This web site is www.michaelhorowitz.com. The name "michaelhorowitz.com" is referred to, on the Internet, as a domain. Other domains are nypc.org, yahoo.com and google.com. The domain does not include the "www". 

Yahoo and Google are companies. NYPC is a large group. I'm a computer nerd. If you are none of these things, why do you need your own domain? Is it just the Internet equivalent of a vanity license plate? 

Having you own domain can be very useful: 

• By owning it, you are at the least, reserving it, so that no one else can use it. There are a lot of Michael Horowitz's. 
• You can, optionally, get email with it. For example, michael@michaelhorowitz.com or treasurer@nypc.org. For a business, email at your own domain looks much more professional than an AOL email address. 
• Needless to say, you can also get a web site with it. This too, is optional. 
• Your email address is insulated from ISP changes. Many many people still pay America Online $24 a month simply because they don't want to lose their AOL email address which everyone knows. Changing email addresses is a pain. However, once you have your own domain, you will never need to change your email address again. I can be reached with michael@michaelhorowitz.com, regardless of the company I work for or the Internet Service Provider I use. 

And it can cost under $10 a year!     

Come to the class to learn all about registering your own domain.

Some Topics: 

• How can you tell if a domain is already taken? 
• What information is publicly available about a domain? 
• The rules for domain names. This is mostly important when determining if a domain is really from the company it seems to be.
• Email options and features. That is, all about email from the other (server) side of the fence.
• Web site options and features including a very easy way to use web site storage space for file backups even if you don't have a web site.
• My experiences using a number of companies to register domains. The good ones and the bad ones.  
• My experiences using a number of companies to host web sites - again the good and the bad 
• What's all this cost? 

If any students want to, I will walk them through the process of signing up for their own domain after class. All that's needed is a credit card. 

The class is two hours.

Never trust a computer nerd who doesn't have their own domain. :-) 

Mastering your own domain by Ed Bott March 8, 2006

www.webhostmagazine.com