Limiting input on node title and plain text area fields
There's the beta version of the Maxlength module which can be applied to built-in fields as well custom text fields.  The Maxlength module allows you to set maximum length of any field; one option includes showing a javascript character countdown on the edit forms next to the applicable fields.



You could also take the js library this module is based off of and apply with the hook_form_alter approach.