Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

Since the sole feature of this extension is pretty trivial and can be easily replaced with a bookmark, I would be honestly worried about some "hidden features".

The barely two sentence description and low resolution preview picture also don't inspire much confidence.

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#5

Post by Geordi7 » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 9:13 AM UTC

1011_1101 wrote: post #4

Since the sole feature of this extension is pretty trivial and can be easily replaced with a bookmark, I would be honestly worried about some "hidden features". The barely two sentence description and low resolution preview picture also don't inspire much confidence.

Oddly, the only way to change the new tab page is with an extension.

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#6

Post by jwmjj » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 9:16 AM UTC

That really looks like a lot of work, congratulations!

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#7

Post by jwmjj » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 9:19 AM UTC

Geordi7 wrote: post #5

1011_1101 wrote: post #4

Since the sole feature of this extension is pretty trivial and can be easily replaced with a bookmark, I would be honestly worried about some "hidden features". The barely two sentence description and low resolution preview picture also don't inspire much confidence.

Oddly, the only way to change the new tab page is with an extension.

With Firefox, you can add a link to your new tab page (and everybody else's) just by paying Mozilla a hefty sum!

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#8

Post by randomhnuser » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 9:57 AM UTC

Neat idea, but why exactly does it need to read my browsing history?

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#9

Post by joaotarla » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 10:52 AM UTC

1011_1101 wrote: post #4

Since the sole feature of this extension is pretty trivial and can be easily replaced with a bookmark, I would be honestly worried about some "hidden features". The barely two sentence description and low resolution preview picture also don't inspire much confidence.

actually the source code is here, it is basically one method to override the default new tab behaviour. https://github.com/tarla/random-wikipedia-chrome-extension

Re: Show HN: Random Wikipedia browser extension

#10

Post by joaotarla » Fri, Mar 01, 2019, 10:54 AM UTC

randomhnuser wrote: post #8

Neat idea, but why exactly does it need to read my browsing history?

It doesn't! the real code is pretty much one line in the background.js here: https://github.com/tarla/random-wikipedia-chrome-extension

the other parts are just to add a donate button that redirects to Wikimedia Foundation page