Update

Do not forget to checkout my latest post on domain registrars - New Domain Registrar.

So what's been happening of late? A lot. I kind of got busy with other things. I have been exploring new opportunities. I purchased a new laptop. My ISP is giving a lot of problems. This coupled with frequent server crashes is making me consider to move my website from my home PC to some hosting service.

Here is the big news: I purchased the domain "rahul.ind.in" for Rs.350/yr from Sify. So my new website address is http://rahul.ind.in :-). Some interesting things I noted during this entire process of domain name registration are:

• If you are considering to have your own domain name, I would suggest .name, .in, or .ind.in. Though .com is very popular, .com generally refers to commercial websites. .NAME is the official top level domain registered by ICAAN for personal websites. .IN domain names are available to anyone! Companies, individuals, and organizations in India and abroad are eligible. .IND.IN is for individuals (ind) in India (in).
• I tried for "rahul.name" and "rahul.in" before deciding on "rahul.ind.in" but they were not available. "rahul.name" was registered by some Shyam and he was not ready to sell it as his son's name was Rahul :-). "rahul.in" was for sale and I quoted 70$ to buy the domain. Here is the best part. The seller got back to me with a quote of 75000 USD =)). So this gives you guys an idea as to the money involved in domain name market. Domain names are generally re-sold for thousands of dollars. A furthur interesting fact is .IN was officially opened to the public on 16 February 2005 and "rahul.in" was purchased by Dot Name Communications on 16-Feb-2005 06:32:27 UTC :-). So that also tells you the demand in the domain name market.
• Here are a few links which u may find interesting:
  • http://www.iana.org/gtld/gtld.htm
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.in
  • http://www.allwhois.com
  • http://www.zebraserver.com/webhosting/ind_cond.htm (only to give you an idea of what the Indian domains generally represent)

A few updates on the content of my website: I am removing the Chat page (in Utilities section) as the program is not working properly and also now there are other alternatives such as Meebo. Also I am planning to make the Blog section more active and provide facility for users to add comments :-).