This page permanently redirects to gemini://rainywhile.net/gemlog/2024-09-15-new-domain-name.gmi.

Goodbye gem.billsmugs.com, hello rainywhile.net!

Back in May, I posted a gemlog entry about how I was considering changing the domain name for this capsule (as well as my standard username more generally):

=> 2024-05-25: What's in a Name? (Considering changing my online identity)

I'm pleased to announce that the new (and hopefully final) domain for this capsule is 'rainywhile.net'!

Why?

See the above linked entry for details on why I wanted to change the domain in the first place. As for why I settled on rainywhile.net, I might discuss it more in future, but for now here's a few bullet points:

• I've always quite liked the rain. I don't enjoy getting caught out in it unexpectedly, or walking to/from work in it, but I love the cosy feeling of sitting in a warm house watching the rain pour down outside and I even like walking in the rain if I'm properly prepared for it.
• I like the way it looks written down and sounds out loud.
• It doesn't (to my eye) have any of the drawbacks I noted with billsmugs.com.
• I feel like the .net suffix is a better fit for my capsules/websites than .com. I'm a person on the net, not a company! (I know the .net TLD was originally intended for network infrastructure and .com hasn't been purely commercial for a long time, but .net still feels like a better fit for me).

What about existing links to gem.billsmugs.com?

All gem.billsmugs.com URLs should automatically redirect to the same path on rainywhile.net. The structure of the capsule hasn't changed, so everything should still work. Please let me know if this doesn't seem to be working somewhere.

The billsmugs.com domain is fully paid up until 2028 and I'll almost certainly renew it again then (as I use it for various other things and it's not much money), so there's no urgent need to update any links.

I'm using the Gemini status code 31 (Permanent Redirect) for the automatic redirection, so there's a chance that your client will automatically update any bookmarks or feed subscriptions when you first access them.

What about other subdomains/usages?

For now, I've only switched gem.billsmugs.com over to use the new rainywhile.net domain. In the near future I'm planning to do the following:

• Create a (slightly cut-down) mirror of this capsule on the web.
• Move https://me.billsmugs.com over to https://me.rainywhile.net (again with automatic redirects from the old site).

I haven't yet decided what to do with the following:

• toki.pona.billsmugs.com (on gemini and the web) - I don't update this very often and might leave it where it is.
• https://photos.billsmugs.com - This will eventually move over to rainywhile.net, but I might just merge it into the web version of the capsule (rather than a separate subdomain), once that's ready.
• misfin.billsmugs.com - I've not really kept up to date with developments on the Misfin protocol and it's extremely rare that I receive a Misfin message. The way Misfin support is plugged into my server isn't great either. Eventually I'll either abandon Misfin altogether or rework the server-side so I can send/receive messages @rainywhile.net rather than a subdomain, but for now it's staying put as-is.
• Emails - I have some email addresses that I use (but don't post publicly) that are at billsmugs.com. These will remain valid and I haven't (yet) set up email at the new domain (although I plan to do so).

Thanks

Finally, I want to give a huge thanks to Nat (of njms.ca) and Cadence (of cadence.moe) for their helpful and insightful comments sent in response to the "What's in a Name?" post!

=> gemini://njms.ca
=> gemini://cadence.moe