We started using NameCheap as our registrar at about the time it was implied that even women who excel at their fields (race car driving, personal training, etc), need their breast ogled by nerds. As proud nerds we would like to make it clear, breasts can be many things, many of them delightful, but decision criteria for domain registration ain’t one of them.

Now there comes news that the CEO of GoDaddy has gone from standard middle-aged compensation methods (fast cars, objectifying women, Viagra) to more extreme methods. He shoots elephants because they really really deserve it.

So we are moving every active domain, including those that won’t renew for years. As we do it, we realized that there are many opaque parts of the process. Here are some explanation we hope help others:

• Where are my domains?

When you start the checkout process at Name Cheap and type on all the domains you want to change, you may not see all the domains you expect. That’s because the domains may be “locked” at godaddy (it’s the default). Log in to GoDaddy go to the domain screen (https://dcc.godaddy.com/Default.aspx?activeview=domain&reset=0&filtertype=1) and hit the icon that looks like a lock. Click on that to unlock the account. Do this for all the domains you want to transfer.

• What’s an EPP code?

Once you get all your domains unlocked, you’ll go to the invoice screen, and you’ll probably be asked for an EPP code. That’s a code that your current domain registrar gives you to prove that you’re the owner of the domain. There’s a good explanation of how to get your EPP code from godaddy here: http://reviewboss.com/finding-epp-code-on-godaddy-com.html

• Is there a discount code I can use?

There sure is. Use BYEBYEGD and right now you’ll take the price from $8.99/site to $5.99/site. While it ticks me off to pay to transfer a domain I’ve already paid to transfer, and that I will eventually pay to re-register, at least for now, $1 per transfer goes to help elephant populations.

There is a real problem with some rogue elephants in Africa. As elephant habitats shrink due to encroachment, global climate change, and natural migration there will have to be some solutions found. Maybe allowing middle-aged white guys from the US to play out their fantasies of White Man’s Burden is one way. We are willing to pay to see if there are other ways, and to do that in part by changing our domain registrar

Last Saturday, Jon and I spent the morning at C2SDK’s monthly computer giveaway.

Computers 2 SD Kids is a wonderful two-fer organization: it helps low-income families, and it helps the environment. It does this by accepting donations of used computers and other electronics from individuals and local companies, refurbishing the computers, and giving them to families. The computers that can’t be refurbished—and the other electronics—are recycled, which provides cash for C2SDK’s programs.

The monthly giveaways are fun, and go by in a blur. There are always a few frustrating and/or comedic moments, like when Jon, who spends the events directing traffic, had to pluck a small Muslim man out of the way of a speeding car. Or when a recipient gets upset that their monitor is not only a lowly CRT instead of the much-preferred LCD, it is a different color from the computer! And the mouse is yet another color—ack! Or when someone shows up with their application and wants their computer right now, instead of going through the approval process like everyone else in line had to do.

Then there are the touching moments, like the time it just happened to be a little girl’s birthday. She squealed with delight when she got her system.

Our September giveaway was particularly poignant, as it was held on September 11. With the protests and counter-protests going on at various national sites that day, I found myself looking at the line of white, Hispanic, black, and Muslim families and thinking that this was a better way to spend the day: helping Americans in need, no matter where they were from or how long they’d been here.