Remove Firefox URL auto complete / suggest / "visit X" prompt

If you upgraded to Firefox 43.0.1 , you may have seen the "New" auto-complete in the URL bar.












If you want to turn it off - you can do so by setting this browser preference:

about:config >  
browser.urlbar.unifiedcomplete = False

Control a Lifx Bulb using Flic and Tasker

This is documentation on how I made Flic[1] control a Lifx bulb[2] on my local network WITHOUT requiring an internet connection.

I don't want to expose my Lifx bulb to the internet. (That's a discussion for another time and place). but, I wanted to use the Flic button to control my bulb. Here's how I made it work

Hardware Pre-requisites:

1. A Flic button [1]
2. A Lifx bulb [2]

Requirements:

1. Android 4.4 or newer device. (I'm using a Nexus 4)
   
2. Tasker [3]
3. Lifx Plugin for Tasker [4]

Why:

The built in method of making Flic control a Lifx bulb is the following.

Push button -> Talks to Flic app on phone -> Talks to Flic server -> Talks to Lifx Server -> Talks to your Lifx Bulb
This requires too much internet access for my comfort. I wanted something that did not depend on the Internet to work.

How to configure it

1. Install the Lifx plugin for Tasker.
2. It will give you a very simple app outside of Tasker that allows you to perform the basic operations to your bulb. Make sure this works before continuing. I spent quite a bit of time before I figured out this part.
   
3. Create a Tasker - Task (I named this LIFX-ON)
   
1. Choose plugin -> Lifx tasker plugin
2. Setup whatever you want it to do. I configured it to turn on my bulb)
4. Open the Flic app - DELETE any existing actions. (this is important, otherwise, the programmed action seems to take precedence over the notification to Tasker).
5. Close the Flic app.
6. Return to Tasker - create a new profile (credit: [5])
   
1. Profile -> Context -> Event -> Plugin : Flic
2. Choose the flic button, and choose your event. ( I selected ON).
7. Done.

How it works

1. Push the Flic button
2. This talks to the Flic app over BLE
3. The Flic app notifies Tasker that the button was pushed.
4. Tasker executes your Lifx ON task
5. Your bulb should now turn ON.

I've also created another event, this time for double click to Turn OFF the Lifx Bulb.

Hope this helps someone.

[1]Flic : https://flic.io/
[2]Lifx: https://www.lifx.com/
[3]Tasker : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.dinglisch.android.taskerm&hl=en
[4] Lifx Plugin for Tasker: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.timothyb89.lifx.tasker
[5] http://ideas.flic.io/forums/283403-flic-ideas/suggestions/7177881-integrated-with-tasker-the-automation-app

Road Trip 2015

I took a road trip a recently and got to visit Awesome Extraordinaire. The road trip was fun and LONG. Covering just over 1100 miles one way, I visited / drove through 5 states : Texas (TX), Arkansas(AR), Missouri (Mo), Illinois(IL) and Indiana (IN).

This post is a random set of notes from my drive. 

Road signs

Indiana has the most polite road signs "Trucks and vehicles with trailers use the right lane". TX on the other hand says "No Trucks Left lane"

IL has its border with MO in the middle of the Mississippi river. There's a sign on the bridge that says Welcome to Illinois. On the way back, I noticed that Mo has no such sign on the bridge.

Someone in TxDoT has a sense of humor, there's a sign at a rest area on I-35 that reads  'One day you will love I-35, until then please pay attention'.

Mile Markers

Those sign posts that are placed at periodic intervals to mark distance.

TX  has mile markers at every mile
AR has mile markers at every mile
MO  has markers are every .2 mile apart. You see boards showing 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 1.0 ..
IL - markers at every 1/2 mile
IN - markers at every 1/2 mile on Interstate, 1 mile on State Hwy

Access roads/frontage roads

TX  has frontage roads almost the entire way of its Interstate system. A frontage road is a side street that runs parallel to the freeway. Other side streets feed in/off this street and do not intercept the interstate as frequently. The Interstate has exit/entry ramps at periodic intervals to connect to the frontage road. Typical TX frontage roads are one-way to traffic that flows in parallel to direction of the Interstate.

MO/IL/IN - don't seem to have frontage roads - but have access roads that join and leave on and off of the Interstate directly.

AR has a mixture of no frontage roads, and frontage road on one side of the Interstate.Since they only have one frontage road, it carries traffic in both directions.

Coming from TX, this made entry/exit from the Interstate something to be more cautious about. It almost felt you have to hope that the frontage road traffic will yield to the Ramp. Exiting a ramp at 65mph (there were no deceleration lanes) and almost immediately having to cut through a lane of oncoming traffic  can be quite nerve wracking.

Scenery & Misc

TX has the widest roads of the lot and the flattest fields. TX farms can be multiple hectares in size and often you don't get to see the farm buildings from the road.

AR started out quite green and full of trees when I crossed the TX-AR border, but quickly gave way to flat farm land that wasn't quite green.

IL was the greenest state across the lot on the Interstate.

IN had the most interesting scenery. Alongside the Interstate were farms / barn yards / the odd tractor, rolling hills in the background.

Texarkana

Texarkana is a border town situated on the border of Texas & Arkansas. Its name is a portmanteau of the two state names. The state line is divided by a road. One side of the road is AR, the other side is TX. Just outside of town on the TX side of the state, is a scrap metal yard that has a US military figther jet sitting in the middle of the lot. I wanted to take a picture of it, but forgot both times to have my camera handy.

Names of places

I saw quite a few towns/signs with interesting names.

Hope - AR
Friendship -AR
Moonlight drive (in TX)
Anna, IL
Hazen, AR
Marion - AR / IL
Mt Vernon,
Malvern,AR
Benton,AR
Palestine,AR - There are multiple Palestines (there's one in TX)
Blytville
Arkadelphia  ( I assume this is a portmanteau of Arkansas and Philadelphia)
New Madrid
New Boston
Sikeston
Miner

 Pictures of the trip are over on Flickr.