Its so painful to see this on HN!
P.S. @spitfire -- Yeah.. thems were the days! goes to show you how old I am
I'd be inclined to believe it is not spam. Mainly because sites designed as hosts for ad-articles/spam don't tend to build up communities or stick around this long (this article is over 2 years old).
But also because the site covers multiple providers, not just this one, sometimes favourably, sometimes not, always without any real benefits to the owner. It does provide a (presumably no longer valid) referral code for the particular service discussed in this one article, but it's an extra click away from this page, and the site goes to very large pains to point out it is a referral code: http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/vpslink-february-sale-and-10-o...
Also, to my knowledge, that is the only time this site has ever used any sort of referral code, and it was fully highlighted and explained. It also wasn't an affiliate code, it could only have been used to cover the site's hosting fees with a service the site owner had been using for the last 5 years.
Basically, it doesn't smell like spam to me. But, I have been enjoying the site for a number of months before it appeared here, so I'm less suspicious.
1) Title was written and posted as such to draw flame 2) Post is quickly started with a discount 3) The page is littered with advert
The merit of the technical write up is not in question; its the specific intention to incite controversy. thats the problem.
Its obvious to this crowd that 64mb is plenty to run a 18 Static Sites.
It is the very fact of challenging the ability to run 18 static sites on 64mb via a VPS is ridiculous. Now, if the article asked the question of "how quickly can you max out 64mb VPS and tactics to avoid it" -then, it would be less inflamatory.
As for the $$ im sure he does fine. Affiliate payouts in the webhosting indutry is huge.
I find it highly suspicious that your ACCOUNT STARTED the SAME TIME this was posted.
You are FAR too sensitive to deem comments as an ATTACK on the site; or deem it as non-valid. Frankly, there is nothing for you to defend. As I stated; theres nothing wrong with his technical write-up. I just highly question the motivations of being posted on HN with such a title, promo code, ads, etc.
FRANKLY, what you are doing text book 'Gaming HN'. And Heres WHY: 1) You just started your account today for this post 2) You have your comments upvoted and down vote dissenting comments by your confederates 3) You keep on telling people to go to " BuyVM .net" which by the way has LowEndBox.com as its biggest advocate 4) You have a very intimate knowledge of how LowEndBox operates, (if he does affiliate links, or has a WebHostingTalk account, or if he makes money from his ads) Come on you can tell me if you are Francisco Dias - the guy that runs BuyVM and markets almost exclusively at LowEndBox (You just got caught!)
Please stop trying to Game HN and HN users.
Open community, ne?
"I find it highly suspicious that your ACCOUNT STARTED the SAME TIME this was posted."
Of course, I found that this site/post even existed through a community.
"You are FAR too sensitive to deem comments as an ATTACK on the site; or deem it as non-valid. Frankly, there is nothing for you to defend. As I stated; theres nothing wrong with his technical write-up. I just highly question the motivations of being posted on HN with such a title, promo code, ads, etc."
I'm just defending the 'questionability' part - there is nothing questionable about this article being posted here, nor is it complete spam.
"FRANKLY, what you are doing text book 'Gaming HN'."
It's not a very fun game, if a game at all.
"And Heres WHY: 1) You just started your account today for this post"
Yes. I only found out that this place existed through a community.
"2) You have your comments upvoted and down vote dissenting comments by your confederates"
Sure, someone else might have been voting me up, but I don't have access to downvote anyone. Please try again. (I've also upvoted some other members of HN's group here - eh)
"3) You keep on telling people to go to " BuyVM .net" which by the way has LowEndBox.com as its biggest advocate"
It's only the "biggest advocate" because it won a voting contest - if another company won the vote they would be listed.
"4) You have a very intimate knowledge of how LowEndBox operates, (if he does affiliate links, or has a WebHostingTalk account, or if he makes money from his ads)"
It's kind of easy to figure out if you actually visit the/any site often. Who doesn't make money from ads?
"Come on you can tell me if you are Francisco Dias - the guy that runs BuyVM and markets almost exclusively at LowEndBox (You just got caught!)"
Nope. I'm not Francisco, sorry. I'm just a satisfied client.
"Please stop trying to Game HN and HN users."
There is no "game," sir, I don't know what you're trying to play.
He also doesn't make money via affiliate deals (only banner sale ads). See http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/advertisement-situation-at-low...
I hope you'll find my account acceptable from the "shill" point of view.
I have bothered to read the site and he makes good points. Thats not the issue. The issue is with the "Title", then article starts with a reference to WebHostingTalk, then near immediately followed with a link his affiliate page -(very cleverly disguised) All of those three things separately are NO BIG DEAL; but all together on HN is very frustrating. The reason for that is because, I have grown to trust HN links and this makes me question that trust. I love HN because of the trust I have for the destination of the links. Post such as these challenge that trust.
You mean the page where he says So, here is a clearly marked affiliation link — do not click on it if you don’t want me to get referral rewards nor 10% off discount :)
I don't think you can get more ethical than that.
All of those three things separately are NO BIG DEAL; but all together on HN is very frustrating
I thought the information was detailed, useful, and I can personally attest to the trustworthiness of the site.
Personally I think this perfect for HN (and given that your account has been registered only ~250 days I think trying to lecture about how bad it is doesn't make much sense).
The problem is not the technical write up.
Affiliate Link
He said: I am still taking the “no affiliation sales” stance. He posted that on his page http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/advertisement-situation-at-low... Which contradicts http://www.lowendbox.com/blog/vpslink-february-sale-and-10-o...
The Ethical debate belongs at a different venue.. but you must concede that these are two conflicting policies. but whatever.. its no big deal. I have no problem with folks making money off affiliate marketing.
-Im not even saying that he has a bad site. or a bad guy. Im not even saying that his post was incorrect. what I am saying is: 1) Provocative Title 2) Immediately references to a sketchy forum 3) affiliate link + ads -- these are usually the signs of link-bait.
*Im not even commenting on the merit of the article or whether it belongs on HN or not.. Im just commenting on how painful it is for me to see it on HN.
You are replying to my post and this is a threaded forum, not Twitter.
1) Provocative Title
If it bleeds it leads. And what would be a better title exactly?
2) Immediately references to a sketchy forum
WebHostingTalk is the biggest forum about webhosting in the world. It's pretty important if you work in that field.
3) affiliate link + ads
Welcome to the internet.
2) Immediately references to a sketchy forum WebHostingTalk is the biggest forum about webhosting in the world. It's pretty important if you work in that field*
---> That's debatable. I've worked in the web hosting industry for a very long time and I almost never go to that forum unless, im baited to it.
3) affiliate link + ads Welcome to the internet. I've got nothing against affiliates, or ads... heck - affiliate marketing is a very important part of the internet marketing ecosystem. however, the very obvious absence of affiliates or ads on HN makes it a very nice place.