Archives for June 2003
This past weekend I made a bit of a mistake. You see, I was at the grocery store Saturday morning picking up some things for breakfast, when I caught a glimpse of the new
Harry Potter book as I was checking out. On impulse, I threw it into the basket. So much for getting any studying in for the next few days.
Fortunately, I finished the book last night and will be getting back to studying any time now. I just wish that I could plow through my exam prep text as quickly as I made it through the Harry Potter book.
Well, it looks like I've caught the certification bug. Becoming an
MCSD is something that I've been wanting to do for a couple of years or so, but I always was able to find an excuse to put it off. Well, I am putting it off no more!
This afternoon I took the plunge and bought some
Transcender exams and ordered a couple of prep books. The web app exam is up first. I'll keep you posted on my progress.
what I would like to offer as compensation for your inconvennience is a new domain or renewal of a domain with your choice of service level. Please let me know if you find this acceptable and how you would like to proceed.
The above is from an email that I got from EasyDNS this afternoon. It arrived after I emailed them to say so long, and inform them that they had lost a customer.
I guess I will go ahead and stick around a while longer, seen as how I don't have anything expiring for at least 8 months.
RegisterSite.com looks like it has potential. Yearly cost per domain name is the same - $35 for domain registration, and it includes advanced DNS functionality.
Of course, I could just go back to doing DNS myself.
I use a company called
EasyDNS for nearly all of my domains. Primarily for DNS services, but for many, they are also my registrar. In some cases I've registered a new domain with them, in other cases I've transferred existing domains to them. Recently, I had a problem with them.
Last week, I initiated a domain transfer from Register.com to EasyDNS (openSRS). I paid the $15 invoice (which extends my domain registration out another year) at the same time, as I want nothing holding things up. Typically, within a couple of hours, I would get an email from openSRS, asking me to confirm the transfer. Once that is done, I would then get an email from Register.com asking me to confirm (usually within a couple of hours of confirming the openSRS email). After a couple of days it would be done. But not this time.
5 days and several emails later, I had yet to receive the confirmation email from openSRS. Being that EasyDNS is a reseller for them, that is who I emailed for information. Time and time again I was told I should be getting the email later that day. I never got it. Finally, I explicitly asked for them to contact openSRS and make sure the order had made it to them. Same bit of run around, with a "if it hasn't arrived by tomorrow, let us know and we will contact them." That wasn't good enough, seen as how I was asking them to contact them today. So I ask how I can get ahold of openSRS directly. A little while later, I get a reply saying they had contacted openSRS and there had been an issue with the transfer request, so it was resubmitted. What do you know, shortly after that, I get a confirmation email. I confirm. A little later, the confirmation email from Register.com. Oops, they are having problems. I contact their customer service. They responsd, saying to confirm the transfer in the body of an email reply to them. I do. Today I get an email back saying it has been rejected due to my domain now being expired. So now, I must pay Register.com $35 to renew, instead of the $15 to EasyDNS. Had it gone through like it was supposed to, everything would have been complete before the domain expired, and I would not be out the extra $20.
So I email Register.com and EasyDNS, letting both parties know all the details, and letting Register.com know that if I must pay the $35, they will never get another cent from me or anyone else whose decisions in this area I influence. I then let EasyDNS know that should I be forced to pay the $35, and should they not pick up the added cost I am incurring, they will not get any of this business, and that I would begin transferring all of my domains elsewhere -- for DNS service and domain registrar service.
So far I've heard from EasyDNS. They see two solutions:
There are two options at this stage - we can issue a refund for the $15.00usd paid to issue the transfer, or you can contact Register.com and find out how long they will hold onto your renewed domain before they will allow it to be transferred away - the time frame is usually 45 days.
Seems like to me that the $15 should be refunded no matter what at this point, since they aren't going to be able to provide me registrar service in the near future. Looks like they completely missed the part about how they won't be getting this business if they don't do the right thing and cover the difference, since they don't even mention it.
Well, I replied, reiterating what they need to do to keep my business. We'll see what happens, in the meantime, I will begin looking for a new company to provide DNS service, and as domains register via EasyDNS/openSRS come up for renewal, I will be transferring them elsewhere.
I was home yesterday with Jacob (my almost 3 year-old son). He had to stay home because he had a fever when he was picked up from school on Wednesday (ok, it's really glorified daycare), and they have a policy that didn't allow him to come back until he had gone 24 hours without a fever (fyi: he was feeling ok by yesterday morning).
Early afternoon comes around and it is time for his nap. I tell him "you can take a nap in your room, or you can take a nap in the living room, your choice." He responds with "living room, but I can't see the TV with my eyes shut."
*smart ass*
It was great to meet Ruth Walther, both she and Stephen are relieved now that the new version of the Community Starter Kit is complete and unleashed.
[Eli Robillard's World of Blog.]
Oh man, how did I miss this? I guess this is what happens when you "disconnect" for a week or two. And just when I thought that I was done with the site I used the beta of the CSK on...
I went with a couple of co-workers to check out the latest addition to the downtown Fort Worth restaurant scene today,
Zolon an everyday bistro.
The food was outstanding. I had the Western Salad and Three (pizza, see the menu). I also had a taste of Four (again, pizza, see the menu). Everything was delicious. Very fresh, and very tasty. Almost everything is offered in half-orders, and they suggest you go that route -- mixing and matching items to suit your taste.
If you find yourself around Sundance Square in Fort Worth, and are in need of a meal, check out Zolon.