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How To Register a .is Domain Name

This article describes how anyone can register a “.is” domain. And how to associate it with a current name server (ex. forward to a website and email). This does not discuss website hosting issues.

Why “.is”?

The Icelandic .is domain names are becoming very popular. McAfee  ranks it as one of the more secure top-level domains (TLDs). You might be more familiar with more popular TLDs such as .com, .net and .org. This is because Iceland is one of the most pro-privacy nations in the world. And even the Pirate Bay  seems to be starting to using it.

Another good reason to get yourself a .is domain name is because there are only about 40,000 registered. This means that domain name you’ve always wanted has a very good chance of being available at a reputable TLD. It also sounds cool as it plays on words such as who.is and christina.is.

What You Need: 

While there are a few places you can register a .is domain, such as 101domains.com and gandi.net. They often require you to purchase web hosting plans. And personally, I believe there are much better places to host your website at a better price and performance ex. KnownHost.com.

*Internet á Íslandi hf. (ISNIC)*

This is THE best and original registrar to purchase your .is domain.

It costs about 39 Euros or $52 USD. This is the most cost effective place to register your domain as others can cost up to or more than $100 USD to $300 USD with web hosting.

UPDATE: June 10, 2015: ISNIC tweeted me that it actually costs 29.90 Euros since Dec, 2014. Even better deal! 

The Main Issue:

I encountered this the hard way and spent quite a while trying to figure how to point my new .is domain to my current web host. You will quickly find out that ISNIC has very strict rules and only allows you to direct your .is domains to a limited number of domain hosts. For example, I could not simply direct the .is domain to my VPS name server on Knownhost as they do not comply with the ISNIC rules.

There are some work arounds, as ISNIC does allow a simple “web forwarding” function.

Domain Name Server (DNS) Service:

However, if you want to do things like have access to MX records, you need to use a registered DNS service. While registering a .is domain on ISNIC, you will come across that list of all the web hosts and name servers that can comply with their standards. Many of these are in Icelandic and are hard to understand. However, I found some good and free ones available in English. These are the cream of the crop:

  1. 1984 Hosting  is the free DNS service that I personally used.
  2. http://x.is (free) (use Peter Hartree’s Icelandic instructions linked at end)
  3. http://www.zoneedit.com and https://dnsimple.com are paid services.

Right now I moved my DNS service to 1984 Hosting which is free. They are well established from 2006, have a mission to maintain the privacy of their clients and only use green-energy to power their services.

As a company (1984.is) and it’s officers will always go the extra mile to protect the customers civil rights, including the freedom of expression, the freedom of the press, the right to anonymity and privacy.

Now that is a very confident statement indeed!

Once you choose one of these services, you will be prompted to set up your A record. All they want you to do is point to your websites IP address. For example, “host= newdomain.is” and “IP address of newdomain.com (webhost)”.

Next,  you will want to go back to the ISNIC registrar and point your .is domain to the DNS service ex. If you use 1984.is, their name servers are ns0.1984.is, ns1.1984.is and ns2.1984.is.. At ISNIC, you can also simply choose 1984.is or X.is from their drop down menu of selected services and it will automatically fill out the name servers for you.

Setting up Google Apps for Business (hosted exchange email) MX records 

If you’re like me, you want to send and receive emails at your brand new .is domain. There are some really good places to high quality email such as Rackspace, FastMail, Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps for Business.

All of these fine services will ask you to point your MX records to them. For example, the MX records Google wants you input in your DNS service is here. I know some of you may have a thing against handing over your precious data to the likes of Google and Microsoft, so consider independent ones like Rackspace or FastMail for sure.

For all of these email services, the process is pretty much the same, in that you just need to change the MX records in 1984.is (DNS service) to Google Apps (or other).

And that’s pretty much it. You registered your new .is domain, found a DNS service, associated them together, forwarded the .is domain to your web host and set up an email service for it. Enjoy!

Links I found useful setting up my .is domain: 

 

2013/08/08
5091
Technology

Taking GMOs to a New Level of Yuck

While I can understand why some people in the world think this is a good idea. Such as reducing the amount of methane produced by cows. Which destroys our ozone. And it also can meet the rapidly growing demand for beef. I just don’t think it would be a good idea to mass produce it just yet. Regular genetically modified organisms (GMO) already have a load of negative factors against them. This new process just kicks things up a notch. Who knows if this lab-made protein source causes cancer or allergic reactions to the human body? More trials and clinical tests must be performed for many years before it is given to the public for consumption.

2013/08/06
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Technology

Vetoed

The Obama government just vetoed Samsung’s proposed ban on AT&T’s Apple phones prior to iPhone 4S, iPad 2.

“After extensive consultations with the agencies of the Trade Policy Staff Committee and the Trade Policy Review Group…I have decided to disapprove the USITC’s determination to issue an exclusion order and cease and desist order in this investigation…”

This ruling came in after T-Mobile executive VP of public policy  and general counsel Randal Milch, wrote an open-plea for Obama to prevent the potential ban from taking place. This affects the company as T-Mobile might have maintained around 400,000 subscribers due to the introduction of the iPhone 5 to their line up.

Basically, Samsung did not want Apple to use some of their standard essential patents. Practically, these patents allow a device to connect to an industry standard such as a 3G network. The owners of these essential patents have a duty and responsibility to licence them to anyone at a reasonable fee. However, in this case, Samsung wanted to use some of Apple’s patents (non-standard essentials). And of course Apple would not allow their crown jewels go just like that.

Well done Mr. President. You deserve a third-term.

2013/08/03
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Technology

Apple Maps 2.0

Apple is not giving up and is heading in the right direction in the future of it’s built-in iOS Maps app.

More people today, especially those in big cities, are having to rely on third-party apps (on any OS) for their local transit and walking routes.

Today, Apple Inc. has formally announced the acquisition of two mapping companies.

The first one mentioned by AllThingsD is Toronto-based startup Locationary.

Not only does Locationary ensure that business listing data is positionally accurate (i.e., the restaurant I searched for is where Apple said it would be), it ensures that it is temporally accurate as well (i.e., the restaurant I searched for is still open for business and not closed for renovation or shuttered entirely). And that sort of clean location data could go a long way toward improving Apple Maps and distinguishing it from rivals

Next is Hopstop.

Hopstop shows users in more than 500 cities the fastest way to travel by foot, bike, subway and car.

Personally, I’ve never had any problems with Apple’s native Maps app but do notice Google still has more data. But remember that it took Googles a significant amount of time and years to get to where they are today. Even though Apple got off to a rocky start, I am confident to say that within the next year or two, I will be solely using the iOS app.

2013/07/19
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