Month: January 2015

WP YouTube Lyte and YouTube API v2 end of life

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The YouTube API v2 is now officially to be shut down soon after April 20th. That’s bad news for WP YouTube Lyte, which uses this version of the API to perform unauthenticated read-only requests to fetch a.o. video title and thumbnail information (example here). The v3 API is supposed to simpler yet more powerful and migrating should not be a big problem, except for that little detail that v3 doesn’t allow unauthenticated requests at all. So I’ll need to add authentication (via an API key) to the mix, leaving me with the dilemma of having to choose between these approaches, none of which I really like:

  1. Tell WP YouTube Lyte users to get their own API key and have them enter it in the plugin’s settings-page. Risk: upsetting users who all of a sudden have to get an API key (“huh, what key?”)
  2. Get an API key myself and hardcode that in WP YouTube Lyte. Risk: abuse of that key (and neither a server key nor a browser key is applicable really), reaching limits, being denied access.
  3. Create and operate a proxy application that sits between the v3 API and each and every WP YouTube Lyte instance, taking care of authentication with an API key. Risk: having to write & install that proxy application, making sure it is available 24/7 (it’s a single point of failure) + obviously the same abuse-risk as in (2).

No, I’m definitively not happy … 🙁

Fixing Firefox’ LessChromeHD to reclaim lost screen real estate

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I had been happily auto-hiding the Firefox navigation bar on my small-screen netbook for a couple of years already, until that add-on (LessChromeHD from the Prospector series) stopped working after having upgraded to Firefox 35. So I started Firefox from the command-line and spotted this error:

addons.xpi WARN Error loading bootstrap.js for lessChrome.HD@prospector.labs.mozilla: TypeError: redeclaration of variable event (resource://gre/modules/addons/XPIProvider.jsm -> jar:file:///home/frank/.mozilla/firefox/jy6bws91.default/extensions/lessChrome.HD@prospector.labs.mozilla.xpi!/bootstrap.js:226:8)

A quick look at the source code confirmed “event” was declared twice, once on line 210 and a second time on line 226. The fix, obviously, is simple; on lines 226-228 replace all references to “event” with e.g. “shownEvent”;

let shownEvent = document.createEvent("Event");
shownEvent.initEvent("LessChromeShown", true, false);
trigger.dispatchEvent(shownEvent);

You can do this yourself by unzipping “lessChrome.HD@prospector.labs.mozilla.xpi” in your extenstions-folder, editing boostrap.js and updating the xpi. Or you could wait for the Mozillians to update LessChromeHD.

Uw eigen mobielere deredactie in 5 stappen

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openshift configureer uw redactieuwredacie op openshift uwredactie op openshiftOok al kunt ge mijn alternatieve mobiele redactie hier bekijken, dan zout ge toch, om redenen die geheel de uwe zijn, misschien liever uw hoogst persoonlijke redactie hebben?
Wel, dat kan in 5 eenvoudige stappen dankzij Openshift, het freemium PAAS platform van Red Hat en dat gaat ongeveer zo:

  1. Maak een gratis account aan bij Openshift
  2. Klik op “Create your first application now“
  3. Vul PHP in in het zoekvenster en selecteer de PHP 5.4 cartridge
  4. Vul een naam in voor de public URL, copy/paste https://github.com/futtta/redactie in het source code veld en klik op “Create application“
  5. Even geduld terwijl uw eigenste redactie wordt aangemaakt. In het laatste scherm kunt ge eventueel git access configureren (“Will you be changing the code of this application?”) of direct op “Visit app in the browser” (in mijn geval naar http://mijnredactie-futtta.rhcloud.com/) klikken.

Spreading the news, tiens!

As heard on Our Tube: Robert, Laurel & Hardy Woke up laughing

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Robert Palmer was so much more then just the slick guy from his eighties videos (think “Addicted to Love”). A couple of days ago I heard “Woke up Laughing” on the radio from the 1980 album “Clues” (which also features “Johnny & Mary”) and I found this video on YouTube which features the iconic dancing Laurel & Hardy;

Robert Palmer 'Woke Up Laughing' (featuring Laurel & Hardy)
Watch this video on YouTube.

Bye 2014, it was nice knowing ya!

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this used to be an animated gif, click to see itWith 2014 finally behind us, we can start dwelling on that past as of yesterday. These are some of my 2014 facts & figures:
About my blog:

My WordPress plugins:

  • Autoptimize
    • 2 major and 7 minor releases
    • 141324 downloads, bringing the total to 241650
    • answered lots of questions and feedback on the support-forum, allowing me to improve both the code and the FAQ.
    • 2015 will bring Autoptimize 2.0 (fixing the occasional WSOD & the cache-size problem) and Autoptimize Power-Ups (extensions for professional & power-users)
  • WP YouTube Lyte:
    • 2 major and 2 minor releases
    • 36507 downloads, now totalling 210285
    • 2015 will see continued improvements and WP YouTube Lyte Power-Ups (you guessed it, extensions for professional & power-users)
  • WP DoNotTrack:
    • 2 minor releases
    • 4312 downloads, now 12009 total
    • 2015 really should see a 1.0 release, which will finally include CSP-enforced protection.

Bye 2014, it was nice knowing ya, but I’m off enjoying 2015 now!