Of domains hosting and dns

Holiday Hours for Victoria Day, Monday, May 19th, 2008

Monday, May 19th, 2008 is Victoria Day in Canada (and some parts of Scotland as well as the Cayman Islands). Canadians traditionally celebrate the birthday of Queen Victoria by spending the weekend opening up summer cottages, going camping, or doing some gardening. Monday is usually capped with fireworks displays. As a result, Tucows headquarters in Toronto [...]

by Tucows at May 16, 2008 01:00 PM

Saturday Musings - A cold and a plane

The last two weeks have been good and bad. The bad was getting sick for about 4 days with only enough energy to push the channel button on the remote control. I think that I now know everything there is to know about World War II from the History channel...

by Whizzbangsblog.com at May 16, 2008 08:18 AM

May 15, 2008

Seedcorn Competition 2008

Grainne from InterTradeIreland got in touch with me yesterday regarding the All Island Seedcorn Competition 2008.

The competition is aimed at startups and has a prize fund of 280 thousand euro. The first prize is 100 thousand euro (I wish we'd had that kind of money to play with a couple of years ago!)

Full details including entry criteria are on the site

May 15, 2008 09:10 PM

I Squatted Your .eu

Using Maths To Sort Out TLD Confusion

Stephane's latest post talks about an attempt to use a mathematical algorithm to help decide on which TLDs to allow in the future.The algorithm, which you can read more about here, works on the basis of comparing "strings" to see...

by Michele Neylon at May 15, 2008 08:00 PM

Using Maths To Sort Out TLD Confusion

by Michele Neylon at May 15, 2008 07:09 PM

Domain Flipping Covered by Local Jacksonville TV Station

First Coast News covers domain flipping and the story of Natalie Williams a Jacksonville, Florida resident who has gone from a single income family on welfare to owning a home and 2 cars by flipping domains, pulling in as much as $2500 a month. Sure there are guys pulling in millions on domains, but this [...]

by Adam Strong at May 15, 2008 06:06 PM

Domain Flipping Covered by Local Jacksonville TV Station

by Adam Strong at May 15, 2008 06:06 PM

CBS Set to Buy CNET for $1.8 Billion

CBS has agreed to purchase CNET Networks for $1.8 Billion, making it one of the 10 most popular internet companies in the world with over 54 million unique visitors per month. CNET; a leading provider of entertainment, news and information sites; currently controls a number of popular destinations including CNET.com, ZDNet.com, BNET.com, GameSpot.com, GameFAQs.com, TV.com, mp3.com, [...]

by Chad Kettner at May 15, 2008 05:00 PM

CBS Set to Buy CNET for $1.8 Billion

by Chad Kettner at May 15, 2008 05:00 PM

Ask.com Loads Up on Reference Sites

Ask.com has acquired several major reference websites including Dictionary.com, Thesaurus.com and Reference.com in its purchase of the Lexico Publishing Group LLC. This news comes 10 months after Answers.com agreed to buy the same company for $100 million in a deal that fell through. The terms of the acquisition have yet to be disclosed. [via TheDomains.com] (c) 2008 [...]

by Chad Kettner at May 15, 2008 04:58 PM

Ask.com Loads Up on Reference Sites

by Chad Kettner at May 15, 2008 04:58 PM

How Not To Get A Favourable Mention On A Blog

Anyone who randomly ~~sends~~ forwards me .doc press releases without even making an effort to personalise the email stands zero chance of getting a favourable mention from me ever.

It's not terribly hard to use some mailing software to send out press releases.

Why do people presume that everyone uses Word?

How hard would it be to actually address an email to me personally? Is that too much of a challenge?

It's not terribly hard to send email - thousands of spammers manage it, don't they?

So why on earth can't someone send a press release properly?

And since Donncha has already "named and shamed", I will too.

Ifoods.tv - you really need to get a clue.

It's not a matter of web2.0 vs web 1.0 or anything like that. It's simply a matter of using, as we say in Cork, a bit of "cop on".

You may have been nominated for an award, but it obviously wasn't in marketing or email usage based on the rubbish you sent me today and the way you sent it.

May 15, 2008 02:09 PM

Part 5 - Google’s quest for traffic

This article continues immediately on from the first 4 parts that may be viewed via the following links. Part 1 - Google and trhe domain industry (index.php/20080506422/MyBlog/Google/Yahoo-and-the-domain-industry-Part-1.html) Part 2 - Google andthe quality myth (index.php/20080507423/MyBlog/Part-2-Google-and-the-quality-myth.html) Part 3 - Smartpricing traffic (index.php/20080512427/MyBlog/Part-3-Smartpricing-traffic.html) Part 4 - Google, TV and Analytics (index.php/20080514428/MyBlog/Part-4.html) My theory...

by Whizzbangsblog.com at May 15, 2008 08:00 AM

MemorableDomains.co.uk Reports Back From InternetWorld UK

Edwin Hayward of MemorableDomains.co.uk just wrapped up three days of exhibiting at the InternetWorld in the UK and has written a summary of his experiences exhibiting at the show as a domain reseller of top .co.uk generic domain names. The company, as mentioned in a previous article, was exhibiting at the show and featured some [...]

by Adam Strong at May 15, 2008 05:16 AM

MemorableDomains.co.uk Reports Back From InternetWorld UK

by Adam Strong at May 15, 2008 05:16 AM

May 14, 2008

dotMobi

No Mistaking It

You've been hearing us talk about "dotMobi Thinking" for months now. The ideas behind good mobile web sites are simple but the execution isn't always so easy.

by Amy Mischler at May 14, 2008 10:04 PM

Prince August Special Offer On Roman Soldier Moulds

roman legionnaires with gladius

When I was a lot younger I used to be a big Prince August fan.

At the time they didn't have as many moulds and models to choose from, but over the last few years their range has been expanding quite a bit.

Their latest crazy offer is the moulds for the soldiers on the left for a mere EUR2.50 during the month of May.

I think I still have all the original moulds and other bits and pieces in a box somewhere and I really should get round to digging them out.

May 14, 2008 08:50 PM

Why You and Lowfat Lattes are Google’s Worst Nightmare

IPSCON Spring 2008 is underway in Chicago. This morning, Elliot Noss, CEO and President, Tucows, took to the stage to deliver his keynote address titled, “Why You and Lowfat Lattes are Google’s Worst Nightmare.” David Snead from TheWHIR has a nice summary of what Elliot talked about today. Snead writes, “What Elliot talked about, that strikes me [...]

by James Koole at May 14, 2008 05:12 PM

Surviving the ‘Dot-Crunch’

Domainers Must Adapt…Again It’s a funny thing how domainers always expect their stank to rise…and continue rising. Funny because if you’ve been in this business long enough you’ve likely weathered, or not, a few industry tempests and cycles. We’re hardened sailors who have seen tough squalls and lived to tell the tale. Truth is, over time things [...]

by G.Bag at May 14, 2008 04:10 PM

Surviving the ‘Dot-Crunch’

by G.Bag at May 14, 2008 04:10 PM

Sedo Sales for the week up to May 13, 2008

.COM Sales taz.com 40,000 USD GreatDomains chianti.com 28,500 USD GreatDomains posse.com 24,500 USD diw.com 12,500 USD ylc.com 10,100 USD textr.com 8,750 USD yachtshop.com 7,600 USD wzb.com 7,100 USD GreatDomains gonk.com 7,000 USD motionsports.com 6,700 USD vko.com 6,100 EUR zoyo.com 6,000 EUR gimena.com 5,900 EUR lale.com 5,403 USD marginal.com 5,100 USD cux.com 5,100 EUR GreatDomains eventmanager.com 5,000 USD overstockmall.com 4,999 USD GreatDomains gotdirt.com 4,600 USD bangbangbang.com 4,500 USD depositosbancarios.com 4,500 EUR (banking deposits in Spanish) urgently.com 4,150 USD GreatDomains discussed.com 4,050 USD GreatDomains nofa.com 3,720 USD organic-food.com 2,800 USD stopcalling.com 2,800 USD polarweiss.com 2,750 EUR mylifeid.com 2,700 USD frenchtutor.com 2,600 USD zoth.com 2,550 USD yy1.com 2,550 USD colitel.com 2,500 EUR hightop.com 2,500 USD GreatDomains personalenergy.com 2,370 USD efectosjavascript.com 2,300 USD cuzo.com 2,050 EUR idiaper.com 2,000 USD Other Sales nightlife.net 20,000 USD newyorkbiz.com 18,000 EUR versa.net 9,100 USD anuncios.mobi 7,400 USD (classifieds in Spanish) thc.mobi 3,700 USD chef.pro 3,650 USD negocios.org 3,600 USD [...]

by Frank Michlick at May 14, 2008 03:36 PM

Sedo Sales for the week up to May 13, 2008

by Frank Michlick at May 14, 2008 03:36 PM

Play With Last.fm

Last.fm's team have made available a couple of web applications that they put together in their spare time.

The "Playground" currently has three applications which take advantage of the huge amount of music data that last.fm aggregates.

You probably won't improve your life much with any of these little apps, but they are fun to play with.

Checking the typos of artists names can be a great way to while away the time, but you could also use the info for seo.

Of course if you wanted to manipulate the data yourself they do offer both data feeds and a full API (though there are licensing conditions to be aware of). For the top artists for users in Ireland try this XML feed

May 14, 2008 12:59 PM

Part 4 - Google, TV and Analytics

This series of articles continues directly on from one another. I would encourage you to read the prior articles before this one. Part 1 - Google and trhe domain industry (index.php/20080506422/MyBlog/Google/Yahoo-and-the-domain-industry-Part-1.html) Part 2 - Google andthe quality myth (index.php/20080507423/MyBlog/Part-2-Google-and-the-quality-myth.html) Part 3 - Smartpricing traffic (index.php/20080512427/MyBlog/Part-3-Smartpricing-traffic.html) So if Google has created the perfect...

by Whizzbangsblog.com at May 14, 2008 08:00 AM

by Adam Strong at May 14, 2008 06:45 AM

BPHG Launches Prices.com

BP Holding Group announced today the launch of another development project on one of their premium domain names, PRICES.COM. The company has partnered with Shopping.com, an Ebay company to create a comparison shopping engine on the domain name. Company CEO Michael Bahlitzanakis informed Domain Name News about the release and their efforts to build more [...]

May 13, 2008

Call Girl Goes After Girls Gone Wild For Cybersquatting

Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the reported mistress of former New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, has filed a $10 million lawsuit against MRA Holdings, producers of the popular Girls Gone Wild videos. Among the many allegations, the filing cites violations of the Lanham Act including cybersquatting domain names. Other Lanham violations include profiting from trademark infringement, false [...]

by Adam Strong at May 13, 2008 10:05 PM

Debian (and Ubuntu) SSH / OpenSSL Security Hole

Earlier today both Debian and Ubuntu maintainers announced a serious security issue with both Open SSH and Open SSL.

There is, of course, a post about it on SlashDot, but if you'd rather skip the crud (ie. some of the rather inane comments) and are running a Debian (or derivative system such as Ubuntu) do a dist-upgrade as soon as you can.

If you're using SSH keys you'll need to generate fresh ones, as any keys currently "in the wild" maybe vulnerable to brute force attacks.

May 13, 2008 08:34 PM

.Asia and Pool.com Come Under Fire

Domain Name News received a “press release” today from Thomas Rucker of Madunia GmbH. In the emailed article, he refers to the sunrise auctions of .asia domains as “shady” and “dubious”. Rucker’s claims that the CEO of Pool.com, Richard Schreier, is benefiting from the company’s relationship as auctioneer of the .asia domains. [Update]: DNN has [...]

by Adam Strong at May 13, 2008 08:28 PM

DreamHost

Introducing Passenger for Ruby on Rails

As of right now all DreamHost customers have a new option for hosting Ruby on Rails applications. Awhile back I asked for a better way to host Rails applications on a shared server, and the answer has come in the form of Passenger (also known as mod_rails)! From now on, deploying a Rails application may very [...]

by Dallas Kashuba at May 13, 2008 06:56 PM

More Dumb Irish Spammers - itext.ie

Don't you just love dumb spammers?

itext.ie seem to fit neatly into that group.

Their bulk unsolicited email this afternoon checks all the boxes for spam of the worst kind.

spammy subject line - check
html email with bad use of colour - check
zero personalisation - check
no unsubscribe options - check
no explanation of why email sent - check
non-compliance with EU directives on email - check

Yes, itext.ie are real geniuses

The email looks like a viagra spam or similar to be honest, so I wonder how successful it will be

May 13, 2008 02:17 PM

IE Domains For 21 Euro

Damn - two Blacknight related posts in the one morning ....

Anyhow .. .As of about half an hour ago we've dropped the price on IE domains to 21 euro.

Go to our main site to check for available domains or to transfer your existing domains.

May 13, 2008 11:20 AM

VPS Site Update

We've just revamped the VPS hosting site to make the order process a bit simpler.

We know it doesn't display properly in Safari, but this will be fixed.

May 13, 2008 10:39 AM

House Hunting Pet Hates - Price on Application

I'm still trawling property listings sites on a semi-daily basis and I've now got alerts setup with Daft.ie

Of course buying a house involves some basic economics. You have a buyer (me) and a seller (either a previous owner or a developer). For the seller to be able to make their money they need to be able to find a buyer who either has the money required or the ability to get their hands on it.

So why on earth would anyone list a house with the mysterious "price on application"?

If I have a budget of say 300k there is no point in me looking at a house listed at 400k.

What can possibly be gained by listing houses without guideline pricing?

Maybe I'm missing something essential and basic from the "big picture"

May 13, 2008 08:27 AM

Maveron Plays Both Sides, Backs Citizen Hawk with $3 Million

As reported by Tech Crunch, Citizen Hawk, a “digital brand management” company is now funded with $3 million courtesy of Maveron LLC. “CitizenHawk helps companies protect their online brands by targeting cybersquatters.” The interesting angle that goes unmentioned at Tech Crunch is that Maveron already has a history of investmenting in the domain space with their funding [...]

by Adam Strong at May 13, 2008 06:14 AM

May 12, 2008

ISP-Planet talks Email with Rohan Jayasekera

Recently, ISP-Planet’s Alex Goldman had a chat with Rohan Jayasekera, Director, Tucows Email Service. In the article, posted today, Rohan explains our philosophy in creating and running the Tucows Email Service. He also points to some of the features and benefits that make our hosted email solution a sensible choice for service providers. If you’re in Chicago [...]

by James Koole at May 12, 2008 03:45 PM

Irish Media Contact Directory Updated

I meant to mention this before the weekend, but didn't get a chance.

The Irish Media Contacts Directory 2008 edition has just been released.

The directory is split into four main sections:

Print
Broadcast
Media Services
Politics

It also includes an "experts" section which is useful if you are looking for an informed comment on something.

It would be really nice if they gave subscribers access to the data in CSV format, as that would be very useful for mailing lists etc.,

The directory retails at EUR90 and is available via the site

May 12, 2008 02:51 PM

May 11, 2008

Francesco Cetraro (Italiano)

Sound of Domains

E dopo aver stimolato l’olfatto (in maniera non esattamente piacevole ) lo splendido mondo dei domini ci regala oggi nuovi spunti, stavolta solleticandoci le orecchie. Infatti il registrar tedesco United Domains ha deciso di testare nuove acque, e ha pubblicato quella che per quanto ne sappia io é la prima canzone dedicata ai domini (disponibile [...]

by francesco at May 11, 2008 04:38 PM

Francesco Cetraro (English)

Sound of Domains

After the (not so pleasant ) attempt to olfactory stimulation, the Wonderful World of Domains tries now to tickle our spirit through our ears. The German Registrar United Domains has in fact decided to wander uncharted territories, publishing what to my knowledge is the first song dedicated to domain names (available also as ringtone for [...]

by francesco at May 11, 2008 04:38 PM

I Squatted Your .eu

IE ccTLD Zone Reloads More Frequent

The IE Domain Registry has announced in the last few days that they are now doing rebuilds and reloads 7 days a week and that the frequency has been increased from twice a day to four times a day...

by Michele Neylon at May 11, 2008 02:00 PM

Domain Tools Blog (Jay Westerdal)

More James Bond Goodies

This year is turning out to be a bumper year for James Bond fans.

The Ian Fleming centenary has acted as a wonderful catalyst for the likes of Penguin, who are releasing a series of new covers, which are simply gorgeous.

Here's the one from Casino Royale:
It maybe new, but it's got that wonderful 60s retro feel.

The full set of books will be available at the end of May, though they haven't announced if they will be making a box set available yet.

Of course there's also the new Bond film which is set to be released on October 31st.

Earlier this year Royal Mail released a set of stamps to commemorate the centenary, while the Imperial War Museum is holding a really nice exhibition.

Of course the main thing behind Bond was the books, so you could do worse than spend some time acquiring some of the first editions. While you can get some of the first editions for as little as 30 or 40 euro there are some going under the auction hammer next Friday for prices ranging from 500 euro to ten thousand euro. More information is available on the Bloomsbury Auctions' site (you can bid via eBay)

May 11, 2008 01:44 PM

May 09, 2008

Losing my domain and then getting it back

I almost lost my domain permanently because I was unaware it was expiring. I got an alert from our new Registrant Alert system on DomainTools and it saved my ass. I am extremely thankful we invented this system. It is nice to have an example I can point to so soon after launching the service. [...]

by Jay Westerdal at May 09, 2008 10:33 PM

Official Google Blogs Now Accepting Comments

While I've always found the official Google blogs to be good sources of information they lacked interaction as comments were disabled.

They've now changed their policy and are accepting relevant comments

From what I've been able to work out they haven't enabled comments on all their blogs as yet and Google staff don't seem to be engaging with the public. So it seems like it's a bit of a one way street. (If someone can find me evidence to the contrary I would appreciate it)

Of course not all blogs accept comments and for some people there is a very good reason why they don't. Seth Godin, for example, provides a clear explanation on his policy and it makes sense. But if you do allow comments, shouldn't you at least reply to them?

May 09, 2008 07:41 PM

Top Gun Tshirts

Top Gun is not a "chef d'oeuvre', but it's great fun.
It has dated a bit since its initial release over 20 years ago, but it's still enjoyable (Yes I do have the special edition DVD and the HD DVD release.)

So how about Top Gun tshirts?

May 09, 2008 02:03 PM

dotMobi

A new era of easy mobilization is coming

Today dotMobi announced that it has acquired the IP assets of Mowser, which is a content adaptation engine created by two Bay Area mobile pioneers, Russell Beattie and Mike Rowehl.

by Vance P. Hedderel at May 09, 2008 08:55 AM

Amazon Phishing Emails - How Not To Handle Abuse

Either there's an upsurge in Amazon phishing emails or the phishers only got my email address recently.

I've had about half a dozen phishing emails today purporting to be from Amazon regarding my "seller" account.

To start with I don't have a seller account.

The other giveaway sign is that although the links are similar to Amazon domains, they aren't Amazon domains.

They all seem to be subdomains of by.ru, which appears to be some sort of free hosting solution based in Russia (I don't speak Russian, so I'm only making an educated guess)

Unfortunately, while Amazon do have a facility for reporting phishing emails it is clearly not aimed at the "casual" end user or anyone who is short of time. It consists of a rather convoluted series of web forms instead of a simple email address.

While the likes of Paypal, Ebay and most of the major financial institutions make it relatively easy for even a novice to report phishing emails Amazon dare to be different.

While they may be getting the reports in from honeypots etc., surely it would make more sense to facilitate end user reports?
Am I missing something?

May 09, 2008 12:38 AM

May 08, 2008

Irish Media Confuses Terminology Again

The Irish media must have been really bored this morning or just looking for a big headline. I guess its all an anticlimax now that Bertie Ahern is gone and thew new cabinet are in place.

According to RTE there was a "security breach", while Morning Ireland used the term "hacker".

What were they talking about?

Was a major ecommerce site hacked?

Did private and confidential information leak into the public domain?

No. All that happened is that Damien Mulley worked out where a file was on the Data Privacy Commissioner's site before they announced it to the public.

Hardly newsworthy and hardly a "security breach".

The report itself is a totally different matter, however.

May 08, 2008 09:53 PM

Tucows Takes on The Inside Ride

Teams are being formed, challenges have been made and accepted. On May 22, 2008, The Inside Ride happens at Tucows Head Office in Toronto’s Liberty Village. What is The Inside Ride? It’s “Canada’s first indoor cycling challenge and fundraising event dedicated to raising monies in support of families and children with cancer.” The fundraising event works like [...]

by Tucows at May 08, 2008 04:01 PM

May 07, 2008

Tucows Inc. Reports Financial Results For The First Quarter Of 2008

All the details, including a news release and financial statements can be found in our Investors area. We’ll be hosting a live conference call beginning at 5:00 P.M. ET today (Wednesday, May. 7th, 2008). As usual, we’ll record the call and post an archived MP3 within a few hours. Update: the MP3 recording of the Q1 [...]

by Tucows at May 07, 2008 08:00 PM

ISPCON Spring 2008 is Next Week

ISPCON Spring ‘08 kicks off next week. What’s billed as “The Internet Industry Event” runs Tuesday, May 13th, through Thursday, May 15th. We’re getting ready to make the trip and we hope to see you at Chicago’s Donald E. Stephen’s (Rosemont) Convention Centre. Wednesday, May 14th, is “our day” with three Tucows-related events on the ISPCON [...]

by Tucows at May 07, 2008 06:08 PM

DreamHost

Did You Guys Coordinate That?

Yesterday I noticed Jason and Jeremy were both wearing the same shirt! I’d call it a coincidence, except… they’re roommates! Awwwwwww..

by Josh Jones at May 07, 2008 05:47 PM

May 06, 2008

Tucows gets out of Shared Webhosting

Many of you know me as one of the original OpenSRS guys, but more recently, I’ve been involved in running Tucows retail services - Domain Direct, NetIdentity and ItsYourDomain. As you may have already read, effective today, we are getting out of the hosting business. You can read the full press release in our Media [...]

by Ross Rader at May 06, 2008 02:27 PM

Francesco Cetraro (Italiano)

ICANN d´Egitto

Le minute dei meeting del Board dell´ICANN sono sempre una miniera di informazioni utili. L´ultimo meeting non é ovviamente da meno, e fra le chicche uscite fuori dalla sessione del 30 Aprile é ora confermato che l´ultimo ICANN Meeting del 2008 si terrá al Cairo fra il 2 e il 7 Novembre. Fra le altre novitá di [...]

by francesco at May 06, 2008 02:25 PM

Francesco Cetraro (English)

ICANN for Pharaohs

The reports from the ICANN Board Meetings are always full of useful information. The latest meeting obviously lives up to the expectations, and among the highlights from the 30th of April´s session there is also the official confirmation that the last ICANN Meeting for 2008 will be held in Cairo between the 2nd and the 7th [...]

by francesco at May 06, 2008 02:25 PM

Domain Tools Blog (Jay Westerdal)

Thought Convergence Acquires Name Intelligence

Acquisition is a major milestone in Thought Convergence’s strategy of developing a self-sustaining, symbiotic Domain Ecosystem that services the global domain community. Los Angeles, CA and Seattle, WA, May 6, 2008 — Thought Convergence, the industry-leading provider of domain management, monetization and development tools and technologies for premium domain owners and aggregators of high-quality domain portfolios, [...]

by Jay Westerdal at May 06, 2008 11:09 AM

Hostopia to Acquire Certain Shared Hosting Customer Assets of Tucows Retail Service Group

Drives incremental growth for Hostopia as Tucows focuses its retail operations on email and online identity TORONTO — May 6, 2008 — Tucows Inc. (AMEX: TCX, TSX: TC) and Hostopia.com, Inc. (TSX: H) yesterday signed a definitive agreement for Hostopia to purchase certain of Tucows’ shared hosting customer assets including approximately 14,000 Domain Direct, NetIdentity and [...]

by Tucows at May 06, 2008 10:56 AM

dotMobi

A big day for dotMobi R&D

After crawling 100 million domains, running the http://ready.mobi report more than 80 million times and running 22,000 tests of the service in April, the dotMobi R&D team announced that find.mobi is ready for public scrutiny.

by Vance P. Hedderel at May 06, 2008 07:55 AM

DreamHost

May de Mayo

Hey, you know what’d be fun on a boring Monday in May? A little role play! And I’m not talking about 12-sided dice and renaissance faires either, I’m just talking about some simple role reversal. More specifically, I’m going to complain to you about a web host! So, about three years ago I was trying out some competitors [...]

by Josh Jones at May 06, 2008 12:55 AM

May 05, 2008