Domain names – new TLD’s – don’t bother only .com is worthwhile?
So the great domain game is afoot, with many new domain TLD’s (Top level Domain names) now agreed for release in 2013 and brand/personal extensions later this year and next. The new extensions are meant to make things easier for users via extensions like .bank or .hotel; As well as the business names more countries get extensions, Wales gets two .wales and .cymru to cover English language and the Welsh language. Well off people and companies have been able to register brand names like .car .coke .mysurname etc, at costs of $185000 for registration fee and yearly renewal fees of $25000 being suggested.
There are many companies now taking pre registrations for the new TLD’s like .hotel all over the net, even though they dont come in to use until 2013. They actually have no more chance of getting you the name than any other domain ‘swooper’, at release time they are fair game for anyone and many companies and individuals have software to grab names. In a sense this will be a free for all, and as usual the name you want will be snapped up by someone who does not want to use it except to sell on at a profit.
Then there is the cost apparently .hotel for instance will cost in excess of $300 as opposed to $8 for a .com so big money to be made for the registration authorities and the name traders.
Gone are the days of the com, net, org, and country specific extensions then? I really don’t think so. I have learned over the years that the only really valuable and powerful names are the .com’s or country specific names related to businesses or products in those countries. A generation of people have been brought up on the .com via media and the dot com booms it has become the name we all know. I think it’s always best to get the .com if you can for your site, people remember it, and they seem to get higher on search results. I think the new names are way too expensive and just make net addresses less memorable and more confusing.
The real big deal that makes a .com the best domain name to get is this: smartphone keypads! Android phones, iphones etc have a .com button on their keypads! And we now have an ever increasing amount of net surfing done via phones and pads, therefore the .com button becomes ever more powerful. End Game!
Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts
Although many users rely on the mouse, there are a multitude of keyboard shortcuts for Windows, Office and most other software. Personally I find the keyboard shortcuts faster, and once you’re used to them it makes things quicker – you rarely need to leave the keyboard for a mouse!
Here is a list of the most useful Windows 7 Keyboard shortcuts:
- F1 – Display Help
- Ctrl+C (or Ctrl+Insert) – Copy the selected item
- Ctrl+X – Cut the selected item
- Ctrl+V (or Shift+Insert) – Paste the selected item
- Ctrl+Z – Undo an action
- Ctrl+Y – Redo an action
- Delete (or Ctrl+D) – Delete the selected item and move it to the Recycle Bin
- Shift+Delete – Delete the selected item without moving it to the Recycle Bin first
- F2 – Rename the selected item
- Ctrl+Right Arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next word
- Ctrl+Left Arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous word
- Ctrl+Down Arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the next paragraph
- Ctrl+Up Arrow – Move the cursor to the beginning of the previous paragraph
- Ctrl+Shift with an arrow key – Select a block of text
- Shift with any arrow key – Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document
- Ctrl with any arrow key+Spacebar – Select multiple individual items in a window or on the desktop
- Ctrl+A – Select all items in a document or window
- F3 – Search for a file or folder
- Alt+Enter – Display properties for the selected item
- Alt+F4 – Close the active item, or exit the active program
- Alt+Spacebar – Open the shortcut menu for the active window
- Ctrl+F4 – Close the active document (in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously)
- Alt+Tab – Switch between open items
- Ctrl+Alt+Tab – Use the arrow keys to switch between open items
- Ctrl+Mouse scroll wheel – Change the size of icons on the desktop
- Windows logo key + Tab – Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
- Ctrl+Windows logo key + Tab – Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D
- Alt+Esc – Cycle through items in the order in which they were opened
- F6 – Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
- F4 – Display the address bar list in Windows Explorer
- Shift+F10 – Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
- Ctrl+Esc – Open the Start menu
- Alt+underlined letter – Display the corresponding menu
- Alt+underlined letter – Perform the menu command (or other underlined command)
- F10 – Activate the menu bar in the active program
- Right Arrow – Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
- Left Arrow – Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
- F5 (or Ctrl+R) – Refresh the active window
- Alt+Up Arrow – View the folder one level up in Windows Explorer
- Esc – Cancel the current task
- Ctrl+Shift+Esc – Open Task Manager
- Shift when you insert a CD – Prevent the CD from automatically playing
- Left Alt+Shift – Switch the input language when multiple input languages are enabled
- Ctrl+Shift – Switch the keyboard layout when multiple keyboard layouts are enabled
- Right or Left Ctrl+Shift – Change the reading direction of text in right-to-left reading languages
- Shift+Click on a taskbar button – Open a program or quickly open another instance of a program
- Ctrl+Shift+Click on a taskbar button – Open a program as an administrator
- Shift+Right-click on a taskbar button – Show the window menu for the program
- Shift+Right-click on a grouped taskbar button – Show the window menu for the group
- Ctrl+Click on a grouped taskbar button – Cycle through the windows of the group
Android Email App & hotmail
After upgrading my HTC sensation to ICS I found that I could not get my hotmail.co.uk address to work. In the mail app you go new account and choose Hotmail, after entering your details the server does not respond, I am guessing its fine for hotmail.com address’s but not for any other version ie .co.uk. I know there are apps in the Market for Hotmail etc, but I like all my accounts in one app for convenience, mine now has a yahoo, Hotmail, and a couple of domain email accounts in, and its working perfectly.
A workaround for Hotmail is:
- Mail App – New account
- Choose Microsoft Exchange Activesync
- The choose Manual Setup
Then enter your details:
- Server: m.hotmail.com
- Username: your name@hotmail.co.uk (or other country variant)
- Password: your password
Leave the other settings at default.
It now works, at the final stage you get to choose whether or not you want it to also sync your contacts, tasks etc. You can also choose Push, or automatic every so often, or manual check.
Done!
You can tweak via opening the account in Android then going menu/settings to alter many variables including how often mail is checked, how may days to download, size to download and frequency.