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I like HackerNews to be a supportive environment for startups, but this raises some questions. Publishers trying to make an honest buck will dislike this. So

I like HackerNews to be a supportive environment for startups, but this raises some questions. Publishers trying to make an honest buck will dislike this. So will cafe customers that just want coffee and wifi and not your political positions, and the privacy conscious who now have their browsing data being sent off to an anonymous third party. And that's putting the security question aside. (If these guys got hacked, they could very easily harvest your bank and email passwords; I'd be more trusting if they're weren't also using an anonymous whois proxy.) The best businesses find win-wins (Airbnb is good for travelers and real-estate owners) -- but I only see one win here. Edit: If this company ends up expanding available public wifi hotspots by rewriting some ads and providing some revenue back to the wifi provider, that could be a win-win for customers and cafes and could be a real hit.

OJKoukaz 14y ago
Couldn't the argument be made that Airbnb is bad for hotels and landlords though? If it's my wireless network, shouldn't I have the right to dictate what gets broadcast on it? You don't have to connect to it.
guelo 14y ago
> Publishers trying to make an honest buck will dislike this. Publishers most likely won't know this is happening. > Cafe customers that just want coffee and wifi and not your political convictions will dislike this. It is up to the cafe owner whether they want to do this, or whether they want to put a political sign on their windows for that matter. > The privacy conscious who now have their browsing data being sent off to an anonymous third party will dislike this. All advertising networks sends browsing data to third parties. Whether it is this one or some other one doesn't seem that big a deal.
- rlt3 14y ago
  >It is up to the cafe owner whether they want to do this, or whether they want to put a political sign on their windows for that matter. His point wasn't about whether or not the owners could or could not support a candidate, it was whether or not they should support a candidate. You're absolutely right, it is up to the owners. And this seems to be pretty cool. But most coffee shop owners (which seems to be the target) will not want to alienate part of their already small group of customers.
  - theevocater 14y ago
    This may come off as a joke, but dead serious: It seems you have never gone to get coffee in San Francisco.
    - rlt3 14y ago
      Well there are always going to be exceptions to the case. I would also assume there are a greater number of people going to coffee shops in San Fransisco than there are in other cities.
lincolnq 14y ago
If these guys got hacked, they could very easily harvest your bank and email passwords. I don't think so, because secure sites will use SSL, and your browser does certificate verification.
- nostromo 14y ago
  Sometimes yes, HSTS sites would be harder to crack. However, many people still manually enter website urls (citibank.com) which redirects to https. If the DNS points citibank.com to a fake citibank phishing site, they simply wouldn't redirect to an https site at all. Very savvy customers may notice that they aren't connected vis https; most people wouldn't.

OJKoukaz 14y ago

Couldn't the argument be made that Airbnb is bad for hotels and landlords though? If it's my wireless network, shouldn't I have the right to dictate what gets broadcast on it? You don't have to connect to it.

guelo 14y ago

> Publishers trying to make an honest buck will dislike this. Publishers most likely won't know this is happening. > Cafe customers that just want coffee and wifi and not your political convictions will dislike this. It is up to the cafe owner whether they want to do this, or whether they want to put a political sign on their windows for that matter. > The privacy conscious who now have their browsing data being sent off to an anonymous third party will dislike this. All advertising networks sends browsing data to third parties. Whether it is this one or some other one doesn't seem that big a deal.

rlt3 14y ago
>It is up to the cafe owner whether they want to do this, or whether they want to put a political sign on their windows for that matter. His point wasn't about whether or not the owners could or could not support a candidate, it was whether or not they should support a candidate. You're absolutely right, it is up to the owners. And this seems to be pretty cool. But most coffee shop owners (which seems to be the target) will not want to alienate part of their already small group of customers.
- theevocater 14y ago
  This may come off as a joke, but dead serious: It seems you have never gone to get coffee in San Francisco.
  - rlt3 14y ago
    Well there are always going to be exceptions to the case. I would also assume there are a greater number of people going to coffee shops in San Fransisco than there are in other cities.

lincolnq 14y ago

If these guys got hacked, they could very easily harvest your bank and email passwords. I don't think so, because secure sites will use SSL, and your browser does certificate verification.

nostromo 14y ago
Sometimes yes, HSTS sites would be harder to crack. However, many people still manually enter website urls (citibank.com) which redirects to https. If the DNS points citibank.com to a fake citibank phishing site, they simply wouldn't redirect to an https site at all. Very savvy customers may notice that they aren't connected vis https; most people wouldn't.