If you opened up your browser and noticed a strange new extension this week, you’re not alone. Firefox users who are enrolled in Mozilla’s Shield Studies unexpectedly encountered a developer add-on called “Looking Glass.” The description read “MY REALITY IS JUST DIFFERENT FROM YOURS” — which understandably freaked a few people out.
It turns out it’s not ransomware or Bitcoin miners invading your system — it’s a promotional campaign for the Mr. Robot television series. The show features a super-hacker and often addresses cybersecurity issues, so “hacking” into a user’s browser with an enigmatic message may have seemed like a clever idea at the time. But, as Mozilla often stresses its commitment to privacy, many users have voiced their concerns about the creepy and intrusive nature of the promotion.
“Folks this is really unacceptable. Reddit is losing their mind about it. It’s fine if this is associated with Shields studies — but you need use a meaningful description — not some random quote that you think might be cute,” wrote one user on the Mozilla support forum.
Following the user backlash, Mozilla moved the extension to the Firefox Add-on store, and it will no longer automatically be downloaded to your browser.
“Our goal with the custom experience we created with Mr. Robot was to engage our users in a fun and unique way,” Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, chief marketing officer at Mozilla, told Gizmodo. “Real engagement also means listening to feedback. And so while the web extension/add-on that was sent out to Firefox users never collected any data, and had to be explicitly enabled by users playing the game before it would affect any web content, we heard from some of our users that the experience we created caused confusion.”
As TechCrunch noted, the show may be quite popular with developers, but it’s hardly mainstream enough to assume that more than a small percentage of Firefox users even know what it is. Mozilla responded to clarify that it was an alternate reality game timed to coincide with the season finale of the show.
“Firefox worked with the Mr. Robot team to create a custom experience that would surprise and delight fans of the show and our users,” Mozilla told TechCrunch. “We gave Mr. Robot fans a unique mystery to solve to deepen their connection and engagement with the show and is only available in Firefox.”
According to Engadget, the extension doesn’t do anything unless you opt into the game itself. If you don’t want anything to do with it, type about:addons into the address bar and remove “Looking Glass.”
The Shield Studies program is a way for users to test programs before they’re released. Most ask for permission before installing, but some are installed automatically and require you to actively remove it. As some people weren’t even aware they were part of the Shield program to begin with, this particular stunt seems to have backfired.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.