Listen but don’t .TEL

Written on 27th November 2008                                                                                                              14 COMMENTS
Boris Veldhuijzen van Zanten, Serial Internet Entrepreneur

In 6 days you will be able to register .TEL domain names. But only if you have a registered domain name. If you don’t and just want to have a personal .TEL domain name you will have to wait until February 3, 2009.

The .TEL is different though. It won’t be used as ‘just’ a top level domain. The company behind this new extension, Telnic, has different plans and I’m not sure I totally get it.

What it comes down to is that you can buy a domain name but you won’t be able to use it for anything else expect to redirect it to their server where you will be able to host something that looks like a vCard. If people visit your domain in a browser or on a (supported) phone they will see your contact data.

Yep, that’s it. You won’t be able to use these domains for your blog, or host anything else on them.

Do you get it? I don’t. Maybe watching this video will help.

[poll id="13"]

UPDATE: The kind people at TelNic are taking the time to educate it in the comments and via email. I have received a test account here: thenextweb.vip.tel. Right now it isn’t working yet (”The server at telpages.pilot.tel is taking too long to respond.”) but that might be because the record is still new. The good news: I start ‘getting it’ now. As far as I understand now .TEL is basically LinkedIn or Plaxo for companies but with their own TLD. Sort of like if LinkedIn would start offering “boris.personal.info” as domain names. As Justin Hayward from .TEL mentions ”It’s difficult to introduce new uses of technology that have been around for a while and I welcome the opportunity to respond to your concerns”. So maybe I will ‘get it’ once they launch and I see it being used.

.TEL, domain, extensions, tld

14 Comments »

Geek poster galore: Country Codes of the World

Written on 11th August 2008                                                                                                              3 COMMENTS
Robin Wauters, Next web enthusiast & Plugg organizer

I’m a bit of a domain name buff, ever have been since my first job as an account manager of Belgium’s largest domain name registrar and hosting provider. So I’m currently trying to fight the urge to buy this supercool poster from Bytelevel.

From the website:

There are more than 260 TLDs in use around the world, most of which are country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). The Country Codes of the World map includes 245 country codes, which encompasses all United Nations countries as well as numerous islands and territories. Each two-digit code is aligned over the country it represents and is color coded with the legend below for quick and easy reference. [...]

Each ccTLD is sized relative to the population of the country or territory, with the exception of China and India, which were restrained by 30% to fit the layout. At the other end of the spectrum, the smallest type size used reflects those countries with fewer than 10 million residents.

The map measures 24 inches by 36 inches and is printed on high-quality, 80 lb. uncoated cover stock with a one-inch margin to accommodate most frames. Purchasing one would set you back $29, but you’ll get free shipping if you buy more than two.

Hat tip to Clo “Bnox” Willaerts.

Country Codes of the World, domain name, map, poster, tld

3 Comments »