Aja Lapus

Tag: domain

  • Those Little Interconnected Things

    Ok. Now I’ve had my six days of fame.[1] Better get back to the regular blogging programming and routine. 😛 But, let me ask you first: How does a Web event, an impending increase in domain name prices, browser incompatibilities, and advertising limitations result to me having to think of making a new WordPress theme for my site?

    During the time before the 2nd CSS Naked Day, I decided to make a plugin for WordPress that would strip every piece of stylesheet information from a Web page. It was somehow successful given that I was only receiving 50–100 unique visitors a day prior to the creation of that plugin, which in turn made my statistics plugin jump to receiving 200–300 unique visitors a day. In addition to the plugin, Dustin‘s pun resulted to a lot more SERP referrals. More visitors equal higher rankings; my Alexa rank turned from above 3 Million to just above 700 thousand in 10 days.

    Since Text Link Ads consider Alexa as one basis for accepting ad publishers, I thought it would be better for me. And with the impending increase in .com domain name prices, I’m starting to think I really need the money. But, still, I haven’t had ad placements since I’ve reinstalled TLA on my theme,[2] so I think it would be better to go back to [or at least serve it at the same time with] Google AdSense which I have used even before TLA. I was just frustrated that AdSense won’t serve XML-compatible scripts or at least a <noscript> fallback for those who don’t want to or cannot display scripts of document.write nature.

    Since it’s equally hard to modify a theme to contain ad spaces than to make one from scratch, I thought it was better to move to a Version 4 for the site. And because WordPress have deprecated some functions since 2.1, and WordPress 2.2 is just around the corner, I think I’m better off making a new one.

    I then thought of the need to create a theme served only with Content-Type: text/html, since Windows Internet Explorer 7 also has no intention of accepting true XHTML. But, I’m having doubts of doing so since I’ve been a fan of XML rules[3] imposed on HTML since the time I’ve learned them. I’ve also read articles on how to use AdSense with true XHTML pages.[4] So, I would most probably stick to my current content negotiation scheme.

    I’ve actually started making a template with a Web 2.0-ish theme a week ago based on some tutorials I found on the Web. Although, upon showing it to Shari, she told me it was a bit too bright. So, I guess it would have to be redesigned since I don’t want my handful of regular readers straining their eyes, and to be looking at [or rather getting distracted by] the design more than they do at the content of my articles.

    So, I guess you just have to wait for the next version of this site. I am finally going to a pool to swim tomorrow, so don’t expect it to be that soon. *excited* 😛

    Footnotes:

    1. ^ April 1–6 recorded ~2500 hits from human visitors only—more than half of what each previous month’s worth of page views even without Bad Behavior blocking robots.
    2. ^ Maybe because of the irrelevant keywords? IDK. I just hope not.
    3. ^ Must be well-formed, lowercase, etc. Therefore, cleaner and more readable.
    4. ^ One from Keystone Websites, and another from CSSplay thanks to Sir Regnard.

  • Gmail for My Domain

    Ever since I’ve received my first invite to beta test Gmail, I’ve been using it as my primary email as if it is already a release version of the Webmail client—no major bugs and excellent features. I am glad nothing from it disappoints me.

    I then came across a random blog entry that told me Gmail is offered for domain owners as a Webmail client. I’ve signed up to beta test Gmail for your domain on my domain, and now I’m using it instead of forwarding all email to ajalapus.com to my original Gmail account.

    Gmail for your domain inbox screenshot Here is a screenshot of my Gmail for your domain Inbox.

    Management seems easy, creating users and aliases for those users—I currently have two, one as a main user and the other as the catch-all (i.e., catch everything else) user. I haven’t encountered any bugs as of now. And, comparing Gmail for your domain to Gmail, I could only find two differences listed below:

    1. Gmail for your domain doesn’t have the ability to view and display avatars of Gmail contacts—no biggie.
    2. Gmail for your domain only has 2048 MB of storage compared to Gmail’s 2749 MB and growing—2 GB is still enough.

    Oh, and you could look at my sign in page—it’s so cool! 😛

  • A Different Kind of Easter Bunny

    First of all: Happy Easter, everyone! I seemed to have forgotten to greet you on my last entry because of certain excitement and happiness — proves Easter is a happy season. Well, I actually didn’t go right to happy mode when I woke up on Easter Sunday, I could not sleep for hours rolling on my bed trying to get the best sleeping position [or it may be because of something else]. All I know is I haven’t got sufficient sleep.

    As celebrities and other families celebrate their Holy Weeks on trips and vacations, our family usually spends it on fasting, abstinence, and heavy exercise. 😆

    This is the heavy exercise: Since our house was extended, I didn’t have time and space to arrange and clean up my things the best way I could. I ended up having the dirtiest room in the house or possibly the neighborhood. Ehehe … Anyway, since my room is the farthest from outside [or the facade of] our house besides from being the dirtiest, it was the first one we cleaned up. Now I have the cleanest room of the house! Yeah! And that’s not all. We moved my computer and television here from the library–et-cetera room beside mine. Again: my computer is in my room!

    But, I still haven’t finished tidying up everything that was left in the living room since we put everything there to be sorted out. About two days of cleaning still unfinished. Ehehe … I told you it was really a mess! My Easter bunny is a dust bunny. 😆

    Well, let us get out of that thought now. I’ve got a lot of plans for this website. I think it’s time for a redesign and restructure since my site info and about pages are becoming bloated and I am starting my web development career. I still haven’t got ideas for the design but I’ve finished the blueprint for the structure of the new version of this website.

    Oh, I’ve thought of an idea for a domain name but I’ve asked only from a handful of my friends. I still want some ideas for it so I will be putting off publicizing my idea a little later.

  • Mixed nuts

    Foreword

    Summer’s here; I have a lot of time to think. Now, compared to my usual post length, I’ve got you a longer one.

    Another day in my life

    Of course: my life’s story. I really can feel summer right now. No doubt. I’ve got tons of reasons to prove that:

    • Exhibit A: No water supply[1]
    • Exhibit B: Too damn hot outside
    • Exhibit C: It’s damn hot inside, too
    • Exhibit D: Second semester just ended
    • Exhibit E: Third semester[2] is starting 😆

    Summer: summer vacation or summer classes?

    I really am hoping for the former. Though I got a grade below the orginal intended passing grade, I wish it could be lowered to less than what I have. I have posted so many times about Phys 205, so I guess you know what I am talking about right now. *worried*

    First anniversary promo 😛

    As an online entity, I usually:

    1. Try to make friends
    2. Go with a flow; and
    3. Do whatever pleases me

    I see many people being hosted for free by other bloggers. Since I think I have superiority complex[3], I don’t like being the one hosted by another. Here’s what I want to do, then:

    Thinking about my domain’s anniversary this August, I was planning to buy an add-on domain to host bloggers since nobody would want a user.ajalapus.com address. But, I really do not know what people want as a domain name, so I am asking you. I decided to have a head start since I have a regular reader base of only less than ten that in time I hope I can have more responses than that.

    My rules and criteria:

    • criteria:
      • the domain should be:
        1. gender neutral; and
        2. appealing
      • it’s a plus if the domain:
        1. is something I could relate to
        2. is short; easy to remember; and
        3. comes with a .net extension[4]
    • rules:
      1. the domain should be available[5]

    Criteria and Rules updated 31 March 2006, 19:01

    Of course, I am not entirely sure if I can accomplish this. Money still governs the final decision.

    Now, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please respond below using the comment form. Thank you.

    New column

    With so much in mind, I think I’d like to open up a special category for just thoughts. So, just read after this entry, I have one I’d like you to respond to. 🙂

    Afterword

    I’ve just played TextTwist with my sister. I lost to “LUNACY” in the ninth round. Argh, I think I’ve become a deranged lunatic. 😈 Oh, my head hurts like hell!

    Footnotes:

    1. ^ No water supplyThe well in our village is undergoing maintenance and/or renovation. I really do not know the cause of it being made deeper, I just plainly concluded it is because of summer heat though a more complicated cause is more plausible.
    2. ^ Third semesterAs UST Engineering students would say: Third semester is another name for summer classes, for summer classes feels just like regular school days.
    3. ^ Superiority complexI think I actually have alternating superiority-inferiority complex — if such really exists — depending on the situation and the people involved.
    4. ^ .net domain extensionFor the domain will be a network of my friends and hostees.
    5. ^ Whois SearchCheck domain availability