Omg.lol – A lovable web page and email address(home.omg.lol)
home.omg.lol
Omg.lol – A lovable web page and email address
https://home.omg.lol
384 comments
It's not $20. It's $20 per year. I know that might be semantic for some people, but for much of these services, I wouldn't want it going away after 1 year if I'm unable to pay that cost again. And for that reason, I think it's worth noting.
These are ongoing services so a once off payment doesn't make sense for the business. The alternatives are self-hosting and free services, self hosting is great. If you are using free services though, they could disappear too, and you have to question the business model of anyone givingyou something for nothing.
At least if you are paying for it you are entering into a contract of service from the provider which gives you a lot of legal recourse and leverage and also supports the business so that they do keep providing you the service.
At least if you are paying for it you are entering into a contract of service from the provider which gives you a lot of legal recourse and leverage and also supports the business so that they do keep providing you the service.
Domain registration has to be renewed, either per year or per <x> years if you buy a bunch of licenses up front. So what's the alternative to this then? A lot of domains can cost around $20 per year.
It is totally reasonable to charge a recurring fee for providing an ongoing service, but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration. You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns. Some other sites give those away for free because there is no marginal cost per subdomain.
Which in the end is true for domains as well. Someone decides to sell subdomains of X, weather X is com or omg.lol.
Com could be free as well. The only real difference is choice.
Or to put it differently, you say it doesnt need registration. Well, it does. They require it. So what.
Com could be free as well. The only real difference is choice.
Or to put it differently, you say it doesnt need registration. Well, it does. They require it. So what.
I think the main difference is a proper domain from a major registrar grants you ownership rights that you don't get from leased subdomains like OP's (mainly the ability to keep the domain even if the registrar goes out of business; and moving the domain between registrars).
You can move between registrars, but the registrar's not the one that you're leasing the domain from; they're just a reseller.
The entity that you're actually leasing the domain from is the registry operator-- such as Verisign for .com or PIR for .org. And, yes, it's still a lease relationship-- while there are some ICANN-mandated consumer protections around your "purchase" of a domain, if you stop paying your annual renewal (or run out of whatever amount of time you've prepaid), that domain isn't yours any more.
Omg.lol is operating the same way (albeit not under ICANN oversight, as they're not running a gTLD); they've just cut out the middleman and are leasing subdomains directly rather than via third-party registrars.
The entity that you're actually leasing the domain from is the registry operator-- such as Verisign for .com or PIR for .org. And, yes, it's still a lease relationship-- while there are some ICANN-mandated consumer protections around your "purchase" of a domain, if you stop paying your annual renewal (or run out of whatever amount of time you've prepaid), that domain isn't yours any more.
Omg.lol is operating the same way (albeit not under ICANN oversight, as they're not running a gTLD); they've just cut out the middleman and are leasing subdomains directly rather than via third-party registrars.
> Omg.lol is operating the same way
Not entirely true; I'd argue it's closer to subleasing a part of the property they're currently leasing from an ICANN accredited registrar.
> they've just cut out the middleman
Quite the opposite! They've just introduced themselves as yet another middleman on top of the already existing middleman (there's still a value proposition to this, but it's not the same).
TL;DR: subtenant rights ⊈ tenant rights
Not entirely true; I'd argue it's closer to subleasing a part of the property they're currently leasing from an ICANN accredited registrar.
> they've just cut out the middleman
Quite the opposite! They've just introduced themselves as yet another middleman on top of the already existing middleman (there's still a value proposition to this, but it's not the same).
TL;DR: subtenant rights ⊈ tenant rights
EDIT: typing mistake: replace ⊈ with ⊊ (proper subset)
What do you mean “ownership rights”?
If you buy a gTLD domain through a registrar, your ownership of the domain is bound by the rules established by ICANN [1][2]. If you purchase an eTLD+1 [3] subdomain from omg.lol (as part of the offered services) you're not covered by [1][2] but instead by [4, Section 1.5 part B, Section 3.2 part A].
What this means is OP can arbitrarily shutdown their offering at their sole discretion and, as a result, you'll lose access to the eTLD+1 you've purchased (domain, email, all gone). However, if you purchase a gTLD domain through an ICANN accredited registrar, the registrar can't unilaterally do the same (even if the registrar implodes, you still own the domain and you can move it elsewhere).
[1] ICANN Registrants' Benefits and Responsibilities: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/benefits-2013-09-16-en
[2] ICANN Registrar Compliance Program: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrar-2012-02-25-e...
[3] https://jfhr.me/what-is-an-etld-+-1/
[4] Neatnik LLC (the company behind omg.lol): https://home.omg.lol/info/legal
What this means is OP can arbitrarily shutdown their offering at their sole discretion and, as a result, you'll lose access to the eTLD+1 you've purchased (domain, email, all gone). However, if you purchase a gTLD domain through an ICANN accredited registrar, the registrar can't unilaterally do the same (even if the registrar implodes, you still own the domain and you can move it elsewhere).
[1] ICANN Registrants' Benefits and Responsibilities: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/benefits-2013-09-16-en
[2] ICANN Registrar Compliance Program: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrar-2012-02-25-e...
[3] https://jfhr.me/what-is-an-etld-+-1/
[4] Neatnik LLC (the company behind omg.lol): https://home.omg.lol/info/legal
The only real difference is that Verisign makes more money than omg.lol, hence they have more resources and incentives to not screw you over. That, of course, has incredible weight, and indeed I'd not trust omg.lol while I do trust Verisign.
I run a SaaS product and I do not charge my customers extra for a subdomain of their choice (if it has not been claimed by someone else already.)
> but to be clear you are not buying a domain that needs registration
Ah, good point.
Ah, good point.
> You are buying a subdomain of the domains that this company already owns.
All domains are like that, though, even TLDs.
All domains are like that, though, even TLDs.
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Creating a subdomain once you have the domain is free, probably for the domain omg.lol they're paying $20 / year.
What if they offered a 'lifetime' rate which is the NPV of $20 over 20 years, so like $1000 or something? You pay once and get it forever.
Of course, only as long as they can operate the service forever...
Of course, only as long as they can operate the service forever...
That’s the main issue I see, they can stop the service at any time and then you’ll have no chance to get the subdomain back. You’re in a much better position with an actual second-level domain, because you can move the domain between service providers and registrars, and depending on locality you may also have actual legal rights to keep owning the domain.
Even for newer second-level domains like .lol and cool-looking ccTLDs like .io, the possibility that the registrar is going to end it, become unstable, or change policy is real. They’re marketing gimmicks.
The thing with a domain registration is that you know if you pay for ten years in advance, you WILL have it for ten years. With most SaaS, you have absolutely no guarantee this is going to be the case.
You will have it for 10 years unless they decide to take it from you. That doesn't happen often, but it certainly can.
My domain is 26 per year. This is cheap af and I'm reconsidering ditching my domain in favour of this.
What if this service stops to exist after 2 years? Then any place you advertised/published this subdomain will need to be updated. With your own domain you won't have that issue, ever. Why would you give that up?
Worth noting many of the services on omg.lol support custom domains, e.g. https://zwe.st/omglol is on the URL shortener.
I extensively use the API for pastebin and URL shortener. It's very much a selling point for me -- love being able to control things on the command line with a few simple scripts.
Great package of tiny little web apps for a good dollar amount and a great author.
https://zac.omg.lol/
I extensively use the API for pastebin and URL shortener. It's very much a selling point for me -- love being able to control things on the command line with a few simple scripts.
Great package of tiny little web apps for a good dollar amount and a great author.
https://zac.omg.lol/
I love the service, I hate the name. It's got too much cute/whimsy for my taste, and it just makes me feel like the "hello fellow teenagers" guy. If they had the same everything but it was a "short and easy to spell/pronounce" domain service, I would 100% go for it.
It doesn't have to be entirely boring, but less... cute. Also I think that meme language has a high risk of drifting into the cringe zone, and then that will feel bad too. I would have the same problem with lit.lol or yeet.lol.
Am I alone in being willing to pay more for less whimsy? Give me the $30/year plan where I can pick bucket.web or tiny.star or something less of the moment.
It doesn't have to be entirely boring, but less... cute. Also I think that meme language has a high risk of drifting into the cringe zone, and then that will feel bad too. I would have the same problem with lit.lol or yeet.lol.
Am I alone in being willing to pay more for less whimsy? Give me the $30/year plan where I can pick bucket.web or tiny.star or something less of the moment.
I'm sorry for the quality of this comment, but boo hoo.
oh same. I'm not sure I'd want this with anything other than my own domain name anyway, but definitely I wouldn't want "omg.lol". I hate that internet-ass humor.
You can use your own domain, you're not tied to omg.lol
Where does it talk about using your own domain?
https://home.omg.lol/info
I can't find it in the Help docs.
https://home.omg.lol/info
I can't find it in the Help docs.
https://home.omg.lol/info/switchboard, the "external domains" section
That section reads more like you can just have another domain redirect to omg.lol profile, as opposed to be served from that external domain.
Am I reading that correctly?
Meaning, your profile wouldn't be served from "example.com" but instead, "example.com" would simply do a browser redirect to "omg.lol/example"
Am I reading that correctly?
Meaning, your profile wouldn't be served from "example.com" but instead, "example.com" would simply do a browser redirect to "omg.lol/example"
No, that's not what those docs say you can do. It looks like you can either use a DNS A record to point "example.com" directly to omg.lol's IP address, or use a CNAME record to point "example.com" to whatever IP address "example.omg.lol" points to. In both of these cases, your browser's url bar would still say "example.com".
Yes that. But also in addition to that you can set A or CNAME records and do whatever you want. Just like with any domain. You can even set NS records and manage records with cloudflare.
So yes you can use your own domain but edit the profile with omg.lol
So yes you can use your own domain but edit the profile with omg.lol
That's actually a shockingly decent list of provided features for $20 a year. A more than fair price, and worth every dime as long as the servers are at least semi-reliable. I pay $12 a year for a domain, and another $5 per month for a VPS to host services on that domain, and even that's totally worth it to me, so $20 a year for all that they're offering (even if it is only on a subdomain)? Quite good indeed…
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And Fastmail. Fastmail is to programmers what Superhuman is for salespeople.
What is so great about fastmail? I keep hearing people talk about it but haven’t “gotten it” yet.
I tried fastmail once when I was looking for a new provider. Free trial, they said. So I created an account, switched over my MX records, changed my mail client, etc. Seemed fine.
That is, until I received an email from my father. I couldn't open it. It was so perplexing that I eventually opened a ticket with support to see what I screwed up. Turns out their "free trial" only worked with other fastmail addresses until verified my account. The only supported method of verification was to create a paid account. Support wouldn't or couldn't help until I verified. I was pretty pissed; felt like I got bait and switched. What good is a trial that only works with a service that (relatively) very few people use? I closed my account, moved to purelymail, and haven't looked back.
I still have no idea what email my dad sent me. They might be a great service otherwise, but this gave me a very sour experience.
That is, until I received an email from my father. I couldn't open it. It was so perplexing that I eventually opened a ticket with support to see what I screwed up. Turns out their "free trial" only worked with other fastmail addresses until verified my account. The only supported method of verification was to create a paid account. Support wouldn't or couldn't help until I verified. I was pretty pissed; felt like I got bait and switched. What good is a trial that only works with a service that (relatively) very few people use? I closed my account, moved to purelymail, and haven't looked back.
I still have no idea what email my dad sent me. They might be a great service otherwise, but this gave me a very sour experience.
I'm on a FastMail free trial and have no restrictions like that. It's been great. Maybe they've updated their free trial policy since you've tried it.
I would be very curious to hear from a Fastmail rep on this as my demo account never did anything like this to my recollection, though that was a long time ago at this point and I’ve been a happy subscriber for 5+ years.
It's just really good at being an email provider. Reliable, privacy-respecting, good support, and with a webmail client to rival (or beat) Gmail.
Plus they frequently develop new useful features, like partnering with Bitwarden and 1Password to generate throwaway email address on the fly at your domain.
Plus they frequently develop new useful features, like partnering with Bitwarden and 1Password to generate throwaway email address on the fly at your domain.
I have been a paying customer for years, and I don't expect to ever leave. My favorites are:
- DNS capabilities
- Friendly and fast customer support
- Great, smooth, pretty UI on all platforms
See, I don't get this. Last time I tried fastmail I ended up on proton because it was just slightly... Kludgy. DNS was slow. Webmail was a mess. And the mobile client scene wasn't worth it.
That said, the billing side wasn't bad.
That said, the billing side wasn't bad.
That's fascinating. My experience is exactly the opposite - Proton is slow and awful, and Fastmail is fast and clean.
Mine lines up with yours: Fastmail has been great, Proton started okay and has gotten progressively worse.
Fastmail is just normal IMAP unlike Gmail, so it works with email clients without weirdness around folders and archiving. It also supports native push notifications on iOS, which Gmail does not. And it works well with your own domain names.
That said I switched to using iCloud mail with my own domain as soon as it was available.
That said I switched to using iCloud mail with my own domain as soon as it was available.
I find latency on gmail (for work or otherwise) makes gmail unusable. I am more latency sensitive than most of my colleagues though.
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I've been a happy omg.lol subscriber for years, originally as a fun little joke but it's actually pretty useful and I use my profile as my "link in bio" for twitter and other social sites.
The founder, Adam, is a genuinely good dude. He just keeps adding more features and the service gets better and better.
The founder, Adam, is a genuinely good dude. He just keeps adding more features and the service gets better and better.
It seems like a very nice service. It is great to hear that they are already around for quite some time.
And remember: if you’re not paying, you are the product. This seams both very reasonably priced and also priced high enough that if you take a little care at running things well it can be sustainable
And remember: if you’re not paying, you are the product. This seams both very reasonably priced and also priced high enough that if you take a little care at running things well it can be sustainable
> if you’re not paying, you are the product
I guess you could also be both though, no?
I guess you could also be both though, no?
You could definitely, in this our happiness is the service/product of buying omg.lol
> I've been a happy omg.lol subscriber for years
Interesting, how many years would you estimate it's been around?
I see their Mastodon server is pretty new (since last July) and wayback doesn't have the homepage archived at all. Can't think of another way of checking.
Interesting, how many years would you estimate it's been around?
I see their Mastodon server is pretty new (since last July) and wayback doesn't have the homepage archived at all. Can't think of another way of checking.
The domain was registered in 2019 and work started later - as they say on their "About" page. So "subscriber for years" where years <= 2.
2019 was 4 years ago
This is around for years and the chewbacca.omg.lol and the lukeskywalker.omg.lol are still available to snatch?! Omg!
There are also plenty of two letter subdomains left, so I guess it just never got that popular.
That's exactly what I saw today. Got my initials. :-)
As comparison: I've got a two letter GitHub account and joined in late 2009, so 1.5 years after its founding.
As comparison: I've got a two letter GitHub account and joined in late 2009, so 1.5 years after its founding.
Felt like making an account here just to say how much I've been enjoying this service.
I got a lifetime license awhile back and love how it just keeps giving. The shortened email is cool enough, but all the extra goodies are just really tasty icing on the cake. The simple status social media site is fun because it's so low friction, you don't worry about anything other than just creating a stream of little updates.
I'd love to see this entire concept become the new way we web. Like instead of giant conglomerate companies trying to do everything, we have a bunch of smaller little services that interact with each other (a la fediverse or something similar) and they occasionally add a new little set of tools. Feels very "old-web" like. Like a modern BBS.
Great work so far Adam! Keep it up :) Much love from spencer.omg.lol
I got a lifetime license awhile back and love how it just keeps giving. The shortened email is cool enough, but all the extra goodies are just really tasty icing on the cake. The simple status social media site is fun because it's so low friction, you don't worry about anything other than just creating a stream of little updates.
I'd love to see this entire concept become the new way we web. Like instead of giant conglomerate companies trying to do everything, we have a bunch of smaller little services that interact with each other (a la fediverse or something similar) and they occasionally add a new little set of tools. Feels very "old-web" like. Like a modern BBS.
Great work so far Adam! Keep it up :) Much love from spencer.omg.lol
Oh man, I just tried to see if spencer.omg.lol was available and it looks like I'm already too late! This was my first time hearing about omg.lol, so congrats on beating me to the punch :D
haha yoink! Sorry fellow Spencer, looks like I'm king now.
...Also your lifetime account is basically worthless if more people don't sign up and pay. As there is no reason for the owner to lose money giving you services
Is that not the same situation as with every other service out there?
lol yeah, like most digital things have a lifespan, that doesn't make them worthless just like a car isn't worthless even though it's not indestructible.
I factored in the usefulness, uniqueness, and possible untimely-deathness and found the lifetime license worth it. It's nice to support stuff like this.
I factored in the usefulness, uniqueness, and possible untimely-deathness and found the lifetime license worth it. It's nice to support stuff like this.
I expected to hate this and walked away thinking it was a pretty ok idea. Good job!
The idea of curating alternate services together and offering it as a product feels novel - does anyone else do this?
I'd love to see hosting offered for curated open source services that are interoperable. Sort of like all those WordPress hosts of yore (and today!).
Edit: omg.lol, is it AOL?? :D
Edit 2: The price is even the same! $19.95 vs $20
The idea of curating alternate services together and offering it as a product feels novel - does anyone else do this?
I'd love to see hosting offered for curated open source services that are interoperable. Sort of like all those WordPress hosts of yore (and today!).
Edit: omg.lol, is it AOL?? :D
Edit 2: The price is even the same! $19.95 vs $20
> The idea of curating alternate services together and offering it as a product feels novel - does anyone else do this?
It's a different but related concept: Framasoft in France (https://framasoft.org/fr/). It's a non-profit that provides open-source alternatives to common cloud services. They also teach people how to install and configure these tools on their own server instead of relying on providers reselling their data.
It's a different but related concept: Framasoft in France (https://framasoft.org/fr/). It's a non-profit that provides open-source alternatives to common cloud services. They also teach people how to install and configure these tools on their own server instead of relying on providers reselling their data.
> provides open-source alternatives to common cloud services
This includes, among other things, PeerTube.
PeerTube is a federated alternative to YouTube.
https://joinpeertube.org/
I love PeerTube. Been running an instance of it of my own for a few weeks.
I currently have only two videos on it so far.
The subject of the videos on my instance are computing and music.
My instance does not allow others to sign up, but I would like to invite other creators to host videos about computing and music on my instance. I tried to reach out to one person that was currently using YouTube and who was making videos about computing to ask them if they wanted to host their videos on my PeerTube instance instead. Didn’t hear back from that person yet.
I would like for about ten to one hundred people who have a history of creating videos about computing or music to join my instance. The goal being that we would be enough people on the instance so that every week there is 1 to 2 new videos posted, while still being few enough people so that we are not flooded with many videos, and while also maintaining a strict focus on videos whose topics are restricted to one or more of the following three:
- computing (by this I mean programming, software engineering, computer science and such)
- music (includes music videos for music created by the person, as well as videos about music theory and videos about music production)
- electronics (meaning things like microcontrollers, soldering, PCB design, etc)
Essentially, to create a small and focused community.
Still not sure how to actually get other people to join though. For now my strategy will be to continue making videos of my own, and occasionally reaching out to others to ask them personally if they want to join the instance when I see someone that makes content of a similar nature as the kind that I host on my instance.
This includes, among other things, PeerTube.
PeerTube is a federated alternative to YouTube.
https://joinpeertube.org/
I love PeerTube. Been running an instance of it of my own for a few weeks.
I currently have only two videos on it so far.
The subject of the videos on my instance are computing and music.
My instance does not allow others to sign up, but I would like to invite other creators to host videos about computing and music on my instance. I tried to reach out to one person that was currently using YouTube and who was making videos about computing to ask them if they wanted to host their videos on my PeerTube instance instead. Didn’t hear back from that person yet.
I would like for about ten to one hundred people who have a history of creating videos about computing or music to join my instance. The goal being that we would be enough people on the instance so that every week there is 1 to 2 new videos posted, while still being few enough people so that we are not flooded with many videos, and while also maintaining a strict focus on videos whose topics are restricted to one or more of the following three:
- computing (by this I mean programming, software engineering, computer science and such)
- music (includes music videos for music created by the person, as well as videos about music theory and videos about music production)
- electronics (meaning things like microcontrollers, soldering, PCB design, etc)
Essentially, to create a small and focused community.
Still not sure how to actually get other people to join though. For now my strategy will be to continue making videos of my own, and occasionally reaching out to others to ask them personally if they want to join the instance when I see someone that makes content of a similar nature as the kind that I host on my instance.
They also used to host quite a lot of stuff before they decided it went both beyond their means and contrary to their goals.
Two common types of services are bundling and unbundling. Either compiling multiple existing products or services into one, or offering one focused part of some overbundled service. It's the circle of life.
> I expected to hate this and walked away thinking it was a pretty ok idea. Good job!
Same here.. Though the services aren't bad, but the decent API made me feel like there's really some love put in.
The main thing that put me off is the two acronyms that I barely hear anymore.. haven't seen lol in a long time and omg has certainly decreased for me, I'd feel awkward using it. Maybe if they had an additional re-branded version that was less 'hip', I'd be up for it :D
Same here.. Though the services aren't bad, but the decent API made me feel like there's really some love put in.
The main thing that put me off is the two acronyms that I barely hear anymore.. haven't seen lol in a long time and omg has certainly decreased for me, I'd feel awkward using it. Maybe if they had an additional re-branded version that was less 'hip', I'd be up for it :D
You can use your custom domain :)
Yunohost is a framework to do that .
It curate open source packages and allow the user to pick and choose
> The idea of curating alternate services together and offering it as a product feels novel - does anyone else do this?
There is also https://librem.one services.
There is also https://librem.one services.
> The idea of curating alternate services together and offering it as a product feels novel - does anyone else do this?
I think Mozilla is trying to do this, although not super successfully.
I think Mozilla is trying to do this, although not super successfully.
> Edit 2: The price is even the same! $19.95 vs $20
$19.95 per month vs $20 per year.
$19.95 per month vs $20 per year.
You are correct
> does anyone else do this?
maybe Zoho for business apps?
maybe Zoho for business apps?
Setapp for Mac and ios apps seems to be doing quite well, providing a plethora of great indie software for a reasonable price.
aol.omg.lol is still available.
Ha. I used to own paste.lol. So funny to see it used for something fun after I stopped paying for it.
Thats awesome- made me chuckle. Man I needed a little "old web" today.
Slow loading times, 8 bit images, animated gifs, crazy colorful pages, pages optimized for a screen resolution, for a special browser,...
no thank you, i stay on the new web ;-)
Slow loading times, 8 GB images, animated gifs, crazy dull pages, pages optimized for mobile, for a special browser,... no thank you, i stay on the old web ;-)
This looks like fun, reminds me of SDF but with an ability to provide more services due to the annual fee.
edit: now that I revisit it, SDF does appear to provide more services, though probably with less commitment to reliability than omg.lol
edit: now that I revisit it, SDF does appear to provide more services, though probably with less commitment to reliability than omg.lol
SDF was an inspiration when I first found it. I think that it’s hard to capture what was so magical about it in a land of beige Windows boxes.
But what’s really amazing about it is that people still host things on there. And on top of that there are active message boards where people actually talk. It’s a weird little corner of the universe.
In a way I wish they had modernized a bit. But also I think if it turned into another PaaS system it would lose its charm. It is better off with the “weird” constraints that it has because it keeps it interesting.
But what’s really amazing about it is that people still host things on there. And on top of that there are active message boards where people actually talk. It’s a weird little corner of the universe.
In a way I wish they had modernized a bit. But also I think if it turned into another PaaS system it would lose its charm. It is better off with the “weird” constraints that it has because it keeps it interesting.
Thank you for reminding me that SDF still exists. I just logged into my account there for the first time since 2005, and it still works.
Wow, and I was embarrassed to log in again after ~3Y. Awesome that it still works. I have been meaning to check in again, so this thread is a great reminder.
I still use SDF all the time, and it is amazing. Great for when you need to test "does this work not from my network."
could someone explain what is SDF? i genuinely tried to search but where i live it means "homeless" I also know about "signed distance functions" and while they are so cool indeed i doubt you're talking about it ?
Edit: oh ok i think i found it: SDF.ORG ?
Edit: oh ok i think i found it: SDF.ORG ?
Yes, it's http://sdf.org
What is SDF? I found it (sdf.org) but still unsure of what is the practical use. It reminds me of hashbang.sh, of which I also have an account but never found a use for it.
There really isn't any practical non-hobbyist use, just a community built around being a user in an old-school multiuser remote computer and basic web services.
SDF also has paid memberships. I've had one for a while.
Ahh sdf. I think I still log in occasionally even. Never did anything useful.
I set up an account and made a small donation for the 'verified' account thing.
I can use my sdf email address for email newsletters and such. I also log in (as another poster mentioned) and use the text mode browser for checking on Web sites from outside my local and national network.
Finally the system is a nice example of netbsd in action.
I have not joined in any of the forums &c yet. I might play with gopher and gemini for lutz
I can use my sdf email address for email newsletters and such. I also log in (as another poster mentioned) and use the text mode browser for checking on Web sites from outside my local and national network.
Finally the system is a nice example of netbsd in action.
I have not joined in any of the forums &c yet. I might play with gopher and gemini for lutz
How do these email addresses do against spam filters? In my experience trying to send an email from any domain on a non-standard TLD (regardless of properly configured SPF and DKIM) gets heavily penalized and almost always ends up going straight to the recipient's junk mail folder.
They don't. Because new TLDs are default on many blocklists, not necesarily blocked but you're one or two mistakes away (shouty title, short body) that you'll be thrown on the blocklist eventually.
If anyone wants a miserable domain to use as the anti omg.lol, I have fullofcr.app.
I don't love that 100% but the general theme has potential. I can imagine choosing to go with something that's not quite as twee as omg.lol, etc
When you get an email address from someone, you need assurance that they'll be around in 5+ years. Hotmail and Gmail aren't going anywhere.
When Gmail launched, people were writing this exact same comment about how Yahoo and Hotmail aren't going anywhere.
Anecdata: My Yahoo and Hotmail address are still up and running.
Google was a $23 billion at the time they launched Gmail.
Not sure why an email service from Yahoo or Microsoft - which were not the primary focus of either company's business - would be more likely to persist.
Not sure why an email service from Yahoo or Microsoft - which were not the primary focus of either company's business - would be more likely to persist.
My Hotmail account from the 90s is still receiving emails
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If this was positioned as "20usd/year mastodon account on our cool instance and - BTW - you get free webpage and email forwarding" would get much closer to the audience.
I sense the point of this funny domain is the community, and community is centered on mastodon instance which btw, is not cheap to run as soon as it grows beyond a few hundred people. (I'm including potential moderation costs)
I sense the point of this funny domain is the community, and community is centered on mastodon instance which btw, is not cheap to run as soon as it grows beyond a few hundred people. (I'm including potential moderation costs)
I think you are overestimating how many people care about Mastodon
I think you could be underestimating it. I’d guess there’s a simmering level of interest among a lot of people, especially those more conscious of moving away from big tech / corporate platforms. FWIW, this tipped me over the edge into setting up a Mastodon account — it was very painless. We’ll see whether I actually start using Mastodon, but it’s a start.
I think you're probably underestimating how many people are going to care about Mastodon.
I think we should average out what you are both estimating.
This. Reminds me of [1]. Although I never finished reading it.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds
They have grown from 300K monthly active users to 2.5M in December. Nothing compared to social networks at large, crazy numbers compared to the omg.lol user base.
If it was advertised as mastodon I would close the webpage. I have 0 interest in it and I don’t know anyone in my direct tech circle who is on it.
You really have no interest in the concept of a non-corporate / non–billionaire-controlled Twitter? Not trying to bait you, but genuinely curious on your stance.
I believe the issue for many people is not the "non-corporate / non-billionaire-control" part, and more the "twitter" part. It may sound weird to people who use twitter, but much of the world don't have the slightest interest in the concept.
It makes no difference if the person controlling it is a billionaire good guy or bad guy. The result is the same. If you go down the route of mastodon then all you’re doing is segregation.
In scenario A you pool people together into 1 big void and everyone gets angry and both sides consider each other wrong.
In scenario B you segregate people into groups of opinions where the moment your opinion differs you’re kicked from that group.
Either way we are long past the time when you could have an educated conversation and debate.
I have no desire to join a void with single opinions and nothing to discuss.
In scenario A you pool people together into 1 big void and everyone gets angry and both sides consider each other wrong.
In scenario B you segregate people into groups of opinions where the moment your opinion differs you’re kicked from that group.
Either way we are long past the time when you could have an educated conversation and debate.
I have no desire to join a void with single opinions and nothing to discuss.
The whole point of federated activitypub servers is the opposite of segregation - everyone gets to use whatever server they want and they can still interact with anyone else. Servers blacklisting each other (or defederating) is possible of course, but nothing's stopping you from just joining another server, and twitter at this point is just a large defederated mastodon instance anyway.
Server black listing can be copied so servers can get blocked before they are even listed. If an admin doesn’t like you and you get banned then you have to rebuild your social circle. You could host your own but really who wants to do that?
You're misunderstanding the concept of Mastodon.
Not parent commenter but; I personally don't have any interest in what you described. Especially when it's something like mastodon, which is inferior in almost every aspect.
- All clients are straight up bad but this is mostly personal opinion. - I don't want to maintain and pay for a personal instance - On public instances there is always the risk of the admins deciding not to run it anymore without notice. In that case you lose all your followers. - Due to how it's designed; some things are very inconvenient. For example; when I click a link to someone's profile on the internet, I can't see if I follow them or not unless they are on my server. Then I have to copy their url, go to my instance, search and follow. Too much friction for a simple and one of the most important actions of the platform. - With these inconveniences (that are not easy to solve without centralization), it's imho impossible for it to go mainstream. It requires a certain level of tech-saviness. Even the concept of "choosing an instance" is confusing for most people. I don't want to just follow or be followed by techbros and edgy artists. I like having normal converstaions with regular people.
I would be interested in an alternative to Twitter but in its current state, Mastodon isn't that.
- All clients are straight up bad but this is mostly personal opinion. - I don't want to maintain and pay for a personal instance - On public instances there is always the risk of the admins deciding not to run it anymore without notice. In that case you lose all your followers. - Due to how it's designed; some things are very inconvenient. For example; when I click a link to someone's profile on the internet, I can't see if I follow them or not unless they are on my server. Then I have to copy their url, go to my instance, search and follow. Too much friction for a simple and one of the most important actions of the platform. - With these inconveniences (that are not easy to solve without centralization), it's imho impossible for it to go mainstream. It requires a certain level of tech-saviness. Even the concept of "choosing an instance" is confusing for most people. I don't want to just follow or be followed by techbros and edgy artists. I like having normal converstaions with regular people.
I would be interested in an alternative to Twitter but in its current state, Mastodon isn't that.
>when I click a link to someone's profile on the internet, I can't see if I follow them or not unless they are on my server. Then I have to copy their url, go to my instance, search and follow. Too much friction for a simple and one of the most important actions of the platform.
I get that is quite a UX/UI problem. However, given what is now known about FAANG and big tech corp, I would rather have my data unreliable and use bad UX/UI for online exchange then to use the mainstream big corp platforms. Personally I don't want to be a product.
I get that is quite a UX/UI problem. However, given what is now known about FAANG and big tech corp, I would rather have my data unreliable and use bad UX/UI for online exchange then to use the mainstream big corp platforms. Personally I don't want to be a product.
What recent information about FAANG (and presumably Twitter) pushed you over the edge? Genuine question in case it comes across sharp, for all those except Netflix I haven't respected their business practices or ethics for at least a decade.
The UI/UX problems of Mastodon really are due to the federation model, they aren't inevitable when moving away from a corporate walled garden. Bit of a dead horse on HN, but RSS really does most of what Mastodon does better, throw in WebMentions and you have all the social features too. To the original thread here, it's be very cool to see indieweb support on omg.lol since everyone gets a subdomain and webpage already!
The UI/UX problems of Mastodon really are due to the federation model, they aren't inevitable when moving away from a corporate walled garden. Bit of a dead horse on HN, but RSS really does most of what Mastodon does better, throw in WebMentions and you have all the social features too. To the original thread here, it's be very cool to see indieweb support on omg.lol since everyone gets a subdomain and webpage already!
Not disagreeing with you that there is an amount of friction at the moment. However, just to provide some counterpoints:
> All clients are straight up bad but this is mostly personal opinion.
There are a _lot_ of new clients in active development right now. I'm on the private alpha of Ivory by Tapbots (who built the popular Tweetbot client), and it's quite good.
> On public instances there is always the risk of the admins deciding not to run it anymore without notice. In that case you lose all your followers.
Agreed that this is an issue, but there are ways around it. I'm a member of a coop-run instance, social.coop.
> Due to how it's designed; some things are very inconvenient. For example; when I click a link to someone's profile on the internet, I can't see if I follow them or not unless they are on my server. Then I have to copy their url, go to my instance, search and follow.
Agreed, but most clients resolve this.
> it's imho impossible for it to go mainstream.
Strong disagree - I think it's already going mainstream, and lots of non-tech people are picking it up every day.
> Even the concept of "choosing an instance" is confusing for most people. I don't want to just follow or be followed by techbros and edgy artists. I like having normal converstaions with regular people.
Agreed, but this is resolved by just picking one of the big, popular instances. I was on universeodon.com first, and was immediately having "normal" conversations with "regular" people.
Again, your comment absolutely rightfully points out that there _is_ friction there. However, I don't think it's at all insurmountable, and I think it will continue to improve and gain traction.
> All clients are straight up bad but this is mostly personal opinion.
There are a _lot_ of new clients in active development right now. I'm on the private alpha of Ivory by Tapbots (who built the popular Tweetbot client), and it's quite good.
> On public instances there is always the risk of the admins deciding not to run it anymore without notice. In that case you lose all your followers.
Agreed that this is an issue, but there are ways around it. I'm a member of a coop-run instance, social.coop.
> Due to how it's designed; some things are very inconvenient. For example; when I click a link to someone's profile on the internet, I can't see if I follow them or not unless they are on my server. Then I have to copy their url, go to my instance, search and follow.
Agreed, but most clients resolve this.
> it's imho impossible for it to go mainstream.
Strong disagree - I think it's already going mainstream, and lots of non-tech people are picking it up every day.
> Even the concept of "choosing an instance" is confusing for most people. I don't want to just follow or be followed by techbros and edgy artists. I like having normal converstaions with regular people.
Agreed, but this is resolved by just picking one of the big, popular instances. I was on universeodon.com first, and was immediately having "normal" conversations with "regular" people.
Again, your comment absolutely rightfully points out that there _is_ friction there. However, I don't think it's at all insurmountable, and I think it will continue to improve and gain traction.
I generally agree, but Mastodon is getting a lot of dev attention right now due to the Twitter problems, and while FOSS tends to improve slower and more incrementally, it also tends to only improve (as opposed to user-hostile pivots and so forth). For this use case, I'd rather use a clunky service that'll be around for the rest of my life than a slick one that might get bought by Elon Jr or whoever.
This assumes "I" had interest in Twitter at some point.
Not the parent commenter, but mastodon is not appealing if you want a large audience.
I don't use mastodon but would love all the rest of it.
All of it is already available on the web, often on a variety of hosts, though
The service has been around for years, the real die-hards are actually on the IRC (which recently got a tie-in with a Discord server for those who want to chat on there without having the technical knowhow to use IRC).
I personally got it for the webpage, to use as an online business card, and have been loving all of the other stuff that surrounds it like the new Weblog feature
I personally got it for the webpage, to use as an online business card, and have been loving all of the other stuff that surrounds it like the new Weblog feature
I would have no interest if it was "mastodon-centered"
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Have been using this for 7/8 months and its honestly great. The community is really wholesome, the admin is very helpful and the product is far more than just a silly webpage. Glad to see it getting attention on HN!
Signed up last night. Where / how do I find this community..?
Either on the social.lol mastodon or the IRC https://home.omg.lol/info/irc
How do you maintain a site like that today? Won't it need an army of moderators?
Had a mate starting some sort of a pastebin / blog site and it wasn't long before people started posting questionable content and he had to be on top of it so that the hosting provider doesn't suspend his account. That took majority of his time and he basically couldn't get time for anything else and site wasn't bringing enough money from ads to hire staff. On top of that common theme was someone posting adult content and then reporting to Google so that they would block ads.
I guess having paid accounts keep people who are up to no good slightly at bay.
Had a mate starting some sort of a pastebin / blog site and it wasn't long before people started posting questionable content and he had to be on top of it so that the hosting provider doesn't suspend his account. That took majority of his time and he basically couldn't get time for anything else and site wasn't bringing enough money from ads to hire staff. On top of that common theme was someone posting adult content and then reporting to Google so that they would block ads.
I guess having paid accounts keep people who are up to no good slightly at bay.
Moderation must be ripe for AI.
Actually pretty neat, but it would be substantially nicer with a lifetime account option, even if it was expensive.
Having to renew is inconvenient, and makes it possible to lose your name.
Having to renew is inconvenient, and makes it possible to lose your name.
Looks like lifetime memberships (mentioned in sibling comments) are a special offering.
https://home.omg.lol/info/lifetime-addresses
https://home.omg.lol/info/lifetime-addresses
I love it. Well done, hope you make a mint
I'd have some concerns about the idea of a paid Mastodon or IRC account, in that it kind of produces a perverse incentive for moderation; if you have a misbehaving user who's paying you, well, what do you do?
Though, doing the SomethingAwful approach ($10 one-off membership fee, extremely strict moderation, if you get banned that's another $10) would be an interesting experiment!
Though, doing the SomethingAwful approach ($10 one-off membership fee, extremely strict moderation, if you get banned that's another $10) would be an interesting experiment!
Bought one for my kiddo.
He’s just a baby but still needs a unique email for me to create him accounts (eg frequent flyer, global entry) and I had previously been using a +variant on my gmail.
Having a vanity email alias seems more fun.
He’s just a baby but still needs a unique email for me to create him accounts (eg frequent flyer, global entry) and I had previously been using a +variant on my gmail.
Having a vanity email alias seems more fun.
A lot of services don't let you change your email address. Could cause some pain if this service doesn't exist in 20 years.
And even if they did, some need your old email address to approve a change of email address, essentially locking you out. DocuSign is one.
Interesting. Can you name an example of a service that doesn't permit an email change?
Methinks a service that hasn't had a codebase update in 20 years.
I saw the same need, but I've actually purchased domains for all of my children, so that when they get older, I can transfer ownership to them.
10-18 years is a long time window, so I felt that purchasing a domain was more appropriate than setting up an address at a service which may or may not still be available in decades.
Thank goodness for services like Purelymail[1] and Forward Email[2] that offer free or cheap forwarding from various domains!
[1]: https://purelymail.com/
[2]: https://forwardemail.net/
10-18 years is a long time window, so I felt that purchasing a domain was more appropriate than setting up an address at a service which may or may not still be available in decades.
Thank goodness for services like Purelymail[1] and Forward Email[2] that offer free or cheap forwarding from various domains!
[1]: https://purelymail.com/
[2]: https://forwardemail.net/
their status page is https://broke.lol/ . This is great.
How reliable is the `lol` TLD? What if the DNS records go down, or any of the application services provided by omg.lol go down?
Owned by Uniregistry who is in turn owned by GoDaddy. Like all gTLD registrars, they have to meet all of the ICANN accreditation requirements.
Author: Edge displays:
https://home.omg.lol/ is displaying unsafe content from https://social.lol/@adam/109186339855398190/embed
https://home.omg.lol/ is displaying unsafe content from https://social.lol/@adam/109186339855398190/embed
Edge is flagging the social.lol mastodon instance, the owner already submitted a reclassification to Microsoft
It's in fact a really nice service. I think addressing the portability issue with a bring-your own DNS might appease some people (and still bill $20, or even more). BUT, if I had a Product Owner hat on, this is not something I would prioritize as a one-man show.
Surprised nobody brought up an alternative to set this up yourself.
I guess it may not exist or it's called managed hosting and the feature set and complexity is too overwhelming?
I guess it may not exist or it's called managed hosting and the feature set and complexity is too overwhelming?
I'm sorry to ask this, I am on a 5 minute break at work where was this that you got what sounds like an amazing deal? I would love to tinker around a bit.
Honestly, for a good personal homepage, a full suite of managed open source / self-hosted apps, and a decentralized social network I’d pay $20 per MONTH.
That’s pretty cool, glad to see good old internet services being sold in a neat package without hiding them down behind proprietary APIs and things like that.
Does omg.lol support any indieweb features like webmentions?
Would be a great fit since every user already gets a (sub)domain and homepage!
Would be a great fit since every user already gets a (sub)domain and homepage!
IME custom TLD emails get marked as spam a lot, especially when received by anyone with a data protection policy.
These comments seem very GPT to me
The fact that "they/them" is the default user frustrates and saddens me.
The "code of conduct" is also quite offputting.
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LOL. I like it. I paid for it. Well worth $20 / year for the fun of it.
gives me the tripod/myspace feels (in a good way) :)
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Damn, like.omg.lol was already taken.
Just subscribed. Looks useful!
Wait, this is really cool.
The negativity here is bizarre. This looks just about exactly like the first steps we need to create good spaces for social networking and publishing online. The guy is already taking feedback about subdomains and looking at selling domains, which obviously would give people a little more control and assurance they can own their stuff.
The readership of this site is for some reason primed to immediately surface negative feedback for almost anything creative that gets posted. It happens for basically every “Show HN.”
Which is why we have special rules for "Show HN" threads (this thread isn't one of those) that forbid that behavior.
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The real price isn't $20, it's the cost of everything you lose when the service shuts down
You mean, like every other service anybody stands up ever? The ones that charge money are the ones that stand any chance of surviving.
https://archive.is/7LxAh
https://archive.is/7LxAh
The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing. Going with Gmail or a custom domain is a really safe bet. There is no way I’d use an email service that’s less than 10 years old now.
My gmail account from when I was a kid is still active and working while most of the vanity/foss/privacy focused ones I signed up for have since died.
My gmail account from when I was a kid is still active and working while most of the vanity/foss/privacy focused ones I signed up for have since died.
> The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing.
aka the (postulated) Lindy Effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
aka the (postulated) Lindy Effect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
Just a different way of looking at survivorship bias (“all of these old buildings were built really well!”).
With the way Google and other providers have shutdown accounts with impunity, it’s hard to think of anything but a custom domain being a safe option.
You can move a custom domain easily enough. I am about to do that to move away for the GSuite’s fees. Worst case, I’ll invest into running a service on my own. Best case, I’ll just use Proton or FastMail, etc.
I guess registrars can go down too but it seems less likely.
I guess registrars can go down too but it seems less likely.
Gmail isn't old enough. Go back another generation, AOL, Yahoo mail, etc. Best bet is probably some university email address. Now those are long-lived, if they let you keep it.
> The longer something has existed, the longer it is likely to continue existing
horses for carriage seem to defy that kind of assumption
Gotta love these kind of sayings that have virtually no connection with reality.
horses for carriage seem to defy that kind of assumption
Gotta love these kind of sayings that have virtually no connection with reality.
It’s a probability thing. Obviously everything old was once new. And everything dead was once old. But take any thing that exists right now and the most likely outcome is based on this rule.
If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? You can do this comparison for any two things where there is no inherent end date.
If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years? You can do this comparison for any two things where there is no inherent end date.
> If we take the C programming language, and one created last year, which one would you expect to still be used in 10 years?
That's a different thing altogether. Because it does not take in account market adoption. If C was a language on life-support with no major project using it, it could be as old as hell but I would not bet on it to be around and useful 10 years from now.
Also, that saying is stupid because it makes it look like you can predict the future of technologies by using a single factor, while reality a rich, multi-dimensional set of problems.
That's a different thing altogether. Because it does not take in account market adoption. If C was a language on life-support with no major project using it, it could be as old as hell but I would not bet on it to be around and useful 10 years from now.
Also, that saying is stupid because it makes it look like you can predict the future of technologies by using a single factor, while reality a rich, multi-dimensional set of problems.
On the contrary, it is solidly rooted in math. On average, and without other context, a random sample will be close to the middle.
Given a random sample of any thing at an arbitrary point in time, on average it will be in the middle of its lifetime. Something that is X years old will on average, continue for X more years. Of course, additional information lets you refine that estimate considerably, but it is mathematically sound and surprisingly applicable to everyday life (e.g. using a single serial number on a product to estimate total production).
Given a random sample of any thing at an arbitrary point in time, on average it will be in the middle of its lifetime. Something that is X years old will on average, continue for X more years. Of course, additional information lets you refine that estimate considerably, but it is mathematically sound and surprisingly applicable to everyday life (e.g. using a single serial number on a product to estimate total production).
> On average, and without other context, a random sample will be close to the middle.
The thing is, we typically have a lot of context for every technology we discuss, so bringing back this saying that reduces everything to one-dimension is just silly.
The thing is, we typically have a lot of context for every technology we discuss, so bringing back this saying that reduces everything to one-dimension is just silly.
You typically don't, you just think you do much like how stock pickers think they know but end up failing to beat the market average. There's too many unknowns and variables to even come close to an educated guess.
If you are truly an expert, you have a fighting chance. As a human, that means you are limited to a tiny number of specific subject matters.
If you are truly an expert, you have a fighting chance. As a human, that means you are limited to a tiny number of specific subject matters.
Kind of a bad analogy because if Gmail is the horse, it can also become the carriage.
There is a sad irony behind that link…If I had to pay for bookmark management, it’d be Pinboard. What are the advantages?
I agree. I trust this one more than if Google would launch a free, customizable "start page" service like it. They're killing their free services like no tomorrow.
I'm generally in favor of owning your data and domains so yes. There is so much good open source stuff now.
It's unlikely that Gmail will shut down though so there are a lot of reliable exceptions
It's unlikely that Gmail will shut down though so there are a lot of reliable exceptions
Sir, this is not a Google-branded service, nothing to worry about.
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<rant>
Idk why but why are people getting mad at stuff that literally affects every other type of services online (like the chance of it shutting down)?
20$/year also doesnt sound all that expensive, thats 1.6$ per month! I rarely ever pay for things online, but I know damn well that anyone who pays for this service and then not use it would probably forget that they are paying because its so cheap!
Sigh Hacker News moment I guess. Criticising harshly for something thats suppose to be fun.
Idk why but why are people getting mad at stuff that literally affects every other type of services online (like the chance of it shutting down)?
20$/year also doesnt sound all that expensive, thats 1.6$ per month! I rarely ever pay for things online, but I know damn well that anyone who pays for this service and then not use it would probably forget that they are paying because its so cheap!
Sigh Hacker News moment I guess. Criticising harshly for something thats suppose to be fun.
The difference here is you are sharing email addresses, domains, feeds, networks, etc. none of which you will ever own if the service shuts down.
Other services can shut down but this type of entrenchment isn't there when my cloud notes shuts down, or when my hosted collaborative kanban shuts down. They can give me my data and I can go elsewhere. I don't have to get the world to update contacts and bookmarks and other stuff like that.
Other services can shut down but this type of entrenchment isn't there when my cloud notes shuts down, or when my hosted collaborative kanban shuts down. They can give me my data and I can go elsewhere. I don't have to get the world to update contacts and bookmarks and other stuff like that.
You can bring your own domain.
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I would kill to know how many people converted despite these comments.
I suspect much like reddit the ratio of link lurkers to commenters on HN is about 19:1 like reddit.
I think that’s way too high (for commenter count).
Lurkers are 90%, 10% have accounts, and 10% of those with accounts comment. This was the breakdown of some major subreddits maybe 6 years ago.
Lurkers are 90%, 10% have accounts, and 10% of those with accounts comment. This was the breakdown of some major subreddits maybe 6 years ago.
I did. It's fun and offers cute little things that I wouldn't pay for individually (a hassle) but use often enough to appreciate.
I created an account and I consider shutting my own low traffic, personal homepage and blog. I think I belong to a sort of target demographic there. I also chose this to finally get a "start page" on the web with links to my social network profiles to find me. There are many others like it but they usually don't offer the same value and bonus feature sets at all.
That it's $20/year is very little but also significantly raising the likelihood it'll stay around for years. The author is also intelligently creating relatively low maintenance but high value services so this actually looks workable in the long term.
That it's $20/year is very little but also significantly raising the likelihood it'll stay around for years. The author is also intelligently creating relatively low maintenance but high value services so this actually looks workable in the long term.
As per the founder's own post in Mastodon, 600+ sign-ups on account of the link in HN. (https://social.lol/@adam/109642813277235626)
Add me to the list. I just think it's neat.
I didn't, omg lol is really not my style. Besides that, I already have a fun domain name that I use as an email alias. I pay $10 a yearly and it gets a laugh every time I give it to someone.
Other than hosting a basic web page, the other features are not useful to me.
Other than hosting a basic web page, the other features are not useful to me.
I did. I am completely not a omg lol guy, but I can become one!
I did!
i 100% did. it's super hard to find a good domain with my name, so i got it when i found it was available.
I did!
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This is a great idea and I absolutely love it.
The only thing I don't like is the branding. It seems to have some political undertones to it.
I think combining this with a product like crypt pad is a great start towards creating a more independent Google workspace competitor.
(and I'm flagged lol, way to prove my point)
The only thing I don't like is the branding. It seems to have some political undertones to it.
I think combining this with a product like crypt pad is a great start towards creating a more independent Google workspace competitor.
(and I'm flagged lol, way to prove my point)
Where do you pick up political undertones? I'm genuinely curious. I read the whole landing page and it is all lighthearted and friendly, and I pick up on nothing that makes me think otherwise.
The example profile includes pronouns.
What is political about an additional axis along which some people choose to make known how they'd like to be referred to? I'm genuinely asking. I don't believe things become political when they happen to be split down party lines in <current country> -- if that were the case then climate change is political now, but climate change is as debatable as, say, the existence of subatomic particles. IMO something is political when it actually relates to what politicians do, i.e., it's something you can vote for. You can't vote for... a ban on using pronouns that don't match birth sex? A ban on sharing pronouns at all?
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I'm so tired of the constant battle to make very simple, innocent ideas political.
Sooo f*ing tired.
Sooo f*ing tired.
like it or not but things like pronouns, rainbow themes, gender neutral avatars, even masks are used as political symbols to signify allegiance. It's opt-in (like wearing an arm band) and allows people who partake to identify political allies and adversaries.
Even pointing this out objectively will get somebody steamrolled.
Even pointing this out objectively will get somebody steamrolled.
Interesting, thanks for clarifying! Looks like I live in an environment where this is not a thing. Or I'm not aware of it. I'm also not in the USfor what it's worth.
You don't notice it because as soon as somebody steps out of line they are erased. my root comment has been flagged and nobody else will even see it.
For what it's worth, I can see it and it's been over 11 hours.
I find it really interesting what people consider political/apolitical these days, even things that weren't before. If somebody says they like to drink orange juice, that's currently an apolitical statement. If somebody else comes out and says that drinking orange juice is a bad thing to do, and gives a political reason for it, the first person suddenly "becomes political" by virtue of enjoying orange juice and talking about it, even though that wasn't political before. Why should the opinions of dissenters have the power to turn someone's otherwise apolitical statement political?
(Now compare that allegory to somebody who said "Since this is the internet and you cannot see me, please know that I'm a he/him" on a BBS in 1985. That was an apolitical statement. But now, saying it on your social media in 2022 it's political? How come?)
I find it really interesting what people consider political/apolitical these days, even things that weren't before. If somebody says they like to drink orange juice, that's currently an apolitical statement. If somebody else comes out and says that drinking orange juice is a bad thing to do, and gives a political reason for it, the first person suddenly "becomes political" by virtue of enjoying orange juice and talking about it, even though that wasn't political before. Why should the opinions of dissenters have the power to turn someone's otherwise apolitical statement political?
(Now compare that allegory to somebody who said "Since this is the internet and you cannot see me, please know that I'm a he/him" on a BBS in 1985. That was an apolitical statement. But now, saying it on your social media in 2022 it's political? How come?)
it was unflagged sometime last night.
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patates(2)
> I'm so tired of the constant battle to make very simple, innocent ideas political.
You may be tired, and I may get downvoted, but this is oversimplifying the problem so much that the message itself seems political. First, identifying pronouns is not really opt-in. There is significant peer pressure, and once you're the lone holdout, it's very hard to keep yourself pronoun-less without becoming a social outcast and targeted as a bigot.
I am 100% behind equal rights for trans people, and will call anyone by their preferred pronoun (he or she, on the fence on they, and would probably not go into the neo-pronouns). That said, my wish is that the default mode to address someone is based on observed external sex characteristics, and where people whose external sex characteristics match their traditional pronouns do not communicate their pronouns. My reasons are that at a young age, kids are extremely easy to influence, and I have a strong feeling that many kids identify as another sex to mask other underlying issues. For similar contrarian perspective see the book Irreversible Damage and also Blair White's youtube channel.
You may be tired, and I may get downvoted, but this is oversimplifying the problem so much that the message itself seems political. First, identifying pronouns is not really opt-in. There is significant peer pressure, and once you're the lone holdout, it's very hard to keep yourself pronoun-less without becoming a social outcast and targeted as a bigot.
I am 100% behind equal rights for trans people, and will call anyone by their preferred pronoun (he or she, on the fence on they, and would probably not go into the neo-pronouns). That said, my wish is that the default mode to address someone is based on observed external sex characteristics, and where people whose external sex characteristics match their traditional pronouns do not communicate their pronouns. My reasons are that at a young age, kids are extremely easy to influence, and I have a strong feeling that many kids identify as another sex to mask other underlying issues. For similar contrarian perspective see the book Irreversible Damage and also Blair White's youtube channel.
Probably also has birthday and an option for an avatar and various other personal attributes; what of it?
(I mean, yes, in the last few years this has been politicised, primarily in the US, by a right wing desperate for a new wedge issue, but you'd have to be fairly gullible to fall for that...)
(I mean, yes, in the last few years this has been politicised, primarily in the US, by a right wing desperate for a new wedge issue, but you'd have to be fairly gullible to fall for that...)
It's more than that, it's the entire theme. It screams "you're not welcome here."
It's the left wing equivalent of putting up a bunch of burning crosses and pretending they don't mean anything.
I know exactly how fairly I would be treated in that community and it looks like this: (the flagged and dead comment below this)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34271510
It's the left wing equivalent of putting up a bunch of burning crosses and pretending they don't mean anything.
I know exactly how fairly I would be treated in that community and it looks like this: (the flagged and dead comment below this)
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34271510
I'm genuinely curious and wanting to understand what makes you feel that way.
Are you colorblind and the colors of the text are hard to read? They weren't very readable on light mode but I wouldn't call that political
Is it the mastodon instance? The overall peppy feel of the page?
Are you colorblind and the colors of the text are hard to read? They weren't very readable on light mode but I wouldn't call that political
Is it the mastodon instance? The overall peppy feel of the page?
If you're not colorblind, you may notice the rainbow progression of navlinks under the title. Then there's the choice to include pronouns as a special data item in the markdown, and the specific choice of "they/them" in the example, even though that's probably much rarer than the two more traditionally-expected choices. Then, of course, there's the affiliation with a Mastodon instance; we're all aware of the developer's politically-motivated choices and limits on federation with the main Mastodon instances.
Is "burning crosses" over-the-top? Yes, obviously. Does it say, "You're not the kind of social we have in mind," to a sizable portion of potential users? Yes again.
Is "burning crosses" over-the-top? Yes, obviously. Does it say, "You're not the kind of social we have in mind," to a sizable portion of potential users? Yes again.
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You're so hard done by.
It's nice, playful, and youthful branding.
It's nice, playful, and youthful branding.
how's the water?
https://youtu.be/eC7xzavzEKY
https://youtu.be/eC7xzavzEKY
Odd that you reply to me with a bitterly ironic link, yet not to the other commenter. Have a nice day, you need it.
The other comment was not posted in good faith.
it's bait
by the way, I posted that link sincerely.
it's bait
by the way, I posted that link sincerely.
It screams "everyone is welcome here."
"...as long as you agree with us about everything"
As long as you agree not to shit on other people's identities, which should be a given.
> agree not to shit on other people's identities
I believe you mean, "agree with me on gender and sexuality". When you take away the tendentious wording, it's a lot less clear that it "should be a given."
I believe you mean, "agree with me on gender and sexuality". When you take away the tendentious wording, it's a lot less clear that it "should be a given."
"Peoples identities" is a relatively new concept, and certainly still a political topic. Do you really not see the political undertones?
What if it's a false identity?
This says more about you than the branding.
It's hard to notice anything these days without getting in trouble.
How are you in trouble?
"says something about you" is a warning shot for a potential shaming campaign. The expected reaction is for the warned party to backpedal to avoid having their defects loudly discussed. You can see it play out in other responses, wherein terms like "decent people" and "old, dead narrative" are deployed. In other words, trouble in the same sense that those subjected to "microaggressions" have trouble.
What you are doing is interpreting everything as you like, not as it is meant. You paint yourself as the victim when this all started with your baseless accusations. If you don't like people reacting to your accusations, you should not use a public forum.
Classic response. Gaslight on the connotations, random accusation of assuming victim status (a sacred cow to the progressive), and the much loved "maybe you shouldn't express your opinions if you don't like our behavior"
As it happens, though, I don't see myself as a victim. I don't mind in the least people reacting to my opinions. But I also feel perfectly comfortable pointing out the nature of the reaction, which is generally not to engage with content but to turn it into a question of character. Which you have done.
As it happens, though, I don't see myself as a victim. I don't mind in the least people reacting to my opinions. But I also feel perfectly comfortable pointing out the nature of the reaction, which is generally not to engage with content but to turn it into a question of character. Which you have done.
This whole struggle session thread is a perfect example of how progressive values are enforced and advanced.
Acknowledging the existence of obvious branding or political affiliation means subjecting yourself to an inquisition where 30 people take turns trying to pigeonhole you as a bigot.
again the message is clear "you're not welcome"
Acknowledging the existence of obvious branding or political affiliation means subjecting yourself to an inquisition where 30 people take turns trying to pigeonhole you as a bigot.
again the message is clear "you're not welcome"
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camdenlock(1)
It took me 10s to load the homepage. How long would it take to forward an email?
Don't mind the wasm plan9coin miner, you're web3 aren't you?
loaded up instantly for me
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[deleted](1)
$20 for a subdomain? absolutely no. some have mentioned the mastodon instance of omg.lol but who cares about that? it's a desert with only 500 people.
I own a shorter domain that this one. Only if I knew how to make a multi-tenant sub-domain registering application.
Did you know that Mastodon has federation?
okay so whats the point of joining omg.lol's mastodon instance if i can already access contents from another server? whats the special?
Almost all instances are run by volunteers, in this case you'd be using an instance you pay for, which should mean it will be more reliable and won't suddenly disappear.
But if it does then you can just migrate almost everything over (was something left behind that I cannot remember, but everything important is moved over).
But if it does then you can just migrate almost everything over (was something left behind that I cannot remember, but everything important is moved over).
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There are a lot of negative folks in the comments here but I think this is kind of neat. I helped a buddy set up a little art boutique site using a .lol domain and the overall feedback was that people liked the whimsy. Combine that with the fact that that TLD was heavily discounted on porkbun at the time and it all made reasonable business sense!
I hope this works out for you and your users.
I hope this works out for you and your users.
[deleted](1)
why would you buy a subdomain for $20/y instead of a regular domain?
It's not just a subdomain. It's the landing page, an email address with forwarding, creation of a Mastodon account on their instance... there's a lot there.
$20/year is actually a bargain as it would likely cost you more than that each month to run all of that yourself
$20/year is actually a bargain as it would likely cost you more than that each month to run all of that yourself
That's great until they get bored of running the service and you've now lost all of the aforementioned which are dependent on their domain.
Seems like a bit of fun. I've definitely thought even less about something before parting with $20 on it /shrug
It is not the $20 that is a the main problem. Backlinks to your profile and contacts with that email address for example.
I mean you could say the same about any business. I fail to see how this is unique in that regard.
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Many DNS registrars offer very similar sets of value-add services for free for real TLDs people buy through them. Web "parking pages" and vanity email forwarding are table stakes.
What wouldn't be table stakes, would be if each of these was its own Mastodon instance, or something else like that that actually had an OpEx cost.
What wouldn't be table stakes, would be if each of these was its own Mastodon instance, or something else like that that actually had an OpEx cost.
Trouble is, many registrars do with with way worse UX. I own domains from two registrars and loathe to use their interfaces.
A DNS server, landing page and email can be had for free. For the rest there are free alternatives like twitter, pastebin, etc.
I get it, but $20 still seems rather high for that. Anyway, it's a cool website.
Interesting... I share that feeling, yet, if they actually positioned this as:
"Pay 20usd/y for your social account in our mastodon instance and get free subdomain, webpage and email forwarding"
I would find this totally acceptable, considering the potential costs of actually running a mastodon instance.
"Pay 20usd/y for your social account in our mastodon instance and get free subdomain, webpage and email forwarding"
I would find this totally acceptable, considering the potential costs of actually running a mastodon instance.
There are plenty of free-to-use Mastodon instances. They claim theirs is nicer, but it's hard to tell upfront, so it makes sense to me that they'd focus on the whole personal homepage aspect.
If I liked the omg.lol domain name a ton, I'd pay for this.
If I liked the omg.lol domain name a ton, I'd pay for this.
I can see a lot of potential here as an alternative for people like me who don't have or want social media accounts. Sometimes I do want to share a profile with people without linking to my business website. But managing a separate domain / server / registration / email / etc. for that purpose hasn't seemed worth it. $20 a year is pretty reasonable.
I think the one thing that would stop me from taking up on a service like this would be the "omg.lol" - it's just a little too off-brand for a guy who wears all black and hates texting. But I can see how a lot of people might be into it.
I think the one thing that would stop me from taking up on a service like this would be the "omg.lol" - it's just a little too off-brand for a guy who wears all black and hates texting. But I can see how a lot of people might be into it.
Honestly the dichotomy of that personality type with an "@omg.lol" email is pretty great to me, personally.
Hah! Good point. I might have to give it a shot just for the irony factor. Kinda like a happy face Tshirt. I saw an original one from the 80s (70s ?) in a vintage store for like $500, almost bought it... so in a way, as something you only wear a couple times a year this would be a real bargain ;)
I do like the idea of not just a landing page and email, but a little identity package that's not part of a social network.
I do like the idea of not just a landing page and email, but a little identity package that's not part of a social network.
> it's just a little too off-brand for a guy who wears all black and hates texting.
I'm in the boat with style but I threw 20$ at it because I know I'll get a few interesting looks. Might even add it to my "recruiter" resume.
I'm in the boat with style but I threw 20$ at it because I know I'll get a few interesting looks. Might even add it to my "recruiter" resume.
The hostname is pretty fun sounding, seems to offer a basic profile page and email forwarding. Assuming the setup is noob friendly I wouldn’t call it a very unfair price. Yes you can do it for cheaper in gandi but seems more daunting a task.
The eTLD stuff they mention are interesting, still trying to understand what it actually means though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Suffix_List
The eTLD stuff they mention are interesting, still trying to understand what it actually means though. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Suffix_List
I bought <my-name>.is.gay, because lol (nothing derogatory, I just used it as a link shortener). About 6 months later it stopped working because apparently reselling subdomains isn't allowed for .gay :(
Why would pay you $20/y for a regular domain that doesn't do anything until you spend more money (and time and money) to make it do something?
The main reason is you have more protection and guaranteed continual ownership of the thing (depending on the TLD you choose, of course). Whereas if this service shut down in 12 months time ... well it wouldn't be buckling any trends by doing so.
And if they shut down and let the omg.lol lapse or sell it, someone could then redirect all the subdomains to who knows what.
Another reason might be domain trust? If spammers use omg.lol subdomains the entire thing might be blacklisted for email.
Domains are easier to resell. I don't think there will be a secondary market for omg.lol and if you sell you business based on an omg.lol it will be a red flag vs. a top level domain.
On the other hand if you intent is a personal CV / bio type page, with email (you need fastmail too) and so on, the $20 is a great deal.
But I would rather just use a xyz.netlify.com for such a project, then couple that with a free email service.
And if they shut down and let the omg.lol lapse or sell it, someone could then redirect all the subdomains to who knows what.
Another reason might be domain trust? If spammers use omg.lol subdomains the entire thing might be blacklisted for email.
Domains are easier to resell. I don't think there will be a secondary market for omg.lol and if you sell you business based on an omg.lol it will be a red flag vs. a top level domain.
On the other hand if you intent is a personal CV / bio type page, with email (you need fastmail too) and so on, the $20 is a great deal.
But I would rather just use a xyz.netlify.com for such a project, then couple that with a free email service.
> Another reason might be domain trust? If spammers use omg.lol subdomains the entire thing might be blacklisted for email.
I think that them being on the https://wiki.mozilla.org/Public_Suffix_List makes that unlikely. (a Public Suffix is a thing like .co.uk — would it make sense to blacklist .co.uk? Not unless you're the type of postmaster who is willing to blacklist entire TLDs like .biz as well.)
I think that them being on the https://wiki.mozilla.org/Public_Suffix_List makes that unlikely. (a Public Suffix is a thing like .co.uk — would it make sense to blacklist .co.uk? Not unless you're the type of postmaster who is willing to blacklist entire TLDs like .biz as well.)
Ok I didn't know about this list. Feel like I should have known! I always though it was up to countries and top-level operators. I imagined something like .uk publishing somehow that .co.uk is a top level domain, for example.
I think the requirements to run a top level domain, like .lol itself are pretty onerous? But I wonder if it is easier to get your subdomain added to the public suffix list, and I wonder what legal guarantees are afforded to someone who registers such a domain.
I think the requirements to run a top level domain, like .lol itself are pretty onerous? But I wonder if it is easier to get your subdomain added to the public suffix list, and I wonder what legal guarantees are afforded to someone who registers such a domain.
There's no legal protections. Anyone can apply to be on the PSL.
Because of the ToS [0], in particular articles 3.1 and 3.2.
[0] https://home.omg.lol/info/legal
[0] https://home.omg.lol/info/legal
What about this concerns you?
- 3.1: The fact that a content license is necessary at all, and that it's still worded too broadly for my taste.
- 3.2: "We may change, suspend, or discontinue any of our Services." [...] "We make no representation, warranty or condition regarding the availability or operability of the Services at any time." This means you effectively have no ownership of the subdomain and no control over the availability of the services. Your website, email address, Mastodon instance, etc., may become permanently nonfunctional at any moment, without any recourse.
- 3.2: "We may change, suspend, or discontinue any of our Services." [...] "We make no representation, warranty or condition regarding the availability or operability of the Services at any time." This means you effectively have no ownership of the subdomain and no control over the availability of the services. Your website, email address, Mastodon instance, etc., may become permanently nonfunctional at any moment, without any recourse.
Every service can change, suspend, or discontinue.
If you own your own domain you can take it to another registrar/service provider if and when that happens.
How is this different from putting a blog on Blogger, or Substack?
It isn't. So why pay $20/year for it?
For the same reason people have been paying for services like this for over 2 decades? This is such a strange thread. If you don't want an omg.lol site, don't buy one! I'm not!
This might be a super interesting case study, because if I had to bet, it's that 80%+ of the hate on this thread comes from the DNS feature omg.lol added --- a feature not common among other content hosting services, and that probably doesn't need to be there at all for omg.lol's market. They made a feature for nerds, not realizing that you have to be super careful about nerds or they'll bite your head off for trying to appeal to them the wrong way. Third-level domains! The gall!
This might be a super interesting case study, because if I had to bet, it's that 80%+ of the hate on this thread comes from the DNS feature omg.lol added --- a feature not common among other content hosting services, and that probably doesn't need to be there at all for omg.lol's market. They made a feature for nerds, not realizing that you have to be super careful about nerds or they'll bite your head off for trying to appeal to them the wrong way. Third-level domains! The gall!
or simply post it to HN and nerds will bite your head off 90% of the time just cuz :p
because you can't get omg.lol, it is obv taken.
Not saying it is great reason, but that is the reason since you asked.
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Am I dreaming? There seems to be something weird about this post and its comments.
The service itself is interesting. The branding…is not to my taste.
I think that some people may be able to get behind the service by virtue of its usefulness alone, and either are unbothered by the branding or are even attracted to it.
And then there are some people who are totally put off by the branding for various reasons, be it because they perceive certain political/ideological undertones behind it or just think that it’s immature and are even aghast that other HN users (who are predominantly middle-aged men, presumably) find it appealing.
To criticize the branding, puts one’s self in a position where one can either make a statement that can either be perceived as “politically incorrect” or insensitive, or reconciliatory (“I understand why people like it, but it’s not for me, I should’ve kept my opinions to myself and let people have their fun.”)
I think that some people may be able to get behind the service by virtue of its usefulness alone, and either are unbothered by the branding or are even attracted to it.
And then there are some people who are totally put off by the branding for various reasons, be it because they perceive certain political/ideological undertones behind it or just think that it’s immature and are even aghast that other HN users (who are predominantly middle-aged men, presumably) find it appealing.
To criticize the branding, puts one’s self in a position where one can either make a statement that can either be perceived as “politically incorrect” or insensitive, or reconciliatory (“I understand why people like it, but it’s not for me, I should’ve kept my opinions to myself and let people have their fun.”)
It defo screams astro-turfing. This post is filled with sock puppets who think this weird service is worth $20 and are completely ignoring all the downsides.
It's 20$ per year, I would assume you make more in half an hour, at least an hour.
For me it could be worth it just to explore what's available, how it works.
If you live in poverty then it might be too steep. I'd recommend checking out eu.org for free domains.
For me it could be worth it just to explore what's available, how it works.
If you live in poverty then it might be too steep. I'd recommend checking out eu.org for free domains.
Are you implying AI-generated astroturfing? We’re rapidly approaching the scenario depicted in XKCD 810 [1].
Edit: OK, on actually reading the comments I agree. Something weird. Hmm.
[1] https://xkcd.com/810/
Edit: OK, on actually reading the comments I agree. Something weird. Hmm.
[1] https://xkcd.com/810/
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"Buy it for $20" omg lol no
They definitely should have a free version, limited of course. A sneaky one would be free for the first year, pay $20 thereafter to secure it.
That sounds like a nightmare with how many spammers you'd get. For $20 fee, that solves the vast majority of the spam problem.
I feel like most people either haven't started anything and had to deal with spam, or they think every business should a billion dollar grow at all costs business that loses money.
Making it free would have missed out on the probably 2 dozen people that converted from this post.
Making it free would have missed out on the probably 2 dozen people that converted from this post.
^ this would have been the right move
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why not register omg.motorcycles yourself for a discounted $14.99 per year?
because .motorcycles is boring and .lol is fun... what that a real question?
motorcycles.lol?
Don't tempt me!
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Gen Z is probably asking why there’s no .yolo domain suffix yet.
I thought YOLO was more of a millennial thing.
It’s probably somewhere in the middle. When YOLO became popular a decade ago, most millennials were already in their mid-twenties, and the way I see it, new internet slang always “belongs” to the youth, and that was Gen Z at that time.
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Anyone remember hey.com from a couple of years ago? Offered a chance to get a email at a 3-letter domain dot com....yeah and how many people are still using their hey.com email today?
This is also similar to about.me links people were posting from a couple of years ago.
This is also similar to about.me links people were posting from a couple of years ago.
sdfghjkiuyt(4)
rvz(2)
Seems cool except I refuse to use the "omg" acronym, you're all free to, but for me I don't find it very tasteful. Even "lol" is pretty dated, it's the complete polar opposite of a domain I'd put next to my name. Will you still like this domain in 20 years? It's like getting a batman tattoo.
omg is ~40 years old, lol ~30; chances are they'll be about as cool in 20 as cool (~90) may be.
- a webpage
- DNS
- email forwarding
- a statuslog
- url shortener
- a pastebin
- a weblog
- an optional Mastodon account
- optional IRC/Discord
- and probably some more stuff I missed
And all of this stuff is much more configurable than it would typically be on other services. It is ripe for creative integrations. Oh and the whole thing can be interacted with through an API. Pretty cool for $20. Definitely not the same as "just getting your own domain."
https://bw.omg.lol/