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Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

givelocal.co

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Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#21

Post by btrettel »

avmich wrote: post #16
btrettel wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've asked someone who likes using tons of JavaScript before and the response I received was along the lines of "It saves developer time." I don't get that one because in my experience, writing straight HTML is simpler than writing JavaScript. The real problem seems to be that many people today seem to have learned frontend web development through fancy JavaScript frameworks and don't know any other way. Since learni…

We probably need good tutorials about how to create a nice looking HTML pages. Pure HTML, maybe with CSS. I'd prefer page to be self-contained - a document, not an app. This way some accessibility problems could be avoided too. At least we may have static page generators which execute JS once on server side - for pages which don't really need interactivity (documents, not apps). There are a lot of them.

There are many resources available today on how to create a nice looking HTML/CSS page. Looks like Mozilla has a complete guide:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn

This goes into JavaScript later as well but it seems to be the way I'd consider proper: only using JavaScript for things that can only be done in JavaScript.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#22

Post by smt88 »

Scoundreller wrote: post #19

My real worry is that if the restaurant goes under (or sometimes, even changes ownership), your gift card is worthless. Dunno if a chargeback would go through, since you technically received what you paid for.

Yeah, these gift cards are essentially free loans given to borrowers with extremely poor credit. I’m still going to do it, but I’m considering it to be a donation to my local restaurant scene.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#23

Post by QuinnWilton »

avmich wrote: post #7

Can't we have this site serving straight HTML with links? Why we should always have JS involved for even most simple tasks?

I'd guess because if someone is building something in their free time they're likely to build it either using whatever technology is most fun for them, or using whichever framework they're most excited to learn.

For most frontend devs that's going to mean something a little bit more exciting than a static site.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#25

Post by danieltillett »

I like the thought of this idea, but it won’t work. If the business spends the money from the cards now then it will be on the hook for the meals later. It is basically just an interest-free loan to the business that will have to be paid back. The party that is really being bailed out here is the landlord.

A better approach would be to let the restaurant go under and have some way to pledge that you will support the new restaurant that opens when things return to normal.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#26

Post by satya71 »

klenwell wrote: post #5
evo_9 wrote: post #3

Why just restaurants? This should be expanded to support barber shops, nail salons and massage business. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few other business that could benefit.

I usually pay my barber in cash. If I wanted to send her a payment in lieu of my next appointment, what would be the most sensible way to do that? I could mail her a check I suppose. ACH transfer? (I assume I would have to ask her for her bank account info which might be a little awkward.) Venmo? (I've tried to avoid it thus far.)

Zelle, works with banks and only needs email/phone.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#28

Post by avmich »

QuinnWilton wrote: post #23
avmich wrote: post #7

Can't we have this site serving straight HTML with links? Why we should always have JS involved for even most simple tasks?

I'd guess because if someone is building something in their free time they're likely to build it either using whatever technology is most fun for them, or using whichever framework they're most excited to learn. For most frontend devs that's going to mean something a little bit more exciting than a static site.

Yes, I understand that if you're mostly doing (at work) these things this way, you may be inclined to do the same way your own project.

That doesn't mean you can't do better - and for some people "better" can be without JS, for many reasons, including convenience of end users. By now it's probably also an interesting challenge - create a good, but straightforward (i.e., "simple") no-JS page.

Re: Show HN: A directory of restaurants with links to buy gift cards to support them

#29

Post by dehrmann »

danieltillett wrote: post #25

I like the thought of this idea, but it won’t work. If the business spends the money from the cards now then it will be on the hook for the meals later. It is basically just an interest-free loan to the business that will have to be paid back. The party that is really being bailed out here is the landlord. A better approach would be to let the restaurant go under and have some way to pledge that you will support the…

We're better off having the government backstop this--pay the rent, pay unemployment to the employees, and have society pay at the end of the day. The tricky part is getting money where it's needed. The Fed is doing what it can, but that's basically keeping banks open.
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