How to prevent websites from knowing who is using my Chrome extension? - javascript

A few months ago I developed a Chrome extension, very much like the famous Reddit Enhancement Suite for a website very much like Reddit, for free. Userbase happy, rolling out little improvements here and there... And now out of the blue this website is programmatically giving those users a 1 day ban.
I've been googling methods to find out if a user has a specific extension and surprisingly for me it's not that hard (haven't tested those methods though but seem very plausible).
For example methods like this one.
I don't know what method they are using, but whatever it is, I should be able to see it somewhere in their code right? I'm reading through all I can see and there's nothing suspicious.
Where can I look? Tools? Ideas?
PS: No, there's no law that my extension violates, there are also no injured people nor cats.

Related

How to test chrome extension in 2022

I'm developing a chrome extension and I would like to know how to test it. I'm interested ideally in both unit and integration, but mostly integration tests. I've tried googling, but most of the solutions I found are either not good enough for the purpose or are using libraries which lost support. Also I'm new to javascript world, so if I would really appreciate a more detailed info. Thanks!

Open Instagram from Android Browser

Intent, hooks, API, integration, dozen of cryptic javascripts, xml schemas, URL interpreters, helpers, frameworks...
It's 3 days that i'm reading blogs, SDK, tutorials to achive a very simple goal: open Instagram by clicking an URL in the Android browser. I find it a bit incredible that i needed 5 minutes to make it on iOS. I don't even know what code i should share since i don't even succeded in having an error... at least it would be something!
To make it short i have an Android phone. I open the browser to visit my website. Now i want to add a link to open Instagram camera. On iOS i simply reference to:
Open Instagram
Take a picture
Is it really that hard to code the same thing on Android? I'm not looking to make it inside another App. It's just a normal website.
After a lot of researches and tests - yeah, even more :S - i can finally state that it's not possible unless you want to force your visitors to manually download additional contents. I don't like it. It isn't an elegant and easy solution.
Please notice that i'm only talking for websites. You you are developing an App you can achive this quite easily with intents.

Best way to track IP Address and traffic source on Wordpress install

Im sure this question has been asked before and I am sure there is some way to accomplish this.
Here is my problem: Running Google Adwords sometimes it feels like our budget gets exhausted fairly quickly and I am almost certain that it is due to competitors clicking links or having someone click the ad's. I know Google has tried to prevent this but I just dont see that working based on a friends Adsense and it showed his ad's were being clicked on numerous times by the same IP and they were only stayin on his site for less than 10 seconds.
So no I am paranoid of spending money on PPC because of this behavior. My question is is there anything available either on Wordpress or some script I can implement that will tell me the visitors IP address, source of traffic and how long they spent on site?
I have researched some of the free services online but either they dont offer these 3 features or they fail to work consistently.
Can anyone suggest anything here to prevent this type of behavior that will be good for a WP install? If there is not something like this available then I would not mind implementing my own script that logs this info into a file for me or if there is already something like this available then that is even better. Seems this is a recurring problem with Adwords
Open to suggestions

conflicts between javascript code and browser addon/extension

I am the owner and developer of a e-commerce website.
Every single day some potential customers call us because can not order, we investigate a little bit and inevitably discover he can not because of some js errors.
We check his browser addons/extensions, disable some or all, and the JS errors disappear.
The JS are always different from each other, and the addons/extension vary; it happens with Chrome, IE, Firefox, indifferently. Usually are some sort of coupon/deals addons/extension like DealSpy.
And I don't have any data to support this but I believe these cases had a spike since we moved to angularjs.
I am wondering if there's anything I can do; I can't disable their addons/extension programmatically from my code I guess, but somehow catch those errors and manage them?
Any advice from anyone who faced same or similar issue?
There is likely no way to answer this properly as it depends on the code of your site and the add-ons breaking it, none of which you supply...
Anyway, try to reproduce the error and contact the add-on authors in question.
There might be ways to work around particular issues, but that would be case-by-case and dependent on the actual code.
Also, in case of Firefox add-ons, if you encounter an add-on that just "breaks the web" (or part of it: your website, maybe others), consider filing a Tech Evangelism :: Add-ons bug. Mozilla and/or the add-ons editors team may then take appropriate steps according to the Add-on guidelines.
Not sure if there is something similar for Chrome... Their Help section just says to contact the actual extension author. So unless it is a security sensitive bug, you shouldn't expect any assistance from Google.

Make Web Application Accessible

What things have to be done before I can honestly tell myself my web application is accessible by anyone? Or even better, convince Joe Clark. I don't have any video or audio to worry about, so I know I won't need transcripts. What else do I have to check?
You should also check out the WAI-ARIA stuff:
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria
http://alistapart.com/articles/waiaria
http://juicystudio.com/article/wai-aria-live-regions.php
And, for a perspective on the challenges actually faced by users with various disabilities when they try to use the web, have a look at some of the presentations and videos from the Scripting Enabled conference in London on Friday: http://scriptingenabled.org/ (I don't think all of them are uploaded yet)
Your question is very vague, but in short, you need to ensure that your site meets one of the three levels (A, AA, or AAA) of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
FWIW, in my experience, if you are providing anything other than a purely static HTML site, aim for AA. Trying to follow the WCAG guidelines stringently to triple-A standard for a dynamic website is the road to hair loss IMO. This may change with WCAG 2.0.
Good luck!
EDIT: #Blowdart suggests running your site through online checkers. This is fine so long as you realise that many of the WCAG guidelines (especially towards the higher end) are so arbitrary, they can only be validated with a human eye.
Do not trust the output of these online checkers and blindly stick a AAA badge on your site. If you are called on it, you may be in trouble.
+1 Blowdart for suggesting HTML and CSS validation, and Chris Pederick's add-on is great!
If the site is usable with JavaScript and CSS disabled, then you're doing pretty well. The Web Developer toolbar in Firefox lets you easily disable both of these. Another way to check is to use Lynx, a command-line, text-only browser. Beyond that, your best bet is to check the site heuristically against whatever guidelines apply (in the U.S., that's usually Section 508). No site will be perfectly accessible, but doing these things will ensure that yours is very accessible.
Run it through a bunch of checkers. Check the HTML is valid. Try to use it with script disabled. Try to use it with CSS disabled. You can do all of this with the web developer addon for Firefox
Online accessibility checkers can help, following the WCAG can help, trying your site with demo versions of screen readers can help, but the only way to "insure" a site is accessible is to have an expert check it for you, or become an expert your self. Fortunately, if you do follow the WCAG 2.0, test with a screen reader, and run the online tests, 98% of the time, you will be just fine. But if you want a guaranty...

Categories

Resources