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addon-wr
JavaScript2017–2026
mozilla / addon-wr · Archived

addon-wr

Looking Glass is a collaboration between Mozilla and the makers of Mr. Robot to provide a shared world experience.

Robotics & IoT
Explore on GitHubRead Hacker News discussions
17Distinct people
31Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
55GitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Looking Glass is a collaboration between Mozilla and the makers of Mr. Robot to provide a shared world experience.

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 12:54:37 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year31 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2017-12-14 10:03:01 UTC to 2026-09-02 06:37:18 UTC.

01020302017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 28 mentions; 1 submissions, 27 comments20172018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 2 mentions; 0 submissions, 2 comments2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments20212022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 0 mentions; 0 submissions, 0 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 1 mentions; 0 submissions, 1 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20172017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC28127
20182018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC202
20192019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20202020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20212021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20222022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC000
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC101

What Hacker News says

31 sources
j_s·Jan 17, 2018
In case you're not aware (and for anyone curious enough to look), the extension was changed dramatically within days of when the story hit the fan. It's really hard for someone as inexperienced as me to tell what was actually run! https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/commit/7d4e422bf573f675b... I believe it did technically run enough code to decide whether or not it was enabled, and I'm not sure whether or not its installation was avoidable (I believe enabling SHIELD studies is opt-in [perhaps part of opting in to analytics?]).
In Mozilla Files Suit Against FCC to Protect Net Neutrality
DonHopkins·Dec 20, 2017
>If it's an add, it's the most well-hidden ad in history So well hidden, it's practically underwater. http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html Yet in spite of how well hidden it was (or rather, because of), we're now all talking about Mr. Robot, somehow. Funny how that works! > No, it doesn't [parasitically hook in and waste resources]. [...] since you need [...] a specific and non-documented website to let it display anything Yes it does hook into and waste resources and potentially display ads on ALL web pages. Hover text injected into headline on Washington Post #39: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39 Have you read the source code? background.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/backgr... content-script.js: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/conten... The extension literally injects ad
Read the rest
s for Mr. Robot in the form of popup tooltips with links on every web page that contains certain keywords. And it also wastes memory, CPU time and battery life for web pages not containing those keywords. How much more like parasitic adware does it have be before you can see that it walks and quacks like a duck, because its intended purpose is to advertise a television show? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 >It injects a blob of CSS and some JavaScript into every tab, then it does a regular expression search of every text node on each page, filtering out everything but paragraphs, then for each occurrence of a keyword in the text, it creates a new text node to split the current text node, then inserts a new span element between them, containing its own text node, then it creates an additional tooltip element containing six text nodes, five br elements, and one anchor element linking to https://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass , and it also configures css class names to associate all those new nodes it created with the blob of css styling and animations that it injected. If you wanted to develop your own malicious adware like Superfish that injects your own ads into every web page, this code and the browser hijacking techniques it uses would be an excellent starting point. Browser Hijacking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_hijacking Threat Introduced via Browser Extensions: https://blog.sucuri.net/2014/10/threat-introduced-via-browse... How to find Chrome extensions that inject ads into any webpage I browse? https://superuser.com/questions/893843/how-to-find-chrome-ex...
In Update: Looking Glass Add-On
2g67vupsoknn·Dec 19, 2017
> Even when turned on no user data was collected or shared. This is disingenuous at best. The extension (when enabled) injects an extra HTTP header into your browser's requests to 3 specific sites[1], (at least) one of which appears to be operated by NBC Universal. Are we really supposed to believe that _all_ of the servers handling these "special" requests were set up without any kind of logging enabled? That NBC Universal wasn't tracking how many times each page was loaded? And from which IP addresses? And when? Mozilla needs to clarify what they meant by "user data" and "collected" here. Seems like they're trying to hide the fact that your data WAS collected -- by a 3rd party, which is perhaps worse. [1] https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr
In Update: Looking Glass Add-On
DonHopkins·Dec 19, 2017
The "studies" sidechannel is the ideal place to distribute a deactivated plugin if you want curious people to activate because they want to test out new features. People subscribe to the studies sidechannel BECAUSE they want to try out new features, and those people tend to know about and use about:config, so it's likely many people will enable it, to see what it does. And here's a bug report about something it does: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/issues/39
In Update: Looking Glass Add-On
DonHopkins·Dec 18, 2017
Fixed Firefox spelling and URL master (#43) @gregglind gregglind committed 4 days ago: + "description": "MY REALITY IS JUST DIFFERENT THAN YOURS.\n\nLooking Glass is a collaboration between Mozilla and the makers of Mr. Robot to provide a shared world experience. Are you a fan of Mr. Robot? If so, join the hunt for answers!\n\nParticipating in this shared world experience requires explicit user opt in. If you are not actively participating in the ARG (Augmented Reality Game) no modifications will be made to Firefox.\n\nhttps://support.mozilla.org/kb/lookingglass", Sigh. Again [2], it's definitely not an "Augmented Reality Game". And it hardly qualifies as an "Alternate Reality Game", which is defined as "intense player involvement with a story that takes place in real time and evolves according to players' responses". [3] How does this ex
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tension affect the evolution of the TV show's plot? If there's not interactivity and feedback, it's Alternative Reality Static Content (aka Alternative Facts), not a game. For what it's worth, we developed a TV show with Current TV called "Bar Karma" [4..7] along with a web site and mobile app, enabling viewers to collaboratively write, discuss and vote on the scripts of each episode. But as far as I can tell, that's not the point of this extension. [1] Fixed Firefox spelling and URL master: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/commit/fdd61682e5b8ef778... [2] Not AR: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15936727 [3] Alternate reality game: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_reality_game [4] Will Wright's Current TV show shooting pilot this week: https://www.engadget.com/2010/08/20/will-wright-current-tv-s... [5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Karma [6] Bar Karma | Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIlTVoedDXY [7] Will Wright Talks Bar Karma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tsWTb9RHSQ
In Update: Looking Glass Add-On
quesnel·Dec 17, 2017
It seems that Mozilla didn't get paid to implement this extension and force it through channels reserved for usability studies: "We didn't make any money off of this; it was intended as an easter egg in Firefox for fans of the show." https://www.metafilter.com/171227/Your-Reality-Is-Driven-By-... "Mozilla wasn't paid for the Mr. Robot tie-in, Kaykas-Wolff [Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, Mozilla's chief marketing officer] said. "We've enjoyed a growing partnership with the show and the show's audience," he said." https://www.cnet.com/au/news/mozilla-backpedals-after-mr-rob... It doesn't matter if the extension was not activated on installation because the check for the extensions.pug.lookingglass on line 22 https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/master/addon/bootst... can easily be gone in the next version of the extension. Not getting paid for th
Read the rest
is ad is even worse in my opinion. Mr. Robot is produced by Universal Cable Productions, which is part of NBCUniversal, which in turn is owned by Comcast. Your marketing people are probably laughing behind your back, they got the dork developers to implement this ad for free, be proud of it and even defend it in online forums. As they say: "The intent is to provide players with a sense of pride and accomplishment for unlocking different heroes." https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsBattlefront/comments/7cff0b... Your marketing people got to play with the big boys in mass media and are now owned some favors. Think about that for a minute.
In Firefox is on a slippery slope
callahad·Dec 17, 2017
> Is the extension on or off when it gets installed invisibly? You could argue technicalities for either, but semantically, it's off by default. The add-on is implemented as an "embedded webextension" which is wholly contained by an outer "bootstrapped add-on." The bootstrapped add-on controls whether or not the embedded webextension gets initialized, and that's all it does. The bootstrapped add-on is literally just this one file: https://github.com/mozilla/addon-wr/blob/59659431fd2a75c33ac... The outer shell is on by default. The embedded webextension is only initialized by the bootstrapped add-on if the user manually flips the "extensions.pug.lookingglass" preference in about:config. That preference is off by default. > why not just have the user actually install the extension at the time of consent, rather than prefetching? That's what
Read the rest
we're moving to by pulling the add-on from Firefox and posting it on AMO.
In Firefox is on a slippery slope

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