HOWTO: get a high-resolution version of an image on Blogger

Here is a quite big garbage JPEG picture made of pseudo-random noise.

A noisy picture thumbnail

Thumbnail URL:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IBd5kptNGk_R6iYcCcVRbGPr-qznzJQXl51zG2kB8fPm5ksrpPdG3t4LrsNMq4kdsupZI3QBQ2RzvmdAXPtP6B4ZmwAur6IyQIZAA74UmNbOFE59MtXcTPyCwPlIrVPx4dAyhxT5oYg7/s320/noise01.jpg

"Big image" direct link URL:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IBd5kptNGk_R6iYcCcVRbGPr-qznzJQXl51zG2kB8fPm5ksrpPdG3t4LrsNMq4kdsupZI3QBQ2RzvmdAXPtP6B4ZmwAur6IyQIZAA74UmNbOFE59MtXcTPyCwPlIrVPx4dAyhxT5oYg7/1600/noise01.jpg

And now we can guess a link to even bigger-sized version:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3IBd5kptNGk_R6iYcCcVRbGPr-qznzJQXl51zG2kB8fPm5ksrpPdG3t4LrsNMq4kdsupZI3QBQ2RzvmdAXPtP6B4ZmwAur6IyQIZAA74UmNbOFE59MtXcTPyCwPlIrVPx4dAyhxT5oYg7/2048/noise01.jpg

ZyXEL P660RT2 EE manuals

ZyXEL P660RT2 EE is an old ADSL[2+] router that has been quite common in post-USSR/CIS countries.

Available manuals

Description	Document URL	Info URL
Quick start guide	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/84887071-3a11-4da9-97e0-cf5a3aa65770/P660RT2_QSG.pdf	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/84887071-3a11-4da9-97e0-cf5a3aa65770/file_id.diz
User's guide	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/d93a81bc-99b6-47c5-b8c7-09aaa696cf97/p660rt2_ee_ug.pdf	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/d93a81bc-99b6-47c5-b8c7-09aaa696cf97/file_id.diz

Notes:

1. the manuals are in Russian language;
2. file_id.diz files contain the SHA256 hashes of the PDFs (and also some old and new download URLs).

Reference:

• download.from.zyxel.ru (CAUTION: heavy web page: > 2 MiB).

ZyXEL P660RT2 EE firmware versions

ZyXEL P660RT2 EE is an old ADSL[2+] router that has been quite common in post-USSR/CIS countries.

Known FW versions

Version	Archive URL	Info URL
3.40(AXN.0)D0	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/525e69ec-341d-46be-b594-484ec4378dbb/340AXN0D0.zip	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/525e69ec-341d-46be-b594-484ec4378dbb/file_id.diz
3.40(AXN.1)D0	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/2d13f8d6-241e-4cf9-b7f9-6a9974836d0a/340AXN1D0.zip	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/2d13f8d6-241e-4cf9-b7f9-6a9974836d0a/file_id.diz
3.40(AXN.2)D0	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/0c061795-afb5-4859-bade-80ccfbfef831/340AXN2D0.zip	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/0c061795-afb5-4859-bade-80ccfbfef831/file_id.diz
3.40(AXN.3)D0	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/a17310da-b9c7-402f-ab46-64a43ba09fc6/340AXN3D0.zip	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/a17310da-b9c7-402f-ab46-64a43ba09fc6/file_id.diz
3.40(AXN.3)D0_20100617	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/8b436301-004a-42c0-b698-563080eab1e2/340AXN3D0_20100617.zip	http://download.from.zyxel.ru/download/8b436301-004a-42c0-b698-563080eab1e2/file_id.diz

Notes:

1. the latest firmware version is 3.40(AXN.3)D0_20100617;
2. file_id.diz files contain the SHA256 hashes of the ZIP archives (and also some old and new download URLs);
3. usually, it's recommended to reset the router configuration after the firmware upgrade (you can find the "RESET" button hole at the back of the router).

Reference:

• download.from.zyxel.ru (CAUTION: heavy web page: > 2 MiB).

HOWTO: grab online video stream with FFmpeg

Usually, it's quite easy to save some free online (live) video streams with FFmpeg.

Example: grabbing some HLS stream with MPEG-4 (H.264) video and AAC (or MP3) audio.

$ ffmpeg -i "http://some.streaming.server/favorite_stream.m3u8" -codec copy -f mpegts stream01.ts

(Generally, the output format can be guessed by extension automatically, so we can shorten the command line).

$ ffmpeg -i "http://some.streaming.server/favorite_stream.m3u8" -codec copy stream02.ts

The TS file is usually playable during download.
Usually, you can stop the grabbing operation at any time by pressing the <q> key.
After the stream dumping is finished, you can convert (remux) your video to a more familiar MP4 container format.

$ ffmpeg -i stream01.ts -codec copy stream01.mp4

(Usually, you'd prefer a playback-optimized output file).

$ ffmpeg -i stream02.ts -codec copy -movflags faststart stream02.mp4

Reference:

• FFmpeg Formats Documentation

HOWTO: get a highest-resolution version of an image on Last.fm

Sometimes you can find an interesting picture on Last.fm, but don't have an obvious option to zoom in. Fortunately, sometimes you can view it in a better quality too (it depends on the originally uploaded image resolution):

1. First of all, copy the URL of a necessary image; you should get something like this:

   http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/64s/35346791/RJ+Test+Artist+1+knifefighttypepadcom.jpg

2. Then you'll need to modify the URL a little; just replace the entire substring consisting of alphanumeric characters between the two slashes after the "serve" word and before the image number with a single underscore:

   http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/35346791/RJ+Test+Artist+1+knifefighttypepadcom.jpg

3. Just paste the modified image URL into your browser's address bar and enjoy the (big) picture!

HOWTO: get a high-quality image from an eBay listing

Well, sometimes you can find an interesting item on eBay, and then you want to take a nice look at the photos. Unfortunately, the pictures are often displayed in a low resolution (and without a "zoom in" option). Luckily, often you still have a chance to get good quality images (with resolutions up to 1600 * 1200; it depends on the original quality of the picture the seller has uploaded).

Notes. The sites are in process of migration to HTTPS, so you'll often see image URLs beginning with "https://" instead of plain "http://". And it should work for all regional eBay sites (i. e., ebay.com, ebay.co.uk, ebay.de etc.), and also for "eBay Kleinanzeigen" (German eBay classified ads site).

1. An old image URL style.
   1. First of all, copy an URL of the needed image; you'll get something like this:

      http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Some-nice-item-For-sale-/00/s/S0mE-W1LD/$GaRb4gE~~60_12.JPG

   2. Then you'll need to modify the URL a little; just replace the last number found in the URL (it's preceded by a '_' and followed by a '.'; in this sample, it's "12") with "10":

      http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Some-nice-item-For-sale-/00/s/S0mE-W1LD/$GaRb4gE~~60_10.JPG

      or with "57" (I don't know what's actually better):

      http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Some-nice-item-For-sale-/00/s/S0mE-W1LD/$GaRb4gE~~60_57.JPG

   3. Just paste the modified image URL into your browser's address bar and enjoy!
2. A new image URL style. The method remains similar.
   1. Get an image URL:

      http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/GaRbaG3/s-l64.jpg

   2. Change the appropriate URL fragment to "1600":

      http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/GaRbaG3/s-l1600.jpg

   3. ...
   4. Done!

References:

1. getProductDetails : thumbnail How can I get high resolution picture of catalogued item. - eBay Developer Support / Customer Help
2. getProductDetails - API Reference - Product API - eBay Developers Program

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Last updated: 2017-03-14

JDownloader download manager

JDownloader is a very nice download manager:

• it's a freeware (open source, though with some closed source parts);
• it's written in Java, which doesn't make it super-fast, but cross-platform instead (runs well on MS Windows, GNU/Linux & Apple Mac OS X);
• it allows [semi-]automated downloads from a lot of popular websites (i. e.: file sharing/"cloud" services, social networks, photo/music/video hostings etc.; the use of "premium" accounts is also possible).

Custom (manual) installation notes (primarily for GNU/Linux and other Unix-like OS users).

0. Please install an up-to-date JRE (Java VM environment).
1. The current major release is called "JDownloader 2". Go to the official download page and select the "Other" version for download.
2. You should have a single file downloaded (JDownloader.jar). Please put into your favorite installation directory (e. g.: ~/Applications/JDownloader).
3. Just run it (see below), and it should even auto-update itself!

Custom application launch notes.

• Here is a sample shell script:

  #!/bin/sh
  cd ~/Applications/JDownloader
  java -Xmx512m -jar JDownloader.jar
  

• The -Xmx Java option means the maximum allowed runtime RAM allocation (in this example, 512 MiB).
• You can save it as JDownloader.sh on your desktop, or wherever you like (or even execute the commands manually, if you like).

Custom configuration notes.

• In case the fonts in your JDownloader setup are displayed too small, you can try changing the configs:
  1. go to Settings → Advanced Settings;
  2. type "font" into the Filter Settings search box;
  3. increase the value of the "LAFSettings: Font Scale Factor" key (e. g., from the default 100 [percent] to something like 150);
  4. restart JDownloader.

P. S. Anyway, please be nice & respect the [copy-]rights of others ;-)

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Last updated: 2018-10-10

Qualcomm Atheros device driver downloads site

Atheros has been acquired by Qualcomm, so currently the drivers for Atheros AR81xx and Lx network devices can be downloaded from Qualcomm Atheros corporate customer portal:

• http://www.atheros.com/corporate/content.php?nav1=146
• http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/corporate/content.php?nav1=146

(these URLs seem to be interchangeable).