Safari Extensions

Be careful with your Safari Extensions, and turn off auto-updating

lexfriedman:

Safari can update your extensions automatically. Included in the extension is a URL that the developer may optionally provide, and Safari checks that URL on occasion to see if a new version of your extension is available. If it is, Safari will install that new version silently.

Thus, the mythical A Decidedly Un-Evil Extension, which could provide the definition of any word you double-clicked on, could seem noble and safe. After a few months of swelling popularity, the extension’s nefarious creator could update the extension with <iframe> evilness, and start gathering personal information about you, from the webpages you visit. Unless you regularly check your Safari Extensions’ versions number, you might never even know that the extension had been updated, and therefore never even suspect any change had occurred. 

My short-term solution to this problem is that you should, at a minimum, disable automatic updating for Safari Extensions by unchecking the box:

The whole post (by Lex Friedman) is worth reading. If you’re security conscious, you probably want to disable automatic updates.

Joining the iXyr Ad Network

I’m honoured to say that the gentlemen at iXyr Media (the guys behind Smoking Apples and Beautiful Pixels) have asked Safari Extensions to join the iXyr ad network, and I have accepted.

When I started running pointer links exactly a month ago, I did so because most ads, including Google’s text ads, are nothing but visual debris; neither readers nor advertisers really get much out of them. While ad networks exist that are targeted more directly to Mac users and creative individuals, showing only one well-designed and relevant ad per page, Safari Extensions hadn’t been invited to join any of them. I felt it would be better to make occasional text posts with affiliate links than to insult SE’s readers by exposing you to ugly, useless ads.

iXyr Media is a company targeted directly at Mac users and Apple enthusiasts. They make beautiful things and have a real appreciation for the Apple community. When they recently asked SE to join their new ad network, it was a no-brainer; the ads will appear in the sidebar to the right, one per page. I hope you’ll find something useful in them.

Since pointer links took the place of ads, I don’t currently plan to run them anymore. If you found them useful and would like to see them continue, please let me know; same goes if you absolutely hated them and are glad to see them go.

One final note: if you’re an extension developer or app developer looking for increased exposure, I think you’ll find iXyr Ads to be an excellent deal. Be sure to check them out.

Whoops.

Alert reader Wolf points out that—presumably due to a typo—Section 5 of the Safari Extension Gallery Submission Agreement currently reads, in part:

You hereby represent and warrant as follows:

[Your] extension does collect, use or disclose to any third party, user data or personal information without prior user consent.

In other words, those developers who have submitted extensions up to this point in time unintentionally promised that their extension(s) collect user information. Conveniently, Section 12 of the Agreement reads:

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Apple concerning the subject matter hereof, and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter.

…so Apple can simply replace this version with an identical-but-for-the-inclusion-of-the-word-‘not’ version and be in the clear. At least, that’s my layman’s reading. Maybe while they’re making that change we can get an Oxford comma in there, too.

(Thanks, Wolf!)

UPDATE: Since 14th July, an updated version with the missing ‘not’ in place is available.

Pointer: Soulver

As far as I can tell, Soulver is the only real advance in calculator technology since calculators were invented. It’s a fundamentally different—and cleverer—way of doing math. Enter numbers and calculations as if you were writing them on a sheet of paper, and Soulver will take care of doing the math for you just like a calculator. With Soulver, though, you can easily combine the output of any arbitrary set of lines, updating the combined output when any of those lines changes, which makes back-of-the-envelope calculations a whole lot less traumatic. The iPad and Mac versions also ignore words following numbers, allowing you to easily label items in a budget or shopping list just as you would on paper.

Soulver Desktop has built-in conversions for standard items like distance, time, weight, cooking, and data units, and even connects to the web for up-to-the-minute currency conversion rates and stock and commodity values, so you can figure out the value of international trade deals—if that’s your thing.

I’m doing a poor job of explaining just how awesome and useful (and fundamentally clever) Soulver is, so if you do anything at all with math, I highly recommend trying it out. The Mac version has a free trial, and I can pretty much guarantee that once you’ve used it on the desktop, you’ll want it everywhere. 

Affiliate links:

• Soulver for iPhone ($2.99)
• Soulver for iPad ($5.99)

Also check out:

• Soulver for Mac ($24.95)

UPDATE: Those who find Soulver for iPhone and iPad too expensive may want to check out Tapbots’ just-released Calcbot; it’s not as capable or innovative as Soulver for iPad, but it keeps a history ‘tape’ of past calculations and should serve as a solid and inexpensive Calculator replacement for many people.

Affiliate link:

• Calcbot for iPhone and iPad ($0.99)

Tumblr issue

Tumblr seems to be having a problem that prevents reaching any individual posts on Safari Extensions. I’m contacting support and hopefully things will be back to normal soon.

-J

EDIT: Everything seems to be back to normal. Please let me know on Twitter if anything remains amiss.

ClickToFlash extension needs a new developer!

Matt Ball, the developer behind the unofficial port of the ClickToFlash plugin to a Safari 5 extension, has joined Apple (congratulations, Matt!) and will no longer be able to develop CTF. He’s looking for someone to take over development. If you think you’re the guy, let him know!