Don't hijack my buffer
Do you select, copy, and paste text from websites to send interesting tidbits to friends?
A new product called Tracer is a bit of javascript that can be used to see what someone is copying from your website, which is pretty cool. It can also be used to alter the contents of your buffer after you hit ^C, which is decidedly uncool.
I first noticed this while copying and pasting a few sentences from sfgate.com to some friends in IRC. I did what I always do - I copied and pasted the URL to the article, then copied the sentences I found interesting and pasted them to my friends.
Unfortunately, each time I selected and copied a sentence, Tracer added "Read more: (URL)" at the end of my buffer, so I ended up pasting the URL multiple times.
It's a nice feature, but it doesn't play nice with my IRC client - because the new contents of my buffer include carriage returns, I was in effect spamming my friends. Hopefully Tracer will update the UI of the website as well to explain to users what the new contents of their buffers are.
Until then:
1. Adblock Plus -> Preferences
2. Add Filter
3. Enter: *.tynt.com/javascripts/*
It's not a permanent solution - Tracer will change the URL to their javascript, or content providers will start hosting it locally, but I don't see why someone should see what I copy or be able to change my buffer. I consider this a security hole and with luck the browser vendors can plug it.
A new product called Tracer is a bit of javascript that can be used to see what someone is copying from your website, which is pretty cool. It can also be used to alter the contents of your buffer after you hit ^C, which is decidedly uncool.
I first noticed this while copying and pasting a few sentences from sfgate.com to some friends in IRC. I did what I always do - I copied and pasted the URL to the article, then copied the sentences I found interesting and pasted them to my friends.
Unfortunately, each time I selected and copied a sentence, Tracer added "Read more: (URL)" at the end of my buffer, so I ended up pasting the URL multiple times.
It's a nice feature, but it doesn't play nice with my IRC client - because the new contents of my buffer include carriage returns, I was in effect spamming my friends. Hopefully Tracer will update the UI of the website as well to explain to users what the new contents of their buffers are.
Until then:
1. Adblock Plus -> Preferences
2. Add Filter
3. Enter: *.tynt.com/javascripts/*
It's not a permanent solution - Tracer will change the URL to their javascript, or content providers will start hosting it locally, but I don't see why someone should see what I copy or be able to change my buffer. I consider this a security hole and with luck the browser vendors can plug it.