Date: Fri 02-Jul-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

iinfo-domain-names-brand

Full Text:

INTERNET INFO FOR REAL PEOPLE: Your Own Domain Name

By Bob Brand

In the cyber-world of the World Wide Web, a personal domain name stands out as

high tech chic. Coupling it with an e-mail address of

[your_first_name@your_personal_domain.com] adds to the panache. The vanity

license plates remain forever popular. For about the same cost, surfers can

enjoy their cyber-equivalent. It keeps getting easier.

The Monopoly Falls

Since 1993, the federal government, which funded the development of the

Internet, has used InterNIC (a cooperative activity between the US Government

and Network Solutions, Inc.) to provide suffix names (.com, .org, .edu, .net,

and others) on the Internet. Just recently, the process was opened to five

additional "test-bed" registrars. The idea is to foster competition whereby

the process becomes more user friendly, faster, and cheaper. Shortly, we will

see if this process lives up to the billing. Currently, it costs $70 to

register a domain name (personal or commercial) that you own for two years.

With four million domain names registered thus far, the number is increasing

at the rate of 2.4 million per year.

Good Names Taken?

Before someone can obtain a vanity cyber-plate, it must be determined if the

name is available. The place to check is: http://www.nsiregistry.com/. Enter

your suggested domain name and hit the `Search' button. I entered: "brand.com"

only to find that someone grabbed the name on July 31, 1998. Perhaps

competition will open new suffixes like .biz, .store, or something quirky like

.x. If so, I could register a name like www.brand.x. Perhaps, the domain

naming group would be clever enough to drop the "www." An end result could be

an email address like bob@brand.x. Hey!, it could happen, especially the way

the Internet keeps expanding and morphing.

The Next Step?

After it is determined that one has a unique domain name like

minniethemoocher.com (not taken yet), he/she must submit the Internet

addresses of the primary and secondary domain name servers. In plain English

this is the address of the Internet Service Provider where the website can be

found. You need to contact an ISP (Internet Service Provider) for this

information. Many ISPs will host (a fancy name for "make your site available

on the Internet") for a fee of $20 to $60 per month. Should the website become

wildly popular, the ISP will raise the monthly fee.

The Final Step

Creating websites, like everything on the Net, keeps getting easier. Many

popular word processors (Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, and others) allow users

to create documents, insert pictures, and store the manuscript in HTML

(hypertext markup language) format. Try this. Create a very short message in

your favorite word processing software. (I like Microsoft Word 97). Use the

Insert command (found near the top of the screen). Add a "gif" (this a picture

file). In order to find something suitable, look in the Windows, Temporary

Internet Folder. The word processing software will magically insert the

picture. Save the file. Examine the Save-File Menu. Perform a "Save As HTML"

(the third choice in the Word 97 Save Menu.) Save the file as TEST.HTML and

save it to the TEMP folder. Exit the word processing program and start your

favorite browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or perhaps Opera). It

is not necessary to be connected to the Internet. Click File (found at the top

of the browser). Click Open (browse to find the TEST.HTML file). Open the

file. Bingo! Here is your document including the picture, as it would appear

on the Web.

Transferring the document to the www.minniethemoocher.com website involves the

transfer of the TEST.HTML via FTP (File Transport Protocol). Easy to do.

Remember to also transfer the graphics (in this case "gif") file. If you have

done everything correctly, get on the Internet and enter:

http://www.minniethemoocher.com in the location window and the page will

appear. (Note: at some ISPs, the file may have to be renamed:

minniethemoocher.index.)

Activity Explosion

The overwhelming popularity of sites like eBay.com drive many surfers to delve

deeper into the Web. The creation of simple websites becomes a logical step in

this process. In order to sell items where pictures are included, a website is

required. Some eBayers go on to build highly complex websites.

URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) of interest:

http://www.networksolutions.com/internic/internic.html

http://www.nsiregistry.com/

(This is the 161st of a series of elementary articles designed for surfing the

Internet. Next, "Filtering on the Web" is the subject on tap. Stay tuned.

Until next week, happy travels through cyberspace. Previous issues of Internet

Info for Real People can be found: http://www.thebee.com. Please e-mail

comments and suggestions: rbrand@JUNO.com or editor@thebee.com.)