diff options
Diffstat (limited to '_site')
| -rw-r--r-- | _site/feed.xml | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _site/posts.xml | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | _site/projects/bumblebee/index.html | 48 |
3 files changed, 37 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/_site/feed.xml b/_site/feed.xml index 7b79eaf..ed18899 100644 --- a/_site/feed.xml +++ b/_site/feed.xml @@ -1 +1 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.4.1">Jekyll</generator><link href="/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2025-12-06T21:14:11+08:00</updated><id>/feed.xml</id><title type="html">ASCIIMX | Archive</title><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><entry><title type="html">How I manage Suckless software packages</title><link href="/archive/suckless-software/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How I manage Suckless software packages" /><published>2025-11-30T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-11-30T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/suckless-software</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Since suckless software requires users to modify the source code and recompile to customize, I need a way to maintain patches over the long term while retaining the ability to upgrade the software as new versions are released.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Neo4J A* search</title><link href="/archive/neo4j-a-star-search/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Neo4J A* search" /><published>2025-09-14T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-14T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/neo4j-a-star-search</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Back in 2018, we used Neo4J graph database to track the movement of marine vessels. We were interested in the shortest path a ship could take through a network of about 13,000 route points. Algorithms based on graph theory, such as A* search, provide optimal solutions to such problems. In other words, the set of route points lends itself well to a model based on graphs.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">MOSFETs as electronic switches</title><link href="/archive/mosfet-switches/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="MOSFETs as electronic switches" /><published>2025-06-22T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-06-22T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/mosfet-switches</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Recently, I needed a low-power circuit for one of my battery-operated projects. Much of the system’s power savings depended on its ability to electronically switch off components, such as servos, that draw high levels of quiescent currents. My search for a solution led me to MOSFETs, transistors capable of controlling circuits operating at voltages far above their own.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">How to configure ATmega328P microcontrollers to run at 3.3V and 5V</title><link href="/archive/arduino-uno/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How to configure ATmega328P microcontrollers to run at 3.3V and 5V" /><published>2025-04-10T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-04-10T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/arduino-uno</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is a quick reference for wiring up ATmega328P ICs to run at 5V and 3.3V. While the 5V configuration is common, the 3.3V configuration can be useful in low-power applications and when interfacing with parts that themselves run at 3.3V. In this guide, the 5V setup is configured with a 16MHz crystal oscillator, while the 3.3V configuration makes use of an 8MHz crystal oscillator.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">How to set up ATSAM3X8E microcontrollers for bare-metal programming in C</title><link href="/archive/arduino-due/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How to set up ATSAM3X8E microcontrollers for bare-metal programming in C" /><published>2024-10-05T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2024-10-05T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/arduino-due</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[This article is a step-by-step guide for programming bare-metal ATSAM3X8E chips found on Arduino Due boards. It also includes notes on the chip’s memory layout relevant for writing linker scripts. The steps described in this article were tested on an OpenBSD workstation.]]></summary></entry></feed>
\ No newline at end of file +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.4.1">Jekyll</generator><link href="/feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2025-12-07T17:27:10+08:00</updated><id>/feed.xml</id><title type="html">ASCIIMX | Archive</title><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><entry><title type="html">How I manage Suckless software packages</title><link href="/archive/suckless-software/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How I manage Suckless software packages" /><published>2025-11-30T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-11-30T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/suckless-software</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Since suckless software requires users to modify the source code and recompile to customize, I need a way to maintain patches over the long term while retaining the ability to upgrade the software as new versions are released.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">Neo4J A* search</title><link href="/archive/neo4j-a-star-search/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="Neo4J A* search" /><published>2025-09-14T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-09-14T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/neo4j-a-star-search</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Back in 2018, we used Neo4J graph database to track the movement of marine vessels. We were interested in the shortest path a ship could take through a network of about 13,000 route points. Algorithms based on graph theory, such as A* search, provide optimal solutions to such problems. In other words, the set of route points lends itself well to a model based on graphs.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">MOSFETs as electronic switches</title><link href="/archive/mosfet-switches/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="MOSFETs as electronic switches" /><published>2025-06-22T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-06-22T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/mosfet-switches</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[Recently, I needed a low-power circuit for one of my battery-operated projects. Much of the system’s power savings depended on its ability to electronically switch off components, such as servos, that draw high levels of quiescent currents. My search for a solution led me to MOSFETs, transistors capable of controlling circuits operating at voltages far above their own.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">How to configure ATmega328P microcontrollers to run at 3.3V and 5V</title><link href="/archive/arduino-uno/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How to configure ATmega328P microcontrollers to run at 3.3V and 5V" /><published>2025-04-10T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2025-04-10T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/arduino-uno</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[This is a quick reference for wiring up ATmega328P ICs to run at 5V and 3.3V. While the 5V configuration is common, the 3.3V configuration can be useful in low-power applications and when interfacing with parts that themselves run at 3.3V. In this guide, the 5V setup is configured with a 16MHz crystal oscillator, while the 3.3V configuration makes use of an 8MHz crystal oscillator.]]></summary></entry><entry><title type="html">How to set up ATSAM3X8E microcontrollers for bare-metal programming in C</title><link href="/archive/arduino-due/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" title="How to set up ATSAM3X8E microcontrollers for bare-metal programming in C" /><published>2024-10-05T00:00:00+08:00</published><updated>2024-10-05T00:00:00+08:00</updated><id>/archive/arduino-due</id><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author><summary type="html"><![CDATA[This article is a step-by-step guide for programming bare-metal ATSAM3X8E chips found on Arduino Due boards. It also includes notes on the chip’s memory layout relevant for writing linker scripts. The steps described in this article were tested on an OpenBSD workstation.]]></summary></entry></feed>
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/_site/posts.xml b/_site/posts.xml index 68176c8..599537e 100644 --- a/_site/posts.xml +++ b/_site/posts.xml @@ -1 +1 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.4.1">Jekyll</generator><link href="/posts.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2025-12-06T21:14:11+08:00</updated><id>/posts.xml</id><title type="html">ASCIIMX</title><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author></feed>
\ No newline at end of file +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" ><generator uri="https://jekyllrb.com/" version="4.4.1">Jekyll</generator><link href="/posts.xml" rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" /><link href="/" rel="alternate" type="text/html" /><updated>2025-12-07T17:27:10+08:00</updated><id>/posts.xml</id><title type="html">ASCIIMX</title><author><name>Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</name></author></feed>
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/_site/projects/bumblebee/index.html b/_site/projects/bumblebee/index.html index 8219448..576885f 100644 --- a/_site/projects/bumblebee/index.html +++ b/_site/projects/bumblebee/index.html @@ -44,24 +44,46 @@ <h2 class="center" id="title">BUMBLEBEE: BROWSER AUTOMATION</h2> <h6 class="center">02 APRIL 2025</h5> <br> - <div class="twocol justify"><p>Bumblebee is a web browser that converts browser sessions into C# scripts for -playback. It eliminates the need for authoring browser automation scripts.</p> + <div class="twocol justify"><p>Bumblebee is a tool I built for one of my employers to automate the generation +of web scraping scripts.</p> <video style="max-width:100%; margin-bottom: 10px" controls="" poster="thumb.png"> <source src="bee.mp4" type="video/mp4" /> </video> -<p>Bumblebee is a Windows Forms application written in C#. Web content is rendered -by the embedded Microsoft Edge browser (via WebView). The text editor on the -right is <a src="https://github.com/desjarlais/Scintilla.NET" class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scintilla.NET</a>. Users can -override the generated script at any point during the session. The users can -configure Bumblebee to debounce events, ignore hidden elements, etc.</p> - -<p>Bumblebee works by injecting a custom JavaScript program that tracks user -interactions. The tracker intercepts and sends them to the Bumblebee backend as -events for analysis. In addition to the front-end events, Bumblebee also -intercepts events internal to the web browser, which it then interprets to -generate C# code for the Selenium WebDriver in real time.</p> +<p>In 2024, we were tasked with collecting market data using various methods, +including scraping data from authorized websites for traders’ use.</p> + +<p>Manual authoring of such scripts took time. The scripts were often brittle due +to the complex nature of modern websites, and they lacked optimizations such as +bypassing the UI and retrieving the data files directly when possible, which +would have significantly reduced our compute costs.</p> + +<p>To alleviate these challenges, I, with the help of a colleague, Andy Zhang, +built Bumblebee: a C# Windows Forms desktop application that uses Microsoft +Edge <a src="https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/webview2" class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WebView2</a> for +rendering web content.</p> + +<p>Bumblebee works by injecting a custom JavaScript program that intercepts +client-side events and sends them to Bumblebee for analysis. In addition to +front-end events, Bumblebee also captures internal browser events, which it +then interprets to generate code in real time. Note that we developed Bumblebee +before the advent of now-popular LLMs. Bumblebee reliably handles dynamic +websites and pop-ups. The user can access developer tools, override any part of +the script at any point during the session (using the embedded <a src="https://github.com/desjarlais/Scintilla.NET" class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Scintilla.NET</a> editor), debounce +events, and block hidden elements and scripts.</p> + +<p>Before settling on a desktop application, we contemplated a browser extension. +We decided against that because we didn’t want the browser vendor to dictate +Bumblebee’s capabilities. Furthermore, the company’s security policy prohibited +browser extensions, complicating its deployment. The initial prototype used a +C# wrapper of the Chromium project instead of WebView. Its incoherent API +design led us to toss it in favour of WebView, which presented a well-designed +API that interfaced seamlessly with Windows Forms.</p> + +<p>Bumblebee reduced the time we spent on authoring scripts from hours to a few +minutes. Since the rules for code generation were written and optimized by +experts in web technologies, the output was more robust.</p> </div> <p class="post-author right">by Wickramage Don Sadeep Madurange</p> |