TechImpact / it happens there first

After my harrowing adventure trying to buy a router, I decided to look at my free options.

We currently run CentOS as the core of our VoIP system, so I have a linux system that gets exposed to the internet -- I rationalized. So how bad would it be to pop another Ethernet card in the back and use that as a router as well. It would mean that I would never have problems with SIP over NAT again. So I went forth to purchase the card at CDW. Added the first one I found to my cart, then went to click the check out button. But the forces of the universe were against me. Just before I clicked that fated button, my laptop ran out of battery. It was destiny, fate, and didn't really happen. No, it was my own conscience that prevented me from putting a production server as a first tier internet client, even if it was Linux. No, there had to be a better solution -- and buying a complete pc to use as a firewall wasn't it.

by Chris Gamble

This week Microsoft released Internet Explorer 8 RC1 (Release Candidate 1). Release candidate software is ready to be evaluated by users while it undergoes final testing, but still may contain minor issues.

by Chris Gamble

Firefox gets an update? I asked myself as I watched my browser patch and reboot itself while I waited. I thought IE was the problem. Apparently, according to the PC World article, the Firefox crew saw that everyone was advised to switch browsers, and had an OH! moment. Now we sit at Firefox 3.0.5 -- once again safe from: two critical Firefox problems that could allow an attacker execute a cross-site scripting attack, a third that could make it crash or allow someone to remotely execute code, a partridge and a pear tree.

by Chris Gamble

After many sleepless hours of waiting for the new Internet Explorer patch to fix one of the "really" bad zero day exploits, our friends at Microsoft have release their Internet Explorer Fix.

by Chris Gamble

October 1, 2008 was a dark day. Not because the stocks went on a wild ride, crashing and thrashing any thought of retirement. No, October 1 was much worse.

by Chris Gamble

A few weeks ago, I received dozen calls from customers / domain name owners, each with the same question : "Do I really loose my domain name if I don't register for this new China based name?"

In their defense, the letter to register your brand new .cn name to protect your companies brand and reputation was well enough written that anyone might believe their intellectual property was in danger. I'll admit that I had to read it twice to make sure.

That was last week. Skip to next year when ICANN puts up hundreds of top level domains for sell. A top level domain is the far right side of your domain name. Top level domains (TLD) are currently limited to country specific (including the popular .TV domain), or to define organization type. The organization domains are .COM, .ORG, .NET, and .INFO. This isn't an exhaustive list, but hopefully enough to give you an idea of what is up for sale.

The price and rules for these new domains has not been approved, but pricing is expected to be around $100,000 dollars, with a list of rules to approve a new TLD intended to prevent offending any government body. With censorship and high cost, it would be safe to expect that a limited number of new TLD's will pop up when this starts, and pre-internet ages that would be a fair expectation. Of course, we are in an age where a single domain name can auction for ten times that value. I doubt any rules will be enough to adequately deter the wave of speculators and investors that are sure to be waiting, cash and names in hand. Each with a business plan that is able to explain to every domain name owner they look up how their new internet real-estate is as valuable if not more valuable than the venerable .COM. One year and one month from now, I expect chaos, and a hundred letters a day selling me my name internet presence.

Until then, I will continue to advise clients and friends alike -- build a brand and don't sweat the imitators. Even before the new TLD's, there are too many synonyms, misspellings, and number for letter replacements that 1t's practically impossible to lock down every one. So what is building a brand in the internet age? With all these names are in existence, and so many more about to sprout, search engine optimization (seo) will become essential to the next round of internet branding.

by Chris Gamble