Thinking of registering a domain with the hot keywords “web hosting?” Sure you are. I can read your mind. Well, I was bored today and thought I’d search and see what web hosting domains were available. So, to start my quest, I visited Godaddy and typed in webhosting .com into the search…

Looks like I’m about 15 years too late on that one. Some clever soul reserved webhosting.com back in January 1993 when I was in the fetal stages of Internet growth. Can’t say I’m surprised. If you are, I’ve got some .info’s over in Iceland that I’d like to sell you:). Have you noticed that just about any occurence of the word webhosting + any valuable keyword has been registered by domainers, SEO’s or individual businesses?

But what I really wanted to see was what results the Godaddy domain suggestion tool would offer as alternatives. Here’s what came up:

Is this sad or what?

Some of the premium domain names aren’t that bad but look how expensive they are!

The additional domains, those at regular prices, are the worst of the crop, wouldn’t you say? I mean, who wants to start a web site called “Web Hosting Store” or “Net Life Hosting.” Also, maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t it seem strange to have the word online and hosting together in the same domain name?

So what’s a web hosting sitebuilder to do? I know you’re out there so please speak up and liberate us from the prospect of buying a bad domain.

Could this be a new hacker tool?

Do you remember the power mishap in July that brought down 365 Main, the San Francisco datacenter? A similar incident took place at Rackspace, a Dallas, Texas Web host which serves several local companies.

I doubt that I will ever get around to building my own datacenter, but if I do, it will not be close to a highway. Yep, the security implications that this event brings to the surface are disturbing.

Now what?

How about a new cPanel feature: Truck Redirect

Valleywag | Techcrunch | Digg

Domain Squatter Wants To Give His Domains To Google In Exchange For A Job

Creative minds write not a normal application, they will ensure that you will be attentive to them!

That’s the first line of an open letter posted on adwordsgoogle.de, docsgoogle.de and six other domain names. The sites’ owner and letter’s author, German IT guy Sebastian Klein, wants to give his domains to Google in exchange for a job.

What’s better than desperate pleas? Desperate pleas in hilariously broken English! We can only hope Klein is using some bad translation engine to create the English version of his letter. He might have done well to hire a proofreader.

read more at PickyDomains or Digg

Uptime is one of the most important considerations in deciding upon one of the many hosts hawking themselves out there. But what about downtime? No Uptime web hosting loves to brag about their consistent downtime performance. Among other notable features they provide are “deleting files since 1994″ as the tagline states. Don’t you wish all hosts were that honest

Ms. Dewey (MsDewey.com) is a new, interactive, Flash based search engine. To assist you in your search, the website is hosted by smoking hot model/actress/vocalist, Janina Gavankar, who is guest starring in upcoming new episodes of Showtime’s “The L Word”. See what she and the site are capable of by typing into the search field, or just leave it blank and watch. Kind of entertaining, but perhaps lacking as a practical search tool. Other than Ms Dewey, the site doesn’t identify the minds and bodies behind the search engine. The search results appear to come from Microsoft Live Search. The domain is registered to EVB of San Francisco.

read more about ms dewey | digg story

Combat Internet litter at the source: don’t blog. This story is a cynical look at the burgeoning blogging phenomenon and asks if you might just be happier doing something else.

What a buzz all the bloggers are making these days! It seems like just about everybody is pouring their musings into a text box. Are you feeling tempted to start a blog of your own? Here are some ways to bypass the trend.

1. Find five completely random blogs, and read them daily for a month. After thirty days, you will absolutely dread your self-imposed requirement to read all that dreck. Any blog you create will most likely be on par with what you’ve been reading. Don’t put anyone through that.

read more about fighting the blogging urge | see digg post

Ready for some Stories?

I saw this on Digg.com and Earthling last week. In touch with your RSS feelings. We all have busy lives with very little time. Web surfing is fun but can take hours going to visit every single website and blog you enjoy. Would it not it be fabulous if you could just get all the headlines of the most current stories from all your favorite websites and blogs in one place? Well now you can, and it is called RSS feed. “

read full rss oprah story | read digg story

Although many of us don’t have to “fake” it, Penguin Pete’s Blog’s about How To Totally Fake Being A Geek:

Yes, it’s come to this. The same people you raked on in high school now run the world and control every gizmo you own or want to own. And, as you hold your “normal” identity throughout your life, there are times when it may be advantageous to pose as a geek. Maybe to convince your first date that you have job prospects beyond “Walmart clerk”. Maybe to slip in the door at Comdex. Perhaps even to escape being hacked to death by the evil-looking punks at the Internet cafe, the ones with the Tux penguin tattoos and the Mohawks who are eying your laptop. Hint: They don’t like you because of the suit and tie; they HATE that!

It is interesting to see design concepts in the East versus the West. It really does look like the Japanese are having more fun. Is that a leprechaun holding a pink ice cream?

Web hosting companies usually have very corporate websites. They want to provide an air of professionalism and reliability. At least in the West. Prime example, the website of 1&1, arguably the largest web hosting company in the world.

read more | digg story

Several ideas for a web hosting logo were tossed around by the design folks. After a few mockups were created, it became apparent that the current logo looked the best and conveyed the Web Hosting Finds message the most accurately. Not that it’s going to change, but what do you think of the logo itself and more importantly what should the name of our beloved mascot dog be? I’ve got some ideas but want to turn them over in my head a while before I post them. Do post yours here. 

Josh Jones at the DreamHost Blog posted a comic pictorial musing of whey web hosting is here to stay. It starts like this:

Sometimes, I get a little nervous about this whole business of web hosting.

Not just nervous about the blank looks I’ll get when I tell pretty ladies what I do, either.

More nervous about the tingling feeling in the back of my neck that someday, perhaps not too far away, the entire web hosting industry is going to go the way of the betamax. Or, perhaps, that some collllooooossssssus will get into it and give it all away for free as a means to “capture eyeballs”.

http://blog.dreamhost.com/2006/05/31/why-web-hosting-is-here-to-stay/

Recently we blogged about the Vincent Ferrari AOL video, a hilarious but true demonstration of the Vincent Ferrari attempt to cancel his AOL account that was met with a sadistic response by an AOL customer service rep. Since then, the story has received more publicity. Art and video parodies are springing up all over the Inernet. Why does a blog about web hosting care about this video, you might ask? We think there is room for improved customer service in the web hosting industry and love the don’t mess with the customer philosophy.

“With the enthusiastic help of users of Digg, the much-visited site that lets readers rate news stories, the online world found its way to Mr. Ferrari’s door. (Actually, too many curiosity seekers arrived that day: the server that hosted his blog crashed hard when about 300,000 visitors tried to push through the door at about the same time.)”

read more | digg story

Vincent Ferrari talks to Matt Lauer about Cancelling AOL Video. Mr. Ferrari appeared on NBC today to talk about his amazing experience with a rude and persistent AOL rep who tried to convince him not to cancel his account. The AOL customer service rep was reported fired and AOL apologized.

read more | digg story | Vincent Ferrari Wikipedia Page