The battle has been won!

[Commander]

Finally I registered the domain name starportsagitta.com! It just does a redirect to starportsagitta.net so we all end up in the same place, but that battle has finally concluded.

For those not in the know, four years ago or so, when I was starting to get things together to get the starport orbiting, I had some assistance from a co-worker from my day job. She was a graphic artist and helped design the logos. Well her husband was into website designing and was going to build the website for me. He bought the domain and parked it till we could get together to launch.
Well something happened during that countdown and to make a long story shorter, there was a divorce. For the most part it was amicable, except one thing. You guessed it, the starportsagitta.com domain. Seems there was only one thing the lady wanted, and the gent for his own reasons deemed it necessary to deny. Seeing as it was only paid for a couple of years, I decided to wait it out and not make a big todo out of it has I could do what I did and use an alternate domain.
Time passed and eventually the domain came back on the market, but having been an "active domain" it was up for auction and usually a bit more in cost since I guess there was an active family domain (starportsagitta.net). From time to time I would get emails asking if I would like to purchase the domain from some outfit or other for the low price of anywhere from $24.99 to $50. Suffice it to say, I would not reply.
So this morning, as I am from time to time want to do, I checked on the availability of the .com domain and yes it was available, and at a reasonable price, so now it is home.

So, in conclusion, nothing is changing here. The main site is still at starportsagitta.net , it is just that if you happen to have to type in the url and accidentally type .com instead, you will now be automatically redirected to our home page.

[Rocket Babe]

Congratulations on reacquiring your domain.

People going through a divorce can be very petty and act like children at times.

[Commander]

The prices some people want for a domain name are incredulous to me. Over on YORF, Sunward rocketry listed some of the domains they have been holding and now want to get rid of, at a price of course. The least expensive that I noticed was 4fnc.com for a $100, ranging upward to $5000 for a couple different names, one being acmerocketry.com.

Now we're not talking about a fully set up website, it's just just the domain name being sold, and you have to pay the transfer fees and any future renewal fee with the domain name registry.

[luke strawwalker]

The prices some people want for a domain name are incredulous to me. Over on YORF, Sunward rocketry listed some of the domains they have been holding and now want to get rid of, at a price of course. The least expensive that I noticed was 4fnc.com for a $100, ranging upward to $5000 for a couple different names, one being acmerocketry.com.

Now we're not talking about a fully set up website, it's just just the domain name being sold, and you have to pay the transfer fees and any future renewal fee with the domain name registry.

Yeah, I saw that too, and I think it's absolutely nuts...

I tell ya when some of these people decide to "cash out" is when you REALLY see what kind of people they are... Like the former owner of the Terribly Run Forum... Despite all its obvious flaws, TRF HAD been started and run by a succession of rocketry-related people who were interested in and committed to rocketry as a hobby first and foremost, and who owned and ran the forum primarily in the interests of their fellow rocketry hobbyists... except of course the last previous owner, who decided to sell to the "highest bidder" and sell out to a bunch of web-hacking scumbag speculator type "web developers" who have turned it into the monkey show it is now... Way to go and I hope he sleeps well at night... LOL:)

I get it-- the owner of Sunward has a slew of domain names he picked up over the years for various reasons, some of them probably quite speculatory, and some he probably paid too much for to get, and now is trying to recoup his "investment" and make a tidy profit on the side by divesting them for cash to others who would like to purchase them for their own web ventures... except IMHO he's not looking for a "tidy" profit, he's looking for an OBSCENE profit... (unless he paid WAY, WAY too much for most of those domain names to begin with).

I don't have a problem with someone selling assets they've accumulated (cashing out) for a decent price and making a fair profit, but these people that want to cash out and sell stuff for obscene prices while holding things "hostage" just really make me sick...

Later! OL J R

[Trident]

The prices some people want for a domain name are incredulous to me. Over on YORF, Sunward rocketry listed some of the domains they have been holding and now want to get rid of, at a price of course. The least expensive that I noticed was 4fnc.com for a $100, ranging upward to $5000 for a couple different names, one being acmerocketry.com.

Now we're not talking about a fully set up website, it's just just the domain name being sold, and you have to pay the transfer fees and any future renewal fee with the domain name registry.

I saw that and was surprised he had not had any takers!

But I have no issues with the prices. If he gets what he wants, good for him. Capitalism at work. (So, will any sucker swallow the bait? I'd guess no ...)

[luke strawwalker]

The prices some people want for a domain name are incredulous to me. Over on YORF, Sunward rocketry listed some of the domains they have been holding and now want to get rid of, at a price of course. The least expensive that I noticed was 4fnc.com for a $100, ranging upward to $5000 for a couple different names, one being acmerocketry.com.

Now we're not talking about a fully set up website, it's just just the domain name being sold, and you have to pay the transfer fees and any future renewal fee with the domain name registry.

I saw that and was surprised he had not had any takers!

But I have no issues with the prices. If he gets what he wants, good for him. Capitalism at work. (So, will any sucker swallow the bait? I'd guess no ...)

Yeah that's true... Even if excessive...

Later! OL J R

[bernomatic]

As GH would say, let the buyer be ware.

[luke strawwalker]

Haha... Wow I guess someone else isn't exactly thrilled to see that going on either...

Get some popcorn, this could be interesting...
Here's a screencap of YORF this morning...

domainhoohah.jpg (189.37 KiB) Viewed 17874 times

Later! OL J R

[Commander]

In a past thread in my log, I spoke of what I thought was a shakedown by the internet dirties. Login Shakedown. Well here's another one as far as I'm concerned.

When you register your new domain, you have to give your address and phone number to the registry. This information is in the public domain, however, for a price (of course) you can keep this information private by using a service via the hosting company or some other such entity. If you don't use this service, I am of the opinion that the hosting agent gives your information to every internet design and/or programmer out there. I recall this happening when I first registered the dot net domain. This time I am getting between three and six calls a day, with maybe one speaking fluid English.

Of course I have thwarted each caller within two minutes of answering the phone, Usually it goes along these lines...

Haallu, Can I speak with Beeeernard?

This is he.

I am Abu calling from Meechigan about the new domain you just attained. I work for Wee Whiz Wizzards dot com and we are a company that can help you build your new site and make it beautiful

Abu, pause, you mean you trying to get me as a customer to build my website and you didn't even visit the domain yet?

<silence>

Abu I can tell you haven't, because if you had, you would notice there is already a fully built and functioning website there. So if you can't bother to even check the site first, why should I trust you to do a good job on building my site?
<me hanging up>


The only variation to this conversation came with the one of the few gentleman who did sound like a native American (and when I say native, I mean someone you was born here, not someone who's ancestors invaded and took over a couple millennia before mine did.) He wanted to sign me up for a billing service and asked if we take credit cards. When I informed him of the positive, he continued and wanted to know through whom (obviously again not someone who has spent any time on the site) and how much our billings were. No typically, I would have told him to go pound salt and that such things were none of his damn business (hell for all I know he was some dude from the IRS looking to make a name for himself). However, I was in a mood and decided not to pander to him, but use the truth and told him I was using PayPal for the credit card business and that since the beginning of the year I had made somewhere in the vicinity of $50, which would average to about ten dollars a month and if he thought I was going to give up even three dollars of that just to be able to pay him to have a credit card logo on my site (free advertising for the credit card) he was nuts.

and so it goes.

[luke strawwalker]

In a past thread in my log, I spoke of what I thought was a shakedown by the internet dirties. Login Shakedown. Well here's another one as far as I'm concerned.

When you register your new domain, you have to give your address and phone number to the registry. This information is in the public domain, however, for a price (of course) you can keep this information private by using a service via the hosting company or some other such entity. If you don't use this service, I am of the opinion that the hosting agent gives your information to every internet design and/or programmer out there. I recall this happening when I first registered the dot net domain. This time I am getting between three and six calls a day, with maybe one speaking fluid English.

Of course I have thwarted each caller within two minutes of answering the phone, Usually it goes along these lines...

Haallu, Can I speak with Beeeernard?

This is he.

I am Abu calling from Meechigan about the new domain you just attained. I work for Wee Whiz Wizzards dot com and we are a company that can help you build your new site and make it beautiful

Abu, pause, you mean you trying to get me as a customer to build my website and you didn't even visit the domain yet?

<silence>

Abu I can tell you haven't, because if you had, you would notice there is already a fully built and functioning website there. So if you can't bother to even check the site first, why should I trust you to do a good job on building my site?
<me hanging up>


The only variation to this conversation came with the one of the few gentleman who did sound like a native American (and when I say native, I mean someone you was born here, not someone who's ancestors invaded and took over a couple millennia before mine did.) He wanted to sign me up for a billing service and asked if we take credit cards. When I informed him of the positive, he continued and wanted to know through whom (obviously again not someone who has spent any time on the site) and how much our billings were. No typically, I would have told him to go pound salt and that such things were none of his damn business (hell for all I know he was some dude from the IRS looking to make a name for himself). However, I was in a mood and decided not to pander to him, but use the truth and told him I was using PayPal for the credit card business and that since the beginning of the year I had made somewhere in the vicinity of $50, which would average to about ten dollars a month and if he thought I was going to give up even three dollars of that just to be able to pay him to have a credit card logo on my site (free advertising for the credit card) he was nuts.

and so it goes.

LOL:) Never underestimate the way folks will try to make a buck...

OL J R