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Comcast injecting JS

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Re: Comcast injecting JS

#91

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

ancarda wrote: post #73
STRML wrote: post #35

This code is beyond awful - it fails to display, makes endless AJAX requests, and more; here are a few fun tidbits: 1. The code is not encapsulated in an IIFE, so it clobbers any global variables (like 'image_url') in the page, breaking any scripts relying on those variables. 2. The code spends an inordinate time checking if you're running Netscape Navigator 6. 3. Strangely, they include a whole bunch of code allowin…

Ethical stuff aside, I can't imagine hiring someone to actually produce code THIS bad. Where the hell did they find the coder to make this?

Unpaid/underpaid interns!

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#92

Post by nitrogen »

BoyWizard wrote: post #20
mikeryan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That could work, but I'm guessing often this might not be the account owner (kids?) racking up the bandwidth.

They have a comment in the script // Intended use is to display browser notifications for critical and time sensitive alerts. I imagine you can rack up a fair amount of usage before checking emails, only to find you went over your cap a few hours ago.

All the more reason not to have hard caps on bandwidth.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#93

Post by ancarda »

STRML wrote: post #89
bphogan wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're all over the place. People just starting out. It could've been an intern fresh out of college. It could've been someone who just never graduated beyond copy-and-paste-from-StackOverflow. It could've been written by a person who never did web development before and was just told to make it work. The little HN/Twitter/Reddit "awesome programmer" bubble is just that... a bubble. It's easy for us to forget that l…

I agree, they're everywhere - but it doesn't explain this well-written RFC[1] to accompany the code. [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6108

Probably written by a different person.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#94

Post by desigooner »

rescripting wrote: post #87
sbarre wrote: post #7

This is nothing new.. Rogers has been doing this for years in Canada already.. They use it to notify subscribers when they are approaching their bandwidth quota (75%) and then again when they hit 100%. You actually have to click a "I understand" button to have it not show up over and over.

Rogers also used to serve ads in place of an error message when a bad URL was requested. That was the final straw causing me to cancel my service with them and switch to Teksavvy.

So did Comcast IIRC

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#95

Post by brianjyee »

Comcast is an awful awful awful company. Yet I pay them over $100/month. I hate them with a passion. I've never experienced worse customer service. If I could pay double the price with a different company for internet/cable, I would do it in an instant but I unfortunately have no other options.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#96

Post by fnordfnordfnord »

STRML wrote: post #89
bphogan wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're all over the place. People just starting out. It could've been an intern fresh out of college. It could've been someone who just never graduated beyond copy-and-paste-from-StackOverflow. It could've been written by a person who never did web development before and was just told to make it work. The little HN/Twitter/Reddit "awesome programmer" bubble is just that... a bubble. It's easy for us to forget that l…

I agree, they're everywhere - but it doesn't explain this well-written RFC[1] to accompany the code. [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6108

From the RFC:

> R3.1.1. Must Only Be Used for Critical Service Notifications Additional Background: The system must only provide critical notifications, rather than trivial notifications. An example of a critical, non-trivial notification, which is also the primary motivation of this system, is to advise the user that their computer is infected with malware, that their security is at severe risk and/or has already been compromised, and that it is recommended that they take immediate, corrective action NOW.

So much for that.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#97

Post by juiceandjuice »

mbreese wrote: post #86
nano111 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

after 2 weeks, 3 techs coming to my house,5 chat conversations and multiple phone calls I finally have service... I don't really like this legal monopoly for cable companies... I would switch to ATT but right now they are about twice the cost...

As a different point, my place was already pre-wired. I bought a cable modem from Best Buy, and plugged it in. It synced immediately. Then I went online and ordered service. They charged me $10 to send a self-install kit, but it wasn't needed I was actually online within minutes. So sometimes their systems work... I was very sad about switching from my other carrier (Sonic.net), but they ultimately couldn't deliver v…

> And Comcast was actually cheaper.

At least for the first 6/12 months. Then you get to haggle and threaten disconnection for a day, then you are good for another 6/12 months.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#98

Post by Phlarp »

bphogan wrote: post #76
ancarda wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ethical stuff aside, I can't imagine hiring someone to actually produce code THIS bad. Where the hell did they find the coder to make this?

They're all over the place. People just starting out. It could've been an intern fresh out of college. It could've been someone who just never graduated beyond copy-and-paste-from-StackOverflow. It could've been written by a person who never did web development before and was just told to make it work. The little HN/Twitter/Reddit "awesome programmer" bubble is just that... a bubble. It's easy for us to forget that l…

>They're all over the place. People just starting out. It could've been an intern fresh out of college. It could've been someone who just never graduated beyond copy-and-paste-from-StackOverflow. It could've been written by a person who never did web development before and was just told to make it work.

I'm an intern, just moving past S.O. copy-pasta jobs and generally get scared at what the hacker news crowd might say about my code... seeing this caliber of shit get pushed live by a major ISP is almost comical, if an admitted novice such as myself can see that it should be a sign as to the ineptitude of our current crop of ISPs.

Re: Comcast injecting JS

#99

Post by shardling »

ihsw wrote: post #53
metageek wrote: post #28

Isn't JS injection a copyright violation, since it creates a derived work? Or has that idea been shot down before?

Good luck fighting against a team of lawyers with virtually unlimited budget. If you're lucky you might get a cash settlement but they'll still be screwing everybody else with impunity.

The idea would be that websites would take action, not end users. (Otherwise, how would it be a copyright vio?) I think we can assume that if it was infringement, Google would have an interest and the pockets to go to battle.

IANAL, but I can't really see how it would be infringement, though.

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