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Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

geoffreylitt.com

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Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#251

Post by vsnf »

mnau wrote: post #83
lapcat wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Many popular browser extensions were bought up by data brokers that use them to exfiltrate browser history, so not sure if they’re underrated I would say, as the developer of an upfront paid web browser extension, that upfront paid web browser extensions are underrated. ;-) It's a truism that if you're not the customer, you're the product. But what if you are the customer? I think a lot of the mistrust of browser e…

I will leave this as a gallery of emails with offers to buy extension hoverzoom: https://github.com/extesy/hoverzoom/discussions/670 Sidenote: The "collaboration" offers come from time to time even to non-extensions projects, if they are reasonably widely used. E.g. simple tools (rather widely used suite of android apps recently sold).

Some of those offers are insultingly low. $3000 to purchase the whole project? Really?

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#252

Post by LoganDark »

rrr_oh_man wrote: post #248
LoganDark wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm biased because I'm neurodivergent, which means I don't have as much experience with neurotypical thought processes. While I do use search engines and the resultant resources all the time, I don't follow steps completely cluelessly/mindlessly and later forget that I did it. I don't know what the equivalent would be for non-tech - I at least try to understand what a guide is doing so I can reproduce it independentl…

> Is it normal to forget the steps you took to accomplish a task? Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact.

> Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact.

Do you not even make mental notes of permanent changes you've made to the system...?

I mean, I don't think you'd, say, turn off some crash protection and then later complain about crashes. You'd remember that you previously turned it off, wouldn't you?

I'm so confused, heh.

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#253

Post by rrr_oh_man »

LoganDark wrote: post #252
rrr_oh_man wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it normal to forget the steps you took to accomplish a task? Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact.

> Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact. Do you not even make mental notes of permanent changes you've made to the system...? I mean, I don't think you'd, say, turn off some crash protection and then later complain about crashes. You'd remember that you previously turned it off, wouldn't you? I'm so confused, heh.

> I'm biased because I'm neurodivergent, which means I don't have as much experience with neurotypical thought processes.

> I'm so confused, heh

I’m biased right now because you assume stuff about me that you maybe shouldn’t.

Everyone’s experiences and thought processes might be starkly different from each other.

(No matter which observational group you put people into.)

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#254

Post by sanitycheck »

remram wrote: post #196
sanitycheck wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used Tampermonkey for a couple of moderately complex things and it does work well... I didn't come across a particularly nice way to use an external editor or integrate it with a normal dev workflow though, I wonder if anyone has tricks to share? I'm fairly satisfied with editing in VS Code, using a tsconfig.json with strict mode and checkJs turned on, then using JSDoc for typing. The ugly bit is the manual copy…

I tend to copy/paste into the console anyway during development, so having to copy/paste into Tampermonkey too doesn't slow me down too much. I suppose it would be nice to have a more integrated workflow though.

Yeah, I agree it's not slow as such - but I find it a bit distracting remembering to do it, and if I don't concentrate then I forget and then I risk confusing myself momentarily (not hard to do).

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#255

Post by sanitycheck »

dvdkon wrote: post #144
sanitycheck wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've used Tampermonkey for a couple of moderately complex things and it does work well... I didn't come across a particularly nice way to use an external editor or integrate it with a normal dev workflow though, I wonder if anyone has tricks to share? I'm fairly satisfied with editing in VS Code, using a tsconfig.json with strict mode and checkJs turned on, then using JSDoc for typing. The ugly bit is the manual copy…

I don't use Tampermonkey (it's not FLOSS), but I'm pretty sure Violentmonkey autoreloads script files when that script was installed from a local file (maybe I had to enable it somewhere).

It looks like you're right, I may try that instead in future.

The userscripts I've made have been mostly for work and I immediately dismissed "Violentmonkey" as unsuitable because of the name, I'm not going to ask my clients or their (less technical) clients to install something that sounds quite nefarious. Unfortunate! ("Tampermonkey" is bad enough, but at least it's widely known.)

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#256

Post by LoganDark »

rrr_oh_man wrote: post #253
LoganDark wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact. Do you not even make mental notes of permanent changes you've made to the system...? I mean, I don't think you'd, say, turn off some crash protection and then later complain about crashes. You'd remember that you previously turned it off, wouldn't you? I'm so confused, heh.

> I'm biased because I'm neurodivergent, which means I don't have as much experience with neurotypical thought processes. > I'm so confused, heh I’m biased right now because you assume stuff about me that you maybe shouldn’t. Everyone’s experiences and thought processes might be starkly different from each other. (No matter which observational group you put people into.)

> I’m biased right now because you assume stuff about me that you maybe shouldn’t.

I only talked about "typical thought processes" because you said "we all" which I assume meant the general population. Didn't assume anything about you.

Even though the base problem was given to me by another, everything I wrote about "what makes a resourceful idiot / how they are a problem" is based on my personal perception of the ones that I've seen. Which is most likely going to be a neurodivergent's impression of certain neurotypicals. AKA biased.

And the "I don't think" was leading a question, not making an assumption about you.

> Everyone’s experiences and thought processes might be starkly different from each other.

...which is I'm so hesitant to believe that everyone is a resourceful idiot.

And why I made a disclaimer about the fact that my own thought processes might be starkly different from not just who I'm describing, but other brains in general.

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#257

Post by ScoobleDoodle »

LoganDark wrote: post #252
rrr_oh_man wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is it normal to forget the steps you took to accomplish a task? Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact.

> Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact. Do you not even make mental notes of permanent changes you've made to the system...? I mean, I don't think you'd, say, turn off some crash protection and then later complain about crashes. You'd remember that you previously turned it off, wouldn't you? I'm so confused, heh.

No, some set of people will forget. Even if they intended or desired to remember. Mental notes fade for some set of people. And at different time lengths.

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#258

Post by LoganDark »

ScoobleDoodle wrote: post #257
LoganDark wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yes, it’s very common. Immediately after doing it, in fact. Do you not even make mental notes of permanent changes you've made to the system...? I mean, I don't think you'd, say, turn off some crash protection and then later complain about crashes. You'd remember that you previously turned it off, wouldn't you? I'm so confused, heh.

No, some set of people will forget. Even if they intended or desired to remember. Mental notes fade for some set of people. And at different time lengths.

hmm, I suppose that's true. I have a lot of friends who also have dissociative disorders, and some of them just dissociate all the time and forget everything, regardless of whether they would've forgotten normally

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#259

Post by nottorp »

gleenn wrote: post #191
nottorp wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is already a permission system?

The issue the parent is trying to solve is you don't really have fine grained enough control, or apps nag you and won't load until you give them everything they want. My mom has a cheap camera security app that allows me to see the live streams from remote. Every single time I open the app it asks me again if I want to allow it access to my local network. The answer is a resounding "no". If I could just say "fake yes…

Well, maybe the best reaction would be to uninstall the app and give it zero stars.

Of course, if you've bought hardware controlled by it, that's unfeasible. Keep it in mind for next time.

I don't suppose there are review sites that mention how predatory and nagging a mobile app is?

I've basically given up on mobile apps around when the ipad 3 was launched and never looked back. The reasoning being that i got an ipad 1 when it was new, and you could still find pay once games then. But they all got replaced by free to play gambling applications mislabeled as 'games'. Then the news about utility applications tricking you into $50/month subscriptions came about...

Re: Browser extensions are underrated: the promise of hackable software (2019)

#260

Post by exe34 »

robocat wrote: post #210
gleenn wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue the parent is trying to solve is you don't really have fine grained enough control, or apps nag you and won't load until you give them everything they want. My mom has a cheap camera security app that allows me to see the live streams from remote. Every single time I open the app it asks me again if I want to allow it access to my local network. The answer is a resounding "no". If I could just say "fake yes…

I wish it were easier to deny internet access to Apps. It isn't a perfect solution but it prevents the simplest data theft. Unfortunately side channel attacks are still too easy: Either a cooperating app, or send once of high value data via a link click opening the browser. From what I can tell, internet access is the default just to allow apps to have advertising. Too cynical? Android originally could deny internet…

Denying access to apps: if you're on android, you can root it and use AFWall+, which just sets up a basic linux firewall - but apps are installed as individual users, so you can just allow the apps that actually need internet - messengers and browsers, and things you want to sync across networks.
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