About a month ago I was reading my Sitepoint Tribune newsletter and was alarmed to read that the domain registrar Network Solutions was in the practice of “reserving” domains that were searched for on their site, effectively locking the searcher into purchasing from them at their higher-than-average prices. This dubious practice is known as “tasting”.

It works like this: you happen to search for a domain at NS, it’s reported as available, then you try to register at your preferred registrar who is cheaper, and it is now unavailble, only minutes after your original search. However, you’ll find that it IS still available at Network Solutions. Ka-ching!

NS used to justify this by saying they’re “protecting” you from people who would buy the domain merely to stop you from having it. (Pardon?) However, the domain is available to anyone who wants to buy it at Network Solutions, not just you, the original searcher. Sounds like PR of the horse-has-bolted variety to me.

If all that wasn’t bad enough it appears that this search data can be bought by third parties who will then buy up domains that may be of worth - a practice called “front-running” - and who will probably charge you an even greater price for it.

So I sat there feeling lucky that I’d never searched at their site, at the same time wondering whether there would actually be much likelihood of my doing so since they’re based in the US. I don’t know about you but if anything goes wrong with one of my domains I don’t want to be making transatlantic phone calls to sort it out. (No - I’d rather use my Euro-conglomerate registrar with a call centre in the Asteroid Belt.) Apparently though, at one time they were the only domain registrar in existence so they may still be a natural choice for many people.

Anyway, by a horrible quirk of fate, a few days later we had a call from a client of ours saying that she’d searched for a domain with, yes, Network Solutions, and they’d bagged her domain and wanted their inflated price for it. In the end she had no choice but to do business with them.

Many people who’ve heard about NS’s antics have been having fun with this by searching at the site for domains named “NetworkSolutions[append insult here]” and noting with glee the speed with which they’re created. And understandably so. As you can tell by now, the whole affair is rather convoluted but I understand that the upshot of it is that NS have rectfied their ahem, business model, so that the domain you are interested in is only reserved at NS much later in the checkout process if you so wish.

As complicated as all that is, I think I’ll just stick with the registrar I’ve always used - I just can’t cope with all the intrigue.

A few months ago, I was directed to youtube and instructed to search for “naturally 7” by a friend of mine. Being an avid fan of most musical genres I had to see what all the fuss was about.

Was I disappointed? I was about as disappointed as a kid who’s family won the lottery the week before Christmas. Was I amazed? I was more than amazed. These guys have talent which unfortunately these days we aren’t exposed to enough.

Sad as it seems, record labels are signing lots of vocally incapable kids who’s talent does not lie in music but in their image and markability potential so it’s great to see some real music is still being produced. However this is not your average busking group.

Back to this video I was directed to, Naturally 7 deliver an acapella-style performance whilst travelling on public transport in France. What starts as a couple of people looking over their shoulder results in the whole train absorbed by their musical abilities. I could sing their praises for hours on end, however I’ll let you be the judge of their skills.

But what on earth has this got to do with the internet, web-design, web-development or anything technical for that matter? Well its simple. These guys, before they did this acapella on the train were relatively unknown. Since posting that video up on youtube, the video has received 1,303,687 plays at the time of writing this article. Quite impressive. So through viral marketing, and people passing on this link, it would appear they have gained international fame signing to EMI one of the biggest record labels in the music industry. With the help from websites such as myspace and youtube, real musicians have managed to claw to the top, regardless of their image or personas.

Naturally 7, we salute you.

In an age where we can plan our journeys and travels through satellite imagery provided by Google, it takes quite a lot to wow us. You may think that parting the Red Sea would be impossible but the people over at Glue Society in Sydney have done Just that!

Through photo-manipulation and hours of hard-work they have digitally altered images, to recreate biblical scenes such as:

• Moses and the parting of the Red Sea
• Noah’s Ark
• Christ’s Crucifiction
• Garden of Eden

The ‘satellite pictures’ are currently on show at an art fair in Miami. However, these pieces of art do not come at a small price with each set setting you back $36,000 USD.

Although some may see this as religious controversy, co-founder Jonathan Kneebone would argue otherwise. He said “it was a way to play with the whole idea that if you can capture something from a satellite it must exist”. He further explains that the images were put together like digital “jigsaw puzzles” made from collated images of Niagara Falls to create an illusion of the Red Sea parting.

Either way, we at Score think they’ve definately pulled these ones off! True modern day masterpeices expressing real originality through art and technology.

For more information, visit Glue Society

Steve Rubel over at Micropersuasion has spotted this great post that pulls together a raft of useful websites, tools and tips for anyone looking to write or run a blog. Take a look at this pretty exhaustive list: Blogging Tips

I was one of the generation that sat back and watched as the New Labour Govt put University out of reach for many by introducing fees for degrees. My year was one of the very last to have received a “free” university education (although I still had to take out student loans and take on what was virtually a full-time job in order to pay my way). Ironically we were also the students that went out and voted in droves for the Labour landslide in ‘97 and I’m certain that our trust in the new regime also led many of us to think that whatever they wanted to do would be for the good of the country (see: Iraq).

When the announcement came that the new Government were going back on their manifesto pledge (Namely: “We have no plans to introduce University top-up fees, and have legislated to prevent their introduction") our response was weak, almost to the point of embarrassing. A few protests and a couple of demonstrations, but other than that, a pretty easy time for the Govt.

This always left me feeling a little ashamed of myself for not having done more. I loved my Uni days and would not have swapped them for anything. I was one of those rare students that really enjoyed my course (Politics and Contemporary History) and really enjoyed my lectures and seminars. The fact that Uni was being whipped away from so many people as a result of this measure is one that really concerned me.

I can’t help feeling that if this had happened in the 60’s or 70’s there would have been a massive student revolt with slightly more militant action forcing the Govt to back-down.

It was therefore with great interest that I read about the way in which HSBC were forced to back down on their plan to charge graduate accounts following a viral campaign on Facebook which brought with it a very real threat of chaos in its branches.

Using emails, text messages and social networking sites, the students wanted a legal way of showing dissatisfaction of HSBC’s adding to their existing debts and planned a series of flash-mob type queues in city centre branches which would have effectively brought them to a halt.

Thousands of students signed up to condemn the bank’s new charge and facing the prospect of massive disruption, the bank’s executives decided that it would be sensible to freeze the charging scheme and provide refunds on interest already taken.

NUS vice-president Wes Streeting, who set up the Facebook protest, said: “Using Facebook made a world of difference to our campaign. By setting up a group on a site that is incredibly popular with students, it enabled us to contact students during the summer vacation far more easily than would otherwise have been possible. It also meant that we could involve former members - graduates who were going to be most affected by this policy.”

Read more about the HSBC case study.

With a platform such as Facebook, the possibilities for creating an organized protest and mobilizing large numbers of people to take action is much more viable. I wonder if this would have made a difference had it been around a few years back?