so a domain i want is currently a crappy nothing of a site.  it is someone’s personal site that has one page with their name.  by the looks of it it hasn’t been updated in many years.  according to whois it expires tomorrow (8/23).  does anyone have any tips on how i can, if it does indeed become available, be first in line to get it?  i imagine it will become available tonight at midnight?  should i just refresh the registrar’s page until i see it or what?  any help would be most appreciated.

Actually domains do not become available for reregistration on the day they expire.  There is a long process, and depending on the top level domain could be anywhere from 45 to 75 days before its actually available for you to register, that is if they don’t renew it sometime in that period themselves.

Another vote for Godaddy. Their process is simple. Unfortunately for good domains there is usually someone already with it backordered. And again, it is not an immediate thing. It could take anywhere from 2-3 months for it to become available again. And sometimes Godaddy will try and auction it off during that time(not sure if that applies if it is backordered). their auction site is tdnam.com I believe…

good luck