Automatically convert to and from Base64

I just finished a small, simple, yet interesting script for detecting whether code is base64 and encoding or decoding it based on the result. Let's be honest, PHP made it super easy for me with the base64_encode() and base64_decode() functions. I just wrapped it up in what I think is a pretty handy little tool that I know at least one person will get some use out of!

Try it out: Base64 Converter

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Chrome Extensions: History Button, Extensions Button, Downloads Button

I just created some very simple extensions for Chrome shortly after I taught myself how to create extensions.

As I said, they're VERY simple, but I find them useful, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to share them.

Each extension is a simple lightweight extension that adds a shortcut button to your browser for quick access to your history, extensions, or downloads. It either opens a new tab, or switches to the respective tab if you already have it open in a tab you're not using.

You could nearly accomplish the same thing if you made a bookmark, but this assures you won't open multiple tabs and I like to keep some things separate from the bookmarks bar.

Chrome Extensions Button

Chrome History Button

Chrome Downloads Button

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How To Convert Large XML Files to CSV

 I usually struggle with convert very large XML files to other formats just because they are in a dynamic format and most programs you find run out of memory before properly parsing them. Well, I'm happy to say, I found a FAST and EASY solution. Of course this will work for small files as well as big files.

You'll want to grab a copy of the msxsl command line utility from Microsoft.

After you've got that, you'll need to setup a XSL file to tell the program how to format your file. If you're unfamiliar with XSL, you can familiarize yourself here.

After you've got your XSL file created, it's a simple command line entry:

msxsl xml_file.xml xsl_file.xsl -o output_file.csv

The following is a sample XML and XSL file that I used.

XML File:

	
		772500
		Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:28:08 CST
		Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:51:01 CST

		
		
			61951
			The Hills Season 1
		
	
	
		773000
		Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:28:08 CST
		Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:53:54 CST

		
		
			61926
			Hogan Knows Best Season 2
		
	
	
		775500
		Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:49:12 CST
		Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:51:35 CST

		
		
			62068
			Carlos Mencia 2007
		
		
			1402
			Comedy Central
		
	

XSL File (Creates tab-delimited file)

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