Category Archives: Internet

ICANNWatch | .nu Swept Away? Nuie has suffered a major natural disaster, with waves from a cyclone basically swamping the entire country. There's talk that it may not be able to exist as a nation and might have to rejoin New Zealand.

If so, what happens to .nu, its TLD? The people who decide, ICANN do so via their IANA subsidiary, and purport to take their lead for ccTLD creation from the ISO country codes.

But the issue of ccTLD erasure is more complex. ICANN says that one of its main goals is Internet stability, which argues strongly for not breaking links and apps that use ccTLD addresses. And, indeed, .su — for the Soviet Union — is not only still in existence but is taking new registrations!

So it seems Katherine Harris may run for Senate — she's certainly being coy like a candidate although CNN is dubious.

We can only hope. In which connection it's amusing to see Whois records on HarrisForSenate domains.

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Via the BBC, I learn the (not especially recent, see CNN in December!) news that Jennicam is dead.

OK, I live a sheltered life, but I recall being amazed that anyone, except maybe a performance artist, would want to have a webcam on them 24/7 or even a substantial fraction of that. Or that people would pay to watch basically nothing. But of course that was before they invented “Reality” TV. (That professional porn would move into the webcam biz and that people would pay for it was just sad, not surprising.)

What's especially ironic is that the proximate cause of the demise seems to be paypal's refusal to process payments to Jennicam, on the grounds that it broadcast nudity.

The Register commemorated the occasion with a Jennicam haiku or limerick contest, and they're mostly pretty awful, which seems fitting somehow.

One reason we keep getting so much of the Nigerian spam proposing confidential business tranasactions….is they work sometimes. This sad and amazing story is about a retiree (from Florida, natch), who 'invested' all $300,000 of his retirement fund. Spotted via Slashdot.

Amazon.com, after I completed a recent order:

“Thanks, A!

Your order is being processed, and you'll receive an e-mail confirmation shortly”.

(My first name on my birth certificate is “Andrew,” but I have been called by my middle name since birth. When I opened my first checking account, they refused to open it for a name other than the one on my driver's license — which copied from my birth certificate — and I became “A. Michael” for most commercial purposes, including credit cards, as a result. Although often a pain, prior to do-not-call the name differentiation was a good way to sort sales calls from personal calls.)