Hotashi - Jack’s Blog

I was browser around on lifehack today and found this entry for Google Experimental’s keyboard shortcuts. Of particular interest if the comment left Davosian that gives a way of adding the keyboard shortcut to your Firefox search bar.

From the post:

I added a new search engine to Firefox’s top right search field by adding the following xml file to

C:\Documents and Settings\[YOURUSERNAME]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[YOURPROFILENAME]\searchplugins:

—– googleext.xml start ————
<SearchPlugin xmlns=”http://www.mozilla.org/2006/browser/search/”>
<ShortName>Google Exp</ShortName>
<Description>Google Experimental Search</Description>
<InputEncoding>UTF-8</InputEncoding>
<Image width=”16″ height=”16″>data:image/x-icon;base64,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</Image>
<Url type=”application/x-suggestions+json” method=”GET” template=”http://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?output=firefox&client=firefox&qu={searchTerms}”/>
<Url type=”text/html” method=”GET” template=”http://www.google.com/search”>
<Param name=”q” value=”{searchTerms}”/>
<Param name=”ie” value=”utf-8″/>
<Param name=”oe” value=”utf-8″/>
<Param name=”esrch” value=”BetaShortcuts”/>
<!– <Param name=”esrch” value=”RefinementBarLhsGradientPreview”/> –>
<!– Dynamic parameters –>
<Param name=”rls” value=”{moz:distributionID}:{moz:locale}:{moz:official}”/>
<MozParam name=”client” condition=”defaultEngine” trueValue=”firefox-a” falseValue=”firefox”/>
</Url>
<SearchForm>http://www.google.com/firefox</SearchForm>
</SearchPlugin>
—– googleext.xml end ————

You have to restart Firefox for this search engine (called Google Exp) to show up in the dropdown list.

D.

I just saw a really cool demo of a product called Photosynth. It’s a new way to link and present digital images on a computer. There is also a demo on the Live website, so you can check it out yourself.

I was just reading an article on Coding Horror on captchas. It talked about sites using bad captchas (like ticketmaster), so that even humans cannot read them. Oh, if you don’t know, captchas are those little images that contain distorted text in which users must fill out before submit a form. You’ll see them on a lot of blogging sites so prevent bots from spamming the comments. Google also uses it for Gmail to prevent bots from signing up spam accounts.

Anyway, back to the topic, I was thinking whether I can develop some sort of algorithm to beat even the most advanced captchas currently deployed on the web. I mean, if humans can read them, then there has to be a way to do image analysis to recognize text, right? Maybe I should try making such a program, and then selling it on the underground markets in Russia. I’m just joking — about the selling part.

It was Ams and mine 4 year anniversary on Thursday (Nov. 15th). I took Friday off so I could go to Waterloo and visit her. We were looking at some old photos of us, and oh man I can’t believe we used to look like that. I’d say that we look much improved since our first date four years ago. What did she see in me at the time? heh :P

First date

4 yeasr later

I’ve been very busy at work for the last little while. There are a lot of projects here and there that I’m working on. High on my current priority list is a mobile version of the GlobeInvestor website that will be launching along with a mobile version of the Globe & Mail website. The day goes by so fast when you have a ton of crap to do at work. I can’t believe it’s November already, with Christmas just over the horizon! Everyday is so routine, and I’m starting to get bored of it… not the work, but just that everyday is more of less the same thing. I guess no matter what your work is, eventually it’s just gonna become routine, which kinda sucks.

If I wasn’t saving up money I’d definitely take a long weekend, or even take a week off, to go somewhere and have fun. But alas, I don’t have that much money to spend on vacations. I just hope that I do get to go to Japan and Korea next year, I really need a break.