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Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

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Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#291

Post by jiggy2011 »

eddieplan9 wrote: post #289
Stratoscope wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that happens again, use one or more of these apps to find the offender: Ad Network Detector Addons Detector AirPush Detector

This is similar to saying "what stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun". Alternatively, you could regulate, i.e., locking down the platform and sandboxing all third-party apps.

A better alternative would be for google not to publish this shit on their store but still allow useful background notifications and allow third party manual installation.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#292

Post by pg »

rdl wrote: post #258
dasil003 wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not today, but this could be terrible for PR for YC over the medium term given the vitriolic hatred it inspires in techies, and I'll bet the reason PG is not responding here is because they're figuring out behind closed doors what they can and should do about this sort of thing. Obviously they don't tell their companies what to do, but they may end up needing to institute some additional general guidelines and contin…

I'll bet the other reason is he was asleep.

Close; I was taking my son to school. We're investigating this now.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#293

Post by jiggy2011 »

patio11 wrote: post #152

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

There's isn't even a cancel button! Hopefully at least the top right X cancels the installation rather than just respawning the popup and requiring manual killing from task manager.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#294

Post by brudgers »

to3m wrote: post #278
brudgers wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's an assessment of your Windows expertise based upon the specifics the experience you relayed, not ad hominem . By your own admission your familiarity with the Windows landscape is based largely on experience gained more than seven years ago and with an obsolescent version of the OS. Dunning-Kruger effects are the result of one believing that they have more expertise than the do. With regards to the Windows ecosys…

I'm not convinced the conclusion is incorrect. The crapware situation on Windows IS horrible, whether you download any of it or not. Even if you manage to reliably avoid it, that still takes a non-zero amount of effort.

Life requires a non-zero amount of effort. Avoiding crapware just requires sound practice and by definition less effort than dealing with crapware.

As a point of comparison, the iTunes store contains loads of crap. This is not a reasonable basis for condemning iOS.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#295

Post by swies »

huhtenberg wrote: post #287
swies wrote: post #16

Y Combinator also funded our solution to crapware. http://ninite.com Basically we automate multiple installers and decline toolbars just like you would. Users range from the nontechnical to NASA. We even have a huge blind user base because these installers are frequently hell to navigate with a screenreader. We make money selling a Pro version with extra features to businesses and school IT departments. It works well…

Does your proggy pull installers off your own site or those of the actual publishers? If it's former, it might've been nice if you put every .exe through a multi-engine virus scanner (like VirusTotal).

Apps are downloaded from the publishers. We validate files with SHA-1 hashes and digital signatures (where available) before using them.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#296

Post by watty »

swies wrote: post #259
watty wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ninite is great and has saved me time in the past. What exactly does this have to do with the article? Are you implying that since Y Combinator funded non-junk applications that it's okay to now fund junk applications?

I needed to post this here because we solve the problem in the article. The problem is deceptive software. That we're funded by YC (or that InstallMonetizer is) is a red herring. But it sure does get some clicks! On a perfect version of HN the top comments would be about solving the problems in posts, not elaborating on them. Not to dump on HN though. This is a bug in human nature. Glad to hear you like Ninite and th…

You're acting like Ninite can be used to install and remove any crapware from any installation under the sun. In reality Ninite only works with a select handful of applications. In other words, Ninite does not solve the problem that companies like InstallMonetizer create.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#297

Post by jacquesm »

simias wrote: post #229
Matsta wrote: post #116

Ok, I think one thing I don't think people fully understand is how these companies actually make their money back. Now in the past they will either try to sell you something or get you to fill in a CPA offer. Now 2012 has hit the IM/Internet Marketing industry hard mainly because people aren't spending money as much as they used to. Like I mentioned in another comment, basically the whole CPA industry is going belly…

Forgive me for asking a possibly stupid question, but google is failing me: what is a "CPA offer"?

cost-per-action

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#298

Post by gus_massa »

thoughtcriminal wrote: post #220
patio11 wrote: post #152

So when earlier it was mentioned, I assumed "They have to have a different angle on this; they're a YC company." And seeing a strong thread title and no evidence for it other than "The industry they're in is ridiculously seedy", I thought maybe HN was in rush to judgement mode. So I thought I'd try, you know, installing something. Make your own call: http://images1.bingocardcreator.com/blog-images/hn/its-not-a...

Babylon is the worst of the worst malware. I've never battled tooth and nail to get such supervirus crapware off my computer in my life. Seriously, stay away!

The original Babylon Translator, with the One Click Translation of words in the screen was a very nice and useful product. It's a pity that they pivoted to the toolbar crapware thing.

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#299

Post by jbk »

newsmaster wrote: post #272
jbk wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean?

On Media Player Classic you can easily download subtitles for whatever movie you're watching by going to File>Subtitle Database>Download. It will search a DB online somewhere then let you choose and automatically load them into the player. This is something I've not found on any video players available on the Mac. It would be an awesome if it was coded into VLC. http://tothepc.com/img/2010/02/movie-subtitles-media-pl…

OK, for next major!

Re: Y Combinator is funding the future of spam in Windows

#300

Post by SyneRyder »

simias wrote: post #229
Matsta wrote: post #116

Ok, I think one thing I don't think people fully understand is how these companies actually make their money back. Now in the past they will either try to sell you something or get you to fill in a CPA offer. Now 2012 has hit the IM/Internet Marketing industry hard mainly because people aren't spending money as much as they used to. Like I mentioned in another comment, basically the whole CPA industry is going belly…

Forgive me for asking a possibly stupid question, but google is failing me: what is a "CPA offer"?

CPA = "Cost Per Action". Think of Cost Per Click advertising, except that instead of the publisher being paid when someone clicks on the ad, they're paid when the user takes a specific action (eg installing software, signing up for a newsletter, subscribing to a magazine etc).
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