[jcrawfordor]

Hi all, I am the author. I 1) have no idea how this made it to the top position, 2) now feel much guiltier about posting so infrequently, 3) apologize for the design of my blog being almost actively hostile to users, but then maybe that was the point?

[dhosek]

I love the footer text:

    This website is begrudgingly generated by the use of software. Letters to the
    editor are welcome via facsimile to [phone] or mail to 609 Gold Ave
    SW, Suite 1D, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Opinions stated here are somewhat
    necessarily those of Seventh Standard, LLC, in that the author is the sole
    partner and does not wish to lead dual lives.

[saurik]

Re 3: if it makes you feel any better--or worse! (most of the time I make people feel worse...)--I have added your blog to my list of "websites whose design I really like" ;P (the only thing I disagree with strongly is the seemingly-fixed word-wrapping, as it causes random-feeling new-lines while reading on my iPhone X screen).

[firloop]

Reminds me a lot of reading old GameFAQs guides

[lostlogin]

I thought those were typos, accidental line breaks.

[jcrawfordor]

Yes, the script that generates the website was written in one evening when I was not entirely sober, and it has some weird behavior around linebreaks that I triggered by typo. Somewhere on my todo list is to add markdown parsing so I can do cutting-edge things like indented block quotes while still having the text reflowable for the RSS feed, but then I'll have to decide how to represent headings and links while still keeping to my 80x24 video terminal aesthetic.

[temporallobe]

If you don’t mind the conversion happening on the front-end side, Showdown.js has worked really well for me on a few projects.

[rsync]

Why do I recognize your name ?

There's some hazy link here between "JB Crawford" and Kuro5hin and ... ? Or is that just a coincidence / faulty link in my memory ?

[jcrawfordor]

I think I did use Kuro5hin for a time, but if you have seen my writing elsewhere it is most likely LWN or some miscellaneous technical training vendors, both of which I contributed to for a while before my life got a little crazy. I'm actually currently getting back into freelance writing, so while I have fifteen minutes of fame... my first passion before technology was writing and teaching, and I write and develop training on technical topics I am interested in (there's a number of them). Contact info in my profile.

[rsync]

OK, now I remember:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11611571

It was Michael Crawford.

JohnCompanies, the first VPS provider, and the incubator of what eventually became rsync.net, did all of the original advertising on kuro5hin.org. I actually grew the company a fair amount just on the basis of those small ads on k5.

While I was never an active member of the community there I had enough random exposure to it to absorb a little bit of what went on there...

Sorry for the noise :)

[nobody9999]

Yes. Michael David Crawford[0]. RIP MDC[1].

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19489570

[1] https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51d72b41e4b0f798b53a3...

[jcrawfordor]

At one point when funemployed and living in a better DC market I considered trying to start a VPS operation but decided against it since the market is so hypercompetitive. I guess I'd have been in good company. Now that I live in the forsaken desert I have to ship my hardware to a different state to get a decent colo rate, so that's right out.

[TylerE]

Hah, there's a name I haven't thought of in a while. I had a JohnCompanies server way back in the day.

[polote]

> apologize for the design of my blog being almost actively hostile to users

I edit a newsletter of blogs of HN and I can tell you that your design is not more hostile than most HN bloggers, don't worry you are fine

[niek_pas]

It’s not really “fine” it’s just “not quite as bad as some others”.

[sagz]

enjoyed the article! in the end you mention that SDRs are mandated to carve out that band but they... don't. why is that? and how is that legal then

[chkaloon]

Just discovered your blog via HN. I love writers who keep this old history around and can really go deep into the rabbit holes. Thanks for that.

[endgame]

I love your website design.

[aaronbrethorst]

Hey Jesse- great story :)