I blog at this domain.  I'm happy with this.  Why?  Its not because I'm too lazy or too frugal to spend a cent for my own domain.  :P

I used to have my own domain.  Its no longer active this time.  I didn't even bother to take off my personal files from my site before it expired.  I have gotten busier each passing day.  And, the thing is, when you do have your own site, it gives you too much freedom to play around and explore.  Hey, after all, your own domain is closest possible thing (for those reluctant to spend money) to getting their own server.

Now, why is it that I do not have my own domain when I surely can afford it and surely have the capability to maintain it?  Here are the reasons why:

  1. I'm too busy.  Heck, I have a full time job where I'm still trying to figure out how I can be a fortress for the company in my own way and still is doing some freelance projects too.  Blogging and keeping stuffs online is the job of social networking sites and online sharing sites.  I should keep stuffs clustered in their proper shelves.  Its only a matter of choosing which services to keep for good, and which to just have for playing around. ;)
  2. I'm too critical.  If I'd own a domain, its gonna be a selfish idea.  I'd rather build the best company site or run a web service that is loaded with tons of requests at a time than spend time doing these for my own site.  After all, my private work will still be part of my accomplishments, right?
Only two reasons?!  Hehe.. thing is, being critical is just a simple way to bundle all the details in one citing.  As a mission/vision for my (ideal) site, it should at all times be best, informative yet minimalistic.  Now, to expand, these are some of my considerations:
  • The site should sit in a quality, reliable server; where the server setup can also be flexible up to some extent (i.e., increase of disk space, bandwidth, etc..)
  • The hosting should be able to provide the required backend support for scripts I want to use (most likely PHP on Symfony framework or Ruby on Rails framework) and database server (commonly MySQL or PostgreSQL).
  • The script must at all times maintain an application structure where codes are reusable.
  • All images must be in PNG.  Use gifBot for gif images to evaluate/optimize bandwidth and loading time.
  • Designs must be table less as much as possible.
  • The pages must be designed carefully using CSS 2.0 and at least XHTML 1.0 Transitional.
  • Codes must be clean at all times and well documented internally and externally.  This will include proper nesting of codes, proper capitalization and correct variable namings, etc.
  • Every page must be usable and validated against W3C standards.
  • The site must be active at least once a week.
  • Content wise, everything must not be copyrighted.  Use correct, recurring and efficient keywords for maximizing search engines.
  • Monitor stats and loadtime at least twice a week and do something about it.  Use monitoring tools like awstats, heat maps, ranking tools, etc.
  • Provide a communication section (especially when offering viewer interaction).  This could be in the form of forums or a section for sharing ratings, reviews, etc.  Moreso, this could mean putting a support section for the users.
Sigh.. do you now see why I don't have my own domain?! :) I could pretty much do these things for my company or for my projects.  If so, a part of me will always remain with the fruits of my effort, or at least that's how I perceive it.  ;)