Internet X Domain names

Here's a common sight on my lovely bed.

Credits to Nicola Ng :)

Books for whatsoever purpose + some drink + Laptop switched on and ready to connect to the Queen Bee of our hearts - the Internet. Hahaha!

As time passes, it seems to be integrating into every part of our lives! From connecting with friends to buying movie tickets online and even grocery shopping, it is pretty hard to say that I can live as smoothly and conveniently without it. *guilty*

As such, I suppose it is important to understand how on the earth this weird, invisible, headless creature connects to us!! :D And I figured out that one of the ways in which it does is through DOMAIN NAMES.

Imagine this: You switch on your lappy > click onto IE > type in the website address #likeapro > and TA DA, you are at where you are. The crucial point lies in how the website address actually brings you to your online destination.

Firstly, Domain names (DN) are used to identify IP addresses - a really long set of numbers. So instead of having to remember so many numbers, you just remember a name :D Perfect~

Secondly, DNs are used in URLs to identify web pages. And every domain name would be accompanied with a suffix (e.g. edu, gov, net, sg, cn) which indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to. In the past, TLDs are limited to only a few. However, IT IS CHANGINGGGGG!!

Recently, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) received 1930 applicants for new generic top level domains (gTLD)! In other words, instead of the usual stomp.com.sg and runwaybandits.com, we can now have URLs like stomp.gossip and runwaybandits.fashion.

SO COOL RIGHT HAHAHAHA!!!

Some real and popular names which were submitted include .guru, .sucks, .ninja and .book. Hahahha can't help but laugh at the second one!! Anyway, because these names were applied by more than one 'buyer', they would be put up for auction. As a base fee, applicants already have to pay $185 000. So can you imagine how much more $$$$ it would cost if buyers have to still bid for the name. Ohmyyy crazy crazy!!

One not-so-surprising thing is that huge Internet companies such as Google and and Amazon bidded for 101 and 74 names respectively. And a wholesale company, Donuts, which was specially created to earn $$$ on this expansion bidded on 307 gTLDs. Tskkk!!

So anyway, the current status quo is that some gTLDs would available from TODAY (4th Feb 2014) onwards. But they are non-english terms :D

·         Arabic word for "web"

·         Russian word for "online" and "site"

·         Chinese word for "games"

and Donuts announced that these english gTLDs would be available from Wednesday

·         camera

·         equipment

·         estate

·         gallery

·         graphics

·         lighting

·         photography

How cool are all these right hehe. Honestly, I think my bird brain will have a pretty tough time remembering some sites. Especially since they would probably be longer, with more syllabus and letters. Heh heh heh!
This totally sounds like a legitimate limitation to this expansion. WHY? Domains names were meant to be easy to remember. Snap snap kind of thing. So as it gets longer and perhaps more confusing, it may not be as easy to remember anymore :/
BUT YEAH SMALL ISSUE MAN. heehee!

So anyway, apart from all these new expansions, the question now is 

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO GET A DOMAIN NAME?

do check out this link as this guy has compiled a really good list of reasons :D

http://www.practicalonlinemarketing.com/why-are-domain-names-important/

Have a happpyyyy day, earthlings! :D


References
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/02/03/web_domain_names_about_to_get_more_creative.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/26014829
http://www.practicalonlinemarketing.com/why-are-domain-names-important/