Knowing this, it should come as no surprise to you, then, my dear reader, that I spend more time on the awesome domain name research website DomainTools.com, than I do on all the four popular social networking sites — Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook — combined.

While sleuthing around on DomainTools.com in the wee small hours of today, which is something I often do first thing in the morning, I came across this rare 2 letter domain name yi.com listed for sale on domain name marketplace, Sedo.com.

Want to acquire this domain name? It’s a mere “six figures”, and the seller will ignore any offer that’s not in the six figures range.

Two-letter domain names like yi.com are valuable, not just because they’re short, memorable and easy for end-users to remember, but also because there are few of them out there. As far back as 1998 all the possible 676 two-letter .com domains had been registered, and today, such domains can only be obtained by buying them from the people and companies squatting on them.

According to the 2 letter domain website VB.com that bills itself as the “Internet Hall of Fame”, only 112 out of the 676 2 letter domain names are ownebd by “world famous brands”, with the majority of these domain names held by individuals and companies that were quick to acquire them in the early days of the web.

Some of these global brands that own their 2 letter domain names include British Airways (ba.com), American Airlines (aa.com), Financial Times (ft.com), General Electric (ge.com), British Telecom (bt.com), Barnes & Noble (bn.com), Hewlett-Packard (hp.com), WordPress.com (wp.com), LG Group (lg.com), and Facebook (fb.com).

The market value of these domain names vary tremendously, depending on many factors including type-in traffic (how often people type the domain name directly into their browser’s address bar) and the history of the domain name. In 2010, Facebook purchased FB.com for (reportedly) $8.5million, while JF.com sold in the same year for a mere $101,000. So the answer is, it depends.

So if you have “six figures” to spare, do your self a favor and head over to yi.com to grab this valuable Internet property.

Sometimes I walk crazy lane out of necessity: like the many long walks I’ve done and days I’ve gone without food, when I’ve been totally broke and could not afford to take a bus or buy myself a meal. Sometimes it’s a necessary means to a not so necessary end. Sometimes it’s because I’m bored and just want to do something, anything. And yet other times I do my thing out of an inner-burning desire to… well… to do my thing.

And here is the thing: however crazy and weird the scheme of the moment might be, I’ve never been afraid, scared or even apprehensive of walking the crazy lane.

But there’s one thing that’s on my mind, that has been on my mind for many years, the mere contemplation of which scares the bejesus out of me. I’ve never given voice to this crazy idea for fear of being taken for a lunatic. Until now, that is. I want to build a brand new city.

The exact shape and form of my dream city is still evolving in my not-so-stable head. For one thing, I’m not dreaming of a “mega city” or the kind of sub-urban sprawl that’s prevalent in many places today. I’m talking of a small, largely self-sufficient community comprising individual homesteads; with its dwellers bound by a common set of values and ideals. Granted, that’s a very liberal use of the word “city”; but really, is there a universal definition for the word?

The city would have some of the many conveniences of our modern life, but would remain deeply connected to Mother Nature. My dream city already has a name, but I won’t say it just yet (it’s out there in the wind though, you just have to take longer breadths to know it).

Building a new settlement of any sort is certainly not a small task, which is why the mere contemplation sends a shiver down my spines, every single time. Can I pull it off? Can I even start? I believe I can, if I only could devote the rest (or at least the better part) of my life here on this little planet to this pursuit.

But can I afford such a devotion? Your guess is as good as mine.

Cows are my passion. What I have ever sighed for has been to retreat to a Swiss farm, and live entirely surrounded by cows – and china.

Those are not my own words, but the words of the great English novelist, Charles John Huffam Dickens, whom many of you may know simply as Charles Dickens.

Let me be honest with you: I’m neither fond of cows nor of china. But I yearn everyday and sigh everyday to retreat to my very own farm — a beautiful farm somewhere in the mountains of Tennessee, where, I have been reliably informed, everyone writes, composes, performs, or does one thing or the other other related to, music. I was born on the farm, raised on the farm, and for the most of my life past “the age of not believing”, I’ve always had a burning desire to be retreat to the farm.

Photo: Scarecrow at Wheat Field (courtesy: Christa Richert / SXC.HU)

That utmost desire to port myself (or my remains) to The Music City and dwell among the men and women of music remains very much alive: it’s as though I can’t live or die without doing this. And while I wade through one trans-national emigration red-tape after another in order to make this dream come true, I reckon I might as well mine that acre of diamond that’s sitting just under my nose here in Ghana.

What exactly will this be? I’m all about putting my plans and thoughts out there to the Universe. But I can’t talk about anything just yet, until I have a name for it. Stay tuned.

First for those of you who might not know (and I guess that must be the majority of readers), Ahomka 99.5FM is a small local FM station broadcasting from Elmina (along the Accra-Takoradi highway) in the Cental Region of Ghana.

And for the record, I’m not a domain squatter, and I’m definitely not sqatting on this domain, even though it appears that’s exactly what I’m doing. So how did I get to be in control of Ahomka FM’s doman name Ahomkafm.com, and why does it forward to my personal website?

It all started way back in September of 2009, when I was “invited”, and later contracted, to build a website for the radio station and to help them stream their broadcast on the Internet. Being the ever dutiful and always ready to serve sort of fellow that I am, I dived right in and diligently executed the project, to the fullest extend of my abilities and available resources.

Unfortunately, despite all my efforts, even to the extend of paying for third-party services out of my own means, the project got stalled along the way. So for the better part of a year, the website was “live” online, yet uncompleted. At some point I felt this “under construction” website was doing more harm to the image of the radio station than good, so I pulled the whole damn thing down, and forwarded the domain to my website.

Seriously I’d already counted my losses and moved on, and I was simply waiting for the domain to expire and then forget about the whole thing. But all of a sudden, a phone call, then an email, and Ahomka FM is interested in this project again! This time, though, they have their own plans, and without my asking, they’re willing to settle with me for the work I’d done earlier. What more could I ask for?

So there you have it: why for a brief period, Ahomka FM’s domain name re-directed to my website. I’ve since handed the domain over to the the station, so visiting www.ahomkafm.com will (hopefully) take you to their spanking new website. Thanks for reading: I’ll send you a candy when I get the check from Ahomka!

And I’m sitting here full of envy, typing this blog post on a company-provided Wintel I hate very much, because after years of use and abuse, my Macbook has finally given up on me. While the electronics are still going strong, the the plastic body (2006 era body, now replaced with the much sturdier aluminium Unibody) is completly broken.

So with a heart full of envy, here are, in my humble and admittedly biased opinion, the top 5 features of the latest and greatest edition of Apple’s desktop operating system (OS X Lion) for those of you with Macs or considering switching to Macs.

Screenshot of Apple’s Desktop Operating System: Mac OS X Lion

1. Launchpad

Mac OS X has always offered a Dock, which holds shortcuts to your frequently launched applications and minimised windows. This is similar to “pinning” an application to the Windows taskbar, a feature (I believe) got introduced in Windows Vista and carried over into Windows 7. To lauch an application which is not in the Dock, you have several options: use Finder to search for and launch the program, navigate to the Applications directory to launch it, or use any of the many third-party launchers our there.

Now your Dock has a new mistress: Launchpad, a new full-screen home for all the apps on your Mac. Think Dashboard for applications, instead of desktop widgets. Just click the Launchpad icon in your Dock, and your open windows will fade away, replaced by a full-screen display of all your apps. You can arrange your apps any way you want, group them together in folders, or delete them from your Mac with ease. And when you download an app from the integrated Mac App Store, it automatically appears in Launchpad, ready to blast off.

Launchpad, new feature in Apple’s Mac OS X Lion Desktop Operating System

2. Integrated Mac App Store

App Stores are the craze these days, and Apple, the company that pioneered this digital distribution platform is pushing it even further. In October of 2010, Apple introduced the Mac App Store as a new way for Mac users to discover, purchase and download Mac software without launching a browser. But the Mac App Store was only available as a software download, until the Lion stepped into the room.

With OS X Lion, the Mac App Store is already integrated in the operating system, giving Mac users the easiest way ever to discover new Mac software. Just like the App Store on iPad, the Mac App Store lets you browse and download thousands of free and paid apps that you can start using right away on all your Mac computers authorized for personal use. New apps install in one step right to Launchpad, and the Mac App Store keeps track of your apps and tells you when updates are available.

Mac OS X Lion with Integrated Mac App Store

3. Mission Control

Mission Control brings together full-screen apps, Dashboard, Exposé, and Spaces in one new feature that gives you a bird’s-eye view of everything on your system. With a single swipe on the trackpad, your desktop zooms out to Mission Control. Think of it as the hub of your system: View everything and go anywhere with just a click.

Mac OS X Lion Mission Control

4. Full-Screen Apps

Apple’s latest desktop operating system, OS X Lion, offers systemwide support for gorgeous, full-screen apps that use every inch of your Mac display. Want to focus on that proposal writing and not be distracted by those tweets? Just fire-up Pages in full-screen mode!

Sure, full-screen has always been available in some applications, but OS X Lion now brings this vital arsenal system-wide to all applications. You can have multiple full-screen apps open at once — along with multiple standard-size apps. And it’s easy to switch between full-screen and desktop views.

Mac OS X Lion System-wide Full Screen feature

5. Resume (App & Desktop)

Now in Mac OS X Lion, apps you close will reopen right where you left off. So now you can return to the exact spot you got to in that document or ebook, without having to always start from the beginning. But it’s more than apps and documents though.

This feature will also restore your desktop even after rebooting the computer. So when, for instance, you install software updates, you no longer need to save your work, close your apps, and spend valuable time setting everything up again. With Resume, you can restart your Mac and return to what you were doing – with all your apps in the exact places you left them.

Mac OS X Lion Resume feature will restore your desktop and apps

These are my personal picks of the many (250+) new features in the new Mac OS X Lion operating system. As I don’t have a working Mac now, I can only stare at this list in envy. Yes, go ahead and gift me a Macbook computer now. Here’s how to send me a gift.

Stephanie Tilenius, Google’s VP of Commerce, announced the new Google Wallet mobile payment service to an audience invited by Google to it’s headquarters on 26th May, 2011.

Google Wallet employs a technology called NFC (short for Near Field Communication), a short-range wireless communications technology used to power mobile payment, as well as other fields where short-range machine-to-machine communication is desired. NFC technology became available in 2004 and is used fairly widely in Japan and Korea. The technology is also used in several European cities but mainly for transit systems. The technoloy is now being tested in the US for mobile payments, and Google Wallet is the latest and greatest effort to date.

When commercially available, Google Wallet will allow consumers to use their cellphones and existing credit cards to pay for almost anything — a candy bar, a subway ride, a parking space, or a bag of groceries, etc: just wave your phone at a store reader and — voila — your mobile payment goes through when your phone communicates wirelessly with the reader.

Google is working with a number of partners in the financial services and technology industries to bring the service to consumers. Currently only Citi-backed Mastercards are a partner right now of the major card companies. Google is also working with MasterCard and First Data to develop Google PrePaid MasterCard, a virtual prepaid (debit) card which can be funded with any exisitng credit card.

In this day and age security must be of utmost concern for any payment platform, and Google Google Wallet employs multiple levels of security. There’s the phone lock, a required Google pin, credit card information encryption, and your credit card number is never fully displayed.

This is a bold move by Google into the mobile payments business, and apparently, online payments Juggernaut PayPal doesn’t isn’t all that enthused about Google’s intrusion into this space. Shortly after Google’s announcement, PayPal responded with a lawsuit against Google and two former PayPal executives, Osama Bedier and Stephanie Tilenius, who are now in charge of mobile payments at Google.

PayPal’s full complaint is embedded below. The lawsuit reveals that Google was negotiatiating with PayPal for two years to power payments on mobile devices. PayPal alleges that just as the deal was about to be signed, Google backed off and instead hired the PayPal executive negotiating the deal, Osama Bedier. You can read commentary on this lawsuit at technology blog TechCrunch.com.

Sure, it should be obvious to anyone in the industry that major changes are afoot for Skype as a result of this acquisition by Microsoft. But seriously, many of us thought Skype’s Linux client would be the first to disappear.

So I was really surprised when a client forwarded to me an the message below released by Digium, the release essentially saying Skype for Asterisk is dead.

Skype for Asterisk is an add-on channel driver for Asterisk-based PBX systems. For $66 per channel per year, Skype for Asterisk enables any Asterisk server complete access to the Skype network, including low cost PSTN access and calling to more than 500 million registered Skype users.

Below is a copy of the “Product Notification” put forward by Asterisk developer Digium about the demise of “Skype for Asterisk.”

Product notification:

Skype for Asterisk will not be available for sale or activation after July 26, 2011.

Skype for Asterisk was developed by Digium in cooperation with Skype. It includes proprietary software from Skype that allows Asterisk to join the Skype network as a native client. Skype has decided not to renew the agreement that permits us to package this proprietary software. Therefore Skype for Asterisk sales and activations will cease on July 26, 2011.

This change should not affect any existing users of Skype for Asterisk. Representatives of Skype have assured us that they will continue to support and maintain the Skype for Asterisk software for a period of two years thereafter, as specified in the agreement with Digium. We expect that users of Skype for Asterisk will be able to continue using their Asterisk systems on the Skype network until at least July 26, 2013. Skype may extend this at their discretion.

Skype for Asterisk remains for sale and activation until July 26, 2011. Please complete any purchases and activations before that date.

Thank you for your business.

Digium Product Management

The kicker for me in the above mail is this line: “Skype for Asterisk remains for sale and activation until July 26, 2011. Please complete any purchases and activations before that date.” Seriously, who would do this? Who will invest into a product with end-of life in sight, and amidst such mistrust and uncertainty? Was it not

Next in line to be killed: Linux Skype Client.

The latest company trying to tap into this Internet popularity bandwagon is Gootip, a new local question and answer service which launched just yesterday, 24th of March.

Gootip invites users to ask and answer questions in the context of a particular city, town or specific location. The site then ties users’ knowledge to a particular location by linking their Foursquare and Facebook check-ins, along with their home and work location as specified in their profile upon sign-up. The idea is those who are based in or have visited a location are best placed to answer other users’ location-based questions.

Below is a screenshot of a question answered on Gootip.

Screenshot showing question Gootip – Location-based QA Service

Gootip is founded by Mathieu Bidart, Eric Gagnaire and Thierry Sebba; all three are ex-staff of PriceMinister, France’s most visited e-commerce site. The company reportedly currently operates out of a small garage in the South West of France.

Personally I’m an oldie, and prefer to just go to a good theme-based content site a lot of solid information about the theme, rather than tune into random banters from random people. But if you want quick answers from locals to such questions as “Where can I see a hip hop concert tonight in New York?” or “Is it fun right now at the Queen in Paris?” or “Who is the best doctor in Mission District in San Francisco?”, Gootip might be the place to go for the kind of answers that can be delivered via via short-form communication channels like Twitter and text message (SMS).

I’m talking of the 2011 end times prediction made by American Christian radio host Harold Camping, which claimed that the Rapture and Judgment Day would take place on May 21, 2011, and that the end of the world would take place five months later on October 21, 2011.

21st May has come and gone, but this rapture thing didn’t happen… at least not in the way most people I know, Christians and non-Christians alike, describe when they talk of the rapture.

On May 23, 2011, Harold Camping revised his predication, saying that May 21 had been a “spiritual” Judgment Day, and that the Rapture will occur on October 21, 2011, together with the destruction of the world.

Obviously the old man made a slight mistake in his calculations, but that only means a second chance for anyone who owns a website. If you were looking up to to be ruptured on May 21, but couldn’t find any service to keep while you’re up there in heaven, now you can: I’m here to help!

Family Radio’s Web homepage on May 21, 2011

For only $59/site/month, I’ll take over and manage every aspect of your website for you if you happen to be raptured. This, I’ll continue to do for the rest of my time here on this planet. 100 years pre-payment required, and absolutely no refunds if I get raptured myself, you don’t get raptured, or if death, sickness or any other condition prevents me from doing the work.

Don’t let hackers have a field day with your sites while you’re up there in heaven. Act now before October 21, 2011, and get the assurance you need that your websites will be taken care of after you’ve been raptured.

We had a lengthy and jocular conversation about her life, her aspirations, her dreams… her immediate goals, and how she’s going after them. And then, towards the end, an uneasy silence ensued between us.

For something like 5 minutes (but what appeared like eternity at the time), we just sat down in total silence. Pure, unadulterated silence. To this day, I remain convinced that so much was said in those 5 minutes of silence than in the entire 2 hours that sat talking.

Just Friends (Photo courtesy SXC/Mike Munchel

Then, suddenly, with very little hesitation in her voice, Miss Fine Young Lady broke the silence: “So, George, tell me about you. Now. You keep talking about your dreams being “far afield”, but you’ve never told me a thing about those dreams. Care to share now?”

I should have said NO. But surprisingly, I didn’t. Instead I found myself blurting out one thing after another. Here’s what I think I said:

“Sure, I have my dreams. Big dreams. But dreams nonetheless. And I’m not living my dreams now, because… because my dreams are far afield. My dreams are so near to my heart, yet so far away. They are over there across the great oceans, far away from my immediate reach. I have the know-how to get to my dreams, but not the show-how. Time stands between my dreams and I. And time tempts me everyday to bring my dreams home. Will you…”

You probably can guess where that was heading. At this point I had to force myself to stop. Really. I had to seal those lips and shut the hell up. And, thankfully, I did.

The Old Shed by Tim Lorenz / SXC

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