A frame-buster-buster busts frame-busters. In other words, some sites (vimeo.com is a good example) include scripts to keep their pages from being displayed in frames – instead they pop out of the frame and take window focus. This is for good reasons, mostly to protect intellectual property and be sure their content is represented as their own, not as someone else’s.

buster.js is intended to bust these scripts, or prevent them from popping out of the frame. To be clear, this is not intended to be used to misrepresent the owner of any content. This is intended for use on sites/pages where you want to take the user to an external site for some reason, but want to keep a bar at the top to bring them back to your site once they’re finished (or something to that effect).

buster.js is provided as a free script and I take no responsibility for how it is used outside of my control.

Read more at Projects > buster.js

Download at Github: https://github.com/spoontwisted/busterjs

“This is likely a request you’ve gotten a lot in the past, but I’ll throw my name on the list of people who want it. I like Hulu Plus a lot. So much, in fact, that I dropped my cable television service (Time Warner) and now stream video exclusively using Hulu and Netflix.

“One thing that has changed in the 12 months since I subscribed is the quantity of Ads. When I subscribed, I would get an ad at the beginning of a show and an ad at each commercial break. Now, I get 3 ads at each commercial break. Additionally, the option to vote down ads that aren’t relevant to me appears on fewer ads every day, which means that I have to watch ads I don’t like or that don’t apply to me.

“I understand that Hulu needs to make money, and I’m not totally against ads. After all, I came from regular cable subscription service where there are generally 3-5 ads for each commercial break. If Hulu were to offer a higher grade plan for Hulu Plus, say a Premium service, that allowed me to watch shows with fewer or no ads, I would definitely pay more. I’ve read that Hulu did some market research to this effect and found that many consumers preferred the cheaper option, but I think it’s important to acknowledge the part of the user base that would simply prefer to pay more for a better experience.

“My request is this; Offer a Premium service at a higher price, say $19.99 or $24.99 (I already pay this amount for Netflix), that offered one of the following options:
- An ad-free watching experience
- An ad only at the beginning of the video

“I would happily upgrade my service for this kind of experience, and I know I’m not the only one. Please consider my request with this in mind.

“Thank you for your time. I’d be happy to talk with someone at Hulu to explain my experience further. Additionally, if this is not the proper channel for this type of request, please let me know where I should send it.

“Richard Ford”

We wanted to find a way to improve not only the safety of cyclists already on the road, but the general perception of them by motorists. We’ve teamed up with two non-profit organizations and are helping them raise money for their efforts.

Please Be Kind to Cyclists
Please Be Kind to Cyclists is an organization based on Austin, TX whose goal is to spread awareness of bicycle traffic and safety to motorists and cyclists alike – not only in Austin, or Texas, but globally. They work to educate motorists and cyclists, and even have efforts in place to get bicycle awareness built into state drivers education courses – a measure that will no doubt improve conditions. We are hoping to help them expand their campaign to a national level in support of their goal.

BikeTexas
BikeTexas is an advocacy group also based in Austin, TX that works to not only educate cyclists young and old, but also to influence legislation for more bicycle friendly transportation options. We hope to help fund their giveaway programs – lights and helmets to children and others who ride bicycles – and their educational programs which include working with school teachers to integrate bicycle safety into existing education.

When you consider the benefits of riding your bike when compared to driving – exercise, efficiency, environment, etc.. – it’s a no-brainer that we should encourage this as a lifestyle choice, and protect those that already do it. We should work to not only educate, but to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians on local, state, national and global levels.

Please drop by the Safe Lanes site and throw in a donation to help these organizations. Our goal is $50,000, but even $10 helps. Please also share this site with your friends, relatives and co-workers. This issue is a serious one, around 700 cyclists are killed each year in the US in traffic accidents. Let’s help these campaigns to spread knowledge and work to improve roads and transportation for everyone.

http://www.safelanes.com/

In my time here, I’ve quickly come to appreciate the values of the company, as well as the people within it. Observing the way this company is run has given me a new outlook on small and medium business management, and confirmed my hopes that not all companies treat their employees like crap.

For anyone interested, Bazaarvoice is still hiring! You can find job listings here: http://www.bazaarvoice.com/about/jobs.

http://dscriber.com/politics/1452-googles-april-fools-why-does-google-like-topeka-kansas-so-much.html

Go to http://www.beerregister.com to sign up!

There are plans in the pipeline to add features that enrich the social experience. If you have any suggestions or ideas, please feel free to let me know!

Follow Beer Register on Twitter @beerregister and on Facebook.

On Thursday, January 7, I got my laptop back from HP. I excitedly opened it up to find that they did, in fact, fix the problem.

As it turns out, my system had been overheating due to a clogged heatsink. I should have probably checked for this long before it was a problem, and I feel a little dumb for that. Regardless, they replaced the mainboard, and the heatsink/fan assembly. Given my previous experiences with HP’s support, I expected far less.

Not only did they replace these system components, they also replaced the cosmetic components that were damaged. Now, this was also covered under my warranty, but again, given my experience with HP, I didn’t expect them to replace these parts. After all, I had sent the laptop back before to have just these parts replaced, and they instead replaced something else entirely. Something that didn’t need replacing.

To top it all off, they cleaned my entire system of dust and debris. I got it back in like-new condition, all shiny and pretty like the day I bought it.

Wrapping up, I think it’s safe to say HP support has started cleaning their act up, at least a little. I’m much happier with them now than I have been at any point since purchasing my laptop. I may be getting another HP in the future, after all.

I’ve been working on it for the last month or so, and it’s ready to go with some basic functionality. I will be working hard to add more functionality in the near future, including brewery information, pre-populated beer data, and social features that let you see what others rate beers, breweries, and even bars!

Visit http://www.beerregister.com/ and sign up to get started today!

I got the idea when a friend of mine, Tyler, showed me that he was using the notepad application on his Android-powered phone to keep track of beers he tasted. This was far simpler than using one of the existing beer applications or sites, which generally ask you a wide array of questions about the beer when you add it to your list.

After doing some research, I found he was correct. All of the mobile applications and beer tracking sites are designed primarily for use by beer connoisseurs. Not to say there isn’t a place for that, because these are valuable resources indeed, but something simpler would be nice.

I set out to create a site that was accessible on both computers and mobile devices that easily lets you track basic information about beers you taste, when you taste them.

In the future, I plan on releasing mobile applications as well, including an iPhone app and an Android app. Stay tuned for updates!

I got on HP’s website, and to my delight I discovered that they now have chat support. I was excited, as this meant that I didn’t have to decode someone’s accent while still trying to properly communicate the problem I was experiencing. I told the chat technician of my problem, and a few other cosmetic defects that my warranty also covers, gave him my info, and we were done. A box was on it’s way to my place.

I impatiently watched the tracking on the FedEx site. It showed up a few days later… but at the wrong place. The place I lived in 2007. This is a problem.

So I called the 800 number, and told them of the mishap. They created a new service order, collected my current address, and a new box was on it’s way to my place.

Again, I awaited the “Delivered!” status on the FedEx site. Again, it was shipped to the wrong address. Now putting the wrong address on the order once was excusable. These things happen. Doing it a second time, when I called to correct the issue, was a little ridiculous.

So I looked up and called their corporate office (650-857-1501), and told the operator of my issue. She quickly forwarded me to a support manager, and a new box was on it’s way. This time the box showed up the next day! Less than 24 hours later. They shipped it Priority Overnight, signature required, to my front door.

So the only problem we have now is that with this new order (they apparently have to make a whole new service order to change one detail, which I find weird), the description of the problem has gone from “no display, missing keys, cracked case” to “System no function,” which I don’t think really explains the problem fully.

I guess I’m gonna have to stick little red arrows all over it and include a letter with large type telling the technicians what to fix. I’ve sent this laptop in for repair in the past, and they’ve traditionally been really bad about fixing it. They usually replace something that didn’t need to be replaced, and the broken piece remains broken, forcing me to send it back again.

Wish me luck. I’ll update here on the progress.

Now, we both know why I left MySpace. I can’t have a relationship with a social network that’s so flaky. What, with the slow servers, the errors left and right, the images that never load, and don’t even get me started on the links that never worked…

Well, Facebook, I’ve started to recognize a few of these ‘qualities’ in you over the past few months, and I’m disappointed. You can be better than this. I know you can. If things don’t get better, I fear I may have to leave you, too.

Please don’t let me down… Make me a happy man.