Tom’s Graphic Design Journal

Buying domain names can be quite addictive. I hate when people buy them for no reason other than to sell them...good for them if a big company pays them a lot of money...shame on them if some individual or small group without a lot of money really could use that domain.

I think it's horrible that there's so much claimed "estate" on the internet that's completely vacant. It's such a waste. I don't even think people will make money selling some of these domain names. Think about it. I wanted trinitycreative (one word) but it doesn't exist. I also wanted a few other similar names that did exist but were for sale. Now, who's going to pay these morons for those names? Well I might...but how much? I wouldn't spend any more than $50-100 on the name. It's not worth it to me otherwise. I have www.trinity-creative.com. I'm not going to make any money off trinitycreative *edit: actually, it was trinitydesign.com *, I have a site for business already...

Let's say the person who registered a name I wanted or a name some garage band wants can only find people willing to spend $50 on the name. Was it really worth it? No. They'll be upset too because someone somewhere told them it was a good idea to be clever and get names. So they probably won't sell it and look dumb for not making much or actually losing money.

So the point to my rant here is this: Try not to register a domain name unless you intend to use it, or if it's really really good/clever and you think you would stand to make a lot of money...like the dude who sold the domain for the iphone. Yea, good deal there! Only in that case, I believe the guy was actually using the site legitimately!

I hear now if you aren't using the site legitimately, companies can push and force you to give it up. Is that true? I don't know. I think that's just as wrong as wasting good domain names.

Anyway, I registered Trinity Creative - www.trinity-creative.com and it will be my new site for showcasing new and experimental work. Why trinity? Photography, web design, and print design of course. It will host stuff that doesn't quite fit into my portfolio either because I don't feel it's strong enough or because it's too out there. It's also going to be for people I work with/for so I can transfer files, share things, etc. Of course I won't give up my flickr page, but I need more capabilities than what flickr offers. I will probably custom code this site too...which will be an experiment in itself. Now, when will I have the time to actually work on that site since I don't have time to update my blog?

*edit: Phew! I got just plain Trinity Creative too, wow, how did I miss that one?

Long time since I posted anything. Simply too much work, though I am learning a lot and should take more notes here. While I won't forget this piece of information anytime soon, because I use it, I still feel it's very noteworthy to anyone who might still read my blog ...it's also nice to give them a link and advertising since they are doing a great job.

Who are they? A company/group/entity (I believe a company) that created a great project management tool called Assembla. While there exists many other project management tools like basecamp, etc. Assembla is among the top in my book. Though it is geared more for application development, it can be used for any design project really.

They have a free version (offering more than basecamp for free) and subscription service features. One thing they do that basecamp doesn't is provide a community of projects and talent. So one could search for services they need and work with people on their community which ties into their tools. Way cool.

The most beneficial thing about Assembla that really sets it apart from other solutions on the web is their trac tool. They offer a free trac tool that includes ticketing, svn, and wiki. WOW! You can choose to share the trac or keep it private. This is a PERFECT solution for many developers like myself that are in fact very busy with work and need to access their projects from a variety of locations and need to make sure files are in sync (and don't know how or don't have the ability to setup a trac someplace online).

It's also great for group work...hopefully I can convince some people at work to take advantage of it. Though my work doesn't have a need for it for every project, there are a few cases where it would be nice.

I would highly reccommend Assembla. Go check it out!