By @edent · internet · 16 comments · 500 words · read ~14,075 times.
I went for a spelunk0 through an ancient codebase a few weeks ago which contained a curious regex that I just couldn't grok1. {<((https?|ftp|dict|tel):[^\'">\s]+)>}i I'm familiar with HTTP and FTP. I worked in the mobile industry, so knew that tel:+44... could be used to launch a dialer. But DICT?!?!?! It turns out that, lurking on […]
Continue reading →By @edent · africa domains ICANN internet tld · 400 words · read ~204 times.
It looks like South Sudan's Top Level Domain is going to start allowing direct registrations! Long-time readers of this blog will know that it's possible to register .me.ss domain names - there are various other 3rd level domains you can buy. But, from the 1st of August 2024, you'll be able to apply for a […]
Continue reading →By @edent · future internet isp · 11 comments · 450 words · read ~266 times.
Many years ago - when I was very young and you were even younger - it was standard for an ISP to provide all their users with a small amount of webspace. Both Pipex and Demon offered webspace back in 1996. If my hazy memory is correct, they offered a few megabytes - more than […]
Continue reading →By @edent · internet isp virgin · 9 comments · 200 words · read ~156 times.
Virgin Media - a UK-based fibre-optic ISP - recently sent me a survey about their potential product offerings. It was desperate to know if I wanted bundled streaming video (no), or Sky Sports (LOL no), or any other digital subscriptions (no, go away), or a landline (what, is this the 1990s?). They even wanted to […]
Continue reading →By @edent · HTML internet tld · 7 comments · 400 words · read ~294 times.
In linguistics, a "False Friend" is a word which looks similar in multiple languages, but means something different in each of them. For example the word "gift" in English means "a present", in German means "poison", and in Norwegian it means "married". The Internet uses Top Level Domains (TLD) to organise information into hierarchies. This […]
Continue reading →By @edent · Book Review Cory Doctorow internet politics · 650 words · read ~212 times.
This is beloved firebrand Cory doing what he does best. Rallying the rebellion with righteous indignation and a no-nonsense approach to fixing technology's ills. If you've read any of his fiction, or listened to him talk, you'll know what to expect. An overview of how big tech has screwed us over and the consequences of […]
Continue reading →By @edent · internet predictions web · 7 comments · 700 words · read ~1,439 times.
Way back in 2011, I contributed to an article on The Next Web called "What will the Web be like in 20 years?". Foolishly, I missed the 10 year anniversary, but let's see how we're doing against those predictions a little over halfway through. My prediction for the Web? The same speed. Faster pipes & […]
Continue reading →By @edent · google internet tld · 9 comments · 350 words · read ~8,579 times.
Many years ago, Google applied for the .zip Top Level Domain. ICANN, in its infinite wisdom, granted it. And now, I think, bad things are going to happen. You see computers try to be helpful. They see you wrote "visit example.com" and autolink the thing which looks like a domain name. That's handy - especially […]
Continue reading →By @edent · http internet · 4 comments · 650 words · read ~3,647 times.
Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol is, by some measure, the most popular way for computers to talk to each other on the Internet0. Generally speaking1, clients (like browsers) talk to servers using a set number of HTTP "verbs". This tells the server what sort of thing the client is trying to do. The two most popular2 verbs […]
Continue reading →By @edent · dns internet · 4 comments · 750 words · read ~405 times.
You've been on the Internet a long time, right? Of course you know what BIMI is. All the cool kids do. But, for those of you who aren't hip to the jive of the Infobahn... BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a new standard that can curb the issue of online impersonators. ... BIMI […]
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