ok so a business, i run many. i build websites, design mobile apps, write books or blog posts for news sites, sell stuff on ebay, do video / photo work for the community.
I don't want to pile on, but think there's a higher level lesson here, which is that it's important to know your audience. It sounds like you made a conscious decision to forgo TLS, however it's very predictable that that would go over poorly in a place like HN, so I assume you either weren't considering that or weren't aware of that. Try to always think about your audience!