What’s in a .name?
I’ve been looking for a new email address that is portable, permanent, and memorable. Typical email addresses are usually tied to a single provider like Gmail, Comcast, or the organization you work for. If you leave the provider you have to get a new email address. For example, when I finish my Ph.D. at Georgia State I will need a new email address for my professional communication.
Another typical email address problem is that available addresses are often not very memorable (e.g. mrmj412@gmail.com), and may not correspond to your real name or may be too long.
One alternative is to purchase a domain name and use it with Gmail. However, unless you are fortunate, your last name is likely already taken for most top-level domains.
I’ve found a solution that solves the above problems?a third-level .name domain. While the top-level .com domain is for businesses and .org is for organizations, .name is for individuals.
Most .name addresses are only available at the third (subdomain) level because many second-level domains are reserved by the registrar and shared among many people. For example, someone could have the address john@vance.name, but not own the vance.name domain. Another person could have the email address isaac@vance.name.
However, you do control the subdomain which in my case is anthony.vance.name. This domain works like any other?currently it points to my server at http://anthony.vance.name.
A nice service provider for .name domain name registration is FreeYourID.com, which offers email and domain name forwarding for $11 a year. The .name domain is a nice solution?having a memorable and portable email address is definitely worth the money to me.