The BBR IM Checker Widget in All things Macintosh

The BBR IM Checker Widget in All things Macintosh http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r13286280 en Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:03:58 EDT Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:03:58 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14589665 LBDSL : Notice the first date of this thread (April 28, 2005). So, yes this widget has been public since late April.
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14589665 Sun, 16 Oct 2005 10:41:13 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14589645 Kylemaul : Noticed the post date on the Apple page is April 29, 2005...
Apple's dates screwy or has this widget been "under wraps" for that long?
--
'The tighter the RIAA squeezes their grip, the more stars and systems will slip through their fingers.' ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14589645 Sun, 16 Oct 2005 10:37:31 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14153574 Beringse : Works great, thanks rjackson

--
Leos rule!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,14153574 Wed, 17 Aug 2005 10:59:23 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13656789 rexbinary : Nice work, thanks!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13656789 Tue, 14 Jun 2005 16:34:48 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13363021 jessica78 : OH! UID!! I kept entering my user name and when it did not work, I tossed it. Off to download again. Thanks! Although with all the talk of security in widgets I am worried about dashboard. :(]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13363021 Sun, 08 May 2005 23:04:05 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13333127 rjackson : That's correct, no timers are involved here. It checks once when you initiate Dashboard. I didn't see the need to make it check any more after that since Dashboard isn't meant to be an environment you spend a long period of time in. So like the weather widget it checks once and then remains static. To check again without exiting/entering Dashboard, you can reload the widget by pressing cmd-R.

Of course when Dashboard isn't active it doesn't use any network resources at all.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13333127 Wed, 04 May 2005 23:17:43 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13332635 Johnny :

said by jpfresno

:

I think it's kind of neat.:D
The widget does not keep checking. An apple r or re up widgets will make it check.

Just so no one gets the wrong impression, what he means is that is does not constantly check - that would not do you any good.

It only checks right after Dashboard is activated. The way to use this widget is when you are not on the DSLR site and you want to see if you have an IM at DSLR. Set Dashboard to trigger with the screen corner that Expose does not use, and you can sling the mouse there, wait one second for it to check, and go right back to what you were working on.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13332635 Wed, 04 May 2005 22:15:33 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13331453 rjackson : That's the way Justin designed the instantcheck URL to work. It's only good for returning a "yes" or "no" if there's an IM waiting.

I don't think that in itself is a big security risk. You can't see who it's from, what it says, or anything like that. I'm sure you could use it to see if other users have IMs waiting, but it isn't good for anything beyond that.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13331453 Wed, 04 May 2005 19:50:02 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13331423 tommy3rd : so, if everyone's UID is known or can be viewed, does that make it a security bug or a feature? :D]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13331423 Wed, 04 May 2005 19:45:50 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13323421 jpfresno : I think it's kind of neat.:D

Send me a message, "testing" is good nuff. :D Click on the "jpfresno" in case you're unfamiliar w the message system.

edit: A couple IM's w rjackson cleared up one thing for me. It may be noted somewhere above and I missed it.

The widget does not keep checking. An apple r or re up widgets will make it check.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13323421 Tue, 03 May 2005 20:14:14 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13315902 GoodyearMark : Some things are best ignored... Anyway,

Great job!]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13315902 Mon, 02 May 2005 22:33:38 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301716 Thinkdiff : Damn.. you found out my secret....]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301716 Sun, 01 May 2005 01:17:01 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301710 rjackson :

said by Buckazznaked

:

Great a widget that proves I have no friends.....:)

Here's a tip, set the UID to 1 (justin's), he almost always has an IM waiting. It may not be for you, bu you can at least make people think you are popular when you take a screenshot for the May desktops thread.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301710 Sun, 01 May 2005 01:15:34 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301530 rjackson : Thanks, I didn't take it as criticism, but I guess others did. Unfortunately as it is the widget can't do anything that requires a cookie.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301530 Sun, 01 May 2005 00:41:40 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301507 justin : i wasn't making a criticism, just a constructive suggestion. the XML url is »/browser/exten···atus.xml
what it returns is pretty self explanatory.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13301507 Sun, 01 May 2005 00:38:04 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299630 rjackson : Hmm, well if it's cookie-based it won't work with the widget. There's no way (that I know of) to send cookie information with XMLHttpRequest, but there may be a way to make it work with Safari since widgets are Webkit-based. I doubt it would work if you used a non-Safari browser though.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299630 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 19:25:33 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299580 Ryan F :

said by rjackson

:

...I had no idea there even was an XML interface to this stuff. Where's it hidden at?

It's located here.

It's single-line XML and uses the following values:
n = updated topics
i = instant messages
m = delimiter while logged in

As long as there's a cookie set, there's no need to know the UID - just the preferred domain.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299580 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 19:16:29 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299487 Thinkdiff : Make a folder inside your user's library folder:

~/Library/Widgets

Dashboard loads from either place.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299487 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 19:01:46 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299378 LBDSL :

said by jDyno

:

Also, is putting Widgets in this folder the way to get them to show up in the little Dashboard tray (for lack of a better term)?

Yep
--
Lightning Bolt Technologies]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299378 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:43:30 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299364 jDyno : Great, great work. Just loaded it and it works great.

Question... Where should one keep widgets. I noticed the system ones are in /Library/Wigdets/

I normally don't like messing with this Library folder. Also, is putting Widgets in this folder the way to get them to show up in the little Dashboard tray (for lack of a better term)?
--
Smart Marketing]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13299364 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 18:41:14 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13298110 rjackson : Widgets are supposed to be simple, and focused on a single task so checking posts is probably outside the scope of this project. Besides, I had no idea there even was an XML interface to this stuff. Where's it hidden at?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13298110 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 15:15:46 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13297363 justin : if you use the same XML as the firefox widget, you can probably create a better one that checks both IMs and unread messages.. but nice job anyway..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13297363 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 13:14:02 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13295594 mbernste : No, when it said I had an IM when I had it by ID, it was always for me.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13295594 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 04:51:14 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13294733 enOehT : Russ! You are famous! Congrats!

What great exposure for BBR and the ATM Forum. Nice going. :)

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13294733 Sat, 30 Apr 2005 00:20:57 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293426 bobrk :

said by Johnny

said by LBDSL

:

Also listed on apple.com

OK, time for BBR IM Checker Pro, just $29.95..

THAT one will open the message for you and decide if you want to read it. ;)
--
bobrk]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293426 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 21:03:35 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293420 Johnny :

said by LBDSL

:

Also listed on apple.com

OK, time for BBR IM Checker Pro, just $29.95..]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293420 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 21:02:32 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293415 Johnny :

said by mbernste

:

Actually it is working with my username. Just not consistently.

It's checking someone else's IMs. That's why it seems "inconsistent". :D]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293415 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 21:01:36 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293354 bobrk :

said by LBDSL

:

Also listed on apple.com

Wow! Are they cruising versiontracker for that stuff?
--
bobrk]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293354 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:54:53 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293232 rjackson :

said by JJ

:

I know v 1.0 just came out, but for v 2.0 do you think you could include a feature so the widget will tell me if I actually want to read the IM?

I'm also working on a feature that will automatically scan new posts for misuse of the word "MAC".]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293232 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:36:51 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293205 tmpchaos :

said by JJ

:

I know v 1.0 just came out, but for v 2.0 do you think you could include a feature so the widget will tell me if I actually want to read the IM?

Or, at the very least, if it's red or yellow?
--
cognitive dissonance abounds
***ATMFAQ***DIFAQ***KSINK***]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293205 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:33:52 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293005 LBDSL : Also listed on apple.com

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13293005 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 20:01:06 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292953 JJ : I know v 1.0 just came out, but for v 2.0 do you think you could include a feature so the widget will tell me if I actually want to read the IM?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292953 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:52:32 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292840 rjackson : It can't work with a username, because there's no way to resolve a username to a UID. It will only work with your numeric user ID.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292840 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:36:30 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292831 mbernste : Actually it is working with my username. Just not consistently.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292831 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:34:44 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292809 rjackson : Then you're putting in something that's not numeric. It's not your username, it's your user ID, in your case it's "421508".]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292809 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:30:54 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292786 mbernste : Hmm...doesn't work for me. I get "invalid UID."]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292786 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 19:28:49 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292361 Coma :

said by rjackson

:

Currently has a five out of five rating, too ;)

When my Tiger 5 pack comes, I'll be ready.

--
Posting from the G5, dual 20" ACD's.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292361 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 18:29:11 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292229 rjackson : Currently has a five out of five rating, too ;)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13292229 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 18:11:13 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13291974 Coma :

said by rjackson

:

Up on VT now: »www.versiontracker.com/dyn/morei···sx/26558

. . . . very cool . . . .

--
Posting from the G5, dual 20" ACD's.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13291974 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 17:34:23 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13290380 rjackson : Up on VT now: »www.versiontracker.com/dyn/morei···sx/26558]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13290380 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:16:45 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287380 rjackson :

said by tmpchaos

:

This is the officially sanctioned one, right?

Yes, but it doesn't ship with a Chihuahua like I had originally planned. I learned from Apple that it can be a tech support nightmare.
[att=1]

Apologies to Johnny

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287380 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 01:52:10 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287243 tmpchaos : Hey, that might be better than a widget that never shuts up...]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287243 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 01:16:20 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287127 Tex Longhorn : Maybe Russ can create a widget that sends bogus IM's to you.
--
Movin' to the country. Gonna eat a lot of peaches.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13287127 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:52:29 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286897 teach : lol]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286897 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:10:58 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286851 Buckazznaked : Great a widget that proves I have no friends.....:)
--
May the Force Be With Ya'll]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286851 Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:03:37 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286647 KoolMoe : Now that I understand more about how Dashboard works, it sounds much cooler. Does sound like it could be a security issue though if people aren't careful what they run... But it does definitely make Tiger a more attractive upgrade now!
Thanks rjackson.
KM
--
Corn-on-the-cob is how it comes out of the ground. They should just call it corn, and every other type of corn, corn-off-the-cob. It's not like if my arm were cutoff they would call it "Mitch", and then re-attached, call it "Mitch-all-together".]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286647 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:35:31 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286638 hyperjoe : So cool Nice work bro!! Now to figure out what it does.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286638 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:34:30 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286617 tmpchaos : This is the officially sanctioned one, right? ]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286617 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:31:13 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286571 Ryan 21 : That's pretty cool... It will replace Gomez's app for me, when I upgrade. (Sorry Gomez... :D)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286571 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:23:37 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286495 rjackson :

said by Homunculus

:

Where do I get my User ID... :)

You can get it easily by going to »/join, it's in the green bar at the top:
[att=1]

It's also in the URL of your 'business card' link, e.g. rjackson

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286495 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:11:33 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286479 rjackson :

said by File Quit

:

Is there anyway this can be used to check posts as well? i know the mozilla firefox extension can, but I have no clue on how Dashboard works. Good job guys!

Apple says the dashboard philosophy is each widget should do one specialized thing, rather than risk becoming cluttered with becoming a "jack of all trades".

Oh, Apple also says I should include the following text whenever a widget is released:

"Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is required. If you’re using Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it. If you’re using a browser other than Safari, click the download link. When the widget download is complete, unarchive it and place it in /Library/Widgets/ in your home folder. show Dashboard, click the Plus sign to display the Widget Bar and click the widget’s icon in the Widget Bar to open it."

If by "check posts" you mean check for replies to your posts, you can use this widget to do that already by simply choosing "Instant Message" for a reply notification to any of your posts.
[att=1]
That way you'll be updated via IM. This is how I tested the widget, by replying to myself over and over in »/dev/null. That is until a mod took my thread offline, LOL.

You can think of widgets themselves as tiny web pages. Rather than a compiled binary they're comprised of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. So basically anything you can do on a website, you can do with a widget, plus a little more thanks to some extensions to the code written by Apple.

You can actually view the source of any widget by right-clicking (or control-clicking) the widget in Finder and selecting 'Show package contents'. You can view the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files which make the widget run. Feel free to browse and see how it works...

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286479 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:09:27 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286455 Homunculus : TY FQ... I was looking at the actual profile page and not the URL.. woopsie. :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286455 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:06:26 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286407 File Quit : your profile URL should have it.
edit: yours is
263407]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286407 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:01:06 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286402 Homunculus : Where do I get my User ID... :)]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286402 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 23:00:29 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286352 JJ : Nice work Russ! You did a great job!

And now you have been installed in the pantheon:

»All things Macintosh »Have any of the forum members actually written programs?]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286352 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:54:38 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286340 Gomez :

said by rjackson

:

This is a simple widget that checks for new unread messages on BBR. It has been developed and tested by some dedicated members of ATM.

Russ is understating the fact that he wrote this, and had pinged others on some corner cases, and set up a nice beta program. ;)

Good job, Russ..!
--
Disclaimer: Resemblance between the above views and those of anyone is purely coincidental. Resemblance between the above and my own views is non-deterministic. The existence of views in the absence of anyone to hold them is an exercise for the reader.]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286340 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:53:09 EDT Re: The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286334 File Quit : Is there anyway this can be used to check posts as well? i know the mozilla firefox extension can, but I have no clue on how Dashboard works. Good job guys!
--
Apple rules!!! Get an iPod and iBook today, what's to lose? »www.apple.com]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286334 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:52:01 EDT The BBR IM Checker Widget http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286280 rjackson : This is a simple widget that checks for new unread messages on BBR. It has been developed and tested by some dedicated members of ATM.

All that is required is for you to enter your UID (not your username) on the backside. The first time it's run, the widget will flip to the backside so you can enter yours. After that, it's saved in a pref file.

If you're still looking for a reason to upgrade to Tiger, this is it. Enjoy :D

BBRIMChecker.zip 99,652 bytes

]]> http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,13286280 Thu, 28 Apr 2005 22:43:08 EDT