Sep 27

So here’s the story.

It’s about time for my dotMac subscription to renew, and I’ve been thinking for some time that it’s not really worth the 99 bucks a year. And this is from me, your favorite Mac freak.

But really, I don’t have my very own music to share, I don’t have photo albums to share, or movies, or calendars. And if I did, I’m sure I could find much cheaper options.

Meanwhile, I’d like to play with some CGI and some AJAX tech, neither of which I can do with either dotMac or a blog hosted on blogger.com. And for practically the same amount of money, I could have my own web domain and web hosting service, with all sorts of neato toys to play with. Even if I never get around to making this site any less dull, it’s a better deal all around.

And so we come to this unfortunate URL I’ve chosen.

Although the name of this site will probably remain the same, I’m not feeling like ‘extending the brand presence’ of my old ‘drewbert’ moniker. A quick google search for drewbert turns up me, along with all sorts of other people I don’t feel like sharing with. And a drewbert domain name? Drewbert.com and drewbert.net are already taken and the best I could hope for would be drewbert.info. Not interested.

So what else could I choose for my new home on the web? PoorExcuse.net is available at the moment. It’s memorable, if overly self-deprecating.

I spent a good portion of last night trying out random phrases and seeing if anything good was available. Nothing good was available. On a late-night whim of desperation, I actually tried randomphrase.com and found a site that generates, well, random phrases. Not only that, it checks to see if that phrase is registered anywhere as a dot-com.

TouristMuffler.com? Still available.
TrafficMartini.com? Still available.
KingOfTheLosers.com? Taken.
PissyCups.com? Still available.
ObliviousSombreros.com? Still available.
SexBombsEtc.com? Still available.
DentureBoyRacer.com? It’s yours for the taking.
PurpleHouses.com? Sorry. Not available.
EndlessErection.com? Astoundingly, still available.

None of these being at all intersting, I settled on a randomly-generated phrase which has been rolling around in my head ever since I got it as the subject line of a spam a year or two ago: Circumspect Fiesta. I can’t exactly explain why, but it has an arcane oxymoronic quality that appeals to me. It’s utterly meaningless. Kinda like this blog! And with my dotMac subscription about to expire, time was of the essence.

Anyway, if none of this makes sense, don’t worry. I don’t get it all myself. And I’m sure I’ll come to regret this move soon enough. It’ll be right after dotMac inevitably lowers its price and adds way cool new features. Which with my luck will occur in about three weeks.


Sep 27

On the move…

It’s finally happened. I’ve got my own .com domain, and this here blog is moving to it. If I understand correctly, the drewbert.blogspot.com site will retain everything up until this post for at least some time. Therefore, I must direct you to the new site which is, regrettably, known as:

www.circumspectfiesta.com

A rational-sounding explanation will be forthcoming as soon as I’m sure the new site is all working properly. (And by the way, if you click on that link within a day or so of my posting this, the link probably won’t work. Patience, my friends.)

Anyway, the migration is about to begin. Cross your fingers, and I’ll see you on the other side.