How to use Java to check whether a domain exists without any external libraries

You wanted to buy a domain for your personal website. You found a whois service and it told you that your domain is available. You are elated and tried to acquire the domain through your favourite registrar. However, your registrar told you that the domain had already been taken.

Isn’t that frustrating? Well, it happened to me once and I was determined never to use the whois service of those unscrupulous sites ever again.

So how can you check whether a domain name is available by yourself? When you have a computer at hand, you can find several ways to do so. In this post, I share how you can check whether a domain exists with the Java programming without using any external libraries.

How to get your Raspberry Pi 3 to use Namecheap dynamic DNS to update your domain when your home’s public IP address changes

When you do not leave your modem and router on 24-7, chances are that your public IP address will change. As I had noted in how to host multiple website at home, a public IP address is needed for HTTP clients to reach your HTTP servers at home.

On the other hand, a domain name allows us to map some meaningful English characters to that public IP address. Therefore, it is easier to access our servers with a domain name rather than an IP address.

Although you can get a free subdomain from a dynamic DNS provider, getting your own domain name from a domain registrar like Namecheap can be better. On one hand, you get your own online branding for establishing yourself or your business on the Internet. On the other hand, you are resilient to having your domain shutdown by the dynamic DNS provider for any reasons that is beyond your control.

Previously, I shared why Namecheap is the best domain name registrar for hosting your web server at home. One of the reasons is that Namecheap provides dynamic DNS for us to update the host records of our domain whenever our public IP address changes. Since Raspberry Pi 3 is an affordable, small and energy efficient single board computer, you can get it to use Namecheap Dynamic DNS service to update your domain when your home’s public IP address changes.

In case you need it, this post shows how to get your Raspberry Pi 3 to use Namecheap dynamic DNS to update your domain when your home’s public IP address changes.

Why buy Logitech MX Master 2S wireless mouse?

When my mouse cursor starts jumping around the screen randomly, the search for a better mouse begins.

Since I had been using a budget mouse for nearly a decade, I decided to go with comfort and efficiency for a change.

After doing some research, I got myself a Logitech MX Master 2S wireless mouse. That turns out to be a pretty good investment for me.

In case you are looking for a new mouse and need some buying reference, here are some reasons why I like my Logitech MX Master 2S wireless mouse.

How to capture the coordinates of your mouse as it moves along a path with jQuery

When you want to move an object on your web page, you can do so by setting the top and left property of that object to several screen coordinates along a path of travel. Although you can create those coordinates by hand, it is more efficient to capture those coordinates using your mouse.

Previously, I had discussed:

• How to use jQuery to detect mouse clicks and
• How to use jQuery to get mouse cursor coordinates when mouse moves

In this post, we extend those ideas to build a simple mechanism that captures the coordinates of your mouse as it moves alone a path.

Why Namecheap is the best domain name registrar for hosting your web server at home

Basically, a HTTP client contacts a HTTP server with an IP address. For example, when you access google.com, your web browser could be using 74.125.24.100 as the IP address to contact one of Google’s web servers. Although an IP address is what HTTP clients used for contacting HTTP servers, a domain name is easier to remember.

So if you want to host a web server at home, it is recommended that you get a domain name to make accessing your web server easier. In case you are looking for a domain name registrar to purchase a domain for your home server, this post discusses why you may want to buy from Namecheap.