From time to time I have had to deal with clients who get themselves into all sorts of scrapes with their online adventures – things like expired domains, domains in dispute, other Nominet tag holders going on the missing list, etc, etc.

In the past 15 years I have had dealings with some of the great websites of the world, including Google, the BBC, various domain name registrars and hosting companies, but none of these can hold a light to the quality of customer service provided by Nominet.

Like many of my clients, I am no source of all knowledge on the web, I struggle sometimes with IP problems, DNS issues, etc – but when it comes to .co.uk domain names I look upon it with great pleasure knowing that I can sort it easily with the help of the staff at Nominet.

No question is too silly, no problem too hard to sort for these consummate experts. They are a real pleasure to deal with and have never given me anything but the best information, advice and hands-on help.

If only the other large organisations and companies had a tenth of the expertise and efficiency as the customer-facing staff at Nominet, the internet would be a much better place.

“The internet giants Google and Verizon are reportedly close to a deal that could bring an end to “net neutrality”, allowing the telecoms company to prioritise the order and speed in which it delivers content to users.”

“Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in February this year, Eric Schmidt, Google chairman and chief executive, appeared to rule out the prospect of paying for priority access to consumers.”

So why the about-face?

It is wrong that big business should be able to control over the Internet – end of story!

Full story here

Although I support Google’s stance re censorship and human rights, I must admit to feeling glad that these two are still holding hands.

Read the full story here

The beauty of Google was always its simplicity – with the option to search sites from the UK when performing the initial search. Now one has to make a worldwide search just to get the option to search the UK only – from the leaders of online technology, how crap is that?

And what about the option to customise the home page? If I wanted pretty pictures and/or news/videos etc, I would use Bing or go straight to a portal Like MSN or Yahoo.

This really is the thin end of the wedge – how long before Google buries itself in a plethora of add-on gimmicks.

Just give me fast, simple search without all the messing about thank you…

It is a brave and noble thing that Google refused to censor their search results for a corrupt government that represses it’s own people and victimises any dissention.

No doubt China will try and hit back at Google, but at least when you type in Tiananmen Square 1989 you get the truth.

Full story here

The real coincidence? The person who has my two names lives in Japan but had registered them through the same UK based company.

Watch this space.

Do it Rupert – go on, you know you want to…

To say I’m dissappointed is a bit of an understatement – but nevertheless it goes to show how a certain mentality never quite grasped the Internet.

I, for one, won’t be giving any dosh to Murdock – and I hope lots of others will do the same. Basically what we are seeing is an old dinosaur finally admitting defeat through lack of creative thinking.

Loser.

Taking on Google was never going to be easy, but the combined power of the second and third largest forces on the search market might actually stand a chance.

I hope it works – the market needs a shake up.

This from the SFC website:

“Under the terms of the 10-year deal, which will require regulatory approval, Microsoft’s Bing search tool will become the exclusive platform on Yahoo’s sites, funneling an enormous volume of queries through the Redmond, Wash., software titan’s increasingly popular algorithm. Yahoo of Sunnyvale will sell the lucrative advertising tied to online search for both companies.

Microsoft will pay Yahoo for the traffic it generates, at a rate of 88 percent of search revenue for the first five years. Within two years of securing approval, Yahoo estimates the agreement will add $500 million to its operating income and save $200 million in capital expenditures.”

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