AC's articles seem to capture prominent spots in Google. The same as Wikipedia and other popular websites. However, something always caught my eye.

AC's Board of Directors lists several individuals with backgrounds related to Google:

• Patrick Keane: "Prior to joining CBS, Keane spent more than four years at Google, Inc. He served as Head of Advertising Sales Strategy at Google, overseeing the group responsible for developing and managing the strategic plans and relationships critical to growing Google's advertising customer base. He was the original founder and programmer of Zeitgeist, Google's annual thought leadership forum. Keane also built and led Google's North American field marketing team, an organization comprising industry marketing, sales analytics, sales marketing, and corporate events."
• Ron Conway: "Ron Conway is the founding general partner at Angel Investors, LP. Angel Investors LP has two Funds with committed capital of $175M and invested in the early stages of Google....."
• Rich LeFurgy: "Rich LeFurgy is the founder of Archer, an online and brand advertising consultancy based in San Francisco......Current and past Archer clients include: America Online, Feedster, Google"

I am not accusing AC of anything shady. Actually, this could be a wise decision to choose individuals experienced with related mediums. I am just wondering what is your opinion on a content company's relationship with its advertiser in this manner?

Domains are stolen each day despite domain locks and secure passwords. The stakes are higher the more valuable the domain or the larger the portfolio. Fact is, people may not steal just domains: they may affect entire businesses and revenue streams.

Dotster.com

Dotster uses NameSafe which is described as "prevent(ing) account ownership changes without email authorization from the account owner". Unfortunately, NameSafe is not automatically applied to your domains and you have to pay for it.

eNom

The only domain security in place eNom provides is domain locking. This was confirmed by calling their technical support who informed me the only other level of protection is locking down the entire account where you have to call in to make changes.

Fabulous.com

Fabulous offers three levels of security: the Fabulous Security Key, Challenge/Response Security Questions or an Executive Lock. The Security Key is a USB device (screenshots on Acro.net) that plugs physically into your computer for extra security.

GoDaddy

Just as eNom, GoDaddy only has domain locking in place (also confirmed by a long call with tech support). The agent was courteous and tried to be helpful but had no clue what I was talking about. He did, however, try to upsell me on a feature called "Protected Registration" which puts a domain into inactive/protective status for up to one year in the event of a renewal failure. With "Protected Registration", there are no redemption fees (if the owner decides to renew) and another feature applies called a "Dead Bolt Transfer" which means not even Satan himself could transfer the name away. BUT, this is only good for renewal failures and does not actually protect the domain in any other circumstance until the renewal has failed.

Moniker

Moniker basically has locking but other security measures in place depending on your account security settings. These measures can range from email verifications to actual phone calls from account Executives.

Name.com

Name.com uses NameSafe VIP (not to be confused with the service Dotster uses) which provides a physical device and uses an algorithm to calculate changing passwords which you enter each time you log in. It also works with Paypal's device and all you do is tie it into your account. (I have the Paypal version and I haven't lost my keys in years!).

NameCheap

Same story as eNom and GoDaddy. Basic measures in place with the best being domain locking.

Other Information

• ALERT: Identity Theft Hits NameJet & Dr. Chris Hartnett & It Can Happen To You
• Dr. Chris Hartnett: The Comics Edition
• Hart to Hart(nett): Some free advice about security

By default, Firefox Thunderbird will forward email as attachments with the .eml extension. This hasn't been a problem for me until today when the recipient's email server blocked by email due to the attachment. There is a way to switch to inline forwarding, however, Thunderbird has made it a bit difficult for average users. Here's how to turn the default and switch to inline forwarding:

In Thunderbird select:

Tools >Options >Advanced > General > Config Editor

The "Config Editor" will be a button on the right side bottom under the "General" sub-tab of "Advanced". 

The Config Editor looks like this:

Type "forward" into the input box until you get an option that looks like this:

Double click on the row and change the value from "0" to "2"

And that's it. Your emails will now forward as inline and not attachments in Thunderbird.

What happened to some of the top domain names sold in 2008? The results are a bit disappointing.

Domain - Sale Price - 2008 Date Sold *

iReport.com - $750,000 - 1/29/08
2007: Pointed to Rick's Blog
Today: CNN portal of user submitted news.
Alexa rank: 3,502

Cruises.co.uk - $1,099,798 - 2/5/08
2007: No data.
Today: Developed into a forum portal.
Alexa rank: 128,581 and falling.

 

Porn.net - $400,000 - 2/12/08
2007: Somewhat developed.
Today: Parked page.
Alexa Rank: n/a

173.com - $302,790 - 2/12/08
2007: No data.
Today: Blank page.
Alexa Rank: 904,230

Bookmarks.com - $300,000 - 2/12/08
2007: An abandoned development project from 2006.
Today: Bookmark service provided by NetRocket.
Alexa Rank: 37,754

 

AR.com - $225,000 - 2/12/08
2007: Interesting note about this domain. It was up in 1997, containing only two sentences for a restaurant called "Alice's Restaurant". In 2007, it was a domain registry called "Alice's Registry".
Today: "Developed" into a disappointing Google search page.
Alexa Rank: 514,327

 

Photograph.com - $195,000 - 2/12/08
2007: Developed
Today: Parked
Alexa Rank: n/a

 

FruitBaskets.com - $142,500 - 2/12/08
2007: Developed with all products pulled from an affiliate program.
Today: Pointed to GourmetGiftBaskets.com
Alexa Rank: n/a

 

MaturePorn.com - $130,000 - 1/29/08
2007: Developed
Today: Parked
Alexa Rank: n/a

 

Newlyweds.com - $130,000
2007: Parked.
Today: Parked.
Alexa Rank: n/a

HotPorn.com - $107,000 - 2/5/08
2007: Developed.
Today: At first glance, it looks developed but the links just point to parked pages.
Alexa Rank: n/a

Females.com - $90,000 - 2/12/08
2007: No data.
Today: For sale page.
Alexa Rank: 4,718,264

Spicy.com - $81,000 - 1/8/08
2007: Parked.
Today: Unresolves
Alexa Rank: n/a

4X4.co.uk - $75,360 - 2/12/08
2007: Parked.
Today: "Coming Soon" page.
Alexa Rank: 8,147,325

SEO.de - $70,896 - 1/29/08
2007: Part of a project that went offline.
Today: Developed.
Alexa Rank: 68,919

HelpLine.com - $70,300 - 2/5/08
2007: Developed website for Keynote Systems, Inc.
Today: Parked
Alexa Rank: n/a

Joysticks.com - $67,500 - 2/12/08
2007: Developed.
Today: Developed.
Alexa Rank:  27,925,354

HTTPS.com - $50,000 - 2/12/08
2007: No data.
Today: Pointed to Devices.com.
Alexa Rank: n/a

 

RaceTracks.com - $49,000 - 2/12/08
2007: Developed.
Today: Parked
Alexa Rank: n/a


* Figures & dates reported from DNJournal.com. 2008/2007 screenshots provided by Archive.org.