Cruch Time Help! 3 LabVIEW Tutorial Videos: State Machines; Faster Code; Simulation

Alan Anderson · #1 09-02-2009, 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by LVMastery

Please let me know if you have flash and javascript enabled.

Flash: got it. I have no trouble viewing .flv files, for example.

I don't see an option for "javascript enabled" in the Flash settings. JavaScript is enabled in the Safari security preferences. As much as I would like to turn it off, too many web sites nag at me if I do (though the lvmastery site didn't seem to mind).

The thing that makes me wonder most, however, is the lack of a reference to anything resembling a video file in the source of the web page. It doesn't really matter what I have enabled or not if the site doesn't present a link to the video in the first place, does it?

LVMastery · #2 09-02-2009, 11:14

Alan,

Trust me, the video is there. The video call itself is buried in a js script, which unfortunately means you need js enabled to view it.

Ben

Alan Anderson · #3 09-02-2009, 11:42

Oh, I trust you. Other people don't seem to be having any trouble with it.

The "video call" must be very well hidden. The only javascript I see on the page is a trio of scripts in the <head> that actually look like they're skipped for non-IE browsers, and something that looks like line noise after the "click here to install the latest version of flash" link. Based on that, I tried viewing it with Internet Explorer (on a Windows computer, even). There still is nothing obvious to click in order to view the video. Where is it supposed to be on the page? There is a largish blank spot after the "latest version of flash" and before the "Testimonials / Want to See More? / Already Registered?" where that cryptic script would fit, but it doesn't respond to clicks and doesn't show any hidden text when I select through it.

Oh, and one other weird thing about the Tip Jar pages: no matter how wide I make the window, the bottom scroll bar never goes away.

Dave Flowerday · #4 09-02-2009, 11:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

The "video call" must be very well hidden.

It looks like the line that inserts the inline Flash player is this: (it comes on the line in the source right after "Trouble viewing these videos?")

Code:

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript'>var code="'1AQAPKRV'02nclewceg'1F'05HctcQapkrv'05'02v{rg'1F'05vgzv-hctcqapkrv'05'1Gtcp'02WPN'1Fuklfmu,nmacvkml,jpgd'1@tcp'02qrnkv'02'1F'02WPN,klfgzMd'02'0:'02'00ntocqvgp{,amo'00'0;'1@kd'02'0:qrnkv'1A2'0;'02'5@nmacvkml,jpgd'1F'00uuu,ntocqvgp{,amo'00'1@'5Fgnqg'5@fmawoglv,upkvg'0:wlgqacrg'0:'00'071Akdpcog'0702qpa'071F'0700jvvr'071C--uuu,ntocqvgp{,amo-dkngq-VkrHcp37]:Dg`2;-VkrHcp37]:Dg`2;,jvon'0700'0702ukfvj'071F'0700:42'0700'0702jgkejv'071F'0700442'0700'0702ocpeklukfvj'071F'07003'0700'0702ocpekljgkejv'071F'07003'0700'0702dpcog`mpfgp'071F'07002'0700'0702kf'071F'0700gzvgplcn'0700'071G'071A-kdpcog'071G'00'0;'0;'1@'5F'1A-QAPKRV'1G"; var res="";var len=code.length; var i;for (i=0;i<len;i++) {res+=String.fromCharCode(code.charCodeAt(i)^2)} res=unescape(res);document.write(res);</SCRIPT><table>

Looks like that decodes some obfuscated HTML and inserts it into the document. Why it needs to be obfuscated is beyond me. The way that is being done could be triggering an ad-blocker perhaps?

Alan Anderson · #5 09-02-2009, 12:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

It looks like the line that inserts the inline Flash player is this: (it comes on the line in the source right after "Trouble viewing these videos?")

Yeah, that's what I called "line noise".

Quote:

Looks like that decodes some obfuscated HTML and inserts it into the document. Why it needs to be obfuscated is beyond me. The way that is being done could be triggering an ad-blocker perhaps?

Is the actual video (and/or player) hosted on a different server? The firewall here is pretty draconian when it comes to things like YouTube or other public video/image/blogging sites.

Dave Flowerday · #6 09-02-2009, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Anderson

Is the actual video (and/or player) hosted on a different server? The firewall here is pretty draconian when it comes to things like YouTube or other public video/image/blogging sites.

Here's what that line noise decodes to:
{removed by request}

LVMastery · #7 09-02-2009, 13:09

Guys, I appreciate the interest!

The line you are referring to is an obfuscation, which is intended to make it difficult for sites to extract my videos and play them without my knowledge or approval. Personally, I don't think that's unreasonable?!?

Even if that wasn't there, the tool I'm using to create these screencasts is Camtasia Studio, and it uses a javascript controller to play the flash video files.

Now, I'm never one to complain about any attention, good or bad, and I'm sorry if the way I posted my videos is distracting, but I'm not really sure its relevant to this forum.

I'm a LabVIEW programmer, not a web programmer, and the web development tools I'm using seem to work well for for most situations, but if you are having trouble, I'd be happy to help as much as I can. However, I won't be able to remove the js requirement, and, frankly, you are the first ever to comment on it being an issue.

Ben

Alan Anderson · #8 09-02-2009, 14:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by LVMastery

The line you are referring to is an obfuscation, which is intended to make it difficult for sites to extract my videos and play them without my knowledge or approval. Personally, I don't think that's unreasonable?!?

It's reasonable until it makes it difficult for a user (e.g., me) to play your videos with your approval.

Quote:

...if you are having trouble, I'd be happy to help as much as I can.

The one piece of information I could use is the name of the server on which the video is hosted. With that, I can either confirm or rule out my theory that firewall rules are causing me grief.

I haven't tried accessing the lvmastery site using my home connection since I got the information that JavaScript is strictly required. I'll try to remember to give it a go again late this evening when I'm there (it's a real pain not having Internet access at the robotics shop).

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