63

A little orange duck has appeared in the bottom right of my screen. He asks, "Can I help" does voice recognition, I think. But it is annoying, and will not go away. How do I discourage this little creature from bothering me?

12
  • 4
    Adblock works on it
    – Richard
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:33
  • it disables only for that site when I tried it but is permanent
    – Suraj Rao
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:44
  • maybe its browser related? any details?
    – Suraj Rao
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:46
  • 7
    What's wrong with a duck?
    – PerlDuck
    Mar 31, 2018 at 13:46
  • 4
    @PerlDuck Nothing is wrong with cute little rubber duckies. They are especially good for bouncing ideas off of. However, when they start talking back it can be unnerving.
    – Carl
    Mar 31, 2018 at 15:27
  • 3
    Quack Overflow would be a great name for an "online doctor" site. However, this duck is annoying. I don't want my computer making noises while I'm at work; but as far as I can see, you can't kill this annoyance without it making a noise. Whose idea was it that "my joke is so important, it must be as difficult to kill as possible"? Mar 31, 2018 at 21:21
  • 2
    Damn, I closed it and it came back. Is anyone able to advise what date this duck will be removed? I'd prefer to stop using Stack Exchange until that date. Mar 31, 2018 at 21:31
  • @DawoodibnKareem when it won't be April 1st anywhere in the world. Mar 31, 2018 at 22:11
  • 1
    So, about 25.5 hours from now? I guess I can live with that. Or should we remind the Stack Exchange staff that April Fools jokes aren't supposed to happen after midday? Mar 31, 2018 at 22:29
  • 6
    I really hate that duck and whoever had the stupid idea to put it there. Mar 31, 2018 at 22:52
  • @PerlDuck Any static site content is distracting me and takes me several days to get used to. Then, it also takes some time to get used to it not being there.
    – yo'
    Apr 2, 2018 at 14:47
  • 1
    @yo' Actually I was just kidding because I share (part of) the duck's name. Indeed: now it starts to annoy me as well because April 1st is a while ago now. Dunno what timezone that QuackOverflow thingy is in, but it's definitely NOT somewhere on earth.
    – PerlDuck
    Apr 2, 2018 at 15:04

6 Answers 6

38

How to send the duck away

While I don't know why you would like to remove the helpful ducky, here are the necessary steps.

Tell the duck 'goodbye'

You have to both "hate this duck" and say goodbye as can be seen in the source code:

$(".js-goodbye").on("click",function(){$.cookie("quack",1,{"path":"/","expires":3})

Only the last "goodbye" button will set the quack cookie and therefore disable the duck. Keep in mind that you have to accept cookies from cdn.sstatic.net, otherwise the change won't be permanent.

Scare it off programmatically

Alternatively, run the following code in your console:

$(".quackoverflow").hide() && $.cookie("quack",1,{"path":"/","expires":3})

You can also use this in a bookmarklet:

javascript:$(".quackoverflow").hide()&&$.cookie("quack",1,{"path":"/","expires":3})

But the duck haunts me on other sites!

Note that the cookie is site specific. You need to say goodbye on every site you visit. Alternatively, block the https://cdn.sstatic.net/Js/quack.en.js script, which removes the duck entirely from your reality.

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  • 3
    Yes, but if you do, and change sites, for example to cross validated, our little friend reappears.
    – Carl
    Mar 31, 2018 at 11:02
  • 1
    @Carl right, because it's a site specific cookie.
    – Zeta
    Mar 31, 2018 at 11:05
  • @richard don't feel bad because you couldn't find the button. :(
    – Jeremy
    Mar 31, 2018 at 11:58
  • 1
    Is there a CLI command to block https://cdn.sstatic.net/Js/quack.en.js ? Mar 31, 2018 at 17:05
  • @Carl just repeat the process. I hate the duck too.
    – Plqsmic
    Mar 31, 2018 at 22:02
  • 1
    @WinEunuuchs2Unix don't know about CLI, but it can be blocked with uBlock or Adblock filter: |*/Js/quack.en.js*| Apr 1, 2018 at 8:53
  • @MikhailGerasimov how is that pattern constructed?
    – Ooker
    Apr 1, 2018 at 12:43
  • @Ooker it's just url we need to block (cdn.sstatic.net/Js/quack.en.js), where potential mutable parts replaced with *. I watched syntax here and checked things work, don't know if there's more correct way. Apr 1, 2018 at 13:04
12

There is an option to remove this duck after it quacks once. Click on "I hate this duck". It understands and disappears.

Image how to disable duck

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  • Sorry, does not work, only works until you refresh. I get it now, April fools joke it is.
    – Carl
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:34
  • 2
    It worked for me.
    – Nog Shine
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:36
  • 1
    I says it's listening no matter what you click... stupid thing ;-] Mar 31, 2018 at 10:37
  • Didn't work for me. Click it, it just comes back. Adblocked it in the end
    – Richard
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:39
  • It worked for me too, for a minute.
    – MCCCS
    Mar 31, 2018 at 10:40
  • @metalnoise If you click that you have a microphone, it says "Explain your problem out loud.", and if you click that you don't, it says "With the magic of the internet, you can just explain your problem anyway!". Mar 31, 2018 at 10:43
  • 2
    It worked for me as well, I don't know how to renable it Mar 31, 2018 at 10:43
  • Button being only temporary might be a bug, added the tag. /cc @Richard. Mar 31, 2018 at 10:43
6

Solved. Look at April fools info for the tag. It lists "quack exchange" as this year's joke. Other users suggest that adblocker will work on it. For my part, I will ignore the little fellow. We have been suckered.

1
5

In order to hide it, you have to click "I hate this duck" and "Goodbye" (after it "listens") to make it disappear. However, as mentioned in another answer, you can get rid of it off programmatically using $(".quackoverflow").hide(). But it's still site-specific, meaning it has to be manually dismissed on every site.

So I created a userscript (Tampermonkey) to hide it automatically.

Alternatively, using an ad blocker (or something else to block the script) also works.

Also, Quack Overflow is the April fools joke this year.

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  • Isn't the distribution of anti-duck weapons prohibited by the Goose Protocol from 1925? Then again, I don't know bird law.
    – Zeta
    Apr 1, 2018 at 6:50
  • @Zeta all is fair in duck war Apr 1, 2018 at 7:04
  • Well, if that's the case... can you modify your script so that one can play Duck Hunt to get rid of the duck?
    – Zeta
    Apr 1, 2018 at 7:07
  • @Zeta my JS skills are limited, creating games in it as a userscript on top of another website is slightly above my skillset Apr 2, 2018 at 10:19
4

For uBlock Origin on Chrome:

  1. Click the extension badge in the upper right.
  2. Click the sliders icon to "open the dashboard."
  3. Switch to the "my filters" tab.
  4. Put ##.quackoverflow in the text box.
  5. Click the "apply changes" button above the text box.

This affects all sites (including any non-SE sites that name classes quackoverflow for some reason, if they exist).

2

With AdBlock adding stackexchange.com##DIV[class="quackoverflow z-modal ps-fixed r24 js-quackoverflow is-visible"] killed it on every site in the network except SO, where it needs a separate line owing to a different domain.

By the way, the Clippy flashback was very much not appreciated, even as April 1st feature.

2
  • I am being stocked by a Rubber Ducky and i do not want to see a Rubber Ducky . Can you give more details on how to implement this in ADP please.
    – Alaska Man
    Apr 2, 2018 at 1:47
  • @Alaskaman: Click on the AdBlock icon, go to "Options" and then choose "Manually edit your filters". Apr 3, 2018 at 20:14

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