Not Light

A minute bears like eons

The days pass like moments

These puzzling mazes

I lose myself

To be found by you

A few rosy thorns pressed on me

The contagion stays

The wait never ends

Demons take over a hollow shell

Fourier Analysis Funny

Q: A girl is giving me mixed signals, what should I do?

A: Do Fourier analysis when you are getting mixed signals.

Enable "Click To Play For" Plugins in Firefox

I have a simple use case:

1. All plugins should run by default because they hog CPU and memory, and are potential security risks.

2. Flash plugin based ads are especially evil. They distract you from content and sometimes consume bandwidth by playing videos you don't want to watch. I don't block ads by default as I think they are good for web.

3. Allow plugins to run when I need them e.g. videos, games and applications.

Earlier I was using Flashblock, and I disabled Java and other plugins to achieve same goals. But with Firefox 21 (in Aurora channel) Flashblock doesn't work. Simpler and better solution is to enable click to play for plugins in Firefox. Following are the steps:

1. Enter "about:config" as address and press enter.

2. Click on "I will be careful, I promise!".

3. In the search box type "click_to_play". Toggle the value "plugins.click_to_play" to "true" by double clicking it or by pressing Enter after selecting it.

 

NOTE:  From Firefox 23 onwards (currently in Beta, Aurora and Nightly channels) you need to set the value of key "plugin.default.state" to 1 get the same effect.

 4. Next time plugins will not run and a placeholder will be shown instead:

You can run the corresponding plugin by clicking on it.


5. You will also see icon in Awesome bar next to address.

• Through this you can activate plugins for which nothing is displayed on the page, e.g. music playback.
• Add sites to whitelist so that all plugins are run by default for that site. This is similar to "Whitelist" in Flashblock.

Dialogue between Teacher and Student from Lions For Lambs

I simply liked the movie Lions For Lambs for its simplicity and the way it touches the aspects of politics from grass roots to top brass. However the dialogue between Dr. Malley and his student Todd is something which sets the perspective for events in the movie.

Though focused on issues of society and country it makes a good lesson for other aspects of life too.

Here is the listing:







Malley: They went to these high schools in the area where they grew up, godforsaken places that bear no resemblance to the schools you went to.

The first guys to sign up to fight are the ones this country doesn't treat well.

---
Malley: On the flip side, you got kids that can take advantage of every gift this country has.

Todd: Like me?

Malley: Usually they're the first ones to take a big step back when it comes time for volunteers.

Todd: Are you recruiting me?

Malley: Recruiting you?

Todd: You sold the army to Ernest and Arian and now you're... you're trying to sell it to me.

Malley: Three guys in that photo never came home.
---

---
Malley: So I'm supposed to go implement Arian and Ernie's junior-year project, even though that thing sounds like a fairy tale to me?

Todd: You gave them an A for that?

Malley: I gave them a B plus.

Todd: What?

Malley: B plus. They were loose on stats.

Todd: I heard. Why don't you tell me about students who got an A?

Malley: Cos I don't remember them right now.

Todd: So attendance is a prerequisite for you, but grades aren't?

Malley: You're onto the secret now, Todd. It's called potential. That's a far better signal of what you might do than getting an A in some class you might forget about in two years.                
---                                                                                                                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                                                              
---                                                                                                                                                                                           
Malley: Todd, what good is a $90,000 Benz if there's not only not enough gas in the tank but the streets and highways are decaying to the point of becoming Third World?                            
                                                                                                                                                                                              
If all your rants about Congress and politics are true, Todd, if things are really bad, as bad as you say they are, when thousands of American troops are dead and more are dying as we speak, you tell me, how can you enjoy the good life?

Rome is burning, son, and the problem is not with the people that started this. They're past irredeemable. The problem's with us - all of us - who do nothing, who just fiddle, who try to manoeuvre around the edges of the flame.

And I'll tell you something, there are people out there fighting to make things better. You think it's better to try and fail than fail to try?

Todd: But what if you end up in the same place?

Malley: At least you did something.
---

---
Malley: Here's my last bit, so bear with me.

The decisions you make now, bud, can't be changed but with years and years of hard work to redo it. And in those years you become something different. Everybody does as time passes. You get married, you get into debt. But you're never gonna be the same person you are right now.

And promise and potential...

It's very fickle.

And it just might not be there any more.

Todd: Are you assuming I already made a decision? And also that I'll live to regret it?

Malley: All I'm saying is that you're an adult now. And the tough thing about adulthood is that it it starts before you even know it starts, when you're already a dozen decisions into it.

But what you need to know, Todd, no lifeguard's watching any more. You're on your own. You're your own man, and the decisions you make now are yours and yours alone from here until the end.

Todd: So, what, you don't want my decision?

Malley: Class meets again Tuesday at nine.

Reclaim Space for Content on Google's Pages

So I find out that I can replace Google's navbar and the search bar with the same script (previous posts: link1 and link2). So I have updated the script with few minor bugfixes and it now works on following sites (including local domains too e.g. google.co.in, google.co.au etc.):

• Google Calendar
• Google Reader
• Google Groups
• Google News
• Google Docs
• Google Maps

You will need Greasemonkey or Scriptish addon on Firefox for it to work. Please find the script at:

http://userscripts.org/scripts/review/133912

Next plan is to make a similar thing for Google plus.

If some content on toggle UI is out of place refreshing the page will solve the problem.  Please tell me about bugs and wishes in comments.

Google Groups Topbar Collapser

Looks like the Calendar Topbar Collapser works just fine in Google Groups as well (hardly surprising). So the script is available here:

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/133907