Non-Domain Related

This year’s Pan-Mass Challenge was exceptional. It was probably the best ride I have had in my 12 years of riding.

The weather was more cooperative than ever, and the company couldn’t have been better. It’s always fun spending the weekend with John Berryhill, and it was great to have Karen join us this year.

While the ride is a good challenge and the celebratory atmosphere is fun, the focus of the PMC is singular: to raise funds and awareness for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I’m proud to share that we raised more than $27,000 so far this year, bringing our fundraising total to more than $210,000 for Dana-Farber.

On Saturday afternoon, we were given a sharp reminder of why we participate in the PMC – and why Karen runs marathons on the Dana-Farber team. One of our closest friends underwent chemotherapy for colorectal cancer a year ago. She recently learned her cancer returned, and she will need to have surgery next month. While she isn’t being treated at DFCI, the cutting-edge research conducted there benefits patients around the world. This is why we do the Pan-Mass Challenge.

Sunday’s ride was a chance to represent the domain investing community in a meaningful way. We received many compliments about our domain investment jerseys. Several people complimented us on the design and a few asked questions about our team. I always appreciate the chance to explain how these jerseys help us raise funds and are backed by friends and colleagues in our business.

If you supported our ride this year, thank you. Your generosity fuels us and we appreciate it. If you would like to support our fundraising efforts this year, we would appreciate it. In fact, if we can raise an additional $2,000 for Dana-Farber via my PMC fundraising ride, I will go out and ride 25 miles in the 85 degree heat this afternoon. My legs and body are cooked, but it will be worth it to me:

My legs (and everything) are cooked, and I am going to regret this physically, but if we can raise an additional $2,000+ for @PanMass this morning, I will ride another 25 miles this afternoon in the 85 degree heat wearing my domain investing PMC jersey.https://t.co/jJGedXVIaN

— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) August 4, 2025

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year. John Berryhill, my wife, and I will ride our bicycles 160+ miles over two days in the Pan-Mass Challenge to benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Dana-Farber is one of the world’s leading cancer organizations, and its mission is very close to my heart.

We are grateful for our friends and colleagues in the domain name investment space for their generous contributions throughout our ongoing fundraising campaign. We raised $25,000 and counting for Dana-Farber from our domain industry PMC supporters. On Sunday, the three of us will wear special domain investment community jerseys with the logos of some of the most generous supporters.

Cancer impacts all of us in one way or another. I have family members and friends who have had cancer. Some won their battles and others passed as a result. While riding 10+ hours, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about these people and about the people who are helped by Dana-Farber.

For nearly every mile of the Pan-Mass Challenge, there are people on the route cheering on the cyclists. Many of these people are connected to Dana-Farber in one way or another. It is a meaningful journey knowing that we are helping such a great organization. In fact, the PMC is Dana-Farber’s single largest contributor, accounting for 62% of the Jimmy Fund’s annual revenue. 100% of donations go directly to Dana-Farber.

Even as we ride, we are still hoping to raise additional funds. The name (and link if desired) of every domain investor or industry participant will be listed on the fundraising page as a “thank you” for supporting us.

Thank you for your ongoing support!

I am happy to share that our 2025 Pan-Mass Challenge domain industry cycling jersey was finalized and printed. With help from our domain industry friends and colleagues, this special jersey raised more than $16,000 for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

John, Karen, and I will proudly wear this jersey as we continue our PMC training. We will also wear this unmissable jersey on the second day of our ride. John wore his jersey over the weekend, and Karen and I wore ours for a training ride yesterday. You can see just how bright our jerseys are in the photos below.

Thank you very much to the domain industry companies, listed below, who donated to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in support of our industry jersey.

2025 Domain Industry PMC Jersey Sponsors:

• Atom.com
• Bobbleheads.com
• Brannans (David Clements)
• Cognitive.ai – Lead Sponsor
• Defining.com (Kate Buckley)
• Digimedia
• Domain Agents
• Domain Details – Sleeve Sponsor
• Domaining.com
• Domain Name Wire (Andrew Allemann)
• DropCatch.com
• Embrace.com
• Evergreen.com
• GoDaddy
• Hilco Digital Assets
• Mi.ke (Mike Cyger)
• Odys Global
• Saw.com
• Searchen Networks (John Colascione)
• Snagged.com
• Telepathy
• Unstoppable Domains – Sleeve Sponsor

pic.twitter.com/kgaRGjXDuJ

— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) June 23, 2025

Despite the extreme heat, Karen and I went out for a @PanMass training ride yesterday afternoon wearing our domain industry PMC jersey. pic.twitter.com/LbcFCq77aX

— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) June 24, 2025

A little more than 5 years ago, one of our friends gifted us a houseplant without instructions on how to maintain it. I made the mistake of not asking him how we should care for it, and the plant was dead within a couple of months. That was the extent of my experience with houseplants.

Two years ago, I saw some posts from Shane Cultra on X about his Variegated Monstera plant. I acquired a cutting from him, and I began my own Variegated Monstera journey. The cutting had two leaves and a root growing node that needed to be placed in water for about a month. You can see how it looked after I received it and began the process:

I purchased an LED plant growing lamp, and when the cutting was ready, I planted her in a 12″ pot. I placed the pot in my office in front of a window that receives afternoon light. I supplemented the natural sunlight with 12 hours of LED lighting.

My Monstera plant began growing and unfurling new leaves. Each time a leaf appeared, I was full of excitement to see the coloration and designs as it slowly unfurled. My kids have loved coming up and watching the plant grow.

As the plant has grown, Shane has served as a great resource who has always been happy to answer questions and offer advice. He has helped me with everything from the soil and fertilizer I used to putting in a moss pole to stabilize the plant to dealing with aerial roots.

As my Monstera plant continued to grow and thrive, I realized I would need to eventually repot her into a larger pot. I also realized I would need to make a new cutting because of its height. I decided that I would get a larger pot and replant the cutting in the same pot to make it fuller.

I was pretty anxious about cutting the top leaf from my plant. Each new leaf grows from the stem of the last leaf to grow, and I feared that cutting the most recent leaf would stymie the growth of the plant.

In addition to getting advice from Shane, I also found good information about Variegated Monstera plants on Reddit, Instagram, YouTube, and elsewhere. All of this research gave me the confidence to make a cutting of my own. I cut the top leaf, put it in a vase of water, and I let the root grow for about 3 weeks.

A few months ago, I repotted the Monstera plant into a larger planter, and I planted the cutting as well. I also inserted a larger moss pole and tied the plant’s stems to various spots of the pole to ensure the plant was stable. I used a Tropical Potting Soil mix I bought at our local nursery, and I mixed it with perlite to help the plant with drainage.

Since repotting my Monstera plant, she has thrived. Several new leaves have grown on the original plant and on the cutting. There are now more than 20 leaves on both plants.

A big surprise is how well my Variegated Monstera plant has thrived with my limited knowledge at the outset. I definitely learned a lot from Shane, and I appreciate all of the advice he has given me. A bigger surprise is how much enjoyment we have gotten from watching the plant grow.

Our customized domain industry Pan-Mass Challenge jersey raises a substantial amount of money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute each year. The company that produces the jersey just sent me an update of our design with the logos of our current jersey sponsors, and I think it looks great.

We can feature 18 domain industry logos on the back of our jersey. We have room for two additional logo All logo spots are now reserved. I’d also move my Embrace.com logo if we can get two additional sponsors. John and I would also offer a white horizontal logo on each rib cage for a $1,000 donation to our PMC fundraiser.

I’ve been dealing with a frustrating iPhone issue for a while. I don’t recall when it started, but my sound notifications have not been working for my iPhone’s Mac Mail app despite having everything setup correctly.. When I would receive email to my Gmail and Gmail Workspace accounts, I would see badge and banner notifications on my phone, but there was no sound notification. I have the iPhone 15 Pro phone.

I went through all of the troubleshooting recommendations I could find on Apple forums, Reddit, and elsewhere. I visited the Apple store Genius bar. I turned notifications off and on. I went through custom alerts and turned those off and on. I turned individual settings off and on. I reset my iPhone. I regularly updated my iOS when I could.