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Uninstall the NightOwl app

robins.one

151–160 of 236 posts

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#151
post #20

I know this happens with some frequency, I wonder how frequently the companies update the TOS with language like this. The very idea of a self-updating TOS that will govern all usage into perpetuity feels like it should have been legally stuck down years ago. This company's current language on indistinct modification rights: > We reserve our right to alter the terms in this Agreement and/or the pricing information an…

was there a similar (policy or functionality) change to "the great suspender" chrome extension recently? Browsers seem to have marked it as unsafe.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#153

> It also tries to open a UPnP port forward on your router, but fails on mine because the key names are jumbled: This should fail on any router as you should have UPnP disabled.

I mean UPnP is a horrible spec but it’s a stop gap for restoring the fundamental capability of internet-connected devices in residential settings. All p2p apps (Tailscale for instance) need to act as a server temporarily and allow incoming traffic. Without the capability you’re a second class citizen, so to say. It’s infantilizing the user.

Now, you can of course open the ports yourself, but this is inaccessible to the vast majority of users due to undiscoverable, inconsistent and complicated UX. Most people don’t know what a port is.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#154
post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like a developer that is getting literally nothing for his app or plugin is more likely to sell it than a developer that's getting some income from it. At the least, the buyer would need to match the current value that the app provides its author.

I don't know. A developer who didn't charge anything from the beginning has more likely other motives releasing his software than making money. But if you already make a little money you may easily fall for a lot of money.

I think it starts with passion - he created some useful software, he shares it and initially enjoy working on it. Then he puts a donate link (I saw there was a donate link in the previous site), and gets almost nothing, but he still needs to add bug fixes, maybe new features, answer to the user's emails, etc.

After a while it becomes a chore... and still getting $0 out of it. And that's when he might want to find other ways to get something out of the efforts he put in. Unfortunately the only option is to turn it into malware since nobody wants to pay for it, or turn it into a decent profitable business.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me tell you about family members that have a mac because "they don't want the hassle of a windows laptop". They also don't want the hassle of not having uPnP, that setting is going to be turned on whether you know better or not.

> Let me tell you about family members that have a mac because "they don't want the hassle of a windows laptop". They are not wrong. E.g. It amazes me how much pain and suffering Microsoft expects users to endure just to use a printer. It is not lost on my stepmother that her Windows machine has endless problems setting up and printing to her Brother laser printer, but her iPhone just sees it without having to be tol…

If Microsoft embraced CUPS and Apple wrote Vulkan drivers, society would probably look like that The world if meme: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-world-if

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#156

"WHEREAS, NightOwl app enables Users to share internet traffic by modifying their device’s network settings to be used as a gateway for internet traffic. Additionally, the User’s device acts as a gateway for NightOwl app’s Clients, including companies that specialize in web and market research, SEO, brand protection, content delivery, cybersecurity, etc." Fuck that with a chainsaw. Burn it. Burn it with fire.

So, usually I associate super-shady things with hiding the fact that they're super-shady. I'm thankful, but also genuinely curious, why they put this explicitly in their TOS. It just kind of seems to be like the kind of person/org who would implement this shady stuff in the first place, would also actively hide that they're doing it. Is there a legal reason that protects NightOwl by explicitly putting it in the TOS?…

> does this prevent them from being sued for any of it, where they could have been successfully sued otherwise?

As I understand it, anyone can sue anyone for anything. What matters is convincing a judge/jury that you have been wrongfully harmed by the defendant. So if someone can make a good enough case for damages stemming from this data collection, then they can successfully sue.

This doesn't prevent them from suing, but it makes their case significantly weaker if the defendant can argue that the user agreed to have their data collected.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NordVPN does this as well. Google and Amazon own large blocks of IP ranges for their cloud services, so it’s fairly easy to detect bots built on AWS and Google cloud. On the other hand, Verizon also owns a large block of IP addresses that they give out to their residential customers. NordVPN takes advantage of the fact that people like Netflix and Amazon don’t want to block out Verizon’s ip ranges, and disguise netwo…

> NordVPN does this as well. Do they? Last time I looked into this drama, it seems like the botnet accusations were just scurrilous slander. https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/nord-vpn-botnet...

The last time someone made this claim on HN, someone from NordVPN responded saying it is false.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#158
post #42

If anyone is looking for an alternative, I have been using my script below for two years without any issue. --edit-- I do not know how to format code here. --edit-- Another attempt to format code here. # Step 1 Save script below to your local drive. For example, `/Users/xxxx/Documents/Scripts/DarkMode/darkModeWatcher.sh` #!/bin/zsh # ref: https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/526097 # start time is 18:33 -> 18 * 60 * 60 +…

FYI... last time I tried, I could get the equivalent of a HTML block by putting two spaces at the beginning of every line. Here's an example. Each line was indented two spaces: #include int main() { printf( "Bonjour, totes le monde!\n" ); return( 0 ); } Looks like it worked. It looks like it's rendering with a mono font.

Thanks. It works.

Re: Uninstall the NightOwl app

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NordVPN does this as well. Google and Amazon own large blocks of IP ranges for their cloud services, so it’s fairly easy to detect bots built on AWS and Google cloud. On the other hand, Verizon also owns a large block of IP addresses that they give out to their residential customers. NordVPN takes advantage of the fact that people like Netflix and Amazon don’t want to block out Verizon’s ip ranges, and disguise netwo…

Do you have a link to more information somewhere? I'd like to know more about what NordVPN is doing, if true. It's certainly not what their customers expect.

https://nordvpn.com/blog/residential-proxies/
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