Seven Mile

Domains Down Under 

Melbourne.com sells for 700k.
Brisbane.com sells for 100k.
http://dnjournal.com/domainsales.htm
These are excellent geographical names..  I like cities with “i” in front of them too.  Less organic traffic but cheaper and more brandable
Other notable sales:
TheNightBeforeChristmas.com  $2,600
BabyBoomers.net  $5,000
LuxuryHomes.org  $1,775
Cannabis.co.uk  $9,743

Dun and Bradstreet buy AllBusiness.com website for 55 million.

http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-structures-ownership/4974051-1.html 

***FS*** Everyone’s moving to a greater online presence… rating agencies included.  Really good for name holders..  Like a slowly moving tide floating our boats.  It’s subtle ..  but everyone feels it.

Micahel Berkens launches TheDomains.com blog, and announces Domain Parking Stock Index.

http://www.thedomains.com/2007/12/04/domain-parking-stock-index/ The index is at the right side of his main page, and updates at 6 p.m. daily.Here: > http://www.thedomains.com/ (Via Sahar.)

***FS***  Awesome that Michael is doing this.. really good for the domain space..  Isn’t it time you started a blog Mr. or Ms. Domainer?  You don’t have to publish everyday but I’m sure you could add a great deal to the space with your thoughts.

Mint.com gets some buzz.

Attempts to take on quicken for financial management tools with free online tools. http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/121/easy-money.html

***FS***  I like this domain a LOT!  If I owned it.. I’d sell numismatics and those cheesy limited edition replicas of stuff..  Honorable nod to those who like those cheesy limited edition replicas of stuff

Microsoft issues security alert related to third level domain names.
3rd level, meaning: go.Microsoft.com ) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/945713.mspx 

***FS***  I have a great deal of difficulty “trusting” anything Microsoft does relating to browsing security,  because
A) They control the browser
B) They manipulate error searches in their browser to plumb incorrectly typed traffic seeking other websites toward their own Internet media portals 
C) They turn around and sue cybersquatters for the same type of traffic theft.
I will do a complete 180 on MSFT when they stop harvesting error searches in their browser..  Stealing is stealing whether it happens on the right or left of the dot

Domain Tools announces next online auction.

http://blog.domaintools.com/2007/12/new-auction-alert  (Jays readers submit comments and reactions at the link above.)

***FS***  Good deals at Jay’s auction..  daddy says buy, but some of the new innovations could make things pricier and tough for sellers.

Related: Domain Wire comments about the auction at this link below, and others add their views to the DW comments section. http://domainnamewire.com/2007/12/05/domaintools-announces-next-auction/

Josh points out:  Auction will be January 3rd, 2008.  Imo, that might be too close to New Years/the holidays, especially since no names have been submitted at this point.  Though, word does travel fast, if Jay ends up with good names.  Fact is, some folks who go away for Christmas, don’t start getting back to the nuts and bolts of work until Jan 5/7 or so. If your name doesn’t sell at the auction, Jay has an exclusive to sell your names for 60 days after the auction, and the price will drop 20%. Imo, 60 days is too long.  No exclusive or 15-20 days sounds about right to me.  The forced price drop of 20% after the auction is a bit of a disincentive for people to bid at the auction, especially if there are no bids or low bids on a particular certain name.  I’m sure some folks will increase their asking/reserve price by 20%, before they submit their names. Alot of folks say they liked Jay’s software at the last auction, kudos to that.  Imo, Jay might want to consider tweaking some of the other aspects mentioned above.  Or not, it’s his thing.

***FS***  Good that Jay’s pushing the envelope with new stuff..  But you’re right some of the dates might run too long.

1 in 20 businesses can’t remember their own domain names.

http://www.newbusiness.co.uk/article/13/11/2007/website_domain_name.html

***FS***  …And we see them every day in the expirng name lists..  A virtual boulevard of broken dreams.  It’s sad that people don’t take more pride of ownership in their rights to domains.  One man’s trash is another’s treasure I suppose. Referenced the piece in the past but worth repeating.

Inside Domaining rounds up 30 different top searched words from 2007

http://InsideDomaining.blogspot.com/
Including:  Nascar, David Beckham, Design, HDTV, Games, Travel, YouTube.

***FS***  I am a regular visitor to http://50.lycos.com have been visiting that site since Fritz Holznagel ran the show and the colors were orange (woner whatever happened to that guy?).  Suggest you bookmark the site..  The ‘archives’ are the thinking domainer’s treasure-trove. Spend 3 full days in there and get a one year masters in popular keywords and user psychology.
 

People are spending multiple $ millions on virtual gifts.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/12/04/virtual.gifts.ap/index.html

***FS*** We’re all helping to fuel this boom..  Best sold over domain names.

Bruce Schneier, “internet security guru”, answers questions,.. many questions.

Good read.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/04/bruce-schneier-blazes-through-your-questions/
Excerpt:
Q: Assuming we are both still here in 50 years, what do you believe will be the most incredible, fantastic, mind-blowing advance in computers/technology at that time?

A: Moore’s Law predicts that in fifty years, computers will be a billion times more powerful than they are today. I don’t think anyone has any idea of the fantastic emergent properties you get from a billion-times increase in computing power. (I recently wrote about what security would look like in ten years, and that was hard enough.) But I can guarantee that it will be incredible, fantastic, and mind-blowing.

***FS***  The internet has been around in it’s commercial form for almost exactly 13 years ..  13 years folks.  I got Netscape/Mosaic at Comdex in 1994 .. opened my Winsock (dialup) and promptly visited the handful of sites that existed.  It took me all of 20 minutes to find my first porn online.  Today porn can be found in 5 seconds..  That’s 23,900% improvement.. The only constant since those early days is the domain name.. In 50 years they may have computers that sleep with you and smoke a cigarette for you afterward,  but you will still find those ‘types’ of websites at unique locations identified by a domain name.  Domain names.. get em while they’re hot..  and still cheap.