What to do if all the “good” domain names are gone?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

An irate inet fellow was grousing about the "good" names are gone and "they" want 100k$s (new dimension of money  — hundreds of kilo dollars) for them. What is one to do?

Being an injineer, trained to solve other people's problems at the drop of a hat, I came up with a question and at least one alternative.

Question: What makes a domain name "good"? Short, memorable. Maybe?

I understand well the game that is being played on us.

https://reinkefj.wordpress.com/2006/05/17/yahoo-wants-to-get-you-interested-in-registering-a-domain-why-bother/

BUT having said that you need to be in the “game”.

I have two thoughts.

(1) Go offshore. I took Reinke dot cc because it was my last name and available. The "CC" in dot-cc refers to a tiny island chain in the Indian Ocean. It's the Cocos Islands, a 5.4-square-mile territory of Australia, population 650. Maybe I'll go visit someday? So QWERTY in Western Samoa is available. Just checked. You could be G @ QWERTY dot Web Site. Or there is .nz for New Zealand, .kz for Kazakstan. Mississippippians can go to .ms for Montserrati. Or Marylanders to .md for Moldova. There's lots of TLDs out there.

OR

(2) Go long. Buck the trend. Become G at QWERTY PLUMBING CONTRACTOR dot com which is also available.

I’m not so sure that the common wisdom is correct on short domain names. Yes, if you’re advertising on TV and you want someone to remember your phone number or website then you have to be as memorable as possible. In your case, I don’t think that applies.

Just my thoughts for what it is worth.

Remember you’re reading a fellow who uses <14 character random string> @ ISP dot net.

Will you every remember and type that? No. (Hell NO! but you could in a pinch, if you really really wanted to?)

But it’s very usable because you either reply or fire off a mailto weblink. 

So does dot com or short really matter? 

My answer is no.

Your Mileage May Vary. 

Now let me see if I can beat you to those names and sell ‘em to you for a big profit.  Was that QWERTY or YTREWQ? Dot CC or WS or TV or RADIO.

(You get the idea. Beat'em at their own game.) 

1 Comment | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Why is everyone now forcing password changes?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Latest is verizon wireless. With a minimum of 8; max 20. No previous. Why are they "helping" me? Think I'm too stupid to manage my own life or did they lose them all?

Leave a Comment » | Ranting, Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

The need for a “good” email address!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Permit me to offer some unsolicited advice?
I'd like to share something I wrote a while ago. I think it is even more true now. And easier to implement.

People sometime judge you by your email address.

I see that you have changed from Yahoo to Hotmail. IMHO I don’t think that’s a good change. People want to do business with people they can trust. Hotmail is associated with kids. Free services don’t engender confidence.For example, which would you trust more ReinkeFJ AT reinke DOT cc or ReinkeFJ AT hotmail dot com or supernerd @ gmail dot com?

I have two hosting companies I use at a very modest cost that I can recommend. If you’re interested?

Jasper Jottings is hosted by http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=9113251 and YAG is hosted by http://www.aplus.net/ (AP2297627204). I prefer 1and1 but either is good. And cheap. You can lock in a good deal for between 120 to 240 per YEAR! I think that is a minimal investment for a professional image.

FWIW

===

04/30/04

<snip> 

You should learn form the mistakes of others. You are not obligated to make EVERY mistake yourself into order to acquire wisdom.

IMHO the gold standard solution is to attach it to your own website with a hosting company. For example, me@mydomain dot com. When you buy your domain name mydomain dot com with a hosting company, they usually throw in email addresses with the deal. At least the good ones do. You MUST choose a good domain name for job search purposes. Use your name if you can get it. Mine was not available. Who ever heard of the Reinke Pivot Irrigator Company? But I did get reinke dot cc. But that is another story.

The silver standard is to buy your own email separately from a well-known financially sound company like Yahoo. AOL make you look like a kid. The bronze solution is to purchase or use a free redirector. Bigfoot has a pay service. For a while when email wasn't common and anyone would ask about the funny name, I used the lock in story in interviews to advance my value proposition. ("I minimize lockins personally and can do it for you"). Alumni associations and groups like IEEE all have free redirectors for their memberships. Anything is better than allowing an ISP to lock you into to "your" email address.
The bronze standard is use an ISP based account.

The lead standard is to use a free service like HotMail, or such. 

 <snip>

Your mileage can, and will, vary.

Good Luck,
fjohn

###

Leave a Comment » | JOBSEARCH, Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Yahoo Phone: It had a hard start this morning!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

It took three cycles this morning before I could get YIM to open a phone line this am. That's not good. To compete with a land line, it has to be seven 9's reliable AND cheap. Just cheap doesn't cut it.

Hmm? 

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Today’s jigsaw puzzle the Statue of Liberty with NYC skyline minus the WTC. Sensitive or Insensitive? I’d say “in”.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

http://games.myway.com/index.html

Today's jigsaw puzzle the Statue of Liberty with NYC skyline minus the WTC. Sensitive or Insensitive? I'd say "in".

But then, I'm the guy who says we should have a private fund raising drive to rebuild it just a little taller than it was. When a bully knocks you down, you don't roll over and let him kick you.

As an L, I hate the gummamint enslaving us. I'd have said sell the WTC towers because why is a quasi government agency running real estate in the hotest market in the world?

But, when someone kicks over my stuff, the gloves come off.

It's one thing if one of our own rants and raves. It's quite another if comes from the outside in. But then I'd also say we should be minding our own business.

But, this was "not relaxing", which is why I start my day with a modest mental challenge to get the brain going. 

Leave a Comment » | Ranting | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Yahoo wants to get you interested in registering a domain. Why bother?

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Received an email from Yahoo offering a domain name for 2.99! 

***Begin Quote***

How long will you wait to get that domain for your business, hobby, family, or anything else that interests you? For only $2.99 for the first year, you'll get your domain name plus:

>  24-7 toll-free support: Get help if you have questions.
>  Bonus starter web page: Establish your web presence in minutes.
>  Domain forwarding: Easily send traffic from your other sites.

Your domain name is out there. Go get it. 

***End Quote***

 But, I've read GoDaddy's description of the add drop scheme.

http://www.bobparsons.com/index.php?/archives/116-guid.html

***Begin Quote***

Millions of good .COM domain names – on any given day over 3.5 million and climbing — are unfairly made unavailable to small businesses and others who would actually register and use them in ways for which the names were intended. Many times businesses accidentally let their domain names expire. When they go to renew them, they find they have been snapped up – and taken away with a huge expensive hassle to follow – by an add/drop registrar.
***End Quote***

So it's a waste to even bother looking for "good" domain names. They're all tied up by these phony registrars.

So Yahoo don't waste my time. 

1 Comment | Ranting, Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

LUG running wxp sp2 seems to “disconnect” every night?

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Seems like at midnight or there abouts, LUG "disconnects" from my home network. Interesting because nothing will convince it to reconnect but a reboot. Interesting?

Leave a Comment » | Ranting, Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

“Pony Up”? That all the taxpayer keeps doing!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

http://ems.gmnews.com/news/2006/0517/Front_Page/031.html

State needs to pony up more funds for schools
Council supports bill requiring state to fund 25 percent of school costs
BY JOHN DUNPHY Staff Writer

***Begin Quote***

EDISON – Officials and residents alike are looking for solutions on how to fund education in the wake of the Board of Education's recently defeated budget.
*** AND ***

We may not be an Abbott district, but it doesn't mean we have unlimited funds," she said.

***End Quote***

Ahh, Mister John, tsk, tsk, There is no "State". There are only taxpayers. And, if you're telling us that we have to pony up more, then I'll ask you why?

What makes you think that the taxpayer can afford to "pony up"?

And "pony up" for a failed solution.

If I was in Detroit with a map of Chicago, then you'd know I was lost! But when we have a failed system like "publik skoolz", why can we see that we need a new map?

We certainly should have learned from the Communists that centralized state planning doesn't work. Our education model is lifted directly from the great socialists of the "education  experts". 

No, sorry, more money is not needed. I don't pay to feed other people's children. Nether, do I clothe them. So why do I have to educate them? 

Leave a Comment » | LIBERTY, Ranting | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Karen’s Replicator is a straight-forward backup utility that copies individual files and folders to another location

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptreplicator.asp

Karen's Replicator is a straight-forward backup utility that copies individual files, folders and even entire drives to another location. Its key feature is to schedule automatic backups. Simple, effective and … … free!

I use it to backup my luggable to my home desktop and my old laptop. While not precisely the same, if luggable would die unexpectedly, then I could take my oldlap laptop and not miss too much data wise. I would really like to be in the position of having two identical platforms but who can afford that? If I ever do it again, then that's what I'd do. It would be interesting since one would know what fouled up the environment. Sigh. Till then, I'll be using Karenware's replicator to duplicate data directories.

Of interest, the only trick I had to use was to define the other machines on the network to LUGGABLE so that they would each have drive letters. 

Hmm, other ideas?   

Leave a Comment » | Technology | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

Automatic 401(k) options

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200605/NAT20060517a.html

Bipartisan Push for Automatic 401(k) Plans
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
May 17, 2006
***Begin Quote***

(CNSNews.com) – Former vice presidential candidates John Edwards and Jack Kemp joined forces on Tuesday in Pentagon City, Va., calling on corporations to offer automatic 401(k) options in an effort to boost the financial security of middle and lower-income American families.

***End Quote***

As usual, when the two political parties agree on anything, you can be sure of one thing, it must benefit them.

Once again, the public is being "helped" by Mommy Government, backed up by the rules of Father State.

You're too dumb to save money on your own, so Mommy is going to make sure you are "signed up" from Day One. And, of course, Father State will make rules to interfere with the established employer employee relationships.

AND, it ignores the fact that "one size fits all" solutions are be their very nature not what some people need.

401ks can be subject to errors in judgement by selecting badly or failing to diversify because of restricted choice. DOn't forget that most 401k offerings come with high fees as well.
Now let's look under the covers and question why these two politicians are worried about you. Hmmm, could it be that the Ponzi scheme Social Security "Insurance" is broke and gettin' broker!

So there we have it!

We're being given something that won't work for most "for our own good" backed up by laws by a pair of politicians with something to gain. Hmmm!

1 Comment | LIBERTY, MONEY | Permalink
Posted by reinkefj

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