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Fission

I decided today that the two halves that formerly comprised this blog (computer tech on the one side, everything else on the other) cannot peaceably coexist. For this reason I have broken off all of my personal anecdotes and non-computer related entries and created Stuff. Stuff will be my personal blog and Energy for Celerity will now be a 100% tech related blog. This will allow people on both sides to better find what they are after. You may want to follow one or both blogs (or neither, i suppose).

So:
Energy for Celerity - Tech Blog
Stuff - Personal Blog

Applications for a More Social OS X

Mac OS X is great, with 10.6 rounding out what I do feel to be the best operating system available for home users. But just like any other operating system, except for Jolicloud, OS X is not an innately social creature.

Though you'll likely have to click on the image above in order to see properly, this image shows you (in the upper right hand corner) the icons for four programs that will help you stay social online: Dropbox, Google Notifier, Twitterrific and Facebook Notifications.

All four of these programs can take advantage of Growl (though one won't immediately out of the box), a unified system for subtle notifications. Growl is an amazing, very understated piece of software. Since it is the link between these minimalistic programs and you, I will first give a step-by-step on how to get Growl. (If you have a reason to hate Growl, it certainly isn't required for any of these applications -- but I think it improves their worth by a great deal.)

Growl:
For Mac OS 10.4 or 10.5 - http://perian.cachefly.net/growl/Growl-1.1.6.dmg
For Mac OS 10.6 - http://growl.info/files/beta/Growl-1.2b3.dmg
(Do note that for 10.6 users this install is a BETA, though I have not run into any problems yet.)

After Growl is installed by following the easy onscreen directions, you are ready to install the other applications.


Dropbox:
Dropbox is an online storage and sharing service with a desktop application add-on. The add-on allows you to move files from this online service to your computer and back again as if you were moving files between any two regular folders on your computer. In other words, you won't even know that the Dropbox folder hosts all of its files online. This is an amazing service for keeping files up to date across multiple computers of any operating system. You can also access the files online through their website without installing any software. In the event that your computer crashes, any of the files you had in your Dropbox will still be waiting for you, safely stored on their servers. You won't have to worry about using USB drives or e-mail to move files around from work, school, and home.

In the name of fair disclosure, I'll tell you that Dropbox allows for inviting other users and in doing so the one doing the inviting benefits from it. Signing up for Dropbox using this URL will let the Dropbox team know that I referred you and will get me an extra 250MB of storage space (something I will love you for). That being said, if you are uncomfortable with that for any reason then you can use this URL to sign up without giving me this bonus.

I won't post links directly to the application installer because their website is so well-tuned and straightforward. Just head over to Dropbox, make an account, and follow their instructions to get started. I can't say enough great things about this service.


Google Notifier:
You do have a Gmail account, don't you? Please tell me that you aren't still using Yahoo or anything else when Google is offering you an e-mail account that also grants you access to amazing extras like these. If you have a Gmail account then Google Notifier is for you, and if you don't have a Gmail account then you ought to go sign up.

Google Notifier will show you how many unread messages you have in your Gmail inbox via a simple icon on your desktop menu bar. From there, it allows you to go straight to any of the first few unread messages or your inbox in general. Additionally, you can go from your desktop to composing a message in just two clicks.

Download the application by clicking here and following Google's instructions for the install. Enter your Gmail account name and password. I won't go into more details here because it is relatively straightforward, but if you have any problems you can contact me on twitter, or leave a message here.

Some of you may be content to leave it here, but I certainly wasn't. Without further work, Google Notifier will use its own notification system. This isn't a problem in and of itself, but if you are like me (you will be by the end of this blog entry) and use multiple programs that need to leave notifications then you will want a unified notification system (and that's Growl). If any of this gets too complicated, nothing will be ruined by leaving Google Notifier as it is and moving on to the next program I have highlighted in this blog entry.

In order to get Google Notifier to use Growl, we need to use another very tiny program which can be found here. Once you visit the site, click on the button that reads 'Download Google+Growl 3.0.' Once the zip file finishes downloading, open it and run the program 'Google+Growl Utility' found in the folder (there is no need to move this file into your Applications folder, it will be removed when we are done). It will tell you to quit Google Notifier momentarily before install, which you should do. Once the program is installed you will open Google Notifier again (you may need to locate and launch it in your Applications folder) and go to the Google Notifier Preferences from its menu. Uncheck 'Display new message pop-up' under the 'Gmail' tab, and if you will be using this program for Google Calendar as well then uncheck 'Display upcoming event reminder pop-up' under the 'Calendar' tab. From here it is very easy to use 'Google+Growl Utility' to change the way the messages will be displayed. Once they are displayed to your liking, you can close and, if you want, delete 'Google+Growl Utility.'

Now you should have Google Notifier using the same Growl notifications that all of your other applications will use. You won't have to worry about one popping up and obscuring the other, or interfering with the others in any other way.


Twitterrific:
Twitterrific is a desktop application for viewing and sending tweets via Twitter. You do need a Twitter account in order to use Twitterrific, so if you don't already have one and you want to give it a shot, then head over there and sign up. The main advantage of Twitterrific over all of it's competition is visual. It is a stunningly simple, elegant looking program.

Download the installer by clicking here. This installation is yet another simple one, and so I'll let the installer lead you through it. Enter your Twitter name and password to get started. Note that this is ad supported, so you will see relatively unobtrusive advertisements worked in every once in a while. Trust me, it won't bother you that much. Twitterrific will use Growl to notify you of new tweets by default.


Facebook Notifications:
This application will give you quick access to various aspects of your Facebook profile. In addition it will use Growl to update you when you have any notifications on Facebook. It's very simple. Just in case you miss the Growl notification, the icon will turn dark blue in your tray (usually it is black) to indicate that you have new activity.

Download the application here, and follow all of the instructions. You will need to click through a series of Facebook pages in order to allow the program proper access to your information. Approve it for everything. This is another simple installation, so after running the program and entering your Facebook login and password, it should work without a hitch.


That's it. You now have four new applications that will keep you social while using Mac OS X. If you have any other applications that you like to use, or that you think deserve a mention here, feel free to leave a comment.


EDIT: The graphic I was using from Twitterrific's website stopped displaying for one reason or another. Maybe they didn't want the free publicity. I've replaced it with my own. Additionally, note that any obscuring of images was done by me after the fact in order to preserve peoples' privacy.

How to Make Firefox Suck Less

In the last entry I talked about using Greasemonkey to make the Facebook experience more enjoyable. One problem that I lamented very briefly was that this script didn't function in Greasekit, a program used to run Greasemonkey scripts in Safari and WebKit. Because of this I ended up spending some time in Firefox, which is something I rarely do. Truth be told, I despised Firefox (or at least it's unaltered form) even though I was a longtime user on Windows. I was, for the most part, a Safari user -- and even then only because of the dismal state of Chrome and Chromium on Mac.

Since I had to use Firefox for a bit though, I decided to make the best of it. How do you make the best of Firefox? Make it as much like Chrome on Windows as possible. Although Chrome is struggling to reach feature parity with Firefox, it truly is a more innovative browser. Features like it's Omnibox make me wonder what browser developers were even thinking with a separated address and search bar. If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry. The purpose of this entry is to get you a better Firefox.

First, there are seven add-ons that you should add to Firefox in order to get an ideal experience. Note that this is my opinion and as I will be providing you descriptions of each Add-on, it is up to you which ones you install. I do suggest them all though. Make sure that you have the latest stable version of Firefox installed.


Install:
* Adblock Plus - An add-on that blocks many online advertisements and keeps itself up to date automatically.
* Adblock Plus: Element Hiding Helper - An addition to Adblock Plus that allows for the blocking of Elements. This helps to block text ads.
* Download Statusbar - Ditch that antiquated, clunky download window. This opens a bar at the bottom of your browser when you download files. Watch download progress and launch files easily. Lots of customization options.
* Fast Dial - A visual bookmark system. This allows you to have a start page or new tab page much like the new Safari or Chrome browsers have. Very intuitive. After install, set your homepage to 'about:blank' in order to use this feature when the browser starts up. Sites must be added manually by clicking on the empty slots.
* Fission - Displays the loading bar for websites behind the address bar. This is very similar to what Safari does.
* Greasemonkey - Allows users to run scripts in order to customize their web experience. Many scripts can be found at userscripts.
* Smart Stop/Reload - Combines the browsers Stop and Reload buttons. Why would you need to reload while a page is loading, and why would you need to stop once the page is fully loaded? Combine the buttons and save the space.


Now we need to make a few changes to the way Firefox works. Note that whenever I say something like Paste or go to 'bla', I mean that you will paste only what is between the marks, excluding the marks themselves.

Tweaks:
* Combine the Search and Address bars - Why would you want to click into a separate box in order to do a Google search? In order to do searches and direct URL entry from the same bar we need to edit Firefox's configuration. Go to 'about:config' in the address bar. You should be greeted by a dialogue that prompts you to hit 'I'll be careful, I promise.' Click on this button. Now use the new search dialogue at the top to search for 'keyword.URL' and right click on this value once it is displayed. Select 'Modify' and paste 'http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=' for the value. Close that tab, because we're done with it.
* Now to remove unwanted interface items. Go to 'View' > 'Toolbars' > 'Customize...' From here you can drag the shorter search entry field into the new gray box that has appeared in order to remove it. From this point on, entering anything into the main address bar with a domain name (like .com, .org) will take you to a website, while anything else (like 'how to canoe,' 'what is water,' 'why am I alive?") will give you Google search results. This is similar to Google Chrome.
* I also chose to remove the 'Home' button, the Adblock Plus icon, and the Fast Dial icon in the same way that I removed the search field (View' > 'Toolbars' > 'Customize...' and then drag them off).
* Lastly, Click on the 'View' menu and select 'Status Bar.' This should uncheck the Status Bar and make it disappear. With the add-ons we have selected, this bar is just a waste of pixels.

When all is said and done your Firefox install should look something like this (Click to enlarge, slightly different on Windows):



That's it. Now you have a version of Firefox that doesn't suck nearly as bad as it used to. Because of these changes I now use Firefox as my default browser. I'll stick with it until Chrome for Mac is stable enough to handle my everyday needs.

The Best Way to View Facebook

Entry before last I was talking about Facebook lite, and how with a few fixes on their side and a new Greasemonkey script, it could be ideal. Well, although bug fixes and other general fixes have not been released by Facebook as of this entry, a nice Greasemonkey script has been and so I've decided to re-post it here.

This script will completely remove the right column of Facebook lite, which will in turn remove the 'People You May Know' section and any advertisements. In case it hasn't sunk in yet, I'll draw attention to it: This means that when you visit Facebook lite you will be able to interact with Facebook with faster loading times, no bloat, no apps and no advertisements. This is the best way to interact with Facebook that I have found to date. There are Greasemonkey scripts that allow you to strip advertisements and apps out of Facebook proper but Facebook will still take ages to load and most the scripts I have found are a bit sloppy.

Those of you who know about Greasemonkey can skip this paragraph, while those who don't should continue reading. Greasemonkey is a Firefox add-on that allows users to run scripts that (among other things) alter the way in which content is displayed in the browser. In order to use these scripts you need to install the add-on by visiting this Firefox page using the Firefox browser. Please be sure that you have the latest stable version of the browser installed. Once you install the add-on by clicking on the green button that reads "Add to Firefox," you will be prompted by a dialogue box to restart Firefox, which you should do.

Although there are ways to use Greasemonkey scripts in browsers like Safari (using GreaseKit), some scripts will not function properly, and unfortunately this script is one of them. For this script, to my knowledge thus far, you will need to run Firefox. I have alerted the author of the script but as it is not his concern that it doesn't work for unintended applications, I don't expect any changes to be made.

Head over to this page on userscripts and click the green install button. If GreaseMonkey is already enabled, you should be able to then click 'Install' again on the dialogue after a few seconds. If clicking this button instead takes you to a page with a bunch of code, make sure that you have Greasemonkey installed properly by checking your Add-ons in Firefox under 'Tools,' 'Add-Ons.' It's as easy as that. Now, when you head over to Facebook lite you shouldn't see any ads or the annoying 'People You May Know' frame. Although Facebook still needs to fix a lot of bugs in lite, this is as good as it gets for this dying service (perhaps I will explain later why, counter to all indication, I actually believe facebook is dying).

EDIT: There are few bugs that are showstoppers. I cannot imagine that these bugs could last more than a weak without being fixed by a company as big as Facebook though, so I stand by this being the best way to view Facebook.

Facebook Lite Review

I thought that I would jump into the fray by posting a short review of "Facebook lite."

Facebook lite is a stripped down version of Facebook that is now available in India and the U.S. for testing purposes. Facebook has claimed that the alternative website is for those with slower connections, but I am not completely convinced that this is Facebook's only (or even primary) aim. Of course, people are comparing the altered site to Twitter. While I think that the two sites are completely different in level of functionality and in their uses, I do see Facebook lite, at least in part, as an attempt by Facebook to compete in the microblogging realm.

First though, let me tell you what isn't working in Facebook lite. As best I can tell, everything under the 'Settings' tab with the exception of selecting the language that the site is displayed in is nonfunctioning. These aren't things that are stripped out, they just aren't implemented yet. What I like though is that the way in which things are laid out in the Settings tab suggests that Facebook is finally getting serious about their promise to simplify their nightmare-inducing-settings-dialogues.

Facebook lite is also lacking in many features that it's big brother has. How many of these are actually purposeful (and not just unimplimented) is your guess, as some of the missing features are not just bloat. These features include lists, chat, applications (thank God), the ability to post links (as anything other than plain hyperlinks without image preview), the ability to record video (you can upload video but I couldn't find an option to record straight from my webcam) and the ability to post anything like videos or pictures directly onto another user's wall. Perhaps many of these are lacking because, again, Facebook touts this as low bandwidth.

Facebook lite also represents a stylistic change. the "Home" link at the top has been removed (one clicks on the Facebook logo to go home) as has the "Friends" link. Added to the top is a link to "Events." When viewing a person's profile, the links "Wall" and "Info" now appear on the left instead of the top along with a new link to "Friends" and a combined link to "Photos and Video."

When looking at a picture the comments appear on the right side instead of underneath the picture, and as with the rest of the site photos do not appear next to those who comment on content (photos also do not appear in the search bar).

My impression is that Facebook lite is a good idea that is in need of a lot more work. This shouldn't be surprising in a beta, but I truly believe some of the changes necessary are very fundamental. I would love to see the "People you may know" section removed in favor of "Events," or a simplified notifications pane as is in use on the regular iteration of Facebook. Yes, I know that "Events" is now big and bold at the top, but I liked the quick overview. Notifications are also now a lot more informative (and moved to a different page), but it wouldn't hurt, again, to see an overview. Additionally, the inability to record video directly from my webcam or post videos or pictures on a friends wall is unacceptable. This is so simple and wouldn't require that much extra interface distraction (which I know "lite" aims to minimize).

Not all of the changes are bad though. Removing applications is a Godsend. Applications are ruining the Facebook experience, and they have almost driven me away completely on multiple occasions. I should never have to see a single word about an application (especially ones I don't choose to seek out). I do also think that the "Photos & Video" interface is much improved (with the comments on the side for simultaneously viewing and typing, etc). The best change though is the speed at which Facebook lite loads. It's much faster that it's big brother.

Overall I would say that Facebook lite is a good alternative for those who want to rid their lives of Facebook Apps. The inability to control posted content in as fine-grained a way as on Facebook proper is a sacrifice I shouldn't have to make, but one I likely will (because of my hatred of Apps).

Now the community just needs to wait for a Greasemonkey script to make a good thing better, and hope that Facebook brings a few more things over. I would love to run a Greasemonkey script to get rid of the "People you may know" section as well as the advertisements.

EDIT: As an additionI must report that I have had no success being able to remove status updates. If you update your status and click to remove it, you will be taken to a blank page and the status will need to be removed using facebook proper. Very annoying. Additionally, I found no way to exclude certain friends' updates from appearing in my news feed.. so you will have to deal with all of your more annoying friends even if you don't have to deal with application and quiz related annoyances. Boy does lite need some work.

Silly Captchas

I just finished inviting a number of friends (you?) on Facebook to check out this blog. As many of you know, there is a prevalent system in place to stop spam posting. These captchas can be quite strange and I thought I would post some of the best I came across. The previous entry is still, at this point, the main attraction.

Not quite sure why I added this one, but it stood out.

Or not to carjack?

Something one does with their time off.

This sounds like a newspeak, conservative slogan.

It just sounded nice.

Some kind of a foretold pastry? Or perhaps just a person from Berlin.

I wonder if it was a careless year.

One of my favorites. Merriam-Webster has your back on this one.

I wonder who he was, or if he existed at all.

This one doesn't need much in the way of a caption.