Update – May 5, 2009

I emailed Stacy Burnette from the ICANN compliance committee.  She personally telephoned GoDaddy to resolve the issue.  She said that GoDaddy would be contacting me, but they never did.  I went ahead and retried the transfer, and it succeeded.  Thank you Stacy, and thank you ICANN for protecting the consumer!

GoDaddy proudly proclaims that they are the largest domain name registrar in the world, with over 28 million domain names registered.  At their sale price of $9.99 per year registration fee, the registration fees alone earn GoDaddy over $750,000 per day.  We’ve all seen it, the larger a company gets, the more they lose sight of their customers in pursuit of the almighty dollar.  GoDaddy is no exception.

Why is GoDaddy the most popular domain registrar?  Originally it was price and service.  Now, it’s mass marketing.  You may be surprised that GoDaddy is higher in cost than many competing registries.  For example, Name.com only charges $8.99 per year for domain registration.  Guess how much renewals cost at Name.com?  $8.99.  At GoDaddy, it costs $9.99 for a new registration, and $10.69 per year for renewal.

Name.com also has free private WHOIS.  GoDaddy charges an outrageous $9.99 per year per domain for this service.  Name.com also provides free DNS management, free domain forwarding, and free web hosting through Google.  I’m not trying to sell you on Name.com because they’re not even my favorite registrar, and the registrar I use is actually cheaper and provides even more free services.  I’m just making a point that GoDaddy is not the number one in value and hasn’t been for quite some time.  They are simply the most popular.

GoDaddy has started a trend of violating ICANN policies.  ICANN policies are created to protect you, the domain registrant.  You, the registrant, should be free to choose your own domain registrar and be able to transfer your domain to the registrar of your choosing unencumbered.  Fair competition keeps things in the consumer’s interest, and anything that obstructs that harms the consumer.

GoDaddy prevents you from transferring a domain to another registrar if you make a change to the registrant contact information.  This includes removing the private WHOIS from your domain or updating your email address.

I stipulate that GoDaddy recognized the fact that when you wish to transfer your domain to a competing registrar, the first thing you do is update the registrant email address so that you can complete the transfer.  In order to modify this information, GoDaddy forces you to “opt-in” to their policy, which prevents you from transferring the domain to another registrar within 60 days of a change to your registration information.  Most likely, this forces you to renew your domain for another year at GoDaddy at their ever increasing prices.

ICANN recently released an advisory against this type of policy, which GoDaddy has ignored.

ICANN policy states the following as the ONLY reasons that a registrar may deny a transfer:

1. Evidence of fraud
2. UDRP action
3. Court order by a court of competent jurisdiction
4. Reasonable dispute over the identity of the Registered Name Holder or Administrative Contact
5. No payment for previous registration period (including credit card charge-backs) if the domain name is past its expiration date or for previous or current registration periods if the domain name has not yet expired. In all such cases, however, the domain name must be put into “Registrar Hold” status by the Registrar of Record prior to the denial of transfer.
6. Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. – email, fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in means)
7. A domain name was already in “lock status” provided that the Registrar provides a readily accessible and reasonable means for the Registered Name Holder to remove the lock status.
8. The transfer was requested within 60 days of the creation date as shown in the registry WHOIS  record for the domain name.
9. A domain name is within 60 days (or a lesser period to be determined) after being transferred (apart from being transferred back to the original Registrar in cases where both Registrars so agree and/or where a decision in the dispute resolution process so directs). “Transferred” shall only mean that an inter-registrar transfer has occurred in accordance with the procedures of this policy.

Here is the email that GoDaddy will send when they deny the domain transfer:

The transfer of YOURDOMAIN.COM from GoDaddy.com, Inc. to another registrar could not
be completed for the following reason(s):

Express written objection to the transfer from the Transfer Contact. (e.g. – email,
fax, paper document or other processes by which the Transfer Contact has expressly
and voluntarily objected through opt-in means). 

The express written objection may be the result of a pending or recently completed
Change of Registered Name Holder. This is an opt-in process during which the new
Registered Name Holder agrees not to transfer for 60-days. This domain will be
transferable on MM/DD/YYYY.

GoDaddy tries to comply with reason number six from the list above.  GoDaddy implies that you expressed written consent and opted-in.  However, if you cannot opt-out, it is not an opt-in policy, and it is not voluntary.  GoDaddy will not let you opt-out.  I tested this by trying to transfer a domain within weeks of updating the registration information.  I talked to a GoDaddy supervisor on the telephone.  He not only refused to comply with ICANN policy, he hung up on me after he said, “Do you think that the world’s largest domain registrar isn’t familiar with ICANN policy?”  He contended that I agreed to the 60 day hold period when I clicked on one of the check boxes that  I was required to check in order to make the change to the domain.

So, you’ve been warned. Transfer your domains away from GoDaddy, and don’t wait too long.  Currently, I’ve filed a complaint with the BBB and am starting a major campaign through ICANN’s proper channels until GoDaddy stops violating ICANN’s policies and stops their unethical behavior.

Please join me in sending GoDaddy a message that we, the consumer, still matter, and there is nothing wrong with fair competition.

What can you do to help?

1. Unlock, retrieve your authorization code, and transfer your domains away from GoDaddy today
2. If they refuse to allow you to transfer your domains, file an online complaint to the BBB
3. Ask your new registrar to contact GoDaddy or initiate a Transfer Dispute against GoDaddy
4. File an official complaint against GoDaddy and site “Transfer Problems” as the issue
5. Get involved with ICANN

The only way that you can break the chain of consumer mistreatment is to spend your money elsewhere.  Today, I spent just a couple of minutes to transfer a couple of domains away from GoDaddy. Within the hour, they were in the account at my new registrar.  I don’t have to put up with GoDaddy’s endless service spam, bloated user interface, lack of free features, and ill will.

By the way, GoDaddy is not the world’s largest domain registrar.  In that sense, they are all created equal.  GoDaddy simply has more domain registrations than anyone else, which are just records in a database and are supposed to be free to move elsewhere.

Some CMS and Wiki systems have a great number of features, and are very popular, such as Joomla, WordPress, and MediaWiki.  However, all three of these use a database server as a back-end.  A database usually ends up being the best solution for a large site with a lot of content due to the efficient manner in which a database can look up data and its ability to handle concurrent users.  A file based storage solution can quickly grow beyond the capabilities of the file system for large data sets.

However, for small websites with minimal content (most of us fall into this category), a file based storage solution may be the better solution.  A file based system is less susceptible to failure due to it being less complex and not relying on the database.  It also uses less RAM because it does not rely on a separate database server.  Also, without a database server, it’s much easier to install, backup, and copy.

So, not only can file based systems be much smaller, some actually strive to be smaller.  They have smaller memory, storage, and CPU footprints.

NanoCMS is a rather new, very small footprint, file based, CMS system.   NanoCMS performed very nicely, tested on an old Pentium system running Ubuntu and Apache with only 384 MB of RAM.

DokuWiki is a file based Wiki system.  I haven’t tested this one yet, but it seems to be the most popular file based wiki system.  It has plenty of features and a feature rich syntax. DocuWiki would be great for that small to medium sized online documentation project.

It’s okay to go without a few features for the sake of simplicity and performance. Think about overkill and ask yourself if what you want is really what you need. When it comes to performance and maintenance, size matters, so think about keeping it small.

You do have to install the SPDIF cable on your video card and motherboard, and configure your audio settings to get it to work, but you only have to do this once.

Here are the steps to get audio and video over a single HDMI cable working with your  EVGA nVidia GTX 260 video card and EVGA 780i motherboard on Windows Vista x64:

1. Install the SPDIF cable that came with your EVGA nVidia GTX 260 video card. It connects from the EVGA 780i motherboard to the video card. Follow EVGA’s instructions for installing the SPDIF cable. The instructions are the same for your hardware, regardless of the fact that the instructions state they are for older versions of the hardware.
2. Download the latest nVidia reference drivers for your video card and install them.
3. Install the audio drivers for the Realtek chip set that came with your motherboard. After you install the drivers, you will see a new option in the Windows Control Panel called Realtek HD Audio Manager. You will find it in the category “Additional Options”, or you will see it in the alphabetical listing if you select Classic View in the Windows Control Panel. Realtek does not provide updated drivers, so unless you download updated drivers from EVGA, don’t install any other drivers. I reiterate: Do not install any drivers off of Realtek’s website.
4. Open the Realtek HD Audio Manager from the Windows Control Panel. You will find it in the category “Additional Options”, or you will see it in the alphabetical listing if you select Classic View in the Windows Control Panel.
5. Stay away from the “Digital Output” tab of the Realtek HD Audio Manager. This is not the setting you want. It does not affect the HDMI output.
6. Using the “DVI to HDMI adapter” that came with your EVGA nVidia GTX 260 video card, hookup an HDMI cable from one of the DVI connectors on your EVGA nVidia GTX 260 video card to the HDMI port on your digital television and ensure that your digital television is powered on.
7. On your digital television or other device, select the input that corresponds to the HDMI port that you have plugged your computer into.  The “HDMI Output” tab will now appear in the Realtek HD Audio Manager.
8. In the Realtek HD Audio Manager, select the “HDMI Output” tab.
9. On the “HDMI Output” tab of the Realtek HD Audio Manager, select the button “Set Default Device”.
10. Reboot your computer to be sure all the setting are properly configured and your drivers are installed.
11. Set your screen resolution to the maximum resolution that your digital television supports.
12. If you have another display device hooked up to the EVGA nVidia GTX 260 video card, you may need to configure the Mutliple Display Settings from the nVidia Control Panel to mirror or span your desktop across both displays.

I’ve read some other reviews about the PC version of Fallout 3, and most of the reviews are favorable, but I think that most of the reviews fail to explain exactly what is different about Fallout 3 that makes it so fun to play.

Fallout 3 is immersive.  From the very beginning, you are immersed into the Fallout 3 world, beginning with life inside the vault.  You eavesdrop on many conversations and can talk with most characters that you encounter.  People act and react believably, and you feel like you’re there.

Every survival decision includes a moral choice.  Will you try to be honest and fair?  Will you put your own needs above others no matter the consequences?  When there are tough decisions to be made, will you be able to make them?

There are so many different skills to choose from, how can a vault dweller understand which skills to improve?  What skills are useful in the wasteland?  It’s tough realizing that you have to live and die with your own decisions.  This is life outside the vault.

V.A.T.S. (the replacement for turn based combat)

I really like the game system.  Fallout 3 is basically a first person shooter, but you can pause combat at any time using the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.).  V.A.T.S. allows you to perform bullet time attacks by targeting individual enemies, including specific body parts, and even the enemy’s weapon.  However, you will most likely find yourself quickly running out of action points, so you must combat in first person shooter mode until your action points regenerate.  Your agility skill will determine the number of action points you get in V.A.T.S. mode.

It’s unfortunate that while in V.A.T.S. mode, the only thing you can do is target enemies.  In previous Fallout games, you could also move your character while in turned based combat.  Half of combat is maneuvering and effective use of cover, but since you can only shoot (or strike) in V.A.T.S. mode, you simply end up trading blows with the enemy.  Exchanging blows with the enemy is never a good strategy.

Some oddities

It’s amazing how trusting people are, leaving unsecured items out for you to steal.  The average person in the modern world has a tough time passing up such opportunities.  Placed in the post apocalyptic wastelands, it baffles me how people leave their items laying around for you to steal, unseen, with the only penalty being a loss of karma.

There seem to be a lot of bugs in the initial release of Fallout 3.  Make sure you save often.

It’s strange that if you hack a computer, then later find the password, the password wasn’t the same as the one you used to hack it.  In my opinion, that’s a bug.

Tips

Make sure you read the manual because the in-game training does not explain every abbreviation that you see in the HUD.

The in-game map is not very detailed, so try to learn the layout of the land as you walk through it and memorize landmarks.

Don’t try to steal a knife when you already own a pistol.  It’s not worth the trouble if you get caught.  Weigh the risk versus the reward.

Don’t believe the minimum requirements

Unfortunately, my computer only meets the minimum requirements for the game.   When fighting multiple enemies, even on the lowest video settings, the game is too slow and too unresponsive to be able to aim in first person shooter mode, so I am stuck with using V.A.T.S. for even close combat where I wouldn’t normally miss.  I run out of action points, and then I take damage from the enemies until I get enough action points to fight again.  The game is impossibly hard to play like that.

The game certainly lies about the minimum requirements.  Perhaps when they first started designing the game, they tested it with the minimum requirements and it was playable, but the final release is not playable with the minimum requirements.

If you can play Fallout 3 at medium video settings or above, please post a comment with your system specs so that I know what I need to upgrade.

Here are my specs:

• Windows XP SP2
• Pentium IV 2.4 GHz
• 2 GB RAM
• NVidia 7600 GS 256 MB

To play or not to play

If you are fanatic about Fallout 1 and Fallout 2, and you simply crave more quirky wasteland charm and drama, then you will get some of that, but in a much more bland and bleak way.  V.A.T.S. does not replace turn based combat, and the dialog trees are much smaller in Fallout 3.  The world just isn’t as complex, but it is prettier to look at.

If you are looking for an immersive, single-player, hybrid RPG/first person shooter game, set in a post apocalyptic world, with mildly adult themes, then this game is for you.

Is it worth $50 for the PC version?  In my opinion, it’s not.  It’s all a bit too short and simple.  Wait until the bugs are fixed, and the price comes down.  However, if price is no object, and you don’t demand a lot of value for your money, then buy it yesterday.  It is fun.