So long, airvpn...

[John Gow 20]

To the great staff and founders and the helpful (non-toxic) community,

Recent unanticipated life things are forcing me to cut all but the most essential things from my "budget," which is not much. I've been using the veep for nearly 8 years, that's a long time to stick with a single service in internet time. I have recommended airvpn countless times and continue to do so, often in the same breath as "...but there's also ProtonVPN and Mullvad, and Duckduckgo which I have yet to try." In other words, airvpn is always at the top of recommendations.

I still believe in the essential mission and need of services like AirVPN. When you find how difficult it is to actually research corporate VPNs like Nord, which do not have the best track record, it can be difficult because their parent companies own some of the top review outlets (PC Magazine, tomshardware) or  influence them with ad revenue. Even the "anti-scammer" youtube celebrities take sponsorship deals from sketchy or at least unverifiable VPN companies, because Nord and Express and Ghost etc.  aren't open source, so we have to rely on a fly-by-night "auditing authorities," which don't answer to regulations or transparent oversight either. It's a battle not many people feel is worth paying attention to, but I have tried.

You will find my trails of AirVPN recommendations across forums over the past 7 years, and I hope they helped.

Maybe I'll be back in a month. Maybe a year. I don't know with my life right now.

Goodbye!

Gow
 

[zb/XSZHHyd$HM'<z'oc"vc]T(O 2]

Take care John, I hope you are back on your feet soon.

[John Gow 20]

Whoever just helped me, I am literally crying. That was so nice. Jeez.

[go558a83nk 368]

2 hours ago, John Gow said:

Whoever just helped me, I am literally crying. That was so nice. Jeez.

it wasn't me but that's really nice of somebody!

[OpenSourcerer 1453]

19 hours ago, John Gow said:

Whoever just helped me, I am literally crying. That was so nice. Jeez.

What, did someone secretly add a year of premium or something?

[Staff 10087]

On 10/29/2024 at 10:41 PM, John Gow said:

To the great staff and founders and the helpful (non-toxic) community,

Thank you so much for your touching words and stellar feedback. And for your commitment in so many years.

However, were you really under the illusion that you could escape so easily?

Kind regards
 

[OpenSourcerer 1453]

Trick or Treat, indeed…

[kityafnsd 3]

This is honestly one of the most inspiring things I've read lately. It solidifies why we're all here, either as a customer, contributor, or whatever. I have used nord for the last few years and never thought twice about it. After recent life changes I decided to take the time to invest into my understanding of networking, the internet, etc. On top of future proofing myself I want to learn how to be less reliant on services that I can't trust to not sell every last ounce of privacy I have left. This is some next level community support, I love to see it, and hope nothing but the best for you and those who helped / continue to help every day.

[Zola_M 1]

On 10/29/2024 at 10:41 PM, John Gow said:

To the great staff and founders and the helpful (non-toxic) community,

Recent unanticipated life things are forcing me to cut all but the most essential things from my "budget," which is not much. I've been using the veep for nearly 8 years, that's a long time to stick with a single service in internet time. I have recommended airvpn countless times and continue to do so, often in the same breath as "...but there's also ProtonVPN and Mullvad, and Duckduckgo which I have yet to try." In other words, airvpn is always at the top of recommendations.

I still believe in the essential mission and need of services like AirVPN. When you find how difficult it is to actually research corporate VPNs like Nord, which do not have the best track record, it can be difficult because their parent companies own some of the top review outlets (PC Magazine, tomshardware) or  influence them with ad revenue. Even the "anti-scammer" youtube celebrities take sponsorship deals from sketchy or at least unverifiable VPN companies, because Nord and Express and Ghost etc.  aren't open source, so we have to rely on a fly-by-night "auditing authorities," which don't answer to regulations or transparent oversight either. It's a battle not many people feel is worth paying attention to, but I have tried.

You will find my trails of AirVPN recommendations across forums over the past 7 years, and I hope they helped.

Maybe I'll be back in a month. Maybe a year. I don't know with my life right now.

Goodbye!

Gow

Life’s unexpected turns can make us re-evaluate priorities, but you've done so much to raise awareness of the importance of open-source, transparent VPNs in an industry dominated by big corporate names. It's understandable that you’re stepping back for now, but I hope things smooth out for you soon.

[space5 2]

On 10/29/2024 at 9:41 PM, John Gow said:

Recent unanticipated life things are forcing me to cut all but the most essential things from my "budget," which is not much.

At least, become rich enough that you don't have to worry about basic life expenses. If you don't have wealth, you lose even your computers and your little room.
Thus, my policy is to become rich first and then worry about granular technical concerns later.

If you don't have enough money to pay for commercial VPN, it doesn't matter for you.

You have to care about wealth more than others because other people want wealth, too.

Spend the next 4 years on becoming rich enough.

Many people focus too much on computer security, but they don't care about financial security. Paying for commercial VPN is easy. Achieving reasonable amount of computer security is easy. Becoming rich is hard. Thus, focus on becoming rich. AirVPN is raking millions of dollars while you have to cut your VPN expenses. That should motivate you.

[John Gow 20]

On 11/30/2024 at 4:01 PM, space5 said:

At least, become rich enough that you don't have to worry about basic life expenses. If you don't have wealth, you lose even your computers and your little room.
Thus, my policy is to become rich first and then worry about granular technical concerns later.

If you don't have enough money to pay for commercial VPN, it doesn't matter for you.

You have to care about wealth more than others because other people want wealth, too.

Spend the next 4 years on becoming rich enough.

Many people focus too much on computer security, but they don't care about financial security. Paying for commercial VPN is easy. Achieving reasonable amount of computer security is easy. Becoming rich is hard. Thus, focus on becoming rich. AirVPN is raking millions of dollars while you have to cut your VPN expenses. That should motivate you.

One way of interpreting what you're saying is that poor people, or at least, those who are in a state of poverty, do not deserve nor should they be concerned with online security, profiling, privacy, and so on. This certainly prevents a lot of people from taking this area of activism seriously, why should the majority of people care about it at all?  I reject the essence of what you're saying. I don't think digital rights are only for rich people.
I'm going to choose to interpret your comment as coming from a good place, and not as some form of wealth signaling on your part.

In any case, I'm currently purchasing a new subscription.  Had I not been helped out back then by a mysterious patron, I wouldn't be here to make this comment. So there's a +1 for the welfare state, if you will.

[John Gow 20]

And thank you. <3