Hero Inc.

One of the great abilities of being a computer dork with limited programming training is the knowledge that one can make his/her life even better if he/she can script away the repetitive tasks of the day. In a previous post, I talked about the iMacro plugin for FireFox. Well, I’ve taken my life a step further by trying to create a few homemade scripts via BASH.

Before people start to respond, yes I know I am a dork. I realize that working on building scripts like these on a Saturday is not someone else’s idea of fun, but I enjoyed it and that’s all that matters.

• Open Terminal Here As Root – This script was sparked due to my dislike for having to navigate to specific folders via the command line.  Most linux/computer users will say I’m lazy and I’d have to agree with them.  I have a similar function on my work Windows environment thanks to the Microsoft Power Toys and I’ve always found it to be quite helpful and much faster for certain tasks.  I was planning to build this script for Linux (hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult to create), but someone had already beaten me to it and posted it on kde-look.org.  After downloading the file, I placed it in my home/$user/.kde/share/apps/konqueror/servicemenus in order for me to run the script through my system explorer (Konqueror).
• Get Team Trivia Answer – As many of you may know, I quite frequently go to trivia with friends.  In Atlanta, there are many Team Trivia locations.  At these locations one question’s answer is always printed in advance on the team website.  Many times we forget to look at the answer.  This script uses several basic utilities to check the site, see if today has an answer, and if does, then the answer should be emailed to me.  For not knowing much about bash scripting, this one took me longer than I wanted it to take.  Part of the issue was this was the first script I wrote and I had to setup sendmail on my system to work with Gmail.  As I write this, the script has just run and according to my email, today’s trivia Answer is McJob.
• Amarok Alarm Clock – Often times I enjoy waking up to Amarok playing music.  However, I often have forgotten to reset the volume level so that my music isn’t turned up to 11 and I have to jump out of bed due to the noise.  I’d rather wake up gradually.  The Amarok Alarm Clock script starts amarok and then gradually increases the volume until it is at 100%.  I even haded an extra check to turn off amarok after 15 minutes at full power.  My roommate has often times complained that I forget to turn off amarok when I leave for the weekend or I am away for week due to work.  This was very simple and easy to build thanks to Amarok’s wonderful API.
• URPMI Unlock – URPMI is the command-line package management tool used by the Mandriva Linux distribution. There have been a few times when I try to update/download new packages for my system that I receive an error stating that urpmi is currently locked.  This script, which I did not build and found on a forum, will unlock urpmi.  It’s as simple as that.

To automate these scripts to run each day, I use kAlarm which I mentioned in a previous post.  The same funcationality could be performed as a cron job, but like I said above, I’m lazy.

This video gets better and better the more times I watch it.

That’s an SEC referee for you.

Updated: October 21, 2008

Well, well, well. Here we are. Six weeks into the 2008/2009 NFL season and the Falcons are looking like a team that has left all baggage and thoughts of yesteryear behind them. As the Falcons head into their bye week, they stand at 4-2 after the recent climactic climatic win against the Monsters of Midway, the Chicago Bears. They are tied for 1st in the NFC South and above all expectations.

Before the season started, the Falcons were found to be cleaning out their closet in what is known throughout the NFL as a rebuilding year.  Gone was the dreaded D. Hall.  Gone was the Coach That Shall Not Be Named (P.S. I hope you lose every game you pig).  Gone was the memory of Michael Vick.  Enter new GM Thomas Dimitroff. Enter new head coach Mike “Smitty” Smith. Trades and signings were made but nothing that caught your eye. The draft came and went with a few Falcon fans left wondering “Why Ryan”, “Why not Glenn Dorsey”, and “Why trade up to get Sam Baker.” The preason passed as it always does with many stating that those games prove nothing. I only saw draftees actually looking as if they were drafted with a purpose.

I jokingly said to many that “he [a NFC South team] that finishes last one year will win the division the following year.”  My real expectation was to win a total of 5 games due to many weak opponents throughout the year.  I never saw a 4-2 record heading into this Bye week.  I’m not sure many did.  However, the season is far from over, but now is a good time to take note of what we know at this point in the season.

• Thomas Dimitrioff was the right choice in GM.  He builds through the draft and is looking to gain value in his prospects as quickly as he drafted them.
• Matt Ryan is the real deal.  He is a franchise QB and I’m sorry I was a doubter in the beginning.  Currently, he isn’t being forced to carry the entire team but has shown spots of brilliance that makes you think that he can when it is required.
• Michael “The Burner” Turner is the leading rusher in the NFL even with 3 decent/bad games.  The man can run and pounds it when the team needs it.  His running threat, along with Norwood, is helping teams stay honest in preparing for our run/pass attack.
• Our offensive line is the most underrated aspect of our team.
• Our defense isn’t amazing and is probably closer to average if not slightly less.  However, they do what they are asked and sometimes rise to the occasion to play like they are so much more.
• Roddy White is a legit WR.  The Falcons are still searching for the number 2 guy, but Jenkins and Douglas are doing every thing they can to prove they can be.  It will be better when Robinson returns as well.
• The new TE’s, Peele and Hartstock, are doing well.  I’m glad the trade for Gonzalez didn’t work out since we had just dropped Alge as a pass catching tightend.  No more Milner is also a plus.  I probably catch more than him and that’s not a good thing.
• It seems that the “Screamers Wanted” campaign is working and the Dome is looking to be a hostile environment (3-0 record so far).  I now really look forward to defending the Dome.
• The pregame videoes (Delta Safety spoof, Welcome to the Show, and Defend the Dome) actually inspire me every time.  I just wish they would update the Welcome to the Show and Defend the Dome with plays from the season similar to how UGA updates their pregame video.
• The next three games (@Eagles, @Oakland, Saints) will be tough.  Oakland is more mentioned due to two road games in a row.
• “Smitty” should be Coach of the Year and Matt Ryan Rookie of the Year, if voted ended today.

Overall, I only have one complaint this season.  Matt Ryan just doesn’t look cool when he wears the Under Armor white shirt.  A black version might help the situation but the white seriously hurts.  Seriously Matt.  You need to change the look.  A new nickname (“Matty Ice”) would be better as well.

Now please sit back and enjoy the rest of the season.  Here is a great video from the Falcons that basically sums up what this team and season means.  The Falcons website has more of these Vantage Point videos for the other games this season.

I’ve had a Netflix account for about two months now and I figured I would share a quick review of the movies I have seen so far. I think I will try to post a quick review for all of my Netflix movies by keeping to the Twitter concept of posting only 140 characters per review. It will be short, sweet, and hopefully most of the detail will be presented in the stars and less in words.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room For a couple of guys that brought ethical issues to the forefront of business, they were the smartest guys. [Rating:4.5/5]	The Prestige I believe in magic and Christopher Nolan. The man can make a great movie. [Rating:4.5/5]
The Illisionist There was magic and some decent actors but I didn’t get much else out of it. It is no Prestige. [Rating:3/5]	Bigger, Stronger, Faster* It all started out strong and looking like it could pull it off, but somehow seemed to shrivel up in the end. [Rating:3.5/5]
Speed Racer This was a true live action cartoon that was better than expected. I didn’t get a seizure, but it was close. [Rating:3/5]

Next up on my Netflix queue are: The Untouchables, Pan’s Labyrinth, Alien…………..

Earlier today I was looking at directions and I decided to use Google’s Street View.  I’ve used this feature before but I never paid too much attention to it.  Well, today something caught my eye and that is bad/illegal driving being displayed by Google.  Maybe they can be evil.

The first screenshot shows the Street View and the fully available turn lane on the right side of the image.

If I’m turning right, wouldn’t I need to use the turn lane?  Apparently not.

Way to go Google. I’m willing to bet you didn’t use your blinker either.

A few months ago, one of the guys at work (“Sugar” Ray) sent me an email about a new FireFox extension I might find useful. iMacro is quite simply a way to “automate firefox.” Have you ever found yourself wanting to automate certain activities you perform daily within your browser? Or are you unsure what you would need to automate? Here’s a quick sample of ways I have used iMacro to simplify my life.

• Testing for Web Applications – At work, I often have to build new capabilities into a web application. For these capabilities I need test users that sometimes can become a very repetitious task to create. Instead of taking 30 minutes or longer to create maybe 4 users, I use iMacro. I record my actions, save the macro and then set it to run for about 20 times. I then “set it and forget it.” I can walk away for lunch or attend a meeting while my users are being created.
• Entering a daily contest – Recently there was a contest for the chance to win a newly designed/decorated house. The contest allowed you to enter daily for more chances to win. I didn’t want to enter the form information every day so I made a quick macro to fill out the form for me. Instead of the 2 minutes to fill out the form, I was filling out the form daily within 10 seconds.
• Wachovia / Quicken – My biggest and favorite use of iMacro is with my bank accont. Wachovia earlier this year determined that it would charge users a monthly cost for using programs such as Microsoft Money or Quicken. Anytime these programs were used to pull account information the monthly charge would be instituted. For the record, I know Wachovia would enter you into the monthly charge even if you stopped using the program. To prevent the charge from appearing, one would need to stop using Money or Quicken as well as call and have yourself removed from the monthly charge. In order to keep the simplified way of using Quicken, I created a simple macro that would quickly login to my account and download the latest account information. By “manually” downloading the information, the charge would not apply. I was once again back on top of my finances and performing the same task I was before but now it was for free.

For advanced users, iMacro can utilize javascript for more programatic features but for simple every day use, it isn’t necessary. iMacro also comes with many sample macros to help you enhance your current macros or learn the capabilities of what iMacro can do for you. If anyone has any great macros they would like to share, please let me know. I’d love to hear them.