There aren’t many reasons why you wouldn’t use User Scripts. I’m using using User Scripts for years. User Script support is, in my opinion, one of top three things every browser should support (after sync and ad blocking). That’s probably the reason why I dislike using smartphones. Chromium even comes with native User Script support, although, because of the lack of options, you still want to use a User Script manager.
I spend a lot of time on Google. Most of my User Script have therefore something to do with making my stay there as pleasant as possible.
One of the coolest scripts I’ve used for more than two years is GooglePirateExtended.
Many people put a lot of interesting stuff on the Internet. And Google’s robots spend all day indexing the Internet. People, who put their gems conveniently in world-readable directories facing the Internet, are in the assumption that “if no one has the link to them, no will find them, and our links are so complex that no one would just suddenly stumbled over them.” Google bots, on the other hand, think, “yeah… I don’t think anyone could use these files. The link is also very complex. I don’t think anyone would ever ask for them either. Plus we wouldn’t make any money serving them… But we’ll index them anyway. Just in case.”
Well, this User Script used to take advantage of both foolish assumptions just mentioned, by helping you in crafting special search queries that forces Google in presenting with results from these folders. It works. And it’s amazing what you can find this way.
I used the past tense earlier because the User Script stopped working more than a year ago. I contacted the developer around seven months ago, but he didn’t reply. In order to get it to (partially) work again, I used to make minor changes to the code, but even that became quite cumbersome after a while, since I was unable to share the script without giving people a 101 in JavaScript.
I decided to revive the script. The reason for that is because of a conversation I had with my friend Inbal. She told me that, although technology amazes her, she often feels overwhelmed and intimidated by it, and that the high learning curve that comes with it has always been an obstacle for her.
At the time of this writing the latest version is 0.6. The script now adds “cached” links next to each search result, just like in the old days (in case directory browsing has been disabled). In the future, I am planning to include a RAW image search. You can find it on GitHub, Greasyfork and OpenUserJS.
Couple Thoughts:
- Please help to improve the script.
- If it doesn’t work for you, make sure that other User Scripts/extensions aren’t interfering with it (or vice versa).
- Make sure you comply with the laws of your country. Or not. That’s up to you…
- This script will expose you to parts of the Internet, which are usually hidden from you. You never know what you’ll find out there, or, what will find its way to you. Prepare for the worse…
- Google doesn’t like this. If you make too many queries within a certain time span (like 10+ requests within 2–3 minutes), it will think you’re a robot and start bombarding you with CAPTCHAs. You should stop for a while when that happens. If you don’t, it will put you in a CAPTCHA-loop that will never end, even if you solve the CAPTCHA correctly. Your only way out of it is to wait a few hours, switch to another browser/User Agent or to change your Internet-facing IP address.
- I’ve included the experimental ability to search for
publicly shared Google Drive folders. Although it is capable of giving neat
results, it’s disabled by default. Open the script and uncomment line number 62 to enable it.
The main reason it’s disabled is because, apparently, a great number of individuals are spending a lot of time creating and sharing malicious files over Google Drive. Their name’s often fit your desired search term, but they are only simple text files or graphics with a malicious link on them (probably leading to malware or an exploit attempt). I may try to find a way to exclude them.
The other reason is that Google dislikes this even more. In order to get good results, you should make sure Google doesn’t remember you (from a previous search). So make sure you’re not logged in, DISABLE cookies, DISABLE caching, DISABLE tracking, or, even better, use a throwaway browser.
Update: How-To
The first couple responses I received show that there may be some more guidance in order:
What are User Scripts (from Greasyfork)?User Scripts put you in control of your browsing experience. Once installed, they automatically make the sites you visit better by adding features, making them easier to use, or taking out the annoying bits. The user scripts on Greasy Fork were written by other users and posted to share with the world. They're free to install and easy to use.
How do I install User Scripts?
To use User Scripts you need to first install a User Script Manager. For Firefox, the best choice is Greasemonkey. For Chrome: Tampermonkey. Other options exist. Once you've installed a User Script Manager, find a script you like on Greasy Fork and click the green Install button. The script is then installed and will run when you visit a site it applies to.
How do I use this particular User Script?
Install it like any other (see question number 2), and visit google.com. Google's homepage should now look like in the screenshot above (with radio buttons and options in the lower left corner). After that, pick a category (Music, Software etc.), type whatever you're looking for, and then press "Google Search".
That's it.
