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Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

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Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#621

Post by wbl »

hedora wrote: post #438
wbl wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think you get the compensation for devs capable of working on this stuff.

1.4b; assume 5% returns. That’s $70M per year for devs. At $1M per year (equivalent to a good startup exit, but zero risk), that’s 70 engineers; probably senior to principal phd’s with 10 yr+ experience. If that’s not enough to maintain a web browser, then pay them to simplify the damn thing.

The feature set of a browser is set by competitors and what sites use. If you don't strive to play that game you're irrelevant.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#622

Post by rrrrrrrrrrrryan »

dhosek wrote: post #185
shevy-java wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, the current cronies that run the USA may seem to have won for the time being, but sooner or later the population in the USA will realise how much fudged up the orange clown is. Only about 30% approval rating - that will continue to dwindle.

There’s a partisan floor¹ that’s in the neighborhood of 25–30% where people will vote for their party no matter what. The 2004 Illinois Senate election was a good test case where when the Republican nominee went down in self-inflicted flames and was hurriedly replaced with Alan Keyes, who had no in-state constituency and, being Black (which, no doubt was the cynical reason for his recruitment), eliminated the racist…

We're obviously long past the days when people's politics could be mapped on a nice normal distribution, with some outliers at either end and a big group of moderates in the middle who vote differently depending on the election. Today the distribution is not only bimodal: there's almost no overlap at all.

Your politics are part of your identity now. It's part of how you define who you are, and according to the research, over 95% of people are completely entrenched and will never vote for any candidate from the "other" party. (This the highest since right before the Civil War.)

That said, while nobody's changing sides any time soon, people _do_ stay home on election day, and we're going to see that next election.

The races for the next couple decades will be won by the candidates and the parties who can drill up enough enthusiasm from their base. Preach to the choir so the choir sings, etc.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#623

Post by BrendanEich »

andai wrote: post #418
dannyobrien wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like Brave, and I know and respect many of the technical team there. I looked into the various stories about the browser that led to it being unpopular in some key communities, and I really couldn't find anything some misunderstandings, common business practices (which you can legitimately disapprove of), and a wish to register opposition to their connection to cryptocurrency/web3. I think many people would choose…

I agree that inventing JavaScript is unforgivable, but surely we can't cancel people permanently.

If not for JS, VBScript: VBSConf.us, vQuery.vbs, React.vbs if conceivable.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#624

Post by BLKNSLVR »

lossyalgo wrote: post #566
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm looking forward to an AI product that filters all consumed Internet content to remove ads. Now _that_ would be a killer feature.

Why do we need to throw AI at everything? It's a huge waste of resources for a problem that is/was easily solved by uBlock Lite (and other alternatives).

Currently, yes. But Google (et. al) are actively pursuing minimising the ability - uBlock Lite being example numero uno.

The "Mag 7", as they're referred to, are dominated by companies that are either advertising companies, or have services that are infested with advertising.

AI might be the last hope for blocking advertising in the future. And potentially only generated by local LLMs because OpenAI and Anthropic are already pwned by members of the aforementioned Mag 7, so ad blocking could well be a verboten path of questioning.

Yes, it's a huge waste of resources - but blocking advertising could be one of the least wasteful use cases if we maintain this dark timeline.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#625

Post by brynjolf »

cobbzilla wrote: post #336
saghm wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My favorite story of just how little people who aren't as tech savvy don't differentiate between different parts of the browser UI (which naturally leads to clicking things that are best left unclicked) is when my grandmother told me her "internet was broken" and asked me to fix it. I was mentally preparing for a call to Verizon or something, but no, when she finally showed me, it turned out that one of the bookmarks…

It was even worse in the 90s/00s - on Windows, the IE browser icon was literally labeled “The Internet” iirc there was a story in The Onion about someone who “accidentally deleted The Internet” on their Windows system and the whole Internet stopped working. They were so sorry, maybe it was in the Recycle Bin, there was still hope for the world, lol

Had a kid suspended for changing the icons on the Mac computers at school. He jsut wanted them to be prettier and was a wiz at pixelart.

Teacher claimed he hacked the computer because she couldn’t find icon and refused to admit she was wrong. Everyone hated her. Wonder why….

Any way kid became a legend after the suspension.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#626

Post by brigandish »

skinfaxi wrote: post #576
brigandish wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By monopolies, yes. Know what an acquihire is? Heard of a buyout leading to a shut down? That hinders development.

The creator of a specific technology getting acquihired doesn't stop others from competing with the original. If anything, acquihire is a validating signal and probably leads to more entries into the market.

The reduction of competitors and no win for the investors is somehow a signal that entry to the market against an even stronger than before incumbent would be a good bet?

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#627

Post by account42 »

beloch wrote: post #174

Ad blocking has become a safety issue. My parents are at an age where they fall for things. If a malicious ad pops up and offers to install McAfee, some other form of crapware, or outright scamware, they'll click that ad and install the thing. Then I'll get called over when the computer starts acting screwy. If Google, MS, etc. had ever gotten together and developed a way to filter malicious ads out of their own ad s…

> They didn't do that and probably never will.

They would if they were held liable for the damages caused by the ads they server, which they should be.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#628

Post by account42 »

saghm wrote: post #587
rjzzleep wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't about users not being tech savvy enough. Ad Blocking has always been a safety issue. Many of the ransomware infections in enterprises were actually drive by ad driven exploit networks. Sandboxes get better, yeah, but this is akin to leaving your door open in a neighborhood with violent crime and then saying I built this awesome laser guided Kevlar chamber that scans introducers upon entry instead.

No disagreement here! My point is more that the bar for what's enough to be a safety issue in ads is actually extraordinarily low, which is exactly why I don't have any qualms about using the strictest measures possible to block all ads even as someone who, at least in my own perception, is pretty tech savvy. In my mind, the entire ad industry is basically not worth enabling. I'm not nearly as concerned with the hypo…

That hypothetical isn't even a problem. That we need ads to support freely available stuff online is a myth that the advertising industry wants you to believe but people have been sharing their creations long before everything came with an ad. And much of what you see on ad-supported sites today isn't even funded by those ads, only the hosting is.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#629

Post by account42 »

bborud wrote: post #253
cwnyth wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The better thing would be to hold Google directly accountable for every malicious ad they allow through their network. If they cannot do that, they should not be in business selling ads then. Yes, that means amending the law (in the US). But the law as it is written facilitates crime.

How would one hold Google accountable? By fining them $1bn? $10bn? $100bn? To them it is just the cost of doing business. We're beyond holding huge companies accountable. The only way they could be held accountable is if there was personal risk involved for the CEOs. There isn't.

Doesn't matter what fine you start with as long as you keep increasing it geometrically with repeated infractions.

Re: Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO

#630

Post by account42 »

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #446
cwnyth wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The better thing would be to hold Google directly accountable for every malicious ad they allow through their network. If they cannot do that, they should not be in business selling ads then. Yes, that means amending the law (in the US). But the law as it is written facilitates crime.

How do you figure out what is a malicious ad? That seems really difficult at scale.

Oh well, it they're doing it at scale then I guess we'll let the crime slide.
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