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JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

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Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#121

This should be hurting the reputation of Chrome Web Store more than it is hurting the reputation of Open Source browser extensions. It's impossible to keep tabs on all Open Source developers, so a highly trusted platform like Fedora or installing and updating things one by one is needed. It's far from ideal, but I've been meaning to start using one personal meta-extension so I can have ctrl-d on Grok delete the next…

> This should be hurting the reputation of Chrome Web Store more than it is hurting the reputation of Open Source browser extensions.

Does the Chrome Web Store have any reputation left at this point? I don't know how much lower its reputation can go.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#124
post #16

I actively try to get coworkers to audit, remove and work without browser extensions. Google and Firefox clearly do not care to spend even a modicum of effort to police their marketplaces. There's only a few I would trust and assume all others to be malware now or at some point in the future.

I removed most of them now, but it is a pain to work without a dark reader or a Google results remover.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#125
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. Then again, I’m a web developer so looking at the DOM is my day job.

I just imagined that this was an exclusive statement. „What do you do all day?“ „Looking at the DOM. Currently there are too many divs, but the situation seems fine.“

I was sure you're going to take it in the direction of the relevant xkcd [0], so was taken aback that you didn't end it with something like "but today the pattern of divs is all wrong".

[0] https://xkcd.com/722/

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#127

Guy talks about switching to the "Classic" version if > you just want a simple, open source, local-only JSON-formatting extension that won't receive updates. Wow that sounds like a tough choice. JSON formatting is moving at such a fast pase that I don't know if I should pay a JSON formatting SaaS a monthly subscription, or if I really can live without updates.

It really is dramatic. The author wrote a very moving paragraph on his hard life as the maintainer of the JSON formatting experience. Someone up top pitched in on the dire state of the "OSS ecosystem".

I just hope the authors of the "Go Back With Backspace" extension (now in version 3.0) I critically rely on ever since Chrome sold out will not betray me. It needs access to all sites, which as someone above mentioned is because of the great design of the new Extension Manifest API thingy.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You either die a hero, or live long enough to become a villain.

Or he just got hacked

From the github readme:

> I am no longer developing JSON Formatter as an open source project. I'm moving to a closed-source, commercial model in order to build a more comprehensive API-browsing tool with premium features.

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#129
post #92
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. Not sure what's with the downvotes. That was a genuine question. (I used to do a lot of web development and probably know dev tools better than most people here. However I almost never look at the DOM of a webpage I don't own)

I frequently look at the DOM of webpages, so that I can bend them to my will. There's always some things about practically all websites are frustrating. I fix that with custom CSS and/or Javascript that runs when I load specific sites that I use frequently. I can turn a cluttered site into a streamlined site for my needs. I also block a lot of ads, popups and other annoyances this way.

Oh there's another. The web is so miserable nowadays, I waste so much time on this. You don't happen to open source your stuff do you?

Re: JSON formatter Chrome plugin now closed and injecting adware

#130
I feel like this is a trend. A few months ago, my phone was hacked because I was using a free QR code scanner app which I'd been using for like 5 years without issue.

It was an effective hack. I'd wasted 3+ hours jumping through hoops to get access to some basic service and was running into one hurdle after another... Then I got to a point that I wanted to scan a QR code from an old screenshot and so I opened my trusty QR code app to navigate to the website but when I opened the app; it wouldn't let me scan as usual; instead, there was a legit-looking update button on the page saying I needed to update the app; it was shown as part of the app interface itself (not some side ad). After 3 hours of running into a deep recursive rabbit hole with one hurdle after another, I was at my wit's end... I needed to read that QR code NOW! This was one hurdle too many which I didn't have the energy to even think about! I was too busy thinking about the other 4 layers of nested issues which I was trying to unwind myself out of! And so my muscle memory kicked in and hit the update button! Then BAM! Even before my system 2 thinking kicked in (to remind me that updates should be done through the app store), within a second or two, a message flashed on the screen and I knew my phone had been hacked. I noticed later that I received a whole bunch of extortion emails.

Thankfully, I never put anything sensitive on my phone. I treat it as a public space. I wasn't logged into any session on any app at the time. I immediately did a factory reset of my phone and changed all my passwords just in case. But damn, that was an effective hack! I trusted this app for 5 years and it betrayed me in a fraction of a second! This was surprising for me as I'd never been hacked before. It showed me how even someone who fully understands the tech can be hacked if caught at the right time in the right situation.

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