5 ms·

I had no idea what a DX7 cartridge was, but out of curiosity I clicked the "Click here to generate" link. It immediately downloaded a file. I'm sure you have n

I had no idea what a DX7 cartridge was, but out of curiosity I clicked the "Click here to generate" link. It immediately downloaded a file. I'm sure you have no malicious intent here, but my immediate reaction was that it's a virus or something bad. I immediately deleted the file. The experience felt like one of those scammy popups that initiates a download. You should really put a label or something to indicate to the user that clicking the link is going to download something.

skylanh 6y ago
This appears specific to your setup and testing process. I tried this with several browsers, and this did not occur for me. Browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Edge Perhaps you're referring to the link on the website which says "Click here to generate Cartridge!"? Which follows the somewhat expected path for the picture context.
- barbs 6y ago
  I had the same thing happen on Safari on iOS.
- ink_13 6y ago
  I did not expect to be downloading a file, either. Like many people, I have no idea what a "DX7 cartridge" is. From context, I assumed this was a picture generator like "This face does not exist".
nkozyra 6y ago
I know what one is. I'm a fan of fm synthesis and dx-model synths and variants. But if I had known it automatically downloaded a patch I wouldn't click. It did this without me clicking anything.
- jml7c5 6y ago
  What browser are you using? It requires a click for me on Firefox. From a quick glance at the source I don't see anything that would automatically initiate a download.
  - nkozyra 6y ago
    Chrome 81.0, Android.
anonymfus 6y ago
Well that is a common social vulnerability of the Hacker News crowd: if you give a link to some binary file for any retro system people here will install an emulator it runs on and execute it, ever if you say that it's actually a viral payload. For example: http://swiftlytilting.com/downloads/PCM.demo.wgraphics.zip http://swiftlytilting.com/downloads/PCM.demo.wgraphics.zip (that is viral)
- hexaga 6y ago
  It is difficult to overstate how strongly I want to download and poke through that file, even knowing it's a bad idea.
  - Dylan16807 6y ago
    Just unzip it and then cat the contents into aplay!
    - exikyut 6y ago
      dQw4w9WgXcQ alert!! :) That is cool. It's even a valid NES cartridge according to `file`. Nice. I needed `aplay -f 16` FWIW. I shall respond with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJgNpm8cTE8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJgNpm8cTE8
      - Dylan16807 6y ago
        Technically you want to increase the sample rate (to around 14.5kHz) rather than change the depth to 16, but yeah it basically works either way.
        exikyut 6y ago
        Oh, thanks. And that's hilarious that both work.
- a_t48 6y ago
  I tried to run it in my homegrown emulator - sadly it crashed because I haven't implemented mapper 2 (and bank swapping). If it's what I think it is though, you're right, very viral. ;)
jml7c5 6y ago
That it automatically downloaded a file is down to your browser, not the site. If you have "ask before downloading" (or similar) set, it'll prompt to download.
NikolaNovak 6y ago
I think people are talking about "Click" differently. - There is a click on the link on this page that leads to the webpage. Nothing is downloaded at this time. - There is a click on the target webpage "Click to generate cartridge". Those who know what DX7 is, who are presumably a target audience, would understand this will generate a file. For those who do not know what DX7 is or what's happening, well... why are you clicking in the first place - if you have no idea what'll happen, a file is a legitimate possibility;) - but I think mostly it'll differ whether they have "Always ask me where to download" (in which case it'll prompt for location), or "Always download in default folder", in which case yes indeed it'll download a file. But at that point you've already clicked two times voluntarily on a strange page whose provenance or purpose you don't know, AND you have enabled "Don't ask me for downloads", AND you didn't bother to scroll down two millimeters for explanation but just clicked on first thing that said click me, soooooo... at some point it's no longer author's responsibility and the cries lose their credibility ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- a_t48 6y ago
  There have been a bunch of these sites that were images, before. It's not unreasonable to expect that it would generate another image and display it.
- munsters 6y ago
  "But at that point you've already clicked two times voluntarily on a strange page whose provenance or purpose you don't know" How many times have you clicked on an HN submission that you already knew 100% about? This site is for people to showcase their projects, of course curious visitors are expected to poke around. This app looked like a single page - it's not at all obvious it's even possible to scroll down. It resizes to the browser window so the FAQ is always hidden unless you scroll. This is quite obviously based off "this face does not exist", so its perfectly reasonable to expect it to play something in the browser.

skylanh 6y ago

This appears specific to your setup and testing process. I tried this with several browsers, and this did not occur for me. Browsers: Firefox, Chrome, Edge Perhaps you're referring to the link on the website which says "Click here to generate Cartridge!"? Which follows the somewhat expected path for the picture context.

barbs 6y ago
I had the same thing happen on Safari on iOS.
ink_13 6y ago
I did not expect to be downloading a file, either. Like many people, I have no idea what a "DX7 cartridge" is. From context, I assumed this was a picture generator like "This face does not exist".

nkozyra 6y ago

I know what one is. I'm a fan of fm synthesis and dx-model synths and variants. But if I had known it automatically downloaded a patch I wouldn't click. It did this without me clicking anything.

jml7c5 6y ago
What browser are you using? It requires a click for me on Firefox. From a quick glance at the source I don't see anything that would automatically initiate a download.
- nkozyra 6y ago
  Chrome 81.0, Android.

anonymfus 6y ago

Well that is a common social vulnerability of the Hacker News crowd: if you give a link to some binary file for any retro system people here will install an emulator it runs on and execute it, ever if you say that it's actually a viral payload. For example: http://swiftlytilting.com/downloads/PCM.demo.wgraphics.zip http://swiftlytilting.com/downloads/PCM.demo.wgraphics.zip (that is viral)

hexaga 6y ago
It is difficult to overstate how strongly I want to download and poke through that file, even knowing it's a bad idea.
- Dylan16807 6y ago
  Just unzip it and then cat the contents into aplay!
  - exikyut 6y ago
    dQw4w9WgXcQ alert!! :) That is cool. It's even a valid NES cartridge according to `file`. Nice. I needed `aplay -f 16` FWIW. I shall respond with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJgNpm8cTE8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJgNpm8cTE8
    - Dylan16807 6y ago
      Technically you want to increase the sample rate (to around 14.5kHz) rather than change the depth to 16, but yeah it basically works either way.
      - exikyut 6y ago
        Oh, thanks. And that's hilarious that both work.
a_t48 6y ago
I tried to run it in my homegrown emulator - sadly it crashed because I haven't implemented mapper 2 (and bank swapping). If it's what I think it is though, you're right, very viral. ;)

jml7c5 6y ago

That it automatically downloaded a file is down to your browser, not the site. If you have "ask before downloading" (or similar) set, it'll prompt to download.

NikolaNovak 6y ago

I think people are talking about "Click" differently. - There is a click on the link on this page that leads to the webpage. Nothing is downloaded at this time. - There is a click on the target webpage "Click to generate cartridge". Those who know what DX7 is, who are presumably a target audience, would understand this will generate a file. For those who do not know what DX7 is or what's happening, well... why are you clicking in the first place - if you have no idea what'll happen, a file is a legitimate possibility;) - but I think mostly it'll differ whether they have "Always ask me where to download" (in which case it'll prompt for location), or "Always download in default folder", in which case yes indeed it'll download a file. But at that point you've already clicked two times voluntarily on a strange page whose provenance or purpose you don't know, AND you have enabled "Don't ask me for downloads", AND you didn't bother to scroll down two millimeters for explanation but just clicked on first thing that said click me, soooooo... at some point it's no longer author's responsibility and the cries lose their credibility ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a_t48 6y ago
There have been a bunch of these sites that were images, before. It's not unreasonable to expect that it would generate another image and display it.
munsters 6y ago
"But at that point you've already clicked two times voluntarily on a strange page whose provenance or purpose you don't know" How many times have you clicked on an HN submission that you already knew 100% about? This site is for people to showcase their projects, of course curious visitors are expected to poke around. This app looked like a single page - it's not at all obvious it's even possible to scroll down. It resizes to the browser window so the FAQ is always hidden unless you scroll. This is quite obviously based off "this face does not exist", so its perfectly reasonable to expect it to play something in the browser.