i saw on IRC people who had domain names instead of IP's. can i do that if i registered a free sub-domain for my ip ? eg:myname.domain.org (dns alias) please help me, very important

It doesn't always work like that. For you to have your own domain show in your connection, the most common way is to use a shell account with a Bouncer. This decreases security and increases lag though.

Usually your ISP decides whether you connect with an IP address or a resolvable hostname when you connect to the 'Net and there's no way to change it either way.

Decreases security? It signifigantly increases security. No one knows your real IP and therefore they can't attack you.

What about the owner of the server logging the data that passes through including passwords. Most probably don't but I don't trust them at any rate. I would much prefer to use a network (and I indeed do) that masks the IP/hostname so I get increased security without having to spend money on a shell account.

True, but then thats why you have to be security focused, you use a bouncer such as psybnc which supports encryption.

hahaha, Yeah it's a good way of doing things but still, for me it's just too much like hard work. Easier to use a network that masks IP's I reckon.

Yeah, but people seem to like the "i.am.l33t.com" hosts.

Actually, you can contact your ISP and ask them to give you a static IP and make your IP resolve to a hostname you like (you would need to pay them some small fee for this). Then set that hostname to resolve to your IP. Then connect to IRC and you'd be connected with the hostname not the IP

Of course, this makes you an interesting target for kiddies... but stay out of their way and you're okay.

Small fee? That depends on the ISP. With my ISP, the only way to get them to do that would be to purchase a commercial account, which makes the price jump from $35/month to $110/month; I wouldn't call that a small fee.

I do have a static IP of sorts, not technically static though it will last for several days without me using it and then get provided to someone else. The big problem is that my ISP already assigns a hostname 203.51.8.6 = CPE-203-51-8-6.nsw.bigond.net.au (Yes I did falsify some of the IP for this example) so if I was to use DNS which hostname would work, mine or theirs?

I could upgrade to a static IP with no drama and a fixed annual fee though the same hostname issue applies, I am stuck with one provided by the ISP.

You need both a static IP and reverse DNS that resolves to the hostname.

hehe, A little difficult for me at this stage unfortunately. I have three domain names and all are currently in use. Thanks anyway.

make a subdomain?