Critical Mass - CodePen

My first particle system. I had a lot of fun writing this, enjoy!

Kill Skype Home - Going Open Source!

I have really enjoyed all the comments and positive feedback I’ve gotten about Kill Skype Home (KSH)! A day or two after releasing KSH I started receiving requests to publish the source. To be honest I had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I have nothing to hide, and I want everyone to feel comfortable using KSH on their computer. On the other hand I spent a fair amount of time figuring out what I thought would be the best way for this program to work, and coding it.

So I started to research OS licenses, and what they meant. So I’m going to give this whole “Open Source” thing a shot. I’m releasing KSH under the GPL and starting a sourceforge project. Seeing as how I have no experience with sourceforge, I’ll ask that you bear with me as I figure it all out.

I’d love to hear your comments about this move and general thoughts on open source vs closed source projects.

KillSkypeHome on SourceForge

Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.
Albert Einstein

Kill Skype Home (KSH) - Get rid of that annoying “Skype Home” popup

Kill Skype HomeWith the new Skype update has come an annoying little window called Skype Home that pops up automatically when Skype starts. I don’t like things that serve no purpose and I don’t like things that pop up automatically. Now, when you combine the two, it’s just too much. So, of course, I had to write an app that fixes this issue. This script is designed to start with windows, kill the Skype Home window when it finds it, then closes itself so it no longer uses any system resources. For those of you who don’t leave skype running all the time, I’ve added “Persistent mode” which keeps KSH running and watching for Skype Home to pop up.

Features:

  • Kills the Skype Home window automatically
  • Minimizes Skype to the system tray when it starts
  • No installation required
  • Can hide KSH tray icon while running
  • Tiny 300KB file size
  • No dependencies required (no .NET framework)

Setting up KSH:

  1. Download the KillSkypeHome.exe file and run it
  2. If the “Open File - Security Warning” window comes up, uncheck the box called “Always ask before opening this file”, and click [Run].
  3. Right click on the icon down in the system tray and select “Start with Windows” (if you want KSH to run automatically when you startup)
  4. You’re done! Restart your computer and watch the Skype Home window disappear as soon as it pops up.

** IMPORTANT: Skype must be in “Compact View” for this to work. To use “Compact View” simply click [View] then select [Compact View] from the menu **


Download Kill Skype Home v1.0 [Donate]

  • UPDATE v1.0 - 09/22/2011 - No new features, this update just improves performance… imagine that! ;-)
  • UPDATE v0.9 - 09/08/2011 - Can now hide the KSH tray icon by pressing CTRL + F11. Also fixed a minor bug with minimizing Skype.
  • UPDATE v0.8 - 09/05/2011 - Removed “Nuke Skype Home” because it was only effective on 5.3, not 5.5. Fixed bug affecting users with a period in their Windows username. Now closes Skype Home and minimizes Skype to tray faster.
  • UPDATE v0.7 - 09/01/2011 - Will now minimize Skype to tray even if Skype Home is not found. Added option to “Nuke Skype Home”, which alters a database to permanently remove the Skype Home window.
  • UPDATE v0.6 - 08/23/2011 - Now minimizes Skype to tray. Better persistent mode functionality. 
  • UPDATE v0.5 - 08/16/2011 - Added support for killing Skype Home window in localized versions of Skype. Changed icon because the red icon was confusing when running in persistent mode.
  • UPDATE v0.4 - 08/11/2011 - Added an option to keep KillSkypeHome running (persistent mode). Also added an automatically generated config file to handle user preferences.
  • UPDATE v0.3 - 08/04/2011 - Added an option to minimize the main Skype window after Skype Home is closed.

100% Clear Software

Reveal Passwords gets full Internet Explorer 6+ support

Hello, Just wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know that I have updated Reveal Passwords with full IE 6+ support. It took a fair amount of trial and error, but I’m very happy with the end product. So go check it out and update your Bookmarks!

Reveal Passwords

Reveal hidden passwords in all major browsers

Reveal PasswordsDo you, or someone you know, use the browser’s built in ability to remember passwords to the point that you/they forget what the password actually is? Do you feel held hostage by your browser, praying each night that tomorrow the magical dots will still be there to let you into your mail account? Those little dots that mock you, declaring with each page visit “I know your password, but I’m not going to tell YOU what it is!” Well my friend, the day of reckoning has come!

Ok, so I went a little overboard there. I’ve written a bookmarklet that will allow you to reveal what is hidden behind your browser’s password mask. Simply drag the following link into your bookmarks. Then anytime you see a password field, you can click your bookmark to reveal the secret password beneath.

This script has been tested in:

  • Internet Explorer 6+
  • Firefox 3.6
  • Chrome
  • Opera 11
  • Safari


Reveal Passwords [Donate]

I love the smell of Pandora in the morning

Pandora + Tasker = LoveIf you are like me, you use your phone as an alarm clock. It’s convenient because no matter where you are, it’s always with you…ready to yank you from your sweet slumber. Today I’ll show you how to make a very basic alarm clock for Android using Pandora and Tasker. It is, in my humble opinion, absolutely the best way to wake up in the morning. Ok, fine, the smell of bacon and eggs would be better. So if anyone can figure out a way to rig up an alarm clock that starts making you breakfast, please contact me right away!

Read on for all the dirty details…

THE PROBLEM
Normally a cell phone alarm clock will wake you up with some horrendously annoying sound. Yes, true, most phones will let you pick a music ring tone or even an mp3 to wake up to. But that simply ruins whatever song you pick. No matter what song you choose, it will ever after be associated with the awful feeling of morning grogginess.

THE SOLUTION
Below I’ve listed a very basic Tasker alarm profile that will simply start your Pandora app at the designated time, and close the app when the profile exits. Remember, profile exit events are triggered when the condition is no longer true, so if you want Pandora to stop at 7:00 AM, you need to set your exit event for 6:59 AM. I then set my phones annoying “beep beep beep” alarm for 7:00 AM so that in case I sleep heavily on a particular morning, I will still be forced out of bed.

Please note, due to changes in the Android platform, phones running 2.2 or higher will NOT be able to kill the Pandora app by merely performing a “Kill App” task. This profile gets around the problem by pausing the music, going to the home screen, and then killing the app. I’ve found this to be very reliable but please let me know if you have any trouble with it.

Have a better way to wake up in the morning? Tell me about it in the comments!

Wake up my phone in an emergency!

Have you ever missed an important call because your phone was on silent? Or been reluctant to turn your phone to silent because you were afraid you’d miss an important call? NO LONGER! With Tasker (for Android phones only) and a few scripts I wrote, you can put those worries to rest.

Read on for all the instructions…

This idea originally came from a Lifehacker post that I read. However I tried to install their scripts on my phone to no avail. So I did what any developer would do. I wrote my own. The key difference between MY solution, and the one feature by Lifehacker is that mine doesn’t require you to list specific phone numbers that receive this privilege. It will work for anyone in your phone’s favorites list.

SO HOW DOES IT WORK?
When you get a missed call from someone on your favorites list while your phone is on silent, your phone will automatically send a text message to the number that called. This text message will instruct the caller to send you a text message that says “911” and then try their call again. When your phone receives the 911 text message, it will take your phone off silent. Your phone will remain un-silenced until you view the text message.

HOW DO I SET IT UP?
In order for this to work, you need to be running an Android phone and you will need to acquire the Tasker application. Once you are running Tasker, all you need to do is download the following tasks and profiles, and import them into Tasker by tapping your option key at the main Tasker screen and selecting “Profile Data”. Then you will need to choose “Import One Profile” or “Import One Task” and select the files that you downloaded. I would suggest importing the tasks first.

FILES

You can’t leave footprints in the sand of time if all you do is sit on your butt. And no one wants to leave butt-prints in the sand of time.