New Web Addresses On The Way

ICANN, the international authority that regulates the creation and use of domains on the Internet has opened up the system. According to the new rules, any company, organization or country will be able to apply for a new TLD (top level domain).

A Review:

• Top level domain: .com
• Second level domain: digitalblade.com
• Third level domain: www.digitalblade.com (or something else like “m” which is a popular third level domain for the mobile version of many websites)

Some of the earliest domains that could be reserved for use on the Internet included: .com, .net, .org, and .edu. New TLD’s such as .info and .mobi were introduced by ICANN after a lengthy review process. The new system would allow for an entity to buy a TLD and then sell the second level domains. An example would be the purchase of .perfume. Interested companies would then be able to purchase “perfume name here.perfume” similar to the process of buying “perfume name here.com.”

Personally, I question the value of the new system. The more extensions, the more confusing the system will become. Most users currently assume that an address will end in a .com, hence the value of that extension.

Let’s propose that a company buys a new TLD “.real” for real estate agents. And you, frustrated that “yourname.com” is already registered, register “yourname.real.” What do you think the chances are that a person driving by a listing will think your website is at “yourname.com” by the time they get back home and boot their computer? Better to be creative and register “creativephrase.com.”

A resource I find useful for registering domains is instantdomainsearch.com which does a real time search for domains as you type them in.

Surge Protection Basics

With all the late afternoon thunderstorms in the Charleston area lately, I thought it would be beneficial to discuss surge protectors. Basically..unless you like having to spend money and time on replacing electronics..you need them.

photo credit: El Garza

First, evaluate your needs. How many devices do you need to protect? A typical desktop system might include:

• The system box
• Monitor
• Cable or DSL Modem
• Router
• Printer
• Amplified Speaker system
• External hard drive

As you can see, it’s not uncommon to have 7 or more devices. Remember, any device you connect to the computer needs protection or it might conduct a surge through a connection like a USB, telephone or coax cable.

A good surge protector will provide enough outlets for all your devices. You will also need a cable in/out if you have a cable modem and/or a telephone in/out if you have DSL.

Be careful about the orientation and spacing of the outlets…DC converter boxes may block adjacent outlets on surge protectors that have the outlets crowded together.

Well designed surge protectors will have lights that indicate the protector is working (for example, it hasn’t been damaged by a surge). Many can also indicate if the outlet they are plugged into is properly wired.

One of the differences between surge protectors is how many joules of energy they can absorb. This may be a number like 1750 joules or 2500. Higher is generally better. Think of this as the capacity of a tank that can hold excess energy that comes through and protect your equipment.

The time to consider buying a surge protector is before you need it, don’t wait until you lose an expensive component to buy one.

iPhone 2.0

Steve Jobs announced a new iPhone today. Sleeker, faster and cheaper than the prior version. One of the biggest changes has nothing to do with the phone. Apple has changed its financial relationship with the carriers. They will not have to share their monthly revenue with Apple, this will allow them to subsidize the new phone for end users as they currently do for most of their other phones. Apple’s plan is that the iPhone will become a mass market item that will propel sales of their computers.

Other changes:

• It supports 3G networks – though it will cost you more to use it (EDGE is a bit pokey, but it’s cheap).
• GPS support – new apps take advantage of interactive maps.
• Longer battery life – This is an accomplishment considering that 3G uses more power.

Blackberry Or Palm Centro?

Considering a smart-phone? Two major competitors in this area are the Blackberry and Palm. One question I’ve been asked is “what is the difference between the two?” Aside from technical differences it might help to think of the devices as having different lineages that affect them.The Palm was originally a PDA (personal data assistant). This means it was an attempt to replace your paper address book, calendar, notepad, and to-do list, with an electronic device. It didn’t have a phone or internet access. These were later additions.The Blackberry was originally a strong email and phone device. It had an address book and other PDA software, but its software wasn’t as sophisticated as the Palm in that area.For example, one major difference between the two devices is that the Palm Centro has the Palm OS support for categories in the calendar and contacts. The Blackberry does not support this feature. If you make an appointment on your palm you could assign a color based on whether it is a personal versus a business appointment.The Blackberry, on the other hand, because of it’s longstanding support for email, is incredibly easy to configure for a new email account. The Blackberry OS also does little things that show how it has been refined over the years. If you are typing in an email address, you only need to type “name” space key “server” space key “com” to enter name@server.com because the software knows that a “@” goes after the name and a “.” goes between the server and com.So if comparing a Blackberry versus a Palm Centro, It might help to think about how these devices were originally conceived. Do you do live by email? Or does color coding your calendar excite you?.Update: Please consider visiting my new site at palmpre.digitalblade.com

Verizon Buys Alltel

Verizon wireless buying Alltel which will create the largest wireless carrier in the U.S with 71 million subscribers. Total cost is $28.1 billion.

Vista Memory

Are you running Windows Vista? Did you know that it has substantial memory requirements? If you’re running it on a computer with less than 2gb of memory you are probably experiencing delays and slow performance that you don’t have to. Memory is cheap, call us today to discuss an upgrade.