Scrambling to Save My Free Domain Names

As I mentioned previously, I've been having fun setting up simple websites for myself and a few others. I wanted to use custom domains for these simply because they look better and are easier to remember than the free subdomains that come with free blogs. I mean, which would you prefer, riadess.com or riadess.blogspot.com?

The thing is, buying domain names can be an expensive undertaking. I bought the domain for this blog, but I wasn't willing to shell out money for a domain that might not even be used much by the person I would give it to. That is why I searched for free domain names. I acquired a few and mapped them to the websites I set up. I also reserved some to be used for future projects.

This past week, I received a few messages from the free registrar.

Some domain names that I got for free were cancelled because I didn't use them immediately.

It turns out that if you don't use the domains immediately, they can and will be cancelled. Caveat emptor. I lost a few and had to set up temporary websites for the ones that were left.

Now I have three new websites:
The first two are hosted on Blogger (just like this one) and the last one is hosted on Tumblr. Why Blogger and Tumblr? Both of these services allow users to map domains for free. You can also tweak the HTML code a bit. I would have loved to go with Wordpress, but the fully-hosted version charges $13 a year just for domain mapping. The self-hosted version is free, but obviously, I would need to set up a hosting account somewhere. There are a lot of free web hosting services out there, but most of them charge a fee for domain mapping or have minimum use requirements (a certain number of views over a certain period of time) or both.

If you would like to recommend a free web host that lets you customize the HTML code and map domains for free, please let me know.

Why, you may I ask, am I setting up new blogs when I can barely handle this one? I enjoy the learning process, and I love tinkering. Then again, perhaps I'm a glutton for punishment, ha ha.
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Challenging Myself to Read More

I discovered Goodreads in the middle of 2014. They had a reading challenge, and I signed up for it. I don't remember how many books I had hoped to read, but I only managed to read 5 books.

I joined again this year and pledged to read 52 books. Unfortunately, I have only found time to read six.

Ria has read 6 books toward her goal of 52 books for the 2015 Goodreads reading challenge.


That makes me really sad, because I truly love books. When I was a kid, there were times that my mother would turn my bedroom lights off in order to get me to stop reading and go to sleep. To her chagrin, however, I would simply sit next to the window and read by moonlight.
 
I still have approximately 40 days before the year ends, so I might still be able to reach my target. If I read at least three books every two days, I'll be finished in no time. No thick novels though -- I'll save those for next year. For now, I need to stick to books with less than 100 pages.  I searched online and found these lists:

1. 15 Life-Changing Books You Can Read in a Day -- Time
2. Most influential books under 100 pages -- Goodreads
3. 50 Thin Classics -- Alameda County Library
4. These Amazing Classic Books Are So Short You Have No Excuse Not To Read Them -- Huffington Post
5. 8 Most Influential Books Under 100 Pages -- WhytoRead
6. The Best Books Under 100 Pages Every Guy Should Read -- Cool Material
7. 35 classic quick-read books -- London Free Press
8. 50 short books for busy people -- Ebook Friendly
9. 24 books to read in under an hour (infographic) -- Ebook Friendly

24 books to read in under an hour (infographic) | Ebook Friendly
Via Ebook Friendly

I think I will be able to complete this challenge.

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