IMNS » Lists http://www.iamnatesmith.com Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:18:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Domain Search Tools http://www.iamnatesmith.com/domain-search-tools/ http://www.iamnatesmith.com/domain-search-tools/#comments Sun, 08 Aug 2010 23:45:29 +0000 imns http://www.iamnatesmith.com/?p=7 Finding that perfect domain is a lot of work.  I personally have spent literally whole days trying to come up with something short, clever and with keywords in it.  I know there are a lot of different tools out there, but most have a few key flaws that make them undesirable to me.  Like for instance generating random words but not checking if the words are a registered domain.  It also seems like a lot of domain tools were designed in 1999 and haven't been updated since.  Fortunately, I have found a couple of really good tools that can help when searching for a good domain.

BustAName

This app is hands down the greatest tool I use when looking for a new domain.  It has so many amazing features, but just listing them off here doesn't do it justice.  You really should go try it out for yourself, it's free and you don't have to signup for an account.

BustAName has two great feature, the first being that you can just type a domain in and it will tell if you if the .com, .net or .org are available.  This is extremely useful when your brainstorming or trying out variations of  word.  The other great features is it's ability to combine words in a list into into two word domain combinations.   Each word in the list has it's own thesaurus for finding synonyms which comes in really handy for finding even more variations that you didn't wouldn't have come up with on your own.   This is really just the tip of the iceberg with this app, you should absolutely  go check it out.

Domain Pigeon

This site is sort of hit or miss, but I like the concept of it.  It takes a lot of 5 letter or less gibberish domains and lists them all in one place.  Most the time, the domains listed are crap, but every now and then you see something that is actually good.  A diamond in the rough.

Domainr

This is a clever little tool to help you find domains like: del.icio.us.  These domains can get out of hand fast, so you have to keep it simple and creative when choosing one.

]]> http://www.iamnatesmith.com/domain-search-tools/feed/ 0 My 7 Favorite Web Design / Programming Blogs http://www.iamnatesmith.com/my-7-favorite-programming-blogs/ http://www.iamnatesmith.com/my-7-favorite-programming-blogs/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 16:39:40 +0000 imns http://www.iamnatesmith.com/?p=20 There are a ton of lists out there like this, but I thought I would share my favorites.  Most if not all have good quality content and avoid the fluff.  You can also learn a lot and keep up with the latest trends by spending some time on these sites.

Nettuts+
Probably my favorite site on this list. Nettuts+ has a ton of useful information and tutorials. A great place to get your jQuery fix on.

Noupe
Noupe is a just a staple resource if you are designer.  It's a super quality site with a ton of good tips.

1stwebdesigner
If you like lists, then this site if for you.  Focused a lot on design and wordpress, I've gotten a lot of good information from this site.

Smashing Magazine
Just a good all around web design blog.

Six Revisions
A lot of good industry information.

CSS Tricks
This site has a ton of resources available for you.  They have great articles, freebies and a good code snippets section.

Smashing Apps
This blog has some good posts covering a wide range of topics, that keep me interested.

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