Verizon Minutes Used Firefox Extension Version 0.97
Finally, I fixed the problem that caused the extension to fail in firefox 2.0.
You can download the new version here . (the 0.971 version now has the auto-update feature.)
This one took me quite a while to figure out. Apparently Verizon started to check the http header "Referer" when serving login request to make sure the request comes from a user visiting their web site, not from a robot like this extension. I then naturally set the referer header value in my XMLHttpRequest. But it turned out that it's not supported by firefox 2.0, for security reason I think. (But if that were the case, it's really lame. )
Anyway, I finally figured out some other way to add the referer value to the header before the request was sent out to Verzion.
I am sure they will make more changes later...
posted by Winston Huang @ 3/22/2007 04:56:00 PM
77 Comments:
hooray!
now let's count the days before they switch shit around again making the extension break even more :-P
BTW: do you have a contact at verizon we can e-mail and pester to give you some public API that won't break as much? that would be cool.
I don't have a contact at Verizon. If they want to contact me, they can always leave a comment on this blog.
however, creating an open API is not that trivial either. there are many issues to consider. I doubt they would ever do that.
Winston, Thanks!!!! I know this took a lot of work, and we appreciate it!
I know Verizon will pull another fast one, hope not.. but they make big bucks when we (and the teenagers at home) go over the alloted minutes, so I suspect they will :(
Thanks!
Thank you so much Winston. Your hard work has saved the day again.
Winston, I just wanted to add my note of appreciation for all of your efforts in keeping the wonderful extension going. I had really missed it these last few weeks, and am quite happy that you were able to salvage it. Thanks so much!
thanks dood!
Verizon should realize that, by trying to frustrate this extension, they are setting themselves up for ridicule in the world of blogs, forums, DIGG, etc. We can make them look foolish to a community that should be important to them. Back off big V!
Wow, thank you for all your hard work.
Thanks for your time and effort. This plug-in is a life saver. Keep up the great work!
Winston, thank you for the work you put into this extension. This is definitely one of my favorites.
thanks for fixing this. I sure missed it while verizon was jerking us around. u rock
Winston,
I want you to know how much we all appreciate all of the time & effort you put in to keeping this extension alive.
Winston, thank you for all your time and work in keeping this extension up! It is definitely a must-have extension for me!
Keep up the great work!!
Wow, thanks!!! Winston, you came through again!
If anyone finds this extension useful, consider donating some $$ to Winston for his time and effort on this awesome project.
~CMT
Winston,
Thank you -- been hoping you would come out with a fix .. and you have. wonderful :-)
Winston, along with the others, thank you so much for your efforts.
Thank you Winston.
Thanks for all your work!!
Wow, glad I stumbled upon this! So much easier and more concise than VZW's site.
Best wishes to you and other developers like you who offer truly useful software. Thank you.
Keep up the good work!
Fantastic...thanks
You da man!
Yay! I love this extension.. I hope people are donating because they are obviously loving it.
Winston,
Sent you a donation via Pay Pal. Thank you for your efforts. Would hate to be without this extension.
$10 donation left. Token of much money saving appreciation!
Mark
Thanks Winston! Works great, once again!
Thanks, once again, Winston. This extension saves my butt!
Thanks for the update!
I'll just mirror everyone else's comments and say, thanks for the hard work in keeping this one going. I really do rely on it.
Gave a small donation because this plugin kicks much ass. Thanks and keep it working!
Winston, Thanks!!!!
I went over by $25 when the extension was down!!
Appreciate the effort you put in to constantly update the extension when Verizon screws it up.
Winston,
This extension in superb and a money-saver! Thank you for all the time you're investing in maintaining and improving it.
You probably know that when you release a new version of "Verizon Minutes Used", Firefox does not automatically recognize the update. (Tools > Add-ons > right-click on extension > Find Update). I assume this is because the extension isn't hosted on Mozilla, which I understand entirely.
Is there some other way that Firefox's manual/automatic updates could be enabled for this extension? As many have written, this has become an essential tool! When Verizon changes things - and you update the extension - it would be very helpful if Firefox could find the updates.
Great extension!
Great work, thanks
i am all for supporting auto-update. i couldn't find any documenation on how to implement the service. can someone help out (e.g. point me to the right doc)?
I have been using your extension for a few versions now and I simply love it. Keep up the good work.
Winston, you rock man. How hard would it be to create a automated script that saved data to a log file each time the call data changed? Thankx for the extension.
It's 2007/03/31. Peak=752. Projection=728. The projection really needs work!!
regarding the projected usage, read previous posts and you will understand why. basically it's caused by verizon's site not updating the billing date in time.
Winston,
Thank you for the willingness to support auto-update. I had left the suggestion anonymously about this on Wednesday. The following link may be a start - I'd be glad to dig for further information if it would be helpful:
Link
Thank you in advance!
Thanks so much! You've done a great job with this extension.
Jonathan,
I have seen the link before. but some details are missing. anyone has more info on this or a tutorial/sample on how to set it up?
I'll join the chorus of "Thank you"s for such a simple-looking, powerful tool. I'm being a good citizen and having it update every 720 minutes (that is, twice a day) so as not to unfairly burden Verizon's servers.
Minor complaint: Family-plan reporting seems to be broken.
hello winston,
i'm not sure if this is where you'd like us to post troubleshooting comments.
i just changed my verizon cell # and the extension no longer works for.... just says "loading verizon minutes"
i uninstalled and reinstalled the extension and entered in my new account info.... nothing.
any ideas?
awesome plugin!
i have a suggestion...
what about adding the ability to check the number of international text messages too?
thanks! :)
i guess i am the only one that is having problems!
i'm sure the only reason why this extension is now not working is b/c i recently changed my cell phone # and had to change my login info...
bummer!
I'm with Daniel: My Family Plan account does not seem to update properly. The minutes used remains unchanged until I manually log into my Verizon account. I love this extension but for now, it's not working for me. Are we the only ones? Thanks again!
Ok, I spoke too soon. Things seem to be working again (if they were ever off...maybe it was a Verizon issue? Or operator error?). Thanks for a really great extension!
Winston,
This is the best tutorial I've been able to dig up so far -
Tutorial
Let me know if that's useful or if I should keep digging!
jonathan,
thanks for the link. will look into that.
I have a family plan with Verizon (4 phones) and even though I have it set to scrape for family plan, it doesn't display total minutes for the entire family. It only does it for one phone.
Just wanted to let you know.
Thanks,
Dan
Disregard my last comment. It does appear to be working fine. It's just that it continues to list one of the minor phone numbers in the hover info box even though I have family plan selected. Kind of confusing.
Thanks,
Dan
is there somewhere i can find support for this extension?
it no longer works for me and was the best extension in my arsenal!
the extension always says "loading verizon minutes used..."
i just got a new phone # and had to change my username and password. i moved to the middlewest and have toggled the east/west region to no avail. not much else to do. i have uninstalled and disabled and erased the extension from my user profile and still nothing.
i guess it is time to say goodbye... someone please help!
This is... awesome.
This is a great plugin Winston. I'm actually running into the same referer problem with my own code.
If you wouldn't mind sharing, how did you end up setting the referer? You can e-mail me at lkartaltepe@hotmail.com
Winston,
This is a terrific and extension. Thanks for your efforts in keeping up with Verizon on this.
One small request though. Is it possible for you to add the capture of the data plan usage? For example:
Data ‡ KB Usage 850.38 KB
Also, what about adding the TXTs counts and Data Usage to the Status Bar as well?
Great extension, Winston.
One request: can you add a field which shows the time when the extension last downloaded information from the VZW site?
This would be really useful.
Thanks,
Sri
I am using Firefox version 2.0.0.3 and I am getting an error message that reads "Loading Verizon minutes used" on the bottom bar of my Firefox browser.
How can this be fixed?
Thanks:)!
Just noticed that version .971 was available with automatic updating, so I installed it. Tried to "Find Update", and received this message: "An error occurred while trying to find updates for Verizon Minutes Used." Is this auto update feature not fully operational yet, or do I need to configure something to allow the update site to install add ons? Thanks.
since there is no update yet, that's why you saw that message. when the next version comes out, you should see something different (or better yet, firefox will tell you automatically that there is a new version).
Thanks Winston...
FYI, all my other extensions simply show: "No updates were found." when there are no new updates. Also. wanted to say, once again, how great this extension is, and how much we all appreciate your time & effort with it!
Dude im not kidding msn, u r the mack shizzle. this thing is gonna save me 50-100 dollars each year. thank u so much!!!!!
Rich
Delaware
thanks for the plugin.. but can anyone tell me what i should look at if i want to see how many minutes i used AND i have free nights/weekends? i dont understand all this PKin stuff. thank you
Winston -
It is great that you've implemented auto-update. We'll watch eagerly to see how it works next time you release an update. I might add that I agree with Phil - in that it should emulate other extensions which say "No updates were found." when there are no new updates.
Thank you again!
Hi Winston, there appears to be an issue this morning. The actual, minutes never come up, only "Loading Verizon minutes used...". When I place the curser over this, I get a notation saying "failed to parse the minutes used". Double clicking on it takes me right to the Verizon billing website, where I am already logged in, and can view my minutes. Wondering is everyone is experiencing the same thing.
I have been seeing the same thing, since last night.
I know we appreciate your work on this Winston, THANKS!
Yes, it looks as though they have once again made a change. I think they do it specifically to screw with poor Winston.
yeah same thing here with the "auto login" i think they did that specifically for the plugin which is rather gay i think. I want to be able to see my minutes w/ out loggin in every time. I mean for goodness sake thats a feature that should be on the freaking phone by now with how advanced they are. Perhaps VZW needs another class action for preventing people from seeing their minutes in a convenient way.
VZW definitely does it to screw with a great extension
It looks like verizon may have messed with things again. "failed to parse minutes"
Yea, I'm getting the same message...
agreed, Great Extension, great design... too bad verizon keeps doing their best to mess with it. Seems im having the same issue as the others with the Failed to Parse the minutes used.
I've got the same error message. I love this extension. Why does Verizon have to go and muck up all our fun?
Same problem. Bastards!
Ditto to the 5/24 and 5/25 comments. I too get the perpetual "Loading Verizon minutes used" message. I'm sure it's those motherless-children at Verizon who can't stand this way cool add-on that Winston created!
Winston, I totally LOOOOOOOVE your add-on, and it has honestly saved me from going over my minutes on more than one occasion. I'm hooked on your plug-in! It, and you, are DA BOMB! :-)
Mine quit working... any clue??
i will look at it soon. currently out of town. will keep you posted.
Yeah mine stopped working a few days ago. "failed to parse minutes used." thank you winston, you are providing a much needed service.
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