The owner of ip4.me/ip6.me, Kevin Loch, has died (opens in new tab)

(ip4only.me)

284 pointslieuwex1y ago91 comments

91 comments

> In Kevin’s own words on kevinloch.com: “I am also an amateur physicist, programmer, photographer, independent film producer (at WTF Productions) and AFOL (Adult Fan of Lego).” Kevin was also passionate about any and all things space related: the sky, the stars, and beyond; trying to find the meaning in how things work, why they work, and what would make them work better. His latest passion after moving back to Reston was soaking in the skyline from the rooftop of his apartment building and bicycling the paths of Reston and beyond.

https://www.loudounfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/Kevin-Loch/#...

https://bsrender.io/

https://nensus.com/kl-net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lAuXWARqt8

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10414562/

jabiko1y ago

Also you can watch his memorial service here: https://www.youtube.com/live/YbnPeUgHGu8?t=1271

rafram1y ago

I’m not anti-religion in any way, but this left a really bad taste in my mouth. Loch’s nephew (the pastor who led the service) kept saying that Loch wasn’t religious. Then he’d go straight back to talking about Christ, and reminiscing about times when Loch had participated in Christian ritual!

It’s one thing to volunteer your religious organization as a venue for a memorial, even for someone who wasn’t religious. It’s another to memorialize the person with an explicitly religious service.

1 more reply

weinzierl1y ago

"To honor Kevin’s “You be you” attitude, a “Come As You Are” Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, July 3, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at Fairfax Church of Christ. 3901 Rugby Road, Fairfax, VA 22033. A reception will follow at the church where you will be able to assemble your own Lego tribute to Kevin to take home. Lego bricks will be provided."

"In lieu of traditional flowers, you may bring or send Lego flowers. Those assembled before the service will be part of the Memorial display. Assembly space will be provided for any unassembled flowers. Traditional and Lego flowers can be sent to the church 7/2 between 9-4."

rrr_oh_man1y ago

PSA: Lego turned evil, unfortunately. There are much better alternatives on the market these days.

sky22241y ago

Just let the man have his legos sheesh. Pick a better time.

Brigand1y ago

What is your definition of evil?

volemo1y ago

> Lego turned evil

Could you elaborate?

2 more replies

mindsuck1y ago

What would you recommend instead?

1 more reply

HeatrayEnjoyer1y ago

Evil... When? How?

tecleandor1y ago

Seems like he passed away in June but maybe the Estate didn't sort out everything until recently?

https://www.brickfanatics.com/tributes-for-founder-lego-webs...

Polizeiposaune1y ago

It takes time (typically some number of months) to get appointed as the executor of an estate, and then even more time for the executor to get effective control over the estate's assets.

tecleandor1y ago

Ah yeah, I missed part of my response I think. I was trying to say that he didn't pass away recently, but maybe we just noticed it because the estate (or the executor) just started to manage this asset and left that message in the domain.

lxgr1y ago

Oh no, this has been my go-to site for connectivity tests (as example.com seems to be cached fairly aggressively by my browsers and that has misled me in the past). Ad-free, minimal, does exactly what it needs to and nothing more.

Rest in peace!

Edit: All these (great and much appreciated!) responses of alternatives are making me wonder if this should in fact be a standardized service that could then be offered as a public good in a similar way as pool.ntp.org.

Checking for generic Internet connectivity (i.e. not only having an IP address, but being able to reach public sites, these sites being non-cached, not-captive-portaled etc.) seems like a problem that too many apps, scripts, and devices are solving again and again.

PhilipRoman1y ago

ifconfig.me is a similar service which I often use. It has a nice feature that if you do "curl ifconfig.me", you'll get only a string with the ip address, no markup.

HeatrayEnjoyer1y ago

This site is behind cloudflare and has captcha-blocked my queries more than once.

1 more reply

venusenvy471y ago

On a Reddit post, someone mentioned ip.wtf that they created as a similar service. Aside from using it in a browser, it also provides a single IP address with curl ip.wtf, with less typing. I also like getting more information by using this: curl --json "" ip.wtf

lxgr1y ago

Me too, but that's a whopping 5 characters more. Think of all the extra keyboard wear!

I do like the curl-ability of that one a lot, though, and on my own computer I can just configure an alias or shell function for it :)

1 more reply

freedomben1y ago

I've been using ipinfo.io now for several years and have been very pleased with them.

You can `curl https://ipinfo.io/` and get a JSON blob back with info on your current IP. If you pass an IP explicitly you can get info back on it, for example `curl https://ipinfo.io/104.26.7.98`. Easy to combine with jq also for use in scripts: `curl https://ipinfo.io/104.26.7.98 | jq -r '.ip'`

For personal use it's free, and they have reasonable pricing for large volume. No affiliation on my part, just a happy user.

reincoder1y ago

Instead of jq .ip, please use https://ipinfo.io/ip

This API endpoint has its dedicated stack and infrastructure to support unlimited lookups.

Also, for IPv6 connection use: https://v6.ipinfo.io/ip

PS: I am the DevRel of IPinfo.

rmccue1y ago

Annoyingly, they no longer show your IP on their web homepage.

1 more reply

PaoloBarbolini1y ago

`curl https://myip.wtf/json` too is nice to use when debugging things

1 more reply

wizzwizz41y ago

If you have the resources to maintain it, you can contact the estate. (They'd like to sell the domains, so unless they're bundled with Brickshelf the highest bidder will probably be a traffic-farming company or something, but you never know.)

aeries1y ago

For services like this, I always use my own domain which can easily be re-mapped or hosted myself. E.g. "checkip.mydomain.com"

comprev1y ago

icanhazip.com provides a similar service and has a good story behind it [0]

[0] https://blog.apnic.net/2021/06/17/how-a-small-free-ip-tool-s...

merb1y ago

I use ip.me it's not add free, but in curl you can have an ad free version by doing curl -4 ip.me or curl -6 ip.me since it will only send the ip when it detects curl I guess.

sammy22551y ago

I'll just.. leave this here

https://cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/trace

0cf8612b2e1e1y ago

That’s a lot worse to type, but good to know.

Havoc1y ago

You can also use dig to get your external ipv4. That prevents reliance on smaller sites

Don’t have the command on hand but easily searchable

lxgr1y ago

How so? Getting your public/external IP does not seem possible behind a NAT without an external service.

2 more replies

Szpadel1y ago

I usually use `curl ifconfig.me`

kachapopopow1y ago

checkip.amazonaws.com is my goto, not as short tho :/

p1mrx1y ago

I was recently looking for IPv4/IPv6-only HTTP services hosted by major CDNs (for https://github.com/pmarks-net/ipvfoo/issues/60), and found these:

Cloudflare: https://ipv4.icanhazip.com + https://ipv6.icanhazip.com

Akamai: https://ipv4.whatismyip.akamai.com + https://ipv6.whatismyip.akamai.com

The problem with https://checkip.amazonaws.com is that it neither supports IPv6, nor claims that it will remain IPv4-only, so it's not clear what you'll get in the future.

evulhotdog1y ago

ip.guide is also a great one. Provides a json payload with relevant information. I have no affiliation with it, just happy user!

mbreese1y ago

I never knew of him from ip4.me, but I definitely visited his Lego site Brickshelf (https://brickshelf.com/).

Thanks Kevin.

dang1y ago

A small thread from long ago:

Massive Aircraft Carrier made of Lego, 200,000 bricks, 350LB - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=415448 - Dec 2008 (3 comments)

Deeg9rie9usi1y ago

He was also known in the LEGO community: https://www.brickfanatics.com/tributes-for-founder-lego-webs...

RIP

tusslewake1y ago

https://kevinloch.com/

sedatk1y ago

> Note: This website will be disabled by 3/1/2025. Website content will be relocated to nensus.com/kl-net

So much for leaving a legacy with your domain name.

jmclnx1y ago

I never heard of ip[46].me but the site is very informative.

RIP Kevin Loch

narmiouh1y ago

RIP Kevin, thanks for the fish!

atentaten1y ago

He was relatively young; what was the cause of death?

easterncalculus1y ago

RIP Kevin. These websites no doubt helped thousands of people over the years.

If anyone is looking for an alternative site to check their v6 and v4 addresses, check out this one here:

https://ip6.biz/

lemcoe91y ago

ip4.me and related websites actually inspired me to create a more-whimsical version of the website, which I call ipkitten.com. Not only do you get your IP address, User Agent, and approximate geolocation, but you also get a kitten GIF!

It also works from the command line, like this:

  $ curl ipkitten.com
  4.2.2.2

I am sure that Kevin has saved engineers and other IT people tons of headache and time with his simple, helpful, and ad-free tools.

cjcampbell1y ago

Don’t know where I first discovered it, but I have been using ipkitten for years when working with non-tech friends, family, and clients. It seems to help with the intimidation filter of getting into the weeds, so thank you!

I didn’t realize it was command line friendly!

f30e3dfed1c91y ago

I like that this prints the IP address followed by a newline. some similar services don't and it's sort of annoying.

iJohnDoe1y ago

Kudos for his contributions.

Lots of solutions out there. I like wasab.is https://wasab.is

curl wasab.is curl wasab.is/json

F_r_k1y ago

RIP Kevin. Used these sites a lot!

I hope they give then to a charity/charitable person. I proposed to continue the service ad free, for free to them. Hopefully they accept my proposal. It would be such a shame for the service to become "enshittified" by some greedy company

ddtaylor1y ago

RIP silent hero

SuperSandro20001y ago

5 points on that some scammer is going to buy the domains and doing shady things with it.

p1mrx1y ago

5ad::

homebrewer1y ago

A reminder that you do not need websites or an HTTP client to learn your public IP:

  dig @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com TXT +short
  dig @ns1.google.com o-o.myaddr.l.google.com TXT +short

dig can be replaced with any DNS lookup utility (nslookup, drill, etc).

Polizeiposaune1y ago

The former should be

  dig -4 @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com A +short
  dig -6 @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com AAAA +short

jayknight1y ago

Unless you're on a network that blocks all dns traffic not to their own dns servers.

xrd1y ago

The open DNS query failed for me with: "Query A or AAAA for your source address as seen by the resolver" But, the google nameserver did work. Thanks!

roygbiv21y ago

Really rolls off the tongue, going to put it with my useful numbers like 0118 999 881 99 9119 725 3.

silverquiet1y ago

> The Kevin M Loch Estate will be shutting down Kevin's websites in the near future (4/1/2025).

All respect to the deceased, but there's always at least a tiny part of me that is suspicious of anything taking place on April 1.

whizzter1y ago

Could simply be that a bunch of invoices/billing are connected to months and they don't want to pay beyond the current month (to make sure they get their money for the domains).

forgotpwd161y ago

Were those addresses used for anything or simple domain squatting?

lxgr1y ago

They were great memorable and ad-free sites that simply showed you your own (or your NAT's) public IP, as seen by the HTTP server.

johng1y ago

Looks like he had useful info up for people.... I never heard of it before today either: https://ip4only.me/home.cgi

leemelone1y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20241203115654/http://ip4.me/

F_r_k1y ago

To know your IP

GJim1y ago

I'm puzzled why you have been downvoted for asking a genuine question (and all credit to those who have taken time to respond to you).

Perhaps the downvoters would care to explain their actions?

cedilla1y ago

The question may be genuine but its phrasing probably suggests an allegation to most readers.

syntheticnature1y ago

I didn't downvote, but the question was answerable by simply visiting the domains typed into the comment.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

91 comments

toomuchtodo1y ago

https://www.loudounfuneralchapel.com/obituaries/Kevin-Loch/#...

https://bsrender.io/

https://nensus.com/kl-net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lAuXWARqt8

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10414562/

jabiko1y ago

Also you can watch his memorial service here: https://www.youtube.com/live/YbnPeUgHGu8?t=1271

rafram1y ago

1 more reply

weinzierl1y ago

rrr_oh_man1y ago

PSA: Lego turned evil, unfortunately. There are much better alternatives on the market these days.

sky22241y ago

Just let the man have his legos sheesh. Pick a better time.

Brigand1y ago

What is your definition of evil?

volemo1y ago

> Lego turned evil

Could you elaborate?

2 more replies

mindsuck1y ago

What would you recommend instead?

1 more reply

HeatrayEnjoyer1y ago

Evil... When? How?

tecleandor1y ago

Seems like he passed away in June but maybe the Estate didn't sort out everything until recently?

https://www.brickfanatics.com/tributes-for-founder-lego-webs...

Polizeiposaune1y ago

It takes time (typically some number of months) to get appointed as the executor of an estate, and then even more time for the executor to get effective control over the estate's assets.

tecleandor1y ago

lxgr1y ago

Rest in peace!

PhilipRoman1y ago

ifconfig.me is a similar service which I often use. It has a nice feature that if you do "curl ifconfig.me", you'll get only a string with the ip address, no markup.

HeatrayEnjoyer1y ago

This site is behind cloudflare and has captcha-blocked my queries more than once.

1 more reply

venusenvy471y ago

lxgr1y ago

Me too, but that's a whopping 5 characters more. Think of all the extra keyboard wear!

I do like the curl-ability of that one a lot, though, and on my own computer I can just configure an alias or shell function for it :)

1 more reply

freedomben1y ago

I've been using ipinfo.io now for several years and have been very pleased with them.

For personal use it's free, and they have reasonable pricing for large volume. No affiliation on my part, just a happy user.

reincoder1y ago

Instead of jq .ip, please use https://ipinfo.io/ip

This API endpoint has its dedicated stack and infrastructure to support unlimited lookups.

Also, for IPv6 connection use: https://v6.ipinfo.io/ip

PS: I am the DevRel of IPinfo.

rmccue1y ago

Annoyingly, they no longer show your IP on their web homepage.

1 more reply

PaoloBarbolini1y ago

`curl https://myip.wtf/json` too is nice to use when debugging things

1 more reply

wizzwizz41y ago

aeries1y ago

For services like this, I always use my own domain which can easily be re-mapped or hosted myself. E.g. "checkip.mydomain.com"

comprev1y ago

icanhazip.com provides a similar service and has a good story behind it [0]

[0] https://blog.apnic.net/2021/06/17/how-a-small-free-ip-tool-s...

merb1y ago

I use ip.me it's not add free, but in curl you can have an ad free version by doing curl -4 ip.me or curl -6 ip.me since it will only send the ip when it detects curl I guess.

sammy22551y ago

I'll just.. leave this here

https://cloudflare.com/cdn-cgi/trace

0cf8612b2e1e1y ago

That’s a lot worse to type, but good to know.

Havoc1y ago

You can also use dig to get your external ipv4. That prevents reliance on smaller sites

Don’t have the command on hand but easily searchable

lxgr1y ago

How so? Getting your public/external IP does not seem possible behind a NAT without an external service.

2 more replies

Szpadel1y ago

I usually use `curl ifconfig.me`

kachapopopow1y ago

checkip.amazonaws.com is my goto, not as short tho :/

p1mrx1y ago

I was recently looking for IPv4/IPv6-only HTTP services hosted by major CDNs (for https://github.com/pmarks-net/ipvfoo/issues/60), and found these:

Cloudflare: https://ipv4.icanhazip.com + https://ipv6.icanhazip.com

Akamai: https://ipv4.whatismyip.akamai.com + https://ipv6.whatismyip.akamai.com

The problem with https://checkip.amazonaws.com is that it neither supports IPv6, nor claims that it will remain IPv4-only, so it's not clear what you'll get in the future.

evulhotdog1y ago

ip.guide is also a great one. Provides a json payload with relevant information. I have no affiliation with it, just happy user!

mbreese1y ago

I never knew of him from ip4.me, but I definitely visited his Lego site Brickshelf (https://brickshelf.com/).

Thanks Kevin.

dang1y ago

A small thread from long ago:

Massive Aircraft Carrier made of Lego, 200,000 bricks, 350LB - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=415448 - Dec 2008 (3 comments)

Deeg9rie9usi1y ago

He was also known in the LEGO community: https://www.brickfanatics.com/tributes-for-founder-lego-webs...

RIP

tusslewake1y ago

https://kevinloch.com/

sedatk1y ago

> Note: This website will be disabled by 3/1/2025. Website content will be relocated to nensus.com/kl-net

So much for leaving a legacy with your domain name.

jmclnx1y ago

I never heard of ip[46].me but the site is very informative.

RIP Kevin Loch

narmiouh1y ago

RIP Kevin, thanks for the fish!

atentaten1y ago

He was relatively young; what was the cause of death?

easterncalculus1y ago

RIP Kevin. These websites no doubt helped thousands of people over the years.

If anyone is looking for an alternative site to check their v6 and v4 addresses, check out this one here:

https://ip6.biz/

lemcoe91y ago

It also works from the command line, like this:

  $ curl ipkitten.com
  4.2.2.2

I am sure that Kevin has saved engineers and other IT people tons of headache and time with his simple, helpful, and ad-free tools.

cjcampbell1y ago

I didn’t realize it was command line friendly!

f30e3dfed1c91y ago

I like that this prints the IP address followed by a newline. some similar services don't and it's sort of annoying.

iJohnDoe1y ago

Kudos for his contributions.

Lots of solutions out there. I like wasab.is https://wasab.is

curl wasab.is curl wasab.is/json

F_r_k1y ago

RIP Kevin. Used these sites a lot!

ddtaylor1y ago

RIP silent hero

SuperSandro20001y ago

5 points on that some scammer is going to buy the domains and doing shady things with it.

p1mrx1y ago

5ad::

homebrewer1y ago

A reminder that you do not need websites or an HTTP client to learn your public IP:

  dig @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com TXT +short
  dig @ns1.google.com o-o.myaddr.l.google.com TXT +short

dig can be replaced with any DNS lookup utility (nslookup, drill, etc).

Polizeiposaune1y ago

The former should be

  dig -4 @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com A +short
  dig -6 @resolver1.opendns.com myip.opendns.com AAAA +short

jayknight1y ago

Unless you're on a network that blocks all dns traffic not to their own dns servers.

xrd1y ago

The open DNS query failed for me with: "Query A or AAAA for your source address as seen by the resolver" But, the google nameserver did work. Thanks!

roygbiv21y ago

Really rolls off the tongue, going to put it with my useful numbers like 0118 999 881 99 9119 725 3.

silverquiet1y ago

> The Kevin M Loch Estate will be shutting down Kevin's websites in the near future (4/1/2025).

All respect to the deceased, but there's always at least a tiny part of me that is suspicious of anything taking place on April 1.

whizzter1y ago

Could simply be that a bunch of invoices/billing are connected to months and they don't want to pay beyond the current month (to make sure they get their money for the domains).

forgotpwd161y ago

Were those addresses used for anything or simple domain squatting?

lxgr1y ago

They were great memorable and ad-free sites that simply showed you your own (or your NAT's) public IP, as seen by the HTTP server.

johng1y ago

Looks like he had useful info up for people.... I never heard of it before today either: https://ip4only.me/home.cgi

leemelone1y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20241203115654/http://ip4.me/

F_r_k1y ago

To know your IP

GJim1y ago

I'm puzzled why you have been downvoted for asking a genuine question (and all credit to those who have taken time to respond to you).

Perhaps the downvoters would care to explain their actions?

cedilla1y ago

The question may be genuine but its phrasing probably suggests an allegation to most readers.

syntheticnature1y ago

I didn't downvote, but the question was answerable by simply visiting the domains typed into the comment.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse