 We all love YouTube videos. We all love Homestar Runner. But we don't love it when Flash ads or other Flash-related junk forces our processors to run hot and leech our precious battery fluids.Flash animations and videos are among the top processor hogs on Mac OS X. A single poorly-designed Flash banner - even in an inactive window or tab - can suck up an entire processor core with its shady mortgage offers. Your 5-hour battery life gets cut in half, your laptop runs hotter, and your legs cook to medium-rare. That's where BashFlash comes into play. BashFlash lets you stop the Flash plug-in dead in its tracks, letting your new-fangled Mac cool down, use less power, and give you more time to do whatever it is you do. Probably blog or tweet or something.  How does it work?On 64-bit Macs running Snow Leopard, Safari pushes the Flash plug-in off into its own process. BashFlash lives as a tiny menu app, monitoring this process and warns you (by turning red) if Flash is using a relatively significant amount of processor cycles. You can then use its menu to kill the Flash plug-in. That's hot. Any running Flash content is replaced with the broken plugin icon. Want to get Flash working again? Simply reload the page, or go to a new one. The next time Flash is needed, it'll come back to life. Download BashFlash 1.0 - 230K BashFlash is freeware. Use it however you'd like, wherever you'd like. Donations are accepted. System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.6 or later (Snow Leopard and up) A 64-bit Intel Mac (pretty much everything made from late 2006 and on) Check if your Mac is 64-bit Safari for browsing (Firefox and friends don't put Flash off on its own) FAQ: Why only 64-bit? Why only Snow Leopard? Why only Safari? Because only 64-bit Safari runs Flash as a standalone process. Any other browser/OS/architecture doesn't. Can't you make one for Firefox? Sorry. It won't work. What about PowerPC Macs? We need this too! Sorry. Can't run Snow Leopard on a PowerPC Mac. You're a jerk. That's not a question. Why not just run a normal Flash blocker in the first place? That's a good idea too. In fact, I do both. ClickToFlash does a great job of keeping stuff from loading in the first place, but anything you've white-listed or clicked on is still going to load, and there's no way to stop them without closing your windows or tabs...unless you use BashFlash. When and at what CPU% does BashFlash start warning me? BashFlash checks the Flash process's CPU% every 10 seconds. At 30%, the icon turns red. Below that, it's black. If Flash is completely idle or not running at all, it's grayed out. Hey, I really liked VisualHub. Thanks. C'mon. What about my old Core Duo MacBook? I'd love to support 32-bit Intel Macs, but only the 64-bit Safari does process separation. Maybe Apple will change this in the future? That would be lovely. rdar://problem/7235557  DonateEvery time you drain your battery, you bring it 0.2% closer to death's door. That's, like, 25 cents per charge at Apple's going rate of $129 for a replacement battery. Not to mention the toll on your energy bill. And the nuclear coal burned to provide that electricity. In a world without BashFlash, you may end up having to replace your MacBook's battery over its lifetime, since the Flash plug-in is free to suck up your battery's lithiums, ions, and polymers with wanton disregard to your pocketbook :( With judicious use of BashFlash, you might make it to the end of your laptop's natural life without buying a new battery. That's $129 you saved. That's $129 you should donate to me. ...or $5. I guess $5 would be good too. Either way. |