My surname is Benedetto and unfortunately "benedetto.com" is owned by a funeral services company. However I managed to register "benedet.to", which makes a great personal domain!
My only fear in owning an extremely personalized domain is that if for any reason I fail to renew the domain, some squatter could get it and do whatever he wants (it happened with my previous blog: someone picked up the domain and used it for a porn website. It took months to take down every link that still referred it as my personal blog).
I like the domain hack, good grab. Do you host your email on this domain? Are you launching the blog anytime soon?
I view a personal domain as an asset for life. On one hand some of my web projects may die and I'll subsequently let the domain drop, I view my personal domain in the opposite light.
I'm ready and willing to keep renewing year after year, the yearly cost is worth it, much like I need to renew my drivers license or pay property taxes, its just an annual expense that's a part of being me.
Thanks :) I use the free version of Google Apps with this domain for my email.
The best thing is that I'm de facto using the gmail web app, but if in the future I would like to change provider it will be a smooth transition, since my email address will remain the same.
My only fear in owning an extremely personalized domain is that if for any reason I fail to renew the domain, some squatter could get it and do whatever he wants (it happened with my previous blog: someone picked up the domain and used it for a porn website. It took months to take down every link that still referred it as my personal blog).