed in the slideshow, URL-encoded
font – looks like it should control the caption text size, but in experimenting couldn't make it do anything
text – RGB for caption text
textBackground – RGB for caption background
textAlpha – I think it’s a percentage value, controls the transparency for the caption background
captions – boolean, display captions or don’t
noautoplay – boolean, autoplay or don’t
RGB – frame around the slideshow

Hope this helps someone. I’d love to know what some of those other parameters do.

The wild things are at Disney's Animal Kingdom

2009-10-05T09:34:00.001-07:00

Tigers, elephants, meerkats, tons of other animals and ME in just over two weeks.

Monday, Oct 19: Fly SFO to MCO

Tuesday, Oct 20: Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party - I will once again represent breakfasters everywhere as The Waffler

Saturday, Oct 24: Board Disney Magic for seven night Eastern Caribbean cruise

Saturday, Oct 31: Return home

I'm sure there will be significant time at Disney's Animal Kingdom sometime in that first week.