It is the modern-day barfly's lament - all the good domain names are taken. With every word in the dictionary already registered as a .com, something had to be done.
So as Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the organisation responsible for managing domain names, finalises its latest expansion plans, one registry has come up with a ground-breaking suggestion.
Group One Registry plans to replace old-fashioned words with numbers.
'By emphasising numerical domain names, we can enable the Internet to expand much more easily, far beyond the bounds of current language-based domains,' said Group One co-founder Paul Kane.
Of course, using numbers as an Internet address is not entirely original - a similar idea has been considered before. It was commonly known as the IP address.
You know how irritating it is to visit a Web site only to be assaulted by pop-up advertising? Well, our own Hong Kong Tourist Association has taken the intrusion to a new level. Visit the HKTA site and you will be confronted by a floating brag-box, boasting of its latest award from some US trade magazine whose readers (most of whom have probably never even been here) have voted Hong Kong 'Asia's Best City'.
