$ whois whytheluckystiff.net
Whois Server Version 2.0
Domain names in the .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net
for detailed information.
Domain Name: WHYTHELUCKYSTIFF.NET
Registrar: SAMMAMISHDOMAINS.COM LLC
Whois Server: whois.sammamishdomains.com
Referral URL: http://manage.snapnames.com/customer
Name Server: NS3.CERTIFIEDNUTMILK.COM
Name Server: NS4.CERTIFIEDNUTMILK.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 04-mar-2014
Creation Date: 19-feb-2014
Expiration Date: 19-feb-2015
Hmm, certifiednutmilk.com?
$ whois certifiednutmilk.com
# uninteresting details elided
Registrant Name: Domain Admin
Registrant Organization: Privacy Protection Service INC d/b/a PrivacyProtect.org
Registrant Street: C/O ID#10760, PO Box 16 Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator Note - Visit PrivacyProtect.org to contact the domain owner/operator
Registrant City: Nobby Beach
Registrant State/Province: Queensland
Registrant Postal Code: QLD 4218
Registrant Country: AU
Between this, Wordpress, the writing style, and the frequent use of the word "mate" makes me think this isn't _why. Unless he's being unusually odd.
I agree that it probably isn't him, but the site is so ridiculously bad... it just might be.
It does make me sad, just because if he let his domain go, he probably isn't coming back. I did see that it had been parked as recently as a few weeks ago, so it probably did get swiped up.
In the contact page there's the following:
> I don’t know why you’d need to contact me through the web. After all, if you’re reading this blog, there’s a pretty good chance that we know each other already.
That seems very unusual for anyone to say. If the blog was not set up by _why, it is set up by someone trying to deceive everybody. Moreover all the mysterious domain and bizarre content and language could be _why trying to do exactly this.
He's speaking like an Australian, he mentions Sydney in one of his posts, he's on a domain that is now using name servers registered to an Australian company (as aaronbrethorst pointed out). I don't think this guy is trying to be _why or actually is _why, unless _why suddenly came back from out of nowhere with a new fetish for all things Australian. As an Australian, I'd like to think this is a possibility, but I have a feeling I would be disappointed.
I suspect the "if you’re reading this blog, there’s a pretty good chance that we know each other already" bit is intended to be interpreted as him not thinking that anyone other than those already acquainted with him would care or know about his blog. Self-deprecation is a fairly typical Australian trait, by the way.
Most likely possbilities in my mind: this is all simply a bizarre coincidence, as has already been suggested. Or... well, he is starting a software company apparently, so assumedly he's in our industry, that makes it somewhat more likely that he knows the history of the domain. Maybe he has unwisely decided to try and grab some free attention by taking this domain name knowing full well its history. I hope it's not the latter.
Looks like some random brit decided he was finally going to get around to making that blog he'd always wanted and just happened to pick whytheluckystuff.net as his domain, which was conveniently expired.
He's currently staring at his analytics page in disbelief. "Wow, my writing really is that good!".
The/a litmus test: does _why use stock photography, stock anything or do work outside the sphere of totally original and mostly/entirely cartoon infused? He was/is the unique collage king ( sensory overload + pioneering humor ).
This blog is almost entirely cookie cutter.
The story of how the domain name originated is not _why's style - he rarely if ever had anything approaching a sincere self-narrative, much less anything even close to "explanations" of why _why did X.
A wordpress blog? Could _why actually sleep at night with that existing even for a moment?
_why is from the great state of Pennsylvania. While most people think of Philadelphia, it's a rather large state and there's an awful lot to it. But the phrasing, spelling, and use of certain anglicisms found in, say, Australia ("schooner" is a dead giveaway), makes me conclude this isn't _why.
Perhaps we should all click on the link and immediately close our browsers, making it appear like he hired a botnet to click links for him. With enough clicks, his affiliates will boot him out.
I can attest that I have no idea who this _why person is.
The internet and the world are larger than this tiny community known as HN. Just because they may be a big fish in a small pond doesn't mean the rest of the world knows, or for that matter cares, who _why is.
It's obvious that a) it's not him, and b) the new owner it's a dickhead. Nobody will just "come" with that name as some good hearted people have suggested.
I didn't know about the original guy, but it was serendipitous finding this blog for me. I actually enjoyed reading it, and I want to know how it turns out for this dude.
Someone bought the domain for SEO purposes. The article about "how to get [his] wife a bit more excited about ‘adult’ activities" mentions he "found this other site about attracting women called The Attraction Institute", which just happens to be selling an ebook about how to attract women.
I was excited for all of fifteen seconds, I'm pretty sure this isn't _why (definite lack of character in the copy), I also don't think _why would be running his website on WordPress (Yeah yeah, easy to setup, easy to host, etcetera) but _why liked building things, that doesn't really end.
_why would never write an article called 'setting up my own software programming company' or use the phrase 'Maybe it would’ve been easier and safer to just stick out the 9-5 and work my way up the corporate ladder in the hope that I got promoted enough to be comfortable after a while…'
The other pages on that blog are just meandering prose with a link to another website, which makes me think that someone picked up the site for its PageRank to link to other pages. But despite having many inbound links, the domain's PR is 0. Weird.
why is part of the net folklore from the late 00s that also saw the emergence of Hacker News, ruby mainstream programming et al. I believe there's a strong respect in this community for the work this man has done in previous years.
_why is largely responsible for the success and relevance of Ruby to every level of person, entirely approachable, easy to access mentally and retain, totally engaging, and yet 100% bizarre and akin to doing engineering on psychedelics.
He spent 66% of his talks intentionally avoiding the topic he was asked to speak on, and yet that 33% was worth more than 100% of most other talks. He transcended programming. See deluge of Wikipedia links attached.
I don't think this is Why, but not because of that. Why never seemed all that dogmatic about his technology choices, so I can't see why he necessarily wouldn't use WordPress.
Essentially he wrote a very popular Ruby book and was considered a big name in that community. He had a particularly interesting style of writing, but what immortalized him among the wider tech community was his sudden disappearance online, the search for him, and arguments about whether he would want to be found.
It was eventually discovered that he wanted to be left alone.
yeah dude sure....you know how many people make this pledge every day? esp. after a tragic event or seeing a friend lose a wife or a job or financial security or succumb to drugs or something?
you're going to find very quickly its much harder to change then it is to blog.
best of luck tho...and I mean it...I'm not a hater
