4 ms·

To be fair, this was part of a hint in a scavenger hunt, so being opaque is pretty much required in that context. Did it actually display an ad? I didn't see a

by Yoric 9y ago

To be fair, this was part of a hint in a scavenger hunt, so being opaque is pretty much required in that context. Did it actually display an ad? I didn't see anything such on my Firefox.

DonHopkins 9y ago
If being opaque is pretty much required, then Firefox is absolutely the wrong context for that extension, whose whole point is transparency. It's not that it displays an ad, it's that it IS an ad. Not only that, but it also parasitically hooks in and wastes resources (memory, cpu time, battery life) in each and every tab visiting each and every web page. That's yet another reason it's totally inappropriate in the context of Firefox, which is trying to dig itself out of the hole of being slow and bloated.
- Yoric 9y ago
  > If being opaque is pretty much required, then Firefox is absolutely the wrong context for that extension, whose whole point is transparency. Fair point. > It's not that it displays an ad, it's that it IS an ad. If it's an add, it's the most well-hidden ad in history, since you need to find both a hidden preference to turn it on and a specific and non-documented website to let it display anything. > Not only that, but it also parasitically hooks in and wastes resources (memory, cpu time, battery life) in each and every tab visiting each and every web page. No, it doesn't.
  - Crespyl 9y ago
    Advertisement or not, it is software created for the purpose of marketing, increasing brand awareness/engagement. More importantly, it is software that has nothing to do with improving FireFox, collecting telemetry, error reports, running tests, experimental features, or anything else the Shield Studies program is ostensibly to be used for.
    - Yoric 9y ago
      > More importantly, it is software that has nothing to do with improving FireFox, collecting telemetry, error reports, running tests, experimental features, or anything else the Shield Studies program is ostensibly to be used for. I agree that delivering it through Shield was not a good idea.
  - DonHopkins 9y ago
    >If it's an add, it's the most well-hidden ad in history So well hidden, it's practically underwater. http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html Yet in spite of how well hidden it was (or rather, because of), we're now all talking about Mr. Robot, somehow. Funny how that works! > No, it doesn't [parasitically hook in and waste resources]. [...] since you need [...] a specific and non-documented website to let it display anything Yes it does hook into and waste resources and potentially display ads on ALL web pages. Hover text injected into headline on Washington Post #39: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39 https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39 Have you read the source code? background.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/background.js https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/backgr... content-script.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/content-script.js https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/conten... The extension literally injects ads for Mr. Robot in the form of popup tooltips with links on every web page that contains certain keywords. And it also wastes memory, CPU time and battery life for web pages not containing those keywords. How much more like parasitic adware does it have be before you can see that it walks and quacks like a duck, because its intended purpose is to advertise a television show? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 >It injects a blob of CSS and some JavaScript into every tab, then it does a regular expression search of every text node on each page, filtering out everything but paragraphs, then for each occurrence of a keyword in the text, it creates a new text node to split the current text node, then inserts a new span element between them, containing its own text node, then it creates an additional tooltip element containing six text nodes, five br elements, and one anchor element linking to https://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass https://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass , and it also configures css class names to associate all those new nodes it created with the blob of css styling and animations that it injected. If you wanted to develop your own malicious adware like Superfish that injects your own ads into every web page, this code and the browser hijacking techniques it uses would be an excellent starting point. Browser Hijacking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking Threat Introduced via Browser Extensions: https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/10/threat-introduced-via-browser-extensions.html https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/10/threat-introduced-via-browse... How to find Chrome extensions that inject ads into any webpage I browse? https://superuser.com/questions/893843/how-to-find-chrome-extensions-that-inject-ads-into-any-webpage-i-browse https://superuser.com/questions/893843/how-to-find-chrome-ex...

by Yoric 9y ago

To be fair, this was part of a hint in a scavenger hunt, so being opaque is pretty much required in that context. Did it actually display an ad? I didn't see anything such on my Firefox.

DonHopkins 9y ago

If being opaque is pretty much required, then Firefox is absolutely the wrong context for that extension, whose whole point is transparency. It's not that it displays an ad, it's that it IS an ad. Not only that, but it also parasitically hooks in and wastes resources (memory, cpu time, battery life) in each and every tab visiting each and every web page. That's yet another reason it's totally inappropriate in the context of Firefox, which is trying to dig itself out of the hole of being slow and bloated.

Yoric 9y ago
> If being opaque is pretty much required, then Firefox is absolutely the wrong context for that extension, whose whole point is transparency. Fair point. > It's not that it displays an ad, it's that it IS an ad. If it's an add, it's the most well-hidden ad in history, since you need to find both a hidden preference to turn it on and a specific and non-documented website to let it display anything. > Not only that, but it also parasitically hooks in and wastes resources (memory, cpu time, battery life) in each and every tab visiting each and every web page. No, it doesn't.
- Crespyl 9y ago
  Advertisement or not, it is software created for the purpose of marketing, increasing brand awareness/engagement. More importantly, it is software that has nothing to do with improving FireFox, collecting telemetry, error reports, running tests, experimental features, or anything else the Shield Studies program is ostensibly to be used for.
  - Yoric 9y ago
    > More importantly, it is software that has nothing to do with improving FireFox, collecting telemetry, error reports, running tests, experimental features, or anything else the Shield Studies program is ostensibly to be used for. I agree that delivering it through Shield was not a good idea.
- DonHopkins 9y ago
  >If it's an add, it's the most well-hidden ad in history So well hidden, it's practically underwater. http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html Yet in spite of how well hidden it was (or rather, because of), we're now all talking about Mr. Robot, somehow. Funny how that works! > No, it doesn't [parasitically hook in and waste resources]. [...] since you need [...] a specific and non-documented website to let it display anything Yes it does hook into and waste resources and potentially display ads on ALL web pages. Hover text injected into headline on Washington Post #39: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39 https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39 Have you read the source code? background.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/background.js https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/backgr... content-script.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/content-script.js https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/conten... The extension literally injects ads for Mr. Robot in the form of popup tooltips with links on every web page that contains certain keywords. And it also wastes memory, CPU time and battery life for web pages not containing those keywords. How much more like parasitic adware does it have be before you can see that it walks and quacks like a duck, because its intended purpose is to advertise a television show? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 >It injects a blob of CSS and some JavaScript into every tab, then it does a regular expression search of every text node on each page, filtering out everything but paragraphs, then for each occurrence of a keyword in the text, it creates a new text node to split the current text node, then inserts a new span element between them, containing its own text node, then it creates an additional tooltip element containing six text nodes, five br elements, and one anchor element linking to https://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass https://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass , and it also configures css class names to associate all those new nodes it created with the blob of css styling and animations that it injected. If you wanted to develop your own malicious adware like Superfish that injects your own ads into every web page, this code and the browser hijacking techniques it uses would be an excellent starting point. Browser Hijacking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking Threat Introduced via Browser Extensions: https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/10/threat-introduced-via-browser-extensions.html https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/10/threat-introduced-via-browse... How to find Chrome extensions that inject ads into any webpage I browse? https://superuser.com/questions/893843/how-to-find-chrome-extensions-that-inject-ads-into-any-webpage-i-browse https://superuser.com/questions/893843/how-to-find-chrome-ex...