Art School Dropout

Greasemonkey Script for Right Click Menu in Gmail

This greasemonkey script shows a special "right click menu" (also known as a "context menu") when using Gmail. Currently, the menu lets the user navigate around the site. He or she can jump to "inbox", "compose new", "sent messages", "contacts", etc. More advanced functionality is coming soon, including separate menus for various pages and the ability to issue commands (e.g., "Delete this message").

Here's a link to the script:

http://www.room117.com/gmailrightclick.user.js

One goal of this script is to place some of Gmail's extra functions such as "Filter messages like this" in a sub-menu that is close by at all times. Another goal is to access keyboard short cuts using the mouse. The menu could show the corresponding keyboard shortcut for each action and train users to use keyboard shortcuts instead.

Screen shot:

Risky Business

I love this maneuver for its risk: even a small bump or wobble could ruin the night. (I couldn't imagine a worse fate than accidentally spilling your own beer all over yourself for the sake of a party gag.) Thankfully Megan is cool under pressure. :-)

A FireFox Hack: Search the current site with Google

Google lets users search within a single domain by using the syntax"site:" followed the domain. On its Search Features page, Google gives this example:

Here's how you'd find admission information on the Stanford University site:

I extended this concept so that it can be used with the Google search bar in FireFox to search the current site with the syntax "site:this". Here's two screen shots to show how it works (click to make the picture bigger):


I inserted this code into the file 'nsSearchService.js' right after line 734. (This file is located inside FireFox's components folder on your local machine.) The beauty of this technique is that it could be applied in other ways. For example, users could preface a search with "images" to conduct a Google Image Search from the search bar in FireFox.

I believe the solution I propose above is the fastest and most direct way to integrate "search this site" functionality into FireFox. Nonetheless, it bears mention that similar solutions exist; in the form of a separate search engine or a custom bookmark/search via the location bar or even a special button. In addition, Google's Advanced Toolbar for Firefox enables users to search within the current site. However, a special button is required; there's no syntax that I know of to streamline this process.

*** Note: code revised June 11, 2008 ***

One-Armed Bandit

I tried, but could not find, the world record for longest handstand and or the world record for the longest one-armed handstand. Thus I am going to throw my hat into the ring with a time of about five seconds; just long enough to snap a photo.

Out: BuzzPost, In: NinjaPost

The ninjapost.com domain name has been secured. I was surprised (but pleased) that it was available. Good domain names are increasingly hard to find. This means BuzzPost will soon be re-branded. Though I was happy with the BuzzPost moniker, despite my best efforts, I could not obtain the buzzpost.com domain from the current squatter.

Quote of the day

Quoting Gina Trapani from "Crowdsourcing a Better Gmail" Presentation Slides and Notes:

"Like most great ideas I've had about the web, someone else had the exact same idea months earlier, built it, released it, and moved on."

I swear I was on my way to long-lived internet fame and glory until I found that a DragAndDropUpload Firefox extension for Gmail files (FF Add on page here) already exists.

It works very well---I highly recommend this extension. :-)

Ninjawords

Ninjawords is fantastic! Too bad there's no thesaurus that's just as versitile. (Note that ninjawords sometimes provide links to synonymns, however.)

The domain makes me think that I should re-brand BuzzPost as "NinjaPost." I guess everyone reaches that crossroads where they decide whether or not it's time to throw their lot in with Ask a Ninja, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), Ninja Burger and Ninja Gaiden. Well, I'm standing at that precipice right now.


"Guaranteed delivery in 30 minutes or less, or we commit Seppuku!"

Jeopardy!

Sometimes I get the impression that Alex Trebek would know all the answers (er, questions) even if he didn't have the entire board on note cards in front of him. I would love to see how well he would fare in an actual game of Jeopardy! But the problem is that if Trebek were playing, there would be no host. Who could possibly fill the void? No one; Jeopardy wouldn't be Jeopardy without Alex Trebek. But what if you had to pick a replacement? I mean, absolutely had to pick someone to take over. Megan says Bob Barker (if he's still alive). I'm gonna go with Stephen Hawking.

The Deathly Hollows Symbol

From Wikipedia:

"The circle represents the Stone of Resurrection, the triangle represents the Cloak of Invisibility, and the line represents the Elder Wand."



Until I looked up the Deathly Hallows and re-read the Tale of the Three Brothers I had essentially forgotten its meaning; it a took a while to jog my memory. It makes me think there should be a little reading (or viewing) comprehension quiz for popular books and movies and even newspaper articles. Something like that could help reinforce the author's main points. Plus I always wonder how well information that I read once stays with me and I wonder how my reading comprehension skills compare to the average person.

I recently found myself in the same situation with the movie Reservoir Dogs---I forgot how the heist played out in the end. Praise Jeebus for Wikipedia:

Joe points a gun at Mr. Orange as Mr. White points his gun at Joe. Eddie then points his gun at Mr. White, posing a Mexican standoff. Joe shoots Mr. Orange and is then shot dead by Mr. White; Eddie shoots Mr. White, who shoots and kills Eddie. Mr. Pink, who stayed out of the shootout, takes the diamonds and flees. There is some ambiguity as to what his fate is. Some barely audible dialogue suggests he was subdued by the police. Mr. White cradles Mr. Orange in his arms and Mr. Orange reveals that he is a cop, devastating his friend. Mr. White puts his gun to Mr. Orange's head just as the police enter. Mr. White defies the warnings of the police and shoots Mr. Orange; the police, in turn, shoot Mr. White, killing him.

NY Times: In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?

Article from today's NY Times: In the Age of TiVo and Web Video, What Is Prime Time?:

Who stole six million viewers?...Some of the six million are still watching, but on their own terms, thanks to TiVos and other digital video recorders, streaming video on the Internet, and cable video on demand offerings. So while overall usage of television is steady, the linear broadcasts favored by advertisers are in decline.

This article states the obvious: the practice of "time shifting" via DVR is growing ever more popular; prime time television is losing some cache but TV advertising remains a $9B business; young viewers networks are willing to absorb their favorite shows via the web or iTunes, etc. No surprises here. (Well, except for the fact the author does not mention MythTV in this context, though perhaps that's more disappointing than surprising.)

In any event, what is surprising is that neither the author nor the executives quoted in the article perceive the threat that bittorrent and sites that illegally stream television shows (e.g., Surf the Channel, WatchTVSitcoms, ChannelSurfing.net, etc.) pose to the traditional TV advertising model. And even for the emerging DVR model: there is always that show that you wanted to see but forgot to record.)

It seems that any popular show (or song or movie or book) is bound, to some degree, to suffer from something similar to the Streisand effect where attempts to censor or remove a piece of information backfires, causing the information to be widely publicized. Understanding how the S.E. affects DRM and digital media should hasten networks to place more content online cede more control to users over when, where and how content is consumed. It's a classic case of "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."

Though it should be noted that TV execs have at least one ace up their sleeve: if viewers watch fewer commercials, then the ones they do watch become more valuable. It's so easy to become immune to a multitude of advertisements. But with fewer ads, the ones that come through are more meaningful to the viewer. This could increase the cost networks charge per ad and possibly offset some losses wrought by the shift to DVR and give the consumer more content for his or her time.

A friendly reminder