Want to go Viral? Get a Name Similar to Google.

Have you heard of Groovle. I certainly hadn't. Not until now that is. And this site has been up for the last two and half years.
Now comes the news (source: BBC) that Google has lost out in getting the domain name Groovle transferred to itself. Groovle is driven by Google. Except that the pristine white home page of Google can be replaced by a celebrity / dog / tree or any photo of your choice. Check one example with Angelina Jolie here.
My point is not whether people would confuse between Groovle and Google. My point is where was the need for Google to go after a web site which no one would have heard in a million years. After all how many people have heard of mine.
You know what?
Get a domain name similar to Google's.
Say, gloogle.com.
In another two and half year expect Google to go after your site and thereafter your site to go viral. If you can manage to pull it off, that is. Just two have managed to do so far. Groovle, now, and earlier, Froogles.
Is Google being run by lawyers now?

Discovering Internet Through Books

No! I don't mean e-books. I mean the books that deal with some aspect of Internet. I avoided such books for a long time - for some strange reason that I have still not been able to put my finger on.

But before I go on here are a few interesting things ...

a) Have you heard of LAUNCHcast? It is Yahoo's online radio station. You can create your own play list. You can pick and choose. This is also where recording companies test waters.

b) Ok how about this? Machinima. Have you heard about this? You can make movies at your home on this using animation characters. All you need is a script and a set of good voices.

c) I am sure you have heard of Rhapsody. Yes? Congratulations because you are ahead of me. I just read about this.

d) Let's try something more basic. Go to Google. In the search field just type "25 * 30" and hit return. What do you get? Yes it works like a calculator. Ho hum! But wait. Now type "twenty five * 30". Hmmmm... it still works. What about "twenty five multiplied by thirty". Wow! It still gives you an answer. What kind of calculator is this?

The first book on Internet that I read was The Google Story by David Vise. Besides telling a story it had such interesting bits (such as the Google calculator) that I was hooked.

I am now reading LONG TAIL. by Chris Anderson. Equally riveting. But the interesting parts are the information on Internet that otherwise would have escaped me.

The best thing about such information is that you can immediately go to the Net and check it out for yourself.

The paradox: the best way of discovering Internet is through books. All this when Internet is threatening to displace books as a habit.

Note: The picture used here belongs to Ilker. To see more such images see gallery.