Because all of the "send a newsletter to a bunch of recipients" services insist on wrapping all of the links in a message into tracking URLs so that metrics can be gathered and data harvested.
The person who posted this is likely on Turing Pi's e-mail list and they simply copied-and-pasted the link they received.
Could you elaborate on what definition of "malware" you're using here? I'm not certain it is the same as how the word is used in common parlance, but I would be interested to hear more if you disagree.
Malicious software: software that instructs your computer to do something you don't want it to do. (Not a common definition, but I don't think it's a wrong one.)
So GNOME is malware because when I hit the key combination to "switch workspace right" on a secondary monitor it either moves my primary monitor's workspace right or all workspaces right depending on the setting, but not the focused monitor's workspace. And that's not what I want it to do.
Or if you're a programmer debugging something, the software is malware until you fix and recompile. Because during that time you are debugging it, it is instructing your computer to produce output that you don't want to observe.
It has to do with intention. The key feature of malware is that aspects of its behavior that its users experience as bugs are, to someone else, features. That is, malware is software with antifeatures, which are just intentional bugs.
Dead link? All I see is a blue page with the following text:
> Links of this campaign are temporarily blocked for you. This happens when you access the links multiple times in a short interval. Please retry after 7 days. The links will work fine for other recipients.
Same for me. My ISP uses CGNAT, so I essentially share an IP address with hundreds to thousands of other people. Who knows which one of us upset their naive DDoS protection.
I don't think it's the IP that set it off, it's probably "accesses to the page with this cookie in the link". That is, everyone on HN accessing it contributed regardless of their IP.
And, to confirm this, I also got this email (because the product looked interesting a few months ago) and I can still use the link in my email but the one on the HN post doesn't work.
Don't really get why the mods haven't changed the link to the twitter URL yet?
> For hundreds of orders, we had only several Paypal disputes that some of the customers decided to open instead of reaching out to us. After 3rd issue, PayPal put on hold some of our funds...
PayPal sucks—big surprise. But at the same time, I preordered a Turing Pi in February, they communicated in March that it was processed, and then I didn’t hear from them again until May 25, and then it showed up in early June. That two-month communication lapse between March-June might have been your problem with PayPal disputes. Next time, communicate more.
If that's the case they would have ran into the same issue with any other card processing entity.. A spike in disputes always results in withholdings and restrictions.
PayPal still sucks. And projects, especially pre-orders, should communicate their current status and challenges. It’s amazing how communicative this project is about PayPal holding their funds up though. Hmm?
> PayPal sucks—big surprise. But at the same time, I preordered a Turing Pi in February, they communicated in March that it was processed, and then I didn’t hear from them again until May 25, and then it showed up in early June. That two-month communication lapse between March-June might have been your problem with PayPal disputes. Next time, communicate more.
Similar experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a lot of outstanding orders and disputes that have prompted PayPal to keep their funds on hold.
If you're taking credit card payments, regardless of the processor, you need to stay on top of these things. A trend of disputes or chargebacks will trigger this with any processor.
a two month "wait" is... fairly normal. I've been charged for a starlink device, been waiting over a year for any update whatsoever, as an example. I pre-order a lot of esoteric devices, and usually they just show up whenever the company gets done. The only times i've been burned is when i order stuff from another country that isn't electronic, I've probably lost about $100/yr for the last half decade or so on orders like that. The UK seems to be the least bad about this, but everywhere else i just assume when i submit payment i'm "burning" that money.
"communicate more" might be easy to armchair project manage, but one of the reasons i won't do a startup is i don't want to deal with customers. A couple of bad actors can ruin your reputation with no way to recover it. I was banned from paypal because someone in NYC said we never shipped a $150 textbook, but oddly, they never ordered another one! I had been using paypal (and ebay) for about a decade prior to that with no complaints or issues, as well.
> i won't do a startup is i don't want to deal with customers
I know..I know..god forbid you have to communicate with those dreaded customers who pay for your existence. It’s not like it’s easy using one of several mailing list, social media, etc., tools these days. I guess my ask is too difficult, next time I will only expect a hand-written letter and mailed with a proper 58-cent current-year stamp for my collection.
I am not affiliated in any way, but I funded K9 mail through this, F-Droid, Matrixdotorg, and presumably more projects in the future. It's so pain-free, just put in any amount, your details (IBAN, address), check the box to authorize the direct debit, done. No account needed, but you can check your history by "logging in" which just emails you a one-time login link.
It's also transparent about how much the beneficiary is already receiving, so it doesn't feel like you're all dumping money into a black hole with no idea if it's way too little or already a decent amount (and you can fund other things instead). I just wish more projects used it.
LiberaPay uses paypal and stripe: "What payment methods are available?
The available payment methods depend on which payment processors are supported by the recipient. If a payment is processed by Stripe, then most credit and debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) are accepted, as well as SEPA Direct Debits (for Euro donations only). If a payment is through PayPal, then it's possible to pay in various ways, however the donor needs to have or create a PayPal account."
Cash App just terminated my account because I quibbled their support.
I used their card to buy something in Sep 2021. It was shipped weeks late in Nov, but FedEx never attempted delivery and returned it to the merchant. Merchant never responded to my emails (they have 732 complaints and no positives on BBB). I had already asked Cash for a chargeback in Oct. In Jan (!) Cash finally responded and asked for all documents. I sent them. They said they can't do a chargeback as the package was delivered. They only do chargebacks for nondelivery. I said "it was delivered to the merchant". They said "we understand that, but it was delivered". This went around and around.
I then got the cell # for one of the managers at Cash and texted him. He responded and escalated. Same response from their executive team. Then they terminated my account for contacting their employees outside the online support channel LOL. I've eventually managed to get my balance out at least.
[funny side note: you can't transfer from Cash to Square Checking (their parent company) because Cash says Square's fees are too high and it blocks it]
p.s. Cash App has a decent exploit in it that lets you convert last 4 digits of a SSN + Name into a full SSN, so be careful.
There was a page I found inside the app.. all I needed to do was put in 4 digit SSN and my name and when I opened the page it gave me my full SSN. Which was a huge bonus as I couldn't remember my SSN and I needed it for the IRS.
Hahaha, of course. You're thinking is that bitcoin is good, because there is no withholding. It is something stupid that paypal is doing, but do you think they do this because it is their hobby? Or maybe they enjoy the negative publicity? You exactly pinpointed one of the major problems with bitcoin: if you are scammed, there is no remedy.
Whether the irreversibility of payments is a feature or a bug depends on the situation. Clearly reversible payments are a bad fit not only for scammers but also for things like Turing Pi.
More interestingly, they're also a bad fit for online payment systems like Paypal. Paypal steals its customers' money like this because it's profitable for them to do so; receiving money from money senders and then just keeping it is very profitable indeed. But they get away with doing it, despite the bad publicity, because there's no less-corrupt alternative their customers can switch to. The other Paypal-like companies born late last millennium all failed because the reversible payment infrastructure of the credit card and banking system stuck them with the bill for whatever scams and fraud were perpetrated on their platforms.
My understanding is PayPal positions themselves in a very specific way to avoid many consumer credit-related laws. They aren't a bank, it's not "credit" by the standard definition, etc.
The politicians are high tier enough that when something is wrong, the support is probably much better. _zooted also has a good point, but the politicians can always update those laws to fit PayPal it; they just won’t.
> The last time I had a conversation with Paypal, the customer support rep said that Paypal will release money after 180 days of the last transaction, which is January 25, 2022...
Paypal is awful for this crap. I understand why they do it, but they literally cripple small businesses with this policy. At the very least they should make it very clear under what conditions money will be locked.
42 comments
[ 5.4 ms ] story [ 91.5 ms ] threadhttps://twitter.com/turingpi/status/1486393945059995650
The person who posted this is likely on Turing Pi's e-mail list and they simply copied-and-pasted the link they received.
Or if you're a programmer debugging something, the software is malware until you fix and recompile. Because during that time you are debugging it, it is instructing your computer to produce output that you don't want to observe.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/01/paypal-stole-use...
> Links of this campaign are temporarily blocked for you. This happens when you access the links multiple times in a short interval. Please retry after 7 days. The links will work fine for other recipients.
I received the same thing. Attempted to view with disabling of blockers, but same result.
And, to confirm this, I also got this email (because the product looked interesting a few months ago) and I can still use the link in my email but the one on the HN post doesn't work.
Don't really get why the mods haven't changed the link to the twitter URL yet?
PayPal sucks—big surprise. But at the same time, I preordered a Turing Pi in February, they communicated in March that it was processed, and then I didn’t hear from them again until May 25, and then it showed up in early June. That two-month communication lapse between March-June might have been your problem with PayPal disputes. Next time, communicate more.
Similar experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a lot of outstanding orders and disputes that have prompted PayPal to keep their funds on hold.
If you're taking credit card payments, regardless of the processor, you need to stay on top of these things. A trend of disputes or chargebacks will trigger this with any processor.
"communicate more" might be easy to armchair project manage, but one of the reasons i won't do a startup is i don't want to deal with customers. A couple of bad actors can ruin your reputation with no way to recover it. I was banned from paypal because someone in NYC said we never shipped a $150 textbook, but oddly, they never ordered another one! I had been using paypal (and ebay) for about a decade prior to that with no complaints or issues, as well.
I know..I know..god forbid you have to communicate with those dreaded customers who pay for your existence. It’s not like it’s easy using one of several mailing list, social media, etc., tools these days. I guess my ask is too difficult, next time I will only expect a hand-written letter and mailed with a proper 58-cent current-year stamp for my collection.
It's a small company so, if I didn't hear anything about them, I might as well think that the project failed and take my money back.
IIRC you have 60 days to dispute a credit card charge. Maybe they release some news only after seeing a lot of chargebacks.
https://liberapay.com/ (imagine your bank or paypal were open source: https://github.com/liberapay/liberapay.com )
I am not affiliated in any way, but I funded K9 mail through this, F-Droid, Matrixdotorg, and presumably more projects in the future. It's so pain-free, just put in any amount, your details (IBAN, address), check the box to authorize the direct debit, done. No account needed, but you can check your history by "logging in" which just emails you a one-time login link.
It's also transparent about how much the beneficiary is already receiving, so it doesn't feel like you're all dumping money into a black hole with no idea if it's way too little or already a decent amount (and you can fund other things instead). I just wish more projects used it.
Cash App just terminated my account because I quibbled their support.
I used their card to buy something in Sep 2021. It was shipped weeks late in Nov, but FedEx never attempted delivery and returned it to the merchant. Merchant never responded to my emails (they have 732 complaints and no positives on BBB). I had already asked Cash for a chargeback in Oct. In Jan (!) Cash finally responded and asked for all documents. I sent them. They said they can't do a chargeback as the package was delivered. They only do chargebacks for nondelivery. I said "it was delivered to the merchant". They said "we understand that, but it was delivered". This went around and around.
I then got the cell # for one of the managers at Cash and texted him. He responded and escalated. Same response from their executive team. Then they terminated my account for contacting their employees outside the online support channel LOL. I've eventually managed to get my balance out at least.
[funny side note: you can't transfer from Cash to Square Checking (their parent company) because Cash says Square's fees are too high and it blocks it]
p.s. Cash App has a decent exploit in it that lets you convert last 4 digits of a SSN + Name into a full SSN, so be careful.
More interestingly, they're also a bad fit for online payment systems like Paypal. Paypal steals its customers' money like this because it's profitable for them to do so; receiving money from money senders and then just keeping it is very profitable indeed. But they get away with doing it, despite the bad publicity, because there's no less-corrupt alternative their customers can switch to. The other Paypal-like companies born late last millennium all failed because the reversible payment infrastructure of the credit card and banking system stuck them with the bill for whatever scams and fraud were perpetrated on their platforms.
Paypal is awful for this crap. I understand why they do it, but they literally cripple small businesses with this policy. At the very least they should make it very clear under what conditions money will be locked.