Over on the Wired website they’re reporting that today marks 25 years since the automated Domain Name System (DNS) was first tested.
The Domain Name System is one of the crucial elements of the internet as we know it today. It’s this system which translates easy-to-remember domain names (like www.bbc.co.uk) into the numerical addresses which computers understand.
It’s a giant address book for the internet. Without it, you’d have to type in 212.58.224.131 instead of bbc.co.uk to find the BBC’s website. As they say in the Wired piece:
“Without the Domain Name System, it’s doubtful the internet could have grown and flourished as it has.”
So it’s not a glamourous-sounding anniversary. But it’s quite an important one, as far as the internet’s concerned. More here.
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Email is one of the main reasons people use the internet. Statistics suggest that over 180 billion emails are sent every day.
Ok, so lots of them are spam, but even when you take them out of the equation, you’re still left with 40+ billion legitimate messages. That’s a lot of email.
With so many people sending emails, there’s often a perception that the good addresses are gone. And if you look at any of the major web-based email providers, it can be hard to bag an address which relates to your name in any way.
More often than not, you’ll also end up with one that’s really hard to remember.
In fact, Yahoo commissioned a survey recently which found that 70 percent of adults who use the internet would choose an email address that includes all or part of their names.
To be honest, I’m surprised the figure isn’t higher - maybe it’s because I’m of an age where cooldude458@whatever.com doesn’t really seem like an appropriate address any more. Read the rest of this entry »
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The 123-reg super summer sale has begun with 20% off all shared hosting, InstantSite and annual ecommerce accounts. It’s as simple as that!
There are no gimmicks, no “buy this to get this”, or “first month only”, it’s a straight forward money off deal to celebrate (hopefully) a cracking summer ahead. Simply go to buy a domain as normal, and when you are asked if you want to add shared hosting, InstantSite or an annual ecommerce package, you get 20% off those products. Super!
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We’re looking for customer support technicians to work for Donhost, a sister brand of 123-reg. Donhost provides high quality web hosting solutions to private entrepreneurs and SMEs as well as major corporations throughout the world. Check the Donhost website for more background.
We are seeking customer support technicians to be te first point of contact for monitoring and maintaining the hosting infrastructure and for resolving technical issues raised by our business and home clients.
These roles will be based in our new data centre offices in Leeds, due to be finished late this summer. There may be an interim period spent in our current offices in Doncaster, depending on the timing of start dates and completion of building works.
These are high-profile roles within a business with exciting plans to grow.
Our customer support technicians will be responsible for:
- Resolving customer enquiries via telephone and email
- Escalating complex queries when necessary, to ensure efficient problem resolution
- Assisting customers in accessing and setting up their websites, file transfer protocol (FTP) and email
- Monitoring servers, systems and the data centre environment
- Linux and Windows-based systems administration
- Writing system and process documentation to internal Wiki, with the aim of improving levels of product and technical competency
Read the rest of this entry »
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VeriSign has just released its latest Domain Name Industry Brief. You can grab a copy here (PDF, 325KB) and see the previous editions too.
This quarterly report takes a look at the domain name industry through “a variety of statistic and analytical research”. Basically, it contains a few interesting facts about domain name registrations. We mentioned it previously when an edition was released at the end of last year.
The report reveals that there are now over 162 million domain names in total (actually, the number’s probably grown a little since then as all these figures are for the end of March 2008). That works out at growth of about 6% since the end of last year and 26% compared to this time last year.
The .cn domain (which we now offer) has jumped to third place in the league of top level domains. It has edged above .net, and its year-on-year growth of 199% sounds very impressive. For comparison, .uk is fifth in the league and grew 16% over the same period.
The report is only four pages long and gives a reasonable overview of the domain name industry. Download it here.
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We are seeking an experienced SQL analyst to be responsible for business reporting. This vacancy is for an experienced SQL analyst, responsible for the creation of financial, strategic and operational reports, along with ad-hoc reports required by the business on a day to day operational basis.
This role is based in our newly refurbished offices in Stockley Park, Uxbridge. This is a high-profile role in a business with exciting plans to grow.
The job holder will have the following primary responsibilities:
- Develop business information using all data available in our current business databases
- Help develop new facilities to gather business information
- Analyse, present and comment on the results of the data extraction
- Develop reports to a high standard to enable the business to make financial, strategic and commercial decisions based on the results
- Work closely with the Database Administrator to create, develop and maintain a reporting suite by means of a report server and/or managed report centre
- Ensure that results are handed over to the Business Analysts, Product Managers and are made readily available to the management team
Read the rest of this entry »
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We are seeking a Junior Business Systems Administrator to be responsible for the day to day maintenance and support of the company billing systems. The role will look after the daily compliance and processing requirements as well as the projects related to these systems.
This role will work closely with our Billing, Credit Control and Finance teams to ensure that business processes, policies and procedures are followed and that any findings and reported on to improve quality.
This role is based in our newly refurbished offices in Stockley Park, Uxbridge. This is a high-profile role within a business with exciting plans to grow.
The job holder will report directly to the head of department and will have the following primary responsibilities:
The UK release of the next Narnia film is just round the corner and, in a handy piece of timing, the domain name narnia.mobi is at the centre of a dispute.
As reported by the Guardian, CS Lewis Ltd, which controls the rights to the works of CS Lewis, has threatened the current owner of narnia.mobi with legal action.
That current owner is Richard Saville-Smith, who purchased the domain in 2006 and planned to give it to his son as an 11th birthday present.
He received a dossier from New York lawyers Baker and McKenzie this month, urging him to relinquish the domain or face a hearing at the World Intellectual Property Organisation. (The dossier was 128-pages long, so it presumably went into a little more detail than that, but you get the gist.) Read the rest of this entry »
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**Please note: This competition is now closed for new entries and unfortunately any sent through from now on will not be considered for the prize. **
With summer knocking on our door, the season for family get togethers is upon us, be it weddings, christenings, family BBQs, birthdays… and those of us who work in the web hosting industry will be met with the same vacant look after being asked “What do you do for a living?” or “So what exactly do you do?”.
More often than not people ask if it’s the same as broadband to which I usually reply with a resigned “yes” rather than spending another 30 minutes explaining why it’s nothing like broadband.
So, the question is, how do I explain to my Gran this summer where I work and what we do (I’m not even going to bother attempting to explain what SEPPC is)? In one sentence and as simply as possible:
How would you explain to my Gran what web hosting is?
The top 5 answers we like the most will each win a portable notebook BBQ.
Terms:
- The competition closes 27th July 2008. Unfortunately, any entries made after this date can not be included.
- No cash alternative prize is available.
- The winners will be notified by the email address provided within 14 days of the competition closing. If no email has been provided we will choose an alternative winner.
- No purchase necessary.
- If the Portable Notebook BBQ is out of stock we reserve the right to source an alternative of equal value.
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For a limted time only in June, you can buy a .eu domain name for only 99p. That’s a price so low it needed two exclamation marks in the title.
The .eu domain extension is a great alternative to .com and is essential if you operate across European borders, or you want to make sure no cyber-squatters pitch their tents on your lawn.
Get your .eu domain name now.
As usual, there are a few terms and conditions:
- 99p registration applies to customers registering a new .eu domain name.
- 99p registration applies to the first year of domain registration only.
- In subsequent years, the domain(s) will be renewed at the standard renewal rate.
- No other discounts or offers can be used in conjunction with this offer.
- This offer is limited to June 2008.
- 123-reg reserves the right to end this offer or amend these terms and conditions at any time without prior notice.
- Reasonable usage applies.
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