By Justin Silverton

I came across this perl script today that allows you to add friends to your myspace account using perl.main website is HereTaken from the website: ” This is a perl script, and it’s certainly rough around the edges. If you’re running on windows, there are applications available for cheap that will do the job better and with more support. I’m on Linux, so I needed a cross-platform script that did just what I needed.

That said, this little bit of code should run on any machine with the proper perl modules installed (WWW::Mechanize, HTML::TokeParser::Simple, and Text::CSV). It’s open source, released under the GPL.”DownloadThe script can be found Here

How do I run this?

On Linux

If you’re running on Linux, running this code is fairly simple. Just invoke it with perl GlitchCastFriendAdder.pl

If it complains that it’s needs certainly libraries, you can add them with CPAN, apt, or yum.
To add the necessary libraries using apt on Fedora Core, Red Hat, CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, and others, run this command as root: (package names may differ slighly across distros. If one does not appear available, search for it with apt-cache search packagename) apt-cache search mechanize
brings up libwww-mechanize-perl
apt-cache search tokeparser
brings up libhtml-tokeparser-simple-perl
apt-cache search csv-perl
brings up libtext-csv-perl
now that I’ve found the package names (I’m using ubuntu, so this exact command should work for all debian distros with universe and multiverse enabled)
apt-get install libhtml-tokeparser-simple-perl libtext-csv-perl libwww-mechanize-perl
You could of course use CPAN to install these modules instead, but I’m less familiar with that method. If you know how, please email me at GlitchCastFriendAdder A.T. GlitchNYC.com Now that you’ve got all your modules, the code should run just fine. Be sure that you’ve added at least one MySpace URL to friendPagesToScrape.txt - you’ll have to make that file if you haven’t already.

Running on a Mac

I have no idea. In theory, this should be fairly similar to the process above. If you get it to work, let me know how you did it!

Running on Windows

This should be possible using ActiveState perl. It’s been a while since I used it, but if memory serves, there is a GUI that allows you to choose the packages you need. Just select these: * WWW::Mechanize * HTML::TokeParser::Simple * Text::CSV
I’ve now had my first report of this working on windows! To get the firefox captcha routine to work, you’ll need to change the firefox executable path. This is as simple as commenting one line and uncommenting another. It’s right below the username and password at the top of the code.

Running the script

First, enter your username and password at the top of the script
Second, paste a bunch of myspace url’s containing people you want to add into the file friendPagesToScrape.txt in the same directory where the main script is.
UPDATE: The URLs should be one per line! (this is a change from version 1.0)
HINT - It’s easy to change just the “page” variable when you paste in the url’s to get multiple pages of friends of one group/person.

The script will parse that file, and then go to each page in the list, getting all the friend IDs on the page. Once it has grabbed all the friendIDs, it adds each of the friends, prompting you if it needs a captcha. I’ve tuned it to be fairly patient (1 friend added every 5 seconds or so) so as to not anger the myspace gods and incur lots of captchas, but you can tune as it runs by following the prompts if you start to get too many captchas.

By Justin Silverton

There is this great program I found called pdf2html. It is an opensource, free, program that will allow you to convert your pdf files directly to html.

It can be downloaded here (the win32 gui version): http://guiguy.wminds.com/downloads/pdf2htmlgui/

original sourceforge project: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdftohtml/

Introduction

The idea for this web-site was a culmination of events that began in my efforts to find a simple utility for a very specific task (I wanted to convert my rm video clips to anything else). After what seemed like months of searching, I was finally able to locate a command line utility that promised to do the trick (Tinra).

I found it in a help forum where others were asking for a graphical user interface (GUI) for it. I decided to make TinraGUI as a way of showing thanks to the group for helping me find what I was after. I soon discovered, however, that I couldn’t attach the program I made to my reply on the forum, so I needed a web-site to host it. I put up a quick site at Tripod for the purpose. But when it seemed that it was going to be more popular than I first thought, I imagined a web-site like this one where I could make simple Windows programs and GUI’s for people on request and for free.

Conclusion

I personally found this tool to be very helpful. I was able to convert nearly all of my .pdf files to web pages with almost no errors or mistakes.

By Justin Silverton

I came across this ajax application today called ajaxXLS. It’s an ajax execl application that can read and write excel files. It is one of the best ajax apps I have seen to date and displays the power and capability of AJAX.

Functionality

On this first release of the ajaxXLS viewer, you can expect to open spreadsheet files with all your common cell formatting categories such as text style, decimals, currencies, date, and time. ajaxXLS will preserve your formulas, backgrounds and borders from the files created in Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice. ajaxXLS is platform independent and can be used with any operating system. Unlike typical office programs that you install on your computer, features will continue to be added to ajaxXLS and made available to you immediately without the need for complicated reinstallation or reconfiguration of software. Try ajaxXLS today and see for yourself how AJAX applications are redefining the way you use software.

With this release, we’re publishing the methodology whereby any search engine, email client or other software developer can provide a link to an existing .xls document (hosted online) so that anyone can open it using ajaxXLS. See for yourself how a spreadsheet document can be launched right from my web page by clicking on this sample revenue.xls.To obtain the code to create a link on your website that opens any spreadsheet in ajaxXLS, please click here.

Redefining Software

AJAX programming techniques allow web-based software to function smoothly without the waiting around for page uploads that you normally associate with the Internet. The benefits of web-based software are so compelling, we feel that they are the future of the industry. These benefits include:

• Global access, all you need is an internet connection
• Platform independent, you can use it with any operating system
• Automatic updates and upgrades, no more computer restarts or missed patches/updates
• Server side management — all the busywork is done for you

AjaxXLS is just a small step forward in this software revolution, and we are proud to be a part of it.

Test it out for yourself

To test it out, go here (it requires FireFox): http://www.ajaxlaunch.com/ajaxxls/internals/ajaxxls-nojscript.html

By Justin Silverton

postgres/mysql comparison chart

Companies using postgres

These are links to case studies, showcasing the successful usage of postgres in an organization

BASF (PDF format)
Mohawk Software
Proximity (PDF format)
Radio Paradise (PDF format)
Shannon Medical Center
Spiros Louis Stadium (PDF format)
The Dravis Group OSS Report (PDF format)
Vanten Inc.

Companies using mysql

Patypoker.com (PDF format)
Greyhound bus - data website (PDF format)
Sandstorm (PDF format)
Leapfrog schoolhouse (PDF format)
NetQos
Sony (PDF format)
Dell (PDF format)
Friendster.com

So which one is better?

Both postgres and mysql have had success on large-scale websites and they each have their benefits:

Where postgres wins:

1) faster with more complex queries

2) ACID compliant

3) embedded language capibility (Perl, PHP, TCL, and PG/PLSQL)

4) on average, can handle more concurrent connections

where mysql wins:

1) more wide-spread support and usage with ISPs and the open source commuity

2) robust replication

3) easier for newcomers to use

4) on average, faster per query

By Justin Silverton

What is AjaxOS?

ajaxOS is a Linspire-based operating system with some revolutionary new features to support the adoption of web-based software. Some of the cool new things you can expect to see on ajaxOS include:

Automatic launch of AJAX software when clicking on a supported filetype.Ability to save files to virtual storage.Ability to navigate through a file browser to the files uploaded to virtual storage as well those on your local computer.

ajaxOS will be available for download in the next few weeks. You can register to receive notification of the ajaxOS and other AJAX software releases or visit http://www.ajaxlaunch.com/ to read the official announcements.

Benefits of using ajaxOS

Information Security – Your files and documents are safe from computer crashes, laptop theft, viruses and other virtual attacks on your computer since they are all saved on ajaxOS remote storage.

Web-based Software Applications Included – Save money. No need to purchase expensive software – it’s all included in ajaxOS.

Updated and Upgraded Automatically – Spending time and money on software updates and upgrades is also a thing of the past, most ajaxOS applications are upgraded automatically.

Full file compatibility – applications are compatible with all standard file formats, allowing you to easily transfer your existing files and share files created using AJAX software with others.

View ajaxOS presentation at Desktop linux summet of 2006: http://boss.streamos.com/download/marketing/dls2006/mbr_dls2006-session4_edit_060425.rm

I’m not really sure if ajaxOS will even be worth downloading. The release notes discuss “revolutionary new features”. The screenshots look nice, and it is based on linpire (a linux distro), but it looks like they are basically just integrating a web storage service (which is not a new idea) into a linux distribution.

Even though I don’t think it is anything revolutionary or special, I still think I will download it when it is finally released.