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Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

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Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#21

Post by greenie_beans »

iSoron wrote: post #14

Looks like an interesting extension, but unfortunately I would never install it given that "this add-on can access data for all your websites". As far as I am aware, this means it can read and record all data in all websites I visit (including emails, banks, etc) and record everything I type anywhere (including usernames and passwords). Even if the extension's source code is available on GitHub, there is no guarantee…

I used to have this exact same fear and never downloaded any extensions bc of that, until I started making browser extensions. Pretty much any useful extension needs the access that prompts that generic message about accessing all the data.

Any extension that's listed on the web stores have to be reviewed for malicious code, and they must do what the listing say they do. So if your browser extension has your passwords, then that extension would be considered a password manager.

The extension probably listens to the IPs of well-known time wasting websites like HN or reddit, then adds a latency to the browsing. Same with an ad blocker -- they know every site you visit but only to compare them with their blacklist of advertising IP addresses.

Of course, you have to trust they aren't doing anything else with that info, which you can probably assume you're mostly safe if you don't need an account to use the extension.

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#22

Post by waterbadger »

Something I started messing around with: add a global stylesheet with the rule

body { filter: grayscale(100%); }

(only gotcha is position: fixed; elements breaking in Firefox?)

It feels a lot easier to focus on what I'm reading and to not be sucked in or distracted by websites. I bet psychologically color activates reward systems that may not be as healthy for digital content.

I actually liked it so much that I used accessibility options to make my entire computer and phone grayscale. So far it's great! Also has better performance than a CSS filter for stuff like video.

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#23

Post by superkuh »

The best extension to do this is to run NoScript in temp whitelist only mode. Every time you visit a crappy website with lots of JS domains that load JS domains that load JS domains you'll have to spend 20 seconds load and reloading the page till you get it to work. If at all. It thoroughly discourages visiting these bad websites.

But good websites (ie, not web apps) will load instantly and unimpeaded. And as a side effect you're protected from most browser exploits since the vast majority require executing JS.

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#24

Post by skipants »

greenie_beans wrote: post #21
iSoron wrote: post #14

Looks like an interesting extension, but unfortunately I would never install it given that "this add-on can access data for all your websites". As far as I am aware, this means it can read and record all data in all websites I visit (including emails, banks, etc) and record everything I type anywhere (including usernames and passwords). Even if the extension's source code is available on GitHub, there is no guarantee…

I used to have this exact same fear and never downloaded any extensions bc of that, until I started making browser extensions. Pretty much any useful extension needs the access that prompts that generic message about accessing all the data. Any extension that's listed on the web stores have to be reviewed for malicious code, and they must do what the listing say they do. So if your browser extension has your password…

I believe only "recommended extensions" for Firefox are tech reviewed, which this one is not.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recommended-extensions-...

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#25

Post by iSoron »

amenod wrote: post #15
iSoron wrote: post #14

Looks like an interesting extension, but unfortunately I would never install it given that "this add-on can access data for all your websites". As far as I am aware, this means it can read and record all data in all websites I visit (including emails, banks, etc) and record everything I type anywhere (including usernames and passwords). Even if the extension's source code is available on GitHub, there is no guarantee…

FTFY: To be clear, this is more a criticism of _every browser's_ security model,... I do agree with you though. What is surprising is that technically, this should be fairly easy to solve: - own the CI system (to make sure the sources match the built versions) - make sources (the ones that went into build) clearly visible - disable silent updates

This is exactly the approach taken by F-Droid (for Android apps). All apps available on F-Droid have been automatically built from a publicly available repository, and you can either download the binary (APK) or the source tarball that they used to produce it. Updates are manual.

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#26

Post by snthd »

iSoron wrote: post #14

Looks like an interesting extension, but unfortunately I would never install it given that "this add-on can access data for all your websites". As far as I am aware, this means it can read and record all data in all websites I visit (including emails, banks, etc) and record everything I type anywhere (including usernames and passwords). Even if the extension's source code is available on GitHub, there is no guarantee…

.xpis are just zip files.

You can literally just save them from addons.mozilla.org and look inside - it's js so it's not compiled, and obfuscated code is against Mozilla policy.

Automatic updates are optional too.

Microsoft Application Inspector might be handy for some superficial profiling - https://github.com/microsoft/ApplicationInspector

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#27

Post by pzmarzly »

skipants wrote: post #24
greenie_beans wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to have this exact same fear and never downloaded any extensions bc of that, until I started making browser extensions. Pretty much any useful extension needs the access that prompts that generic message about accessing all the data. Any extension that's listed on the web stores have to be reviewed for malicious code, and they must do what the listing say they do. So if your browser extension has your password…

I believe only "recommended extensions" for Firefox are tech reviewed, which this one is not. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recommended-extensions-...

According to [0], Mozilla requires all extensions to have a source in human-readable format and runs a test suite on them. They mention "code review" there, but don't say whether it's manual or automatic. I'd love to hear about it from someone who has some experience with the process.

[0] https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/publish/submitti...

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#29

Post by derefr »

See also:

• Chrome's "throttling" feature: https://helpdeskgeek.com/networking/simulate-slow-internet-c...

• Whole-computer "make my network stack worse" utilities:

• • macOS's Network Link Conditioner: https://nshipster.com/network-link-conditioner/

• • clumsy (for Windows): http://jagt.github.io/clumsy/index.html

• • dummynet (for Linux): http://info.iet.unipi.it/~luigi/dummynet/

• A naughty SOCKS5 proxy (multiplatform): https://github.com/Shopify/toxiproxy

Re: Show HN: A Firefox extension to add latency to distracting webpages

#30

Post by Anon1096 »

pzmarzly wrote: post #27
skipants wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe only "recommended extensions" for Firefox are tech reviewed, which this one is not. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/recommended-extensions-...

According to [0], Mozilla requires all extensions to have a source in human-readable format and runs a test suite on them. They mention "code review" there, but don't say whether it's manual or automatic. I'd love to hear about it from someone who has some experience with the process. [0] https://extensionworkshop.com/documentation/publish/submitti...

For my extension the review was automatic, and flags things like direct html editing. I only have a few hundred users though, so I'm not sure at what point they decide to do manual reviews.
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