Goatbox for BTC-e, a free trollbox filter, now on the Chrome web store

[charlesism]

So I finished my "trollbox filter" Chrome browser extension. It can be reasonably effective in curbing trolls.

It's available right here:

Google Chrome extension:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/goatbox-for-btc-e/bojkglffmhiidgmliclialapiapmlkhe

It's absolutely free, though I'm happy to accept bitcoin donations if you get the urge.

Firefox status update: I haven't forgotten about Firefox. I completely redesigned Goatbox v1.5 to comply with Mozilla's rules (this primarily involved replacing every call where I used the '.innerHTML' setter). Works great on Chrome, but the changes left me with some nasty Firefox bugs (e.g.: data disappearing upon reload) which prevent release, but which I will address shortly.

v1.7 Screenshots:


https://i.imgur.com/kTNrfIR.png

Click on a user's name to ignore or follow them. A clean two-column
layout, and uniquely tinted usernames, make for easier reading.



https://i.imgur.com/QA9c8mP.png

Drag the trollbox from the bottom right-hand corner to enlarge.



https://i.imgur.com/myFLYp7.png

Text input area grows as you type, so you can see your entire message.



https://i.imgur.com/XKs4eKV.png

New in v1.7: if a message contains a YouTube link, you can view it inline.
Note: I ship the software with this option disabled.
If you wish to enable it, use this command:
/goatbox play_youtube_inline=true
If youtube.com were ever hacked, or if your local network were compromised
by a skilled hacker, having an iframe with a youtube video could be bad.
The chances of this happening are fairly remote, but I think "opt-in"
is the right way to go.



https://i.imgur.com/B97tCMC.png

Here's the bulk editor for "ignored" users and words. It's the weakest element
of the extension, since it currently shows you funny-looking regular
expressions. I'm working on it.



https://i.imgur.com/d06sSLc.png

Use the command /time to see the time in Ca., NY, London, and China.
I copied this from fengwu83, who created a more sophisticated version as a
web app several weeks ago.

[raspcoin]

You should have picked Quarkcoin instead of Dogecoin as the primary example of a scamcoin. Unlike that pre-mined scam, Dogecoin actually allowed everyone to participate when the difficulty was low.

[charlesism]

On a completely unrelated note, I wanted to add a note regarding security and extensions (although I have no magical way of allaying anyone's fears). The best I can do is try to be open and honest about the risks.

You are probably wary about installing software that interacts with a financial exchange.

My extension only interacts with the trollbox - it has no capability to handle anything financial. I kept all the code to a single script-file which I have thoroughly commented. If you can read JavaScript, you can audit the installed code in the Chrome extensions folder:

Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Default/Extensions/[guid]/1.7_0/goatbox.js
Win:
\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\Extensions\[guid]/1.7_0/goatbox.js

Unfortunately, as far as I know, Chrome does not give you an easy way to disable an extension from applying updates, when they are available. This means the code you look at today, could change next week. I found this post, which shows you how to disable updates manually: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26671033-

If you are nervous, the following general advice may be helpful, for any extension, not just mine:

• 1. disable all extensions in Chrome that can access "btc-e" or that can access "all tabs"
• 2. enable Two Factor Authentication on BTC-e (or generate a different key if it was already enabled)
• 3. install the extension, and reenable the others
  

I'm sure a malicious extension can still find a clever way to compromise your system, but afaik preventing add-on software from sniffing your two-factor key should be adequate in most cases.

TLDR: Best practice for security: always disable browser extensions before entering/changing two-factor authentication. Also, consider preventing Chrome extensions from auto-updating