NYC is dead forever – here's why - <AUTHOR> https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/nyc-dead-forever-heres-why-james-altucher/ <comment><USER2> Previous discussion

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24175351](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24175351)

</comment><comment><USER3> I live in Manhattan and this article is complete bullshit and riddled with errors. For example, he's claiming that rents are down 30-50%, which isn't remotely true.

I'm not going to bother wasting my time on a point-to-point refutation on all the ways it's wrong, but suffice it to say it is completely wrong. Yes, the city is suffering, but not remotely to the degree portrayed here.

<comment><USER4> Yeah I keep checking rents and they really haven't come down much. Maybe 10% at most from a very high peak. I wish people would stop getting me excited by claiming there are some huge deals to be had.

<comment><USER5> I feel the same way about the supposedly cheap lobster I hear about.

<comment><USER4> Yes same! Where is it?!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Always find it interesting the narrative difference between those who stayed in the city and those who left. Each side wants to be right.

I'm biased but I don't think I've ever seen the city more beautiful than this summer with outdoor dining, street closures for more walkability, etc.

<comment><USER7> It seems like there has been more litter on the streets in my neighborhood than there was pre-pandemic, and there was already a lot there pre-pandemic.

I love the reduced cars on the road and outdoor dining.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I disagree. Even if NYC goes "dead" for a while -- maybe even for a generation -- it will eventually come back.

In every continent today, most major cities have been around for _millennia_ , surviving through all kinds of natural and man-made disasters:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_continuously_in...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_continuously_inhabited_cities)

It seems that as long as populations in surrounding areas survive (i.e., as long as populations aren't wiped out, as apparently happened with, say, Mayan cities), large cities tend to persist century after century, coming back again and again.

</comment><comment><USER7> The part that scares me most is the finances.

The New York City subway is a crumbling, ancient embarrassment for a world class city. The costs of doing anything with it are astronomical. With this financial crisis, who can say it will plausibly get any better than it is now in the next 15 years? It is more likely to get even worse!

For me, and probably millions of other people, the subway is the key to accessing the things I love in NYC. I used to take it every weekday to and from work and every weekend to and from entertainment and dining. It is something where changes in the quality will be felt immediately.

</comment><comment><USER9> As someone who is currently moving out of a major city, I think this is overblown. COVID will end, probably next year, and the vacuum that drew people and dollars into NYC will resume. Some people and businesses will move out during COVID. Many will move in once COVID is over and rents have fallen.

</comment><comment><USER10> The article is mostly anecdotal and, at this time, has grammatical errors. The thing it does most effectively is advertise its author's comedy club.

</comment><comment><USER11> I think the age of one of the largest generations and the timing of the pandemic is important to think about.

If you were getting to your 30s, you are about at the age where dual income career minded couples start to have children. The opportunity to work remote is convenient to those couples that were looking to move to a smaller more affordable area as their children made it to school age.

It's not that the pandemic will never end, its that it gives a lot of people an easy way to relocate as they do not have to quit their current job and/or find a job while living outside the area they are trying to move to.

Even if their job requires them to start working in the office again, they'll have already had time to get settled in their new area and will have a much easier tome finding a new job there.

</comment><comment><USER12> Please note that this article was written by the "Bitcoin" guy

[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meet-man-behind-bitcoin- geniu...](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/meet-man-behind-bitcoin-genius-ads- internet-134441715.html)

I wouldn't take anything he says seriously. There's probably a buck in it for him to flip to write something like this.

</comment><comment><USER13> Here is my anecdotal experience:

* Moved to Manhattan in 2017 for work. When covid hit full steam in March, I decided to stick it out for a while, hoping things were turn or that the reaction to the virus was overkill. Turns out covid was legitimate, and started planning my move in April / May. Moved out at the end of June to live with family in one of the outer boroughs. Living in Manhattan was awful during that time. The city is a pain to live in when circumstances were good, but was pretty much unbearable with covid. It made no sense to stay - I was paying awfully high rent to live in the city and not enjoy it.

* My landlord was a baby boomer business owner who recently brought a 2nd retirement home out of state and was planning on retiring. Covid accelerated her plans, and not in a good way. She is trying to sell her Manhattan home and use the proceeds to pay the mortgage for her new place. She originally listed her home for $1.5M, and now its listed at $1.1M and is still struggling. Her story is likely not unique.

* I work with a team of 7 people at work, 4 of whom (including me) lived in the NY - 2 in BK, 1 in Queens, 1 in Manhattan (me). All are millennials - 3 moved in with family, 1 moved out of state.

* I would say 9/10 millennials I know who could move out of NY has already either moved in with family or out of state.

To emphasize - this is _my_ anecdotal experience. Mine could be exceptional, but I doubt it.

I love Manhattan - moving to the city was the best decision I ever made and I was certain I was going to die there. However, recent events are the most depressing I have seen in my life. I hope NYC bounces back, but I don't see that happening for a long time, and I don't think I'll be around for when it does, because I am at the point in my life where I am looking to start a family.

<comment><USER14> I started a family in NYC and we are still here. It's very possible to do it without being a billionaire and it's a fantastic experience rich way to grow up. I grew up in the burbs and that was great too. There is no one way to do things. But if you really love NYC don't believe you can't have a great family life here.

<comment><USER13> If covid did not exist, I would agree with you. But for me, it's not worth the extra hassle, just my opinion.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> It read to me as a yet another rant, until this:

>In 2008, average bandwidth speeds were 3 megabits per second. That's not enough for a Zoom meeting with reliable video quality. Now, it's over 20 megabits per second. That's more than enough for high quality video.

I think the author has a point. Not exactly because of the bandwidth (for instance we're a remote company but we almost never use video in calls). Advances in technology (mainly the SaaS-ification of everything) slowly prepared everybody for remote work becoming mainstream. The pandemic only accelerated it, and forced C-level managers to admit that remote work won't kill their companies. If not the virus, the shift would've still happened a few years later. Just more gradually. So from that perspective the author is right - some changes are irreversible, because technology has made it so.

</comment><comment><USER16> Anecdotally, I've seen about 10:1 ratio of people talking about leaving NYC vs people actually doing it. In fact, NYC has had a net negative migration rate for a long time (eclipsed by birth rate). The company I'm with right now recently declared they will never reopen their offices but NYC employees are staying put. I can foresee a substantial mid-term decrease in commercial real estate that may finally bring residential real estate back down to Earth.

</comment><comment><USER17> I read the whole article.

NYC nor any other major city will die from this.

10,000 people want to leave NYC on a Facebook group? NYC has what, 8 million people?

Half the article is talking about the kind of fears that watching the local news will get you. You think Phoenix doesn't have any homeless people? You think people don't get shot occasionally in Phoenix? New York City is literally statistically safer for murder per capita than many of these smaller cities.

I think the author over-emphasizes how much bandwidth will keep all work remote, too. Sure, it'll work for some tech jobs, but the narrative that productivity has increased across the board is not backed up by convincing numbers. Only about half the country works a "desk job" from my understanding.

I know for me, personally, as soon as it's safe to go back to the office, I'm doing it. I'm tired of subsidizing my employer's need for real estate. I want my kitchen table back. But I know that's a personal anecdote.

The 1918 pandemic didn't mean that NYC died and I don't see how this one is very different.

Mark my words, we won't be talking about COVID-19 in 2025.

<comment><USER18> > New York City is literally statistically safer for murder per capita than > many of these smaller cities.

This little trick is a pet peeve of mine.

Per capita crime statistics mean nothing to the people living in a city. It doesn't matter that each person you run into each day is slightly less likely to be a criminal if you run into 100x more people in NYC than in a small suburb.

What matters is the question "how likely am I to be the victim of a crime?". The answer is: a lot more likely in NYC than a small city.

<comment><USER19> Doesn't "murders per capita" answer that question?

It's "murder _victims_ per capita", not " _murderers_ per capita", so it doesn't matter if you run into 100x more people in NYC.

<comment><USER20> And even if it was murderers per capita, it would require the assumption that each murderer is murdering a constant percentage, regardless of location, of the people that he sees.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Wow. What an article.

I live in middle-America, things don't seem so dire here. I hope the author is wrong, I hope NYC comes right back. My wife and I vacationed there and had a ball.

Things will probably be different, but I hope it returns in some form or fashion.

</comment><comment><USER22> Who's robyn?</comment>


A Step By Step Guide to Transfer Domains Out Of GoDaddy - <AUTHOR> http://blog.jeffepstein.me/post/14629857835/a-step-by-step-guide-to-transfer-domains-out-of-godaddy <comment><USER2> I just transferred my 47 domains out of GoDaddy. I've been meaning to do it for awhile --- primarily because the price keeps inching up and because I find their advertising and use of spokeswomen sort of distasteful.

Seeing Jillian Michael's face when I'm buying a domain or setting up DNS records for a client is pretty much the last thing I want to see.

I guess you could say SOPA was the last straw. Transferring 47 domains cost a pretty penny, but it feels really good to leave that circus behind.

I went with Namecheap, primarily because I've heard good things about them and this blog post made it easy. I like how simple and snappy their web site is. Much quicker and easier to use than Godaddy...and no Jillian Michaels staring me down.

<comment><USER3> Same, but I think it was 46 for me ;)

Big relief having finally gotten off my butt to do that. Well worth the $200+ and at least that renews them all for an extra year at the same time, so it's not like I wouldn't have spent it anyway (just not all at once).

<comment><USER2> Knowing that I would need to pay to renew them anyway made it slightly less painful. It's tough to cough up $300+ at once, but SOPA is a horrible idea and GoDaddy apparently has no clue who their customers are. I'd be very curious to see some stats on how many transfers happened because of this effort.

<comment><USER3> Would love to see that stat. I guess competitors could post about spikes, giving us a sense based on their numbers.

<comment><USER4> We did 10x the inbound xfer volume on the 22nd vs. the 21st. So far on the 23rd, we're at 80% of the volume we saw on the 22nd. This only counts _completed_ transfers, and there are a ton more in process as people fiddle with the Godaddy knobs and dials.

One of our customers wrote a great transfer how-to that can be found here... <https://twitter.com/technologypoet/status/150084142577623042>

...and to head off any bandwagon jumping criticisms, we've been publicly opposed to this sort of legislative gerrymandering long before Godaddy stepped out in favour of it... <https://www.hover.com/blog/hover-opposes-sopa>

<comment><USER5> I agree with your sentiment, but the Grammar Nazi in me wants to make you aware that gerrymandering is a specific type of political malfeasance related to redistricting, not a generic term for political chicanery. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> After you get your EPP codes entered and GoDaddy is notified that you intend to transfer the domain, you can either wait 5 days for GoDaddy to release the domain, or you can go in and immediately accept the transfer by following these instructions: <http://support.godaddy.com/help/6040?locale=en>

Then it's just a matter of waiting for everything to finalize. I started the process this morning and it still isn't finalized.

<comment><AUTHOR> EDIT: I updated the blog to include these instructions. Thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> As noted elsewhere, it's the hosting plans that they make their money from, and so that's what I'd aim to transfer. So I've got a two-part question:

1) How does one transfer all the DNS information, including the A and MX records (anything else I need?)? Is this all provider-specific? Or can they just port in the existing data?

2) When I'm ready, I'd want to set up a web site, and especially a mail server. Any recommendations? (I know this has been asked plenty in the past, but this seems a good time to make a list excluding GoDaddy)

<comment><USER8> First, manage the dns with a third party dns service. Such as <http://zoneedit.com/pricing.html> or similar. Don't use the dns of the registrar.

But if you are talking about moving over just dns servers (not the records that are in those dns servers) that is automatically ported over when you change registrars. But if the dns servers are the dns servers of the registrar that isn't what you want. Which is one of the reasons to use third party dns. If you switch registrars the gaining registrar automatically sets the primary and secondary dns to what it was at the old registrar.

I wrote this fast but if you have any questions let me know. This is what I do.

To answer about mail server depends on whether you mean the mail server will run on your equipment or on a VPS or?

<comment><USER9> _First, manage the dns with a third party dns service._

This cannot be emphasized enough. Do not use your registrar's DNS. Do not use your registrar's hosting. Do not use your host's DNS.

The three elements -- domain registration, DNS, and web hosting -- should be segregated. That way, if you have problems with one, through chance, malice, or incompetence, you can exercise the other two items to work around the issue.

E.g.s:

If your web host is DDOSed, change the DNS entries to point to another host; minimizing downtime.

If your DNS servers are taken offline by legal action against the company that owns them, change the published servers at your registrar.

If your registrar goes bankrupt, your DNS and hosting will continue running smoothly while ICANN handles the domain management.

While you're at it, host your email somewhere different than your webhost. If you're account gets disabled because of a billing mistake, you want to get the email that tells you about it, right?

It's not even that expensive to implement these steps -- $25, maybe $50 per year. If you are at all serious about something on the Internet, spend the extra money!

<comment><USER10> How realistic is it for these things to actually happen though, the only seemingly realistic thing is the DOS attack.

I'm not saying it isn't smart I am just wondering if you have any examples of the others actually occurring.

<comment><USER9> Depends on what you mean by realistic. All of the examples I gave were things that have happened, or could plausibly happen.

Police Raids: <http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/04/data-centers-ra/> [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/22/fbi_data_centre_raid...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/06/22/fbi_data_centre_raid/)

Shutdown Registrars: [http://domainnamewire.com/2009/10/12/directnic-picks-up- red-...](http://domainnamewire.com/2009/10/12/directnic-picks-up-red-register- domains-icann-notifies-two-more-registrars/) [http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/03/registerfly- terminated-b...](http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/03/registerfly-terminated- by-icann/)

You can never know what the company executives or managers might be getting up to, so -- as basic risk management -- you should prepare for catastrophic events.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> <https://dnsimple.com/> has a 50% off special for transferring domains off of GoDaddy. They may not be the cheapest (it's $3 a month to host 10 domains + yearly cost for the domain registration), but they have fantastic support and are super simple to use.

<comment><USER12> In case you haven't seen it before, I wrote up a step-by-step guide earlier this year as well: [http://blog.dnsimple.com/preparing-domains-godaddy-for- trans...](http://blog.dnsimple.com/preparing-domains-godaddy-for-transfer- out/)

Note the tip at the end: you usually have to wait the full 5 day waiting period when transferring a domain out of GoDaddy because they let the domain auto ack at the end, however you can speed things up using the technique described in this help article on their site: <http://help.godaddy.com/article/6040?locale=en>

Copied here in case they remove it. :-)

To Accept or Decline a Transfer to Another Registrar Log in to your Account Manager. In the My Products section, click Domains/Domain Manager. From the Domains menu, select Pending Transfers. Select the domain name(s) you are transferring to another registrar, and then click Accept/Decline. Select one of the following: Accept — This option might speed up the pending transfer's completion. Decline — This option cancels the pending transfer, which causes it to fail. Click OK twice. We process your request within 30 minutes.

<comment><USER13> I can't say enough good things about DNSimple (and I've had lots of bad things to say about other registrars). Are you guys still reselling enom for all of your TLDs? Pretty please will you get your own setup for at least .com/.org/.net addresses? And when/if you do can you make a big stink about it so I know to transfer all of my domains to you guys? I'd love to give you more money...

<comment><USER12> I can't promise I can do it, but I'll work on it. ICANN accreditation and registry access is all about money. If I can get the working capital then I'll get DNSimple accredited in 2012. Believe me, I'd _love_ to be able to do it.

<comment><USER14> If I move to DNSimple now, will it be easy to move to your news registry later?

I don't mind paying some, but just need it to be ultra easy :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> If you're transferring to Namecheap, you can combine both the domain name and the EPP code on the same line (comma separated). That'll save you a step of having to re-submit it for each domain.

<comment><AUTHOR> Awesome. Going to update that in the post - Thanks Shpigford!

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Note that you also have to disable domains-by-proxy (domain privacy) if you have it on any domains before they can be transferred.

<comment><USER17> This is also my understanding.

Which essentially means that you cannot transfer any domains out of GoDaddy without losing your anonymity.

<comment><USER18> Purchase third party whois privacy. Whois privacy costs nothing to run, it's just a company saying they own the domain on your behalf, this opens you up to domain theft though, I don't understand why people use it. Set up a PO Box somewhere and use that.

<comment><USER19> _Set up a PO Box somewhere and use that._

Is it allowed to use a fictional name?

<comment><USER18> I am 99% sure the only requirement is any contact delivered makes it to you, so yes.

<comment><USER19> 184.108.40.206 The Registered Name Holder shall provide to Registrar accurate and reliable contact details and promptly correct and update them during the term of the Registered Name registration, including: the full name, postal address, e-mail address, voice telephone number, and fax number if available of the Registered Name Holder; name of authorized person for contact purposes in the case of an Registered Name Holder that is an organization, association, or corporation; and the data elements listed in Subsections 22.214.171.124, 220.127.116.11 and 184.108.40.206.

188.8.131.52 A Registered Name Holder's willful provision of inaccurate or unreliable information, its willful failure promptly to update information provided to Registrar, or its failure to respond for over fifteen (15) calendar days to inquiries by Registrar concerning the accuracy of contact details associated with the Registered Name Holder's registration shall constitute a material breach of the Registered Name Holder-registrar contract and be a basis for cancellation of the Registered Name registration.

[http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra- agreement-21may09-en.h...](http://www.icann.org/en/registrars/ra- agreement-21may09-en.htm#188.8.131.52)

<comment><USER20> From what I've seen (I have personally never done it, but know people that have), this is not typically enforced in any way, and you're probably fine entering completely fictional information for all of this stuff.

 _But..._

I knew a guy in college (super disreputable, FWIW, so I don't necessarily believe everything he said) who claimed that one of the first tricks up his sleeve when he was launching a new site was to file complaints about incorrect WHOIS data against all his competitors (and sometimes against random sites with useful keyword content and a bit of pagerank) and then pounce on the domains if they opened up so he could point them to his new site. He told me that often enough to be useful to him, people either failed to respond to the verification requests in time, or had actually provided false data, and he was able to either snatch their domains or at least cause some trouble.

So I probably wouldn't recommend messing around with phony data, better just to set up some contact info that you don't mind having out in the open.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> This is awesome, everyone says to transfer, but most people won't because it's too much of a hassle. This helps alleviate that barrier. I've just tweeted this and will email my friends too. We nerds are a kind of multiplier effect. GoDaddy, you're days are numbered.

</comment><comment><USER22> This is a great step by step guide for transferring domains. Exactly what I needed (I tried earlier and quickly got lost!)

I do have a question for anyone who could help: Can I transfer a domain which is set to expire in 2019? And, are there typically fees for transferring a domain?

<comment><AUTHOR> It seems that the transfer adds a year thankfully and does not reset the clock

<comment><USER8> The only thing I would add is that a domain can never have more than 10 years on it. So if you created a domain today with a 10 year period and decided to transfer it in 3 months it wouldn't get a year added to it when you transferred. Note that the year is not actually added to the domain by the registrar. It's part of the way the system works for .com .net domains with Verisign which operates the backend for <b>all</b> registrars.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I'm not sure whether it was the HN posting, but it seems Tumblr is not coping with the amount of traffic. Whilst that isn't all that interesting, I just wanted to say kudos for having a link to charity on the error page:

      We're very sorry
      Our servers are over capacity and certain pages may be temporarily unavailable.
      We're working quickly to resolve the issue.

      In the meantime, please consider donating to the Red Cross
      to help those in Japan who are in need of support.

Unfortunately, the link provided is broken:

<http://www.ifrc.org/en/get-involved/donate/donation-japan>

Anyone from Tumblr watching?

</comment><comment><USER24> The site seems down for me, but Google has a cache:

[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BOfAgm...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1BOfAgmNnuAJ:blog.jeffepstein.me/post/14629857835/a-step- by-step-guide-to-transfer-domains-out-of-godaddy+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

<comment><AUTHOR> It's down. I'm working on it...

<comment><AUTHOR> It's a tumblr issue. At first, I thought it may have been GoDaddy revenge since the transfer is still not fully complete..

<comment><AUTHOR> Its back up!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> This review is really preventing me from going with namecheap... <http://www.webhostingreviews.com/namecheap-reviews.htm>

can someone advise?

<comment><USER26> I transferred all my domains to NameCheap after the elephant slaughter, and have had absolutely no issues.

Personally I'd like to hear NC's take on the incident before I pass judgement on that post, but if you're not comfortable with them, find another registrar that you are OK with. The whole point is that GoDaddy are bad, not that NameCheap are good.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> For those looking for alternatives, it is worth noting MediaTemple's unofficial position on this topic: [http://twitter.com/#!/demian_sellfors/status/149950134556426...](http://twitter.com/#!/demian_sellfors/status/149950134556426240)

(Demian Sellfors is the CEO.)

</comment><comment><USER28> The irony is that godaddy has the fastest transfer out I've ever experienced with almost realtime acks if your receiving registrar supports it.

(and I've used nearly a dozen registrars, not just resellers)

You can be out in under 4 hours, all depends on how fast the registry responds.

</comment><comment><USER29> Thanks for the guide! I've got 21 domains at Godaddy and I've started transferring the inactive ones as a test. Once I've got a feel for the process I'll start moving the ones that have DNS entries with GoDaddy as well.

</comment><comment><USER30> namecheap adds 1 year to your existing expiration date when you switch. Nothing to do on your part. No need to contact support with the question like I did.

<comment><USER31> FWIW, this is a common (and excellent!) practice. So no matter which registrar you transfer your domains to you should get an extra year added to your registration.

<comment><USER12> It's actually a requirement for gTLDs like com/net/org. When you transfer a domain the registry automatically extends the domain 1 year (or the minimum). If the registrar is charging for the transfer _and_ the extension then you're being taken for a ride.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Just transferred 40 domains off of GoDaddy using this. Thanks.

</comment><comment><USER33> This is great and all but I don't really see a boycott as being such an effective solution.

The problem with boycotts is they are based on the following things:

1) The spending power of the boycotter. 2) The potential spend of the boycotter on the relevant service/product. 3) The amount of influence you have over others to boycott.

So whilst you can move your handful of personal domains that you were using for your hobby website or small startup elsewhere, the biggest spenders on domains I would imagine are going to be medium-large businesses.

These are much more cautious to join a boycott unless there is obvious PR benefit (e.g fairtrade or animal testing free products spring to mind) because they are beholden to shareholders and are generally conservative when it comes to changing suppliers unless there is a clear cost-benefit. The only people in the organization that are likely to care about this will be the techies who unless they are the CIO/CTO do not have the influence to affect domain purchasing decisions.

The conversation probably goes approximately like this:

Boss: Good day underling! Please secure us the following list of 100 domain names from the great godaddy, lord of the DNS!

Techie: But sir , we shouldn't use godaddy. There is an active boycott because of SOPA, how about company X instead?

Boss: What is this SOPA of which you speak?

Techie: _explains SOPA_

Boss: Damn hippies! I neither understand nor care for their plight, godaddy is cheaper and we already have an account with them. I know not of this company X, do they advertise at the superbowl?

Techie: but...

Boss: Please do as I command and grace godaddy with our pieces of silver.

Techie: _enters company credit card details at godaddy.com_

</comment><comment><USER34> Great post. We're in the process of transferring 50+ domains from GoDaddy.

</comment><comment><USER35> Our domain was registered through Google and they stuck it on GoDaddy. Working on getting it transferred safely. Nice post Jeff!

</comment><comment><USER36> This is the straw that broke the camel's back. I just migrated my 44 domains to NameCheap.

Use the "sopasucks" discount code, it takes $1.99 off each .com domain. For some reason, .me transfers are much more expensive than .com transfers: $19.99 vs $8.98

</comment><comment><USER37> I really wish I had a spare $754 ($681 with code) to transfer all my dumb domain names.

<comment><USER15> I used the opportunity to do some house cleaning. I had to quit being sentimental and be honest with myself about what I would _really_ use. Then I just let the ones I didn't want anymore stay with GoDaddy to eventually expire.

<comment><USER38> Just a warning - GoDaddy will automatically charge your credit card to renew current domains. You have to remove your payment information or delete the domains.

<comment><USER39> This isn't entirely accurate. GoDaddy has both auto-renewal and manual renewal. I'm not sure what the default is these days, but you can set your domains to manual renewal and let them expire. Be warned: you're going to get a ton of email notifications from GoDaddy as your expiration dates approach.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> I've been wanting to move away from GoDaddy for awhile now. I only went to GoDaddy in the first place over 10 years ago because they were the cheapest place. Since then, their prices have risen, their interface has become horrible, their up-selling has become unbearable, and their TV advertisements annoy me.

I believe that their support of the SOPA could be looked at as their last straw for me. I'm planning on moving all of my domains on Dec 29 unless they change their stance on SOPA. However, even if they did change their stance I don't think it could really save me as a customer considering all of the other aforementioned issues.

</comment><comment><USER41> How long does the transfer process take? Also, what about DNS configurations?

<comment><USER42> If my memory doesn't fail me, Namecheap gives the option to either keep the same nameservers or switch to Namecheap's nameservers.

Unless you host your DNS externally (and you have GoDaddy configured to use those), you will have to switch to Namecheap's nameservers and I believe reconfigure your records.

For a smooth transition, you could change your nameserver configuration on GoDaddy before transferring, and then have Namecheap keep the settings.

EDIT: Just noticed another commenter mention that you can export your zones from GoDaddy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Count me in for about 14 or so plus SSL certs and other fun.

What a windfall for Namecheap.

</comment><comment><USER44> Just transfered out 34 domains. Thanks for the export instructions!

</comment><comment><USER45> Quick tip, you can use the promo code 'switch2nc' to save a dollar off each transfer.

(I am not affiliated with namecheap, the promo code or anything related. I am just cheap :-p)

</comment><comment><USER46> The tutorial took about 10 minutes to complete for my domains. I've been on the look out for an easy way to leave GoDaddy for a while now. Thank you!

</comment><comment><USER47> Anyone familiar with any good registrars that support both .me and .it domains?

EDIT: gandi.net looks like the best bet if anyone else needs both .me and .it.

</comment><comment><USER48> I'm so confused. How does GoDaddy dominate the domain market? I guess those Superbowl Dollars are in proper use...?

</comment><comment><USER49> Huge believer of voting with your pocket. We have just submitted to have the last 247 GoDaddy domains transferred.

<comment><USER49> Just wrapped up drinks with a CTO of a large enterprise, he's feeling the vibe after a hearty SOPA chat and has committed to move their portfolio of over 1,700 domains off GoDaddy by year's end. Their expenditure is over 20K/year and with a discount code floating around here (thanks guys!), he's putting the savings into bonuses

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> Just transferred (recovered/save/gavelife) (well, just) 3 domains out of GoDaddy. Rest of my domains are gathering dust elsewhere, but I am happy that this marks the end of my relationship with the nasty GoDaddy. Best wishes to them with their skimpy dress ads on SupBowl!

</comment><comment><USER44> Also, item of note for these instructions. GoDaddy auth codes sometimes contain commas, so they'll export as quoted values.

The domain,authcode trick in the bulk form doesn't work. Make sure to enter the unquoted auth codes for those domains in the cart during transfer.

</comment><comment><USER51> So much good info here in the comments and in Jeff's post. I'll be moving my domains ASAP!

</comment><comment><USER52> I just setup a tumblr for anyone interested, i'll keep count for those that want to submit: goodbyegodaddy.tumblr.com

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3384048>

</comment><comment><USER53> GoDaddy will stay in business while ad syndicates continue to accept their money. Is there an ad syndicate that allows you to specifically black-list companies? Some kind of 'ethical ad' startup?

</comment><comment><USER54> Don't for get to ask your credit card provider to reverse your GoDaddy Payment- the SOPA-enabled chargeback is the real nightmare for internet companies.

</comment><comment><USER55> I need a similar guide for register.com I have one very old domain stuck there because I lost access to email address with which I registered there.

</comment><comment><USER56> We'll be transferring ~30 domains later today.

</comment><comment><USER57> couldn't access the link, but i noticed that godaddy puts a lock on domain transfers by default, after removing the lock, my current registrar, iwantmyname.com, asked for a $10 transfer fee. i'll probably wait until they catch onto the fact that there's a mass exodus from godaddy and give free transfers :)

</comment><comment><USER58> Can someone please provide advice for SSL? I don't think it's as easy? Am I stuck for SSL?

<comment><USER59> You mean your cert? Technically, you don't need to _transfer_ the cert -- nothing prevents two CAs from signing certificates for the same domain. You can just buy the cert from someone else and start using that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER60> I've been having trouble accessing this page for the last hour. Oh, tumblr.

</comment><comment><USER61> 6 domains for me.

</comment><comment><USER62> I only have one domain =(

Transferring anyway :)

</comment><comment><USER63> Thank you!

</comment><comment><USER64> 问题</comment>


Vintage Video Game Ads - <AUTHOR> http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/3/3059393/vintage-video-game-ads

<comment><USER2> Modern day blog spam.

[http://www.flickr.com/photos/65846913@N02/sets/7215762744929...](http://www.flickr.com/photos/65846913@N02/sets/72157627449293880/with/6049921007/)</comment>


Nickd Launches "Draft Foundation": Happier customers and lower churn, all in one - <AUTHOR> https://draft.nu/foundation/

<comment><USER2> Does anyone know if Foundation addresses the issue of how to handle the migration of existing users from the pre-foundation version of the interface to the post?

<comment><USER3> Hey, creator here.

Obviously this depends heavily on the system, but I hope to address both the logistic/technical and support side of the migration in our final month together. You should come away with at _least_ the overall strategy for how to execute on this.

<comment><USER2> Thanks!</comment></comment></comment>


AWS Cloudfront DNS Issue with British Telecom (see 128-Lee-Armstrong) - <AUTHOR> https://pulse.turbobytes.com/results/55db339fecbe400bf800143f/

<comment><AUTHOR> Checkout result from "128-Lee-Armstrong" . BT DNS servers respond with NOERROR but dont include an answer.</comment>


Things we've learned about Series As - <AUTHOR> https://blog.ycombinator.com/things-we-learned-about-series-as/ <comment><USER3> The analysis about execution quality of VCs gives me validation for being frustrated a huge swathe of the VC industry. The bar is shockingly low. I'm surprised the long tail gets in any deals at all given how lazy most of their execution is. So many of them are just farming out associates to send spammy drip emails from Salesforce.

This is such a niche market (how many investable companies are there?), I don't see how it works for most of them at all. Every deal we did at Ionic involved a very attentive and responsive _partner_ on the other end, and our first conversation with that firm was always through a partner rather than an associate/analyst.

I suppose we're in a capital bubble and when this long tail comes back with awful returns for their LPs this issue might sort itself out.

<comment><AUTHOR> I actually see this from a different angle. I think the bar is incredibly high, and that many investors fail to clear it. It is high because, when you see the best investors at work, it is blindingly obvious that they operate in a different way.

The strange thing to me is that many investors don't realize this is happening and just coast on the funds they've raised. Founders talk to one another constantly. They know who works hard and who doesn't, and orient themselves accordingly.

<comment><USER3> Good point. The bar is high to get into great deals, the bar is low to starting a fund right now.

And yes, shocking how many investors don't realize or care that founders talk and have long memories!

<comment><USER4> I've seen this locally but a lot of investors aren't really in it for a return. They want to talk about being _in_ to everyone at the country club and in their family. It is assets they can (usually) afford to lose. It is the same as buying a lamborghini, they want to be someone. Then if it does manage to hit, "look at what a genius I am".

<comment><USER5> I agree. This mentality only encourages "sexy startups", i.e. those with mass consumer appeal, over more fundamentally sound asset creation, e.g. smart traffic and rail signaling software, which in turn incentivizes entrepreneurs to build sexy startups - which lets be honest are mainly social apps these days - then rinse and repeat.

<comment><USER6> Do people actually consider rail signaling software "unsexy"? It's like a router for trains instead of packets. If I was an investor I would much rather brag about my investment in freight train routing infrastructure than a tinder for IoT users app.

<comment><USER7> Also not being an investor, I agree with your ranking. Even better would be any sort of heavy industry. Elon Musk's stuff (rockets, cars, tunnels) is mighty nice. Refineries, 100-ton forges, container ships, and similar are all more impressive than software.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I read this as YC saying to investors that if you want to play in the YCA pool, you will respond to emails and make decisions in a timely fashion. Major props to them for this.

We raised an A on great terms, though we are not in YC or YCA. It was surprising how many investors ghosted us, or promised timelines that didn't happen, etc.

</comment><comment><USER9> Here is a nice tell tale to differentiate between the good and the bad: get a partner to be present during all the initial meetings, negotiations and during the dd phase. It will help tremendously in figuring out which vcs are really in the market for you and which ones are just window shopping. Partner time is expensive.

</comment><comment><USER10> > the importance of the batch itself

This may be the most profound statement about YC relative to the rest of VC. YC provides founders with a founder community, which is very valuable and fairly inexpensive to offer. Traditional VC resources are variable in quality based on often based on expensive experts.

<comment><AUTHOR> Even with how well I understand the batch - having been part of one and having seen 5 years worth as a partner - I'm still amazed by how powerful the structure is.

Part of what's cool is that the strengths of the batch have evolved and changed over time as the environment changes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> > In the last year, YC companies raised over $945mm across 95 Series As. > That's an increase of 50% over the prior year in terms of rounds done, and > 71% in dollars raised

Anyone know if the batches were of similar size in terms of the number of companies? It would be nice to have relative statistics (YC companies are on average raising As more often and at higher amounts) than absolute ones which could be just due to batch size.

<comment><AUTHOR> Not quite sure what you're asking here. Could you clarify? Happy to try to answer based on our data.

There was only 1 actual YCA batch last year. The other companies that participated in the program did so in more of an adhoc fashion - <USER2> using the advice and knowledge we're building for their own raises.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> > In the last year, YC companies raised over $945mm across 95 Series As.

Are you able to share the median deal size?

</comment><comment><USER12> Is the YCA program available to non-YC companies?

<comment><AUTHOR> The program is only open to YC companies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> What was the average MRR for YCA companies?

<comment><AUTHOR> MRR is only one components of some raises. Some of the companies had millions of dollars a year in revenue, some had none.

The relevant metrics change depending on the company, industry, time since launch, capital raised, geography, etc.

<comment><USER13> Interesting. I've always heard that $100k MRR is the minimum metric for an A but I guess that only applies to SaaS companies. Looking forward to hearing about YCA

<comment><AUTHOR> It isn't even true there. This is one of the common misconceptions that show up in blogs. There's no such thing as a minimum metric for an A - SaaS or otherwise.

<comment><USER8> (I'm not a vc)

We got an A with way less MRR because of who we had sold to. The quoted MRR figures may be approximately correct for b2c or for b2b for smb customers. For b2b enterprise customers, you can raise on way less. And you'll have to given you have 6-12 month sales cycles.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Is this a program to give Series A rounds to selected companies that graduate from YC?

<comment><AUTHOR> No, it's a program to help YC companies raise As from investors.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Never trust anyone who abbreviates a million dollars with two Ms.

<comment><USER16> Disagree, MM is the classy way to do it. M can either mean 1,000 or 1,000,000. For example, millimeter, or in advertising CPM, which is cost per mille. Using MM disambiguates it.

<comment><USER17> Have you actually ever seen anyone use M to refer to 1,000?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> What I'm about to write is very irrelevant but I see Facebook going down the Theranos path. It will be a slow slow death for them. If not death, Facebook will be crippled by the end of this phase.</comment>


Google: Expect 18 Android Phones By Year's End - <AUTHOR> http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/google-expect-18-android-phones-by-years-end/ <comment><USER2> I really hope these devices give Apple a run for their money. As of now, the iPhone is quickly becoming the Windows of the mobile phone world in that application developers are dedicating their time and energy into developing for the iPhone with other platforms being an afterthought (if at all).

Not that I don't love Apple, but due to a large family plan I can't switch carriers. Plus, it's always good when multiple companies can compete effectively. As a long time Mac user - back from the days before the Mac was cool again - I remember how hard it was to get good quality apps. The web, becoming more and more of a platform, and Apple's return to prosperity changed that.

Maybe I'm just being a worrier (it's been known to happen), but I'd like to see another platform drum up the developer community that the iPhone has. I'd rather that the mobile space had better competition than the desktop space did, say, 9 years ago.

<comment><USER3> It is interesting to think about dynamics of the mobile space: two years ago iPhone was not yet released, iPhone SDK is just over a year old and to work with it you have to learn the "exotic" Obj-C…

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Anyone know if you can convert your device from one of the three types to another?

<comment><USER5> In principle you can build your own android image from the public git tree. This would be the first type. My understanding is that people have figured out how to hack the google apps (gmail, market, etc) onto these pure open-source images, so switching between the types is technically possible, but probably infringes copyright and/or violates eulas.

<comment><USER6> If you can install any app on the free version, though, why not just install GMail etc? Perhaps not an officially sanctioned app, but I'm sure you could find/make one that would get the job done.

I guess I don't really get where the tension is in the three options. Usually, e.g., you get more options but have to pay more. He seems to hint that handset makers and carriers trade autonomy for more polished software, but doesn't really make it clear.

<comment><USER5> The tiers are aimed at the carriers, not at end users. The logic being that the (typical) end user is not going to be changing to a non-carrier-sanctioned version of the OS.

I don't fully understand the difference between tiers 2 and 3, but it looks like the big picture is basically you don't get to put the Google signature apps on your phone unless you enter some kind of agreement with them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> And Android becomes windows... having to support a gazillion different hardware configurations and not working properly in any of them.

Android is a pretty cool system, bu trying to please everyone will be it's demise.

<comment><USER8> What? Even the iPhone OS runs on different hardware -- the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and various iPods. Even with the different hardware, it still works "well enough" everywhere.

Windows mobile and the Blackberry OS run on a variety of phones, and they all seem to run the same software just fine. And FWIW, desktop OSes that run on widely varying hardware all seem to be just fine, too. (Windows obviously works well enough, as does Linux / FreeBSD / NetBSD / OpenBSD.)

Nice Apple fanboi-ing though, I really enjoyed it.

<comment><USER9> I agree with the parent - the one thing the iPhone has going for it is a _consistent_ platform, which allows developers to design the user experience around a hardware set that is pretty much standardized. I highly doubt the 18 phones that Android will be on come year end will all have standardized on things like screen resolution, touch features, hard/soft keyboard, etc, and so we'll see a fractured user (and developer) experience. I'm certain that Android will be a wild success, much like other mobile phone OS's before the iPhone were successful, but I don't think it will take off like the iPhone has.

The comparison to trying to be the "windows" of the mobile phone was right on (in my opinion).

<comment><USER10> Except that Google's monopolies, if they exist, are elsewhere. You get the source code to the whole OS and system - how cool is that for a hacker? So it's sort of like Windows+Linux. I'm waiting for this second generation of hardware to come out and then jumping (from Nokia). Android gives you way more than J2ME, and is definitely nicer to work with than Symbian (from everything I've heard - I've never used the C++ stuff). iPhones are nice, but being a 'hacker', I want open and accessible.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I feel like when they figure out how to get the Cell processor into phones, it'll just swallow up the Android market.</comment>


How We Increased New User Registration 27% - <AUTHOR> http://www.stormpath.com/blog/how-we-increased-new-user-registration-27

<comment><USER2> I don't think 5-8 fields is as huge a barrier to sign-up rates as you might have initially believed. I believe that friction starts to occur on somewhere around 10+ fields.

Here's a couple of other theories as to why your new approach works better:

Commitment: When you initially ask for JUST an email address from a prospect, it's kind of like starting a conversation with someone by saying "Hey what's your phone number" without even caring to ask for their name and a proper introduction. Basically their email is the most valuable piece of information they have to give you, and immediately going for it sends the wrong message. Presenting them with a full form (that includes their name, company, maybe a job function) conveys that you really care to know about them and sets the expectation that they will get something useful out of any interaction with you.

Convention: I've encountered more signup processes where the request for contact information is front-loaded. It's simply what internet citizens are more accustomed to. In fact some users may have thought that by giving you their email address, they were done, and didn't even carefully review the "verify your address to proceed" email. They probably just waited for something more and simply gave up when the next step didn't magically present itself.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think you're right on both these points - your point about commitment is our CEO's lead hypothesis, which I definitely did not capture as articulately as this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Thanks for sharing your experience. Your old flow is like you go to a bank and ask for opening an account, they get your address and tell you we will mail you the forms to fill out the required information. Not many people like to change the context to finish something. I think these types of design flaws are well known that they should have been prevented in the first place.

</comment><comment><USER4> > The user can login and merrily start building.

I'm surprised that this step was still in there in the new version of the flow. Why not set the user as logged in automatically after registration?

<comment><AUTHOR> Good question. The manual login ensures that a session is started with the correct authentication credentials. Its a good default way to protect against session hijacking attacks.

I suspect we will automate the first authentication down the road, but with such a small drop-off in the new workflow, we're focusing on more core product features first. There's still lots in the new workflow, website, etc. to improve.</comment></comment>


Why is movie theater popcorn so expensive? - <AUTHOR> https://thehustle.co/why-is-movie-theater-popcorn-so-outrageously-expensive/ <comment><USER2> Hey invert the question. Why is movie theater food so junky?

AMC has some "dine-in theaters" where you can order burgers, beer, other casual sit-down dining fare (think Applebees) at mildly inflated prices. You can order at the counter and also at an in-seat kiosk, and either way they bring it right to your seat, during the movie, in a hunched-down whisper- scramble.

It's great! It fixes the "popcorn-only-lasted-the-credits" problem, and also it's a meal: lunch or dinner, no mindless shoveling popcorn into your mouth.

Just a happy customer, but this seems like a new model. If concessions are the money-maker, start climbing the quality ladder.

<comment><USER3> New to us (US). Very common in EU.

<comment><USER4> Where can you find it in the EU?

I am French and never seen that in any cinema (Pathé, UGC). Neither in Germany nor in Poland.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> As a teen, I used to go see movies for a buck. The movies were months old by the time they got to the dollar theater. I always wondered how they made their money. Eventually, I found out that they paid very little to the distributor but they were able to make a big profit from the snack so it was worth it for them to do it.

<comment><USER6> The distributor charged very little because they were film reels that were returned to the distributor after the film's opening few weekends, as movies left theaters to make room for new movies. So all the money made on those reels was gravy before they were destroyed. (Some of those reels ended up overseas instead, I think.) It's a different world now with digital exhibition.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Spoilers: it's precisely the reason everybody already knows. This article was a waste of time, it might as well say that water is wet.

<comment><USER8> Exactly. The article never should have been written.

<comment><USER9> There could be a reason we don't know about - maybe it's for SEO or someone ordered it.

<comment><USER10> It trolls people into reading the article to verify what they already knew and feeling smart about it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I suppose it's a beneficial model.

The price of the ticket is kept artificially low, so the movie itself is accessible to more people.

A lot of the profit comes from the snacks, which are not a necessity. You can choose to pay this 'voluntary tax' or not.

I like things like this.

</comment><comment><USER12> > In fact, the price of a movie ticket hasn't gone up much in the last 90 > years. In 1929, a ticket was $0.35; today, it's $9. Adjusted for inflation, > that's a fairly reasonable price increase of 108%.

I'm sorry but how is a 100% price increase considered "reasonable"? Inflation is already meant to account for the reasonable price increase. I don't think the rest of the moviegoing experience has changed enough to justify a 100% premium compared to 1925.

<comment><USER13> Between resolution, sound, comfort, quality, and selection, it's not hard for me to imagine that the modern movie theater experience is _at least_ 2x the value of what people had in 1925.

I pay 2x the cost of matinee tickets just to attend in the evening, and almost 2x of that to get a reclining seat as a "VIP" ticket.

I can't even imagine how much someone's mind would be blown if you showed them what we had in 2020.

1925-guy would have his mind blown in 2020 where you can watch any movie you want on a screen that fits in your pocket and only pay a whole 2x more than he has to pay for the ritzy experience of watching it in a modern movie theater.

Claiming injustice over a 108% price increase over the period of a century for a movie ticket in an HN thread is actually cracking me up.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> You know, you don't need to buy the theatre's popcorn, just stuff your drinks and snacks into a smallish rucksack. At least you know what you're stuffing into your face.

Also, I'm guessing the reason theatres charge so much is because of the mess left after a screening which needs to be cleaned up. Theatre goers are a pretty messy lot in my experience...tipped over half eaten popcorn tubs, same with half drunk beverages, mashed into carpet unfinished hotdogs. I can sorta see why they charge a premium.

<comment><USER15> The reason movie theatres charge so much is because all of the commissions on ticket sales go to the studios. If everyone brought their own food then movie theatres would lose money and go out of business.

<comment><USER16> If movie theaters go out of business the studios fail too. Maybe movie theaters need to go out of business, perhaps temporarily, so the studios are pressed to cough up more money. Well, that's a naive thought, I know. Things will improve once they can't get any worse. I feel it's getting closer. The Oscars audience is in decline, studios are coming out with mostly crappy movies and the popcorn's quietly going up in price:)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> no answer in the article. because this is the maximized value for items bought * avg paid?

also, popcorn COGS is nowhere near $0.90, if we are talking about goods only and packaging(as in COGS), its less than 10 cents, throwing markups numbers in completely different tier.</comment>


Come On, China. Tesla's Just a Shiny Object - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-03-08/china-is-giving-tesla-easy-loans-but-nio-could-use-the-help <comment><USER2> Dude NIO is burning 500 million for 7.5 million in revenue.A chinese SOE builds their cars and they scraped plans to build factory. Tesla compared to that is necessary especially if they can sell 25k-35k models.</comment>


Millionaire Bankers Feel Sorry for Struggling Millennials - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-14/credit-suisse-says-it-s-time-to-feel-sorry-for-the-millennials <comment><USER2> thx</comment>


Apple says it immediately contacted FBI about unlocking Texas shooter's iPhone - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/8/16626452/apple-fbi-texas-shooter-iphone-unlock-encryption-debate <comment><USER2> Two things:

1\. Why is Apple responding differently from San Bernardino? Why is Apple more willing to assist when the perpetrator isn't ISIS?

2\. If Apple can really get into an iPhone without the user's consent, all their PR about privacy amount to lies

<comment><USER3> The question for me is why is the FBI claiming it needs access to the iPhone when it is highly unlikely to further the criminal investigation? The simplest answer is that the value of iPhone access in this case is political posturing and the tragedy is just used for cover.

iPhones don't kill people...

<comment><USER4> Agreed; the FBI is clearing politicizing the issue of access to encrypted devices.</comment></comment></comment>


Will Kubernetes Sink the Hadoop Ship? - <AUTHOR> https://thenewstack.io/will-kubernetes-sink-the-hadoop-ship/ <comment><USER2> Will apples kill oranges?</comment>


Ask HN: What's one change you'd make to up conversions on our startup's website? - <AUTHOR>

Hi,
I know this is my first post, so apologies if it seems I'm exploiting the HN community. I've been lurking for a while and it's quickly become my favourite forum. I really enjoy the discussions here and I've learned a lot from them (I have 7 pages of notes taken from HN threads on everything from cold calling to resources for learning Python). I haven't contributed because I don't feel like I have the knowledge to add anything of value to the discussions. In any case If this thread is inappropriate please delete it and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience.
Now, for my question. I'm a University student in the UK, and with two friends I started a business called KitchPack selling packs of kitchenware and bedding to University students – delivering directly to their accommodation before they arrive. The idea is to save the hassle of having to lug everything from the other side of the country/world or the time and expense of buying it all upon arrival.
We launched last year at our University and sold out in 2 days. Since then, we've partnered with 32 Universities/Landlords across the UK. Each of our partners has their own affiliate website (e.g. www.kitchpack.co.uk/standrews) which they market to their students through contractually agreed upon channels (i.e. social media, welcome packs etc.) in exchange for a commission on each sale. In addition we also have a global website for people who aren't with any of our partners to order.
As broke, non-technical students we've had to bootstrap the website on a £200 budget teaching ourselves HTML/CSS/PHP/JS to make it happen (we're hooked on programming and have started learning Python). We're proud of the result but we're aware that it could be much better, and we'd really appreciate some brutal feedback from the knowledgeable folks on HN on what you'd change to make our website convert better.
Here's a link to the global website:
www.kitchpack.co.uk
Thanks in advance for your time,
Jose <comment><USER2> Firstly, this website is 90% there. My 10-odd year experience says you can tweak a bit more conversion but it's going to be minimal and I would spend time on distribution & marketing. Otherwise from my look-over;

First thing I noticed is no Google Analytics. Are you running some web analytics? If not this should be your first (and easy) update so you can monitor what is happening on-site.

Second I'd look to simplifying messaging. For example - you say 'Cosy bedding packs for students'. Why have 'for students'? There are lots of copy points like this that can be stripped and focused. Have a read through and see what you can remove.

Store/FAQ/Contact US - you can probably get rid of the headers saying what the page is. It just pushes content down with little benefit.

I tried the order process (York St John University) and it got stuck at 'order with paypal'. Should this be working? I tested from Australia so that may have an effect.

And take anything I said here with a grain of salt. A/B test changes. Opinion is never fact.

</comment><comment><USER3> I doubt there is a single thing that will drastically increase conversions, but here are a couple things I would try:

1\. Retargetting with Perfect Audience[0]. The idea is that not everyone will buy from you when they first visit your site, but by showing them some ads after they do you increase the chances that they come back and buy something. These people are especially useful to target because they have shown interest in your product.

2\. A/B Testing with Optimizely[1] or a PHP equivalent such as [2]. If you want to update your site to increase conversions, A/B testing is probably the best way to do it. Basically you just want to propose new changes, then test them alongside your current site to see which ones perform better, then go with that one. This one is tricky though, because without enough traffic to your site a/b testing is a lot less reliable.

[0] [http://www.perfectaudience.com/](http://www.perfectaudience.com/) [1] [https://www.optimizely.com/](https://www.optimizely.com/) [2] [http://phpabtest.com/](http://phpabtest.com/) \- I haven't ever used this so you may want to do some research yourself.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks a lot for the response, I really appreciate it. PerfectAudience looks great, I've installed it and am reading about it now.

As for AB testing are there any good resources you can recommend to learn about it? We have no idea where to start with regards to what to test initially. I'm assuming "conversion funnel analysis" tools like Mixpanel should also guide our decision. Can you recommend any good resources to read about that also?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks again for your quick response.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I think you should focus on changes that will provide bigger gains. From joncalhoun comment I heavily endorse the retargeting sugestion, but I don't think you should worry so much about AB test for now. AB test depends on some heavy and constant traffic and a more predictable knowledge of your audience behavior. I think you are too early on it to gain a lot from AB testing.

Another sugestion is assortment and marketing. I think you already have very good channels and niche, but you might exepriment a little more.

Please, read all this presentation: [http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2013-07-16-michael- dea...](http://www.heavybit.com/library/video/2013-07-16-michael-dearing)

For example, i would suggest you try the market for your product for imternational students. Exchange might need the exact same product, but you will have to validate it and validate the channels for it. This is an example of assortment, but you should really see the video above and develop your own ideas about to find new markets and scale a little more.

And from what I could see you are doing great. Very well done validation, distribution and website. I predict a lot of success for you.

<comment><AUTHOR> Cheers for your comment, I'll take a look at the presentation now and get back to you - looks interesting.

Thanks for the kind words too, we really appreciate it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Fix the mobile version its incredibly broken. It seems when you scroll to the testimonials some js kicks in and reloads the web page.

On a side note, great to see more Portuguese entrepreneurs :) if you wanna expand to Japan give me a shout. While not being a student this is something i would've used after i rented my empty apartment here.

<comment><AUTHOR> Cheers for the heads-up, we'll fix that today.

Are you Portuguese yourself? We're definitely looking to expand internationally next year. Would be cool to get in touch.

<comment><USER5> Yes i am, check my email on my user profile.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Best article I've read on this that's free.

[http://conversionxl.com/13Ways- ConversionXL.pdf](http://conversionxl.com/13Ways-ConversionXL.pdf)</comment>


Show HN: LonelyPage – One page is all you need - <AUTHOR> http://www.lonelypage.io <comment><USER2> I don't want this to be intended as harsh criticism of your idea, but let me share my experience with website builders:

\- The market is extremely tough. Maybe you noticed how much advertisment squarespace and Wix do. The reason being that these pages typically have small businesses as customers. The issue with these type of businesses is that they go away quickly. Most don't survive 6 months. So you need new customers all the time to keep up with the high churn.

\- You do not have price dominance. The price is very competitive and companies with huge backing (like Squarespace / Wix) will dominate you.

\- The intended target audience is actually not that keen on doing everything themselves. They don't know about online marketing, SEO, or other "special skills". Actually, they just need someone they can call when they have an issue.

\- Developers and agencies prefer open systems like Wordpress, Gatsby, or others. They also value a vivid ecosystem of plugins and themes. They typically don't commit to proprietary software, because you never know how long it will be around.

In any case, I wish you the best of luck with the product. It looks nice! I hope you can use my experiences to advance your business.

<comment><USER3> > Maybe you noticed how much advertisment squarespace...do

I would intuitively estimate that about 15% of educational youtube videos are sponsored by Squarespace.

<comment><USER4> I think google has just profiled you (and me, and everyone else on HN)...

We go on web-dev related and business start up websites, and google is watching us.

<comment><USER3> Sadly no. The ads I get are largely for things I don't want. Occasionally they are good or interesting, but usually no.

I wish more ad providers had a way to say "please show me more ads like this." Better yet, I wish there was one that had a box where I could just type random complaints about my life and over time it would show me ads for products that might be relevant.

<comment><USER5> Google says they explicitly don't use web-browsing data for ad targeting. They _don't_ say that they don't use web-browsing data to improve your experience with their various recommendation/prediction/autocomplete APIs. So there's no guarantee that bad ad targeting implies YouTube doesn't have a better profile on you.

<comment><USER6> I'm order to square these requirements, they would just have to use your browsing data to target you with the version of the instructional video which always plays relevant ads to you

<comment><USER5> From what I understand (someone correct me if I'm wrong), the selection of ads that play on an individual YouTube video aren't actually affected at all by _which_ video you're watching—only YouTube's understanding of you built up over all the videos you've watched so far.

<comment><USER7> The sponsorships are part of the video. They are targeted only by video.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I get that this is easy, but there are 2 main cons:

1\. It is $4 a month (that's a lot for a really a simple static page)

2\. Vendor lock-in. These sites come and go and might not be around in a couple of years.

This is why I recommend Hugo hosted on netlify. Sure, it has a learning curve (but plenty of open source themes make it fairly easy). Hugo spits out plain HTML so there is no lock-in, and netlify hosts for free. If Netlify goes away, I can host somewhere else.

<comment><USER9> if the page builder is able to export to something like Gatsby or Hugo templates, then that eases the fear of lockin

<comment><USER10> Since it is just 1 page, I think you should be able to just save the source with all the dependencies and then host it somewhere else afterwards

<comment><USER11> wget will do that for you nicely, also. I've used it to make static archives of fairly complex Drupal-based sites, so a one-pager should be a breeze.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> What browsers are you supporting and testing against, both for the editor and its output? For example, the text widget doesn't allow spaces to be typed on Firefox, which makes me wonder about the compatibility of the generated code.

Edit: Also, kudos for having such easy, frictionless access to the demo. I also really like the structural parity between the desktop and mobile versions.

Edit2: How are you picking which version (desktop/mobile) to show? Are you doing some kind of sniffing, rather than relying on media queries? I'm not getting the version I expect when I change the viewport's size in my DevTools: Chrome always gives me the mobile version in responsive mode, while Firefox always gives me the desktop layout unless I spoof a device's user agent string...

<comment><AUTHOR> Ouch, that's a nasty bug in firefox.. Will try to solve it asap.

Right now I need to serve slightly different markup depending on mobile or desktop, so I can't rely solely on media queries. I will however try to move it that direction once I figured a few things out.

Thanks for your feedback!

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> My mom has started several businesses (short attention span!) and so I've tried Unbounce, Squarespace, GoDaddy pages, various WordPress hosts (HostGator and BlueHost and others)...

This one looks like it's going for the Squarespace/Wix market.

I think what matters the most in that space is getting out of the box with a very nice looking template - Squarespace excels there! (heck, their current landing page says "Make it beautiful"). And they have a nice logo creator.

This one doesn't seem to have that much design in it. On the plus side, it does say "No signup to try out" (that's a huge plus, hope spammers don't abuse it) and "simplest", which is what I expect your target audience to like.

Edit: on the builder, I think you should emphasize starter templates more.

</comment><comment><USER14> You should let the user go through the entire process of creating the page before you ask for money. Then they have the extra desire of wanting their finished thing.

(I started building a site and put in a form, only to be told that was a paid thing. Closed the whole thing and immediately came to write this.)

<comment><USER15> I would be so mad if I put in the effort to build everything only to be pay- walled at the end. Just, livid.

<comment><USER16> I mean, you don't "spring it" on the user at the end. You say something like "try full features now for free! If you build something you like keep it for low low price of....."

It's an effective way of removing friction.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This is how the page looks on firefox on android [http://imgbox.com/i6mbiHi5](http://imgbox.com/i6mbiHi5)

Doesn't seem expected.

Android 8 + firefox 58.0. 2 + https everywhere & ublock origin extensions.

<comment><AUTHOR> Uh oh, thanks for reporting that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I've found carrd.co to be a great version of this. Super-simple templates. I think they allow more than one page, but very clean layouts.

<comment><USER19> Yeah, maybe $39 a year is pretty much if you compare it with carrd.co

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> The world is increasingly composed of computing devices that stay on 24 hours a day. Long gone are the days when only servers used to do this. Now most desktops have ~90% uptime while mobile devices are almost at 100%. Combine that with ever increasing, cheap bandwidth, I think the time is ripe more than ever for hosting your own simple, low traffic services including websites. The only obstacle here is that there still no simple setup wizard that can make them painless to host and take down, with a few clicks. A package that combines a simple, secured web server with a site builder.

<comment><USER21> Totally agree, have you heard of [http://ipfs.io](http://ipfs.io)? What you describe will be the new norm due to the advances blockchain is enabling for the distributed web

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> It's a good start. However, seemingly only tested on Chrome.

After playing around with it for a few minutes, I found some issues:

On Firefox, from a Clean State, add a Row, add Text, click H2, type some text, hit space, try to type more text: the space disappears

On Chrome: I don't seem to have full control over text spans. While I can use b/I/U/S on the current text selection, I was unable to set any other style attributes just for the selected text (i.e. what should boil down to a span tag), i.e. I wanted different colors for parts of my text.

Keep on hacking and I hope you'll have success!

</comment><comment><USER23> This is the kind of thing I wish I thought of right when I saw it.

These naysayers are silly. The amount of investment you put into it will undoubtedly be offset by the passive income you generate with it, not to mention the fun/learning you did while building it.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks a lot for your kind words! And you're right, it was a fun experience just to build it, if I can make some money from it - even better!

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Does anything stop me from building my page, copying the HTML and hosting it myself?

<comment><USER25> I can't think of any way that could be possible. In the end people who are comfortable enough to rip the source and setup/maintain hosting probably wouldn't need the service.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Found a typo / grammatical mistake: Icons is an essiental part of modern web design. -> "Icons are an essential..."

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Can't watch the video on an iPhone, "The requested video is not allowed to be played in embedded players."

Also, going directly to lonelypage.io doesn't work.

</comment><comment><USER28> Pretty nice. I'm still in the market for a good lander builder.

initial feedback:

\- I can't figure out how to change the image in a template, close to giving up

\- more templates please

\- and maybe more content in the templates (easier fill in or delete content than to figure out how to add new sections and content)

\- I didn't read site that closely (who does), do I get the generated html etc? I'd like to host myself

\- the "pick a palette" is great

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey, thanks for your feedback! \- Yes, changing an image defo needs be clearer. \- More templates are coming. \- Self-hosting is not an option for now, but I obviously need to state that out. However, I think people here on HN are more eager to host themselves. A "normal" user probably wants that taken care of.

<comment><USER25> > A "normal" user probably wants that taken care of.

For sure, no need to worry about that!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Pretty sick! I'll be using a pro plan for a new project. BTW, gradients not working in mobile.

<comment><AUTHOR> Cool, feel free to get in touch if you need any help. What mobile OS is that?

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> This is actually perfect. Needed a super quick landing page creator and you nailed it. If you're going to make changes then recommend you develop an API for page creation, perhaps a Zapier integration. Otherwise good on you!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks a lot, glad you like it!

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> I can't load the website. All I see is this :/

[https://i.imgur.com/NONTuSs.jpg](https://i.imgur.com/NONTuSs.jpg)

<comment><USER31> Maybe activate js ?

<comment><USER30> I haven't disabled JS neither do i have any extension besides uBlock origin that would change the DOM.

Am I the only one having this problem? Because except this website I don't have trouble browsing any other.

P.S: I'm using Chrome Version 64.0.3282.186 (Official Build) (64-bit)

<comment><USER32> I also get a rather empty page on Firefox. Running uBlock Origin, but I've disabled JavaScript too.

Reading this far to comments I've gathered it's some sort of landing page generator?

I wish people would at least include a short description that one could read.

Too many submission to HN just land you on an empty page if you don't feel like executing their JS. I wish they would just put an accurate description to the submission as well.

I usually just skip and move on but I guess the address was enough to poke additional interest this time around.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Cool site. If it'll go down anything like my own you'll get 30'000 views and like 3 buys, but no recurring revenue. You may be interested to read my experience: [http://code.krister.ee/mybest-project-so-far-shutting-it- dow...](http://code.krister.ee/mybest-project-so-far-shutting-it-down/)

Don't think twice about contacting me :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting read, thanks for the link.

<comment><USER13> Absolutely agree with "STOP building things and START TALKING TO CUSTOMERS."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Cool editor, Undo/Redo is missing. I made similar SPA for other project and implement this feature in Redux pattern was a breeze

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! Undo/redo is available as soon as you sign up, but not in test mode.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Nice work!

Some usability feedback: Adding a new element to the page (+) is the first action and it was hard for me to find it. It's likely also one of the most frequent functions you'll use, so I think this button should have way more relevance, at least on the same level as "Save".

<comment><AUTHOR> Great feedback, thanks a lot!

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> This doesn't seem to render well without enabling Javascript, which gets a failing grade in my book.

<comment><USER37> I would suggest that, in 2018, you are in the minority.

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> Reminds me a bit of SabreCMS, despite the options being much more limited. And Sabre allows a full export of your entire site/shop/landingpage in case you want to self host after building - And it works with all browsers which seems to be an issue here. But nicely done.

</comment><comment><USER39> You could try to compete with this guy: [https://www.sitebuilderreport.com](https://www.sitebuilderreport.com)

He realized the world didn't want another site builder, so he just reviews all of the existing site builders. Pretty genius.

</comment><comment><USER40> Great job! Very intuitive design. Much better than the majority of services I have tried before for simple pages I've wanted to put out.

Once a page is built and live, can the user then save the HTML and host it on their own server? (leaving the by: lonelypage logo at the bottom)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you, glad to hear that! There's no way to export or download the page right now. I didn't expect that to be a requested feature to be honest. Maybe in the future, we'll see.

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> It's really discouraging that not even your own started page doesn't support SSL...

<comment><USER42> Recently move a bigger webapp to AWS elasticbeanstalk, I had to add a few lines to redirect from http to https. We still have a long way to go.

In case of [https://lonelypage.io](https://lonelypage.io) the cert isn't for the correct domain....

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Great start!

Now if I were to give you one piece of advice I would say, find a niche or a couple of niche industries that have specific needs and sell to them.

This can be anything from setting up an event and taking payment for it to creating a local sports group.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, that's some good advice, I definitely believe in finding niche groups as well. Often, it's not the ones you think of initially.

</comment></comment><comment><USER44> When I type in text, it doesn't remember spaces, for example: [http://spacesmissing.lonelypage.io/](http://spacesmissing.lonelypage.io/)

<comment><AUTHOR> Problem fixed, it was a strange CSS issue in firefox only. Thanks for reporting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> Why not use github pages?

</comment><comment><USER46> i came back to HN to thank you for putting this service. As a product manager often times i want to test ideas and i was able to put together something that looks nice using your product within an hour. I customized a template but the tools were pretty intuitive. It was so easy and pain-free that i immediately wanted to prototype another idea but seems i can only do one per account. Anyways, thanks and keep up the good work.

</comment><comment><USER47> Looks good. Still haven't had my coffee so this is all you are getting. Sorry.

The submit form zooms in on mobile (iOS). To avoid that the font size needs to be set at 16px.

</comment><comment><USER48> Small bug with the text field: [https://imgur.com/N7SVdMp](https://imgur.com/N7SVdMp)

<comment><AUTHOR> What browser is that?

<comment><USER48> Chrome on macOS. Write something in text field and deselect it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> I've been looking at something like this to host a landing page for a book I wrote years ago. Great work, I'll give it a try.

<comment><AUTHOR> Cool! Feel free to get in touch if you need any help.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> The page builder tool is seriously impressive. I love that you've even covered things like image filters (blur, contrast, etc)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, I tried to focus on the small bits as well as the big ones. I hope it pays off.

</comment></comment><comment><USER51> Did you forget the most important on your page?

Where's the button create my own page? How can I test your product? Is your product scam?

<comment><AUTHOR> Maybe click the big button that says "Try LonelyPage now!" ? Otherwise I'm afraid it's scam, you got me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> Couldn't figure out how to sign up

<comment><AUTHOR> There's a button in the upper right corner that says "Save page". Click it, and you will sign up and save your page at the same time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> Do a ICO or blockchain page generator for April 1st. I'm sure people will love it :)

</comment><comment><USER53> for all the posts on firefox bugs, on firefox 61 everything seems to be functioning properly btw

</comment><comment><USER54> How long will they be around? I'm kinda sick of putting up a page about some random thing then a couple of years later its gone.

<comment><USER55> I'm really looking forward to this kind of problem being solved by ipfs/dat

<comment><USER56> How would it solve the problem?

<comment><USER57> Well, since it's distributed / decentralized you wouldn't depend on a particular company (or service). This way you wouldn't need to worry about it being shut down.

<comment><USER58> You would still depend on the constant availability of an origin for your data.

IPFS is not magic in that regard: if whoever is your origin disappears, then your data is likely to disappear at some point, especially if it's not super popular.

There is no free lunch: you either become your origin yourself, or you pay someone else to be.

<comment><USER57> Though : would that lunch be as expensive as $10 per month or would it be almost free like $0.1 per year ? I consider that to be pretty much free :)

<comment><USER58> Here's a pricing example: [https://www.keycdn.com/pricing](https://www.keycdn.com/pricing)</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>