Domain hack
2636393
220509254
2008-06-20T05:34:00Z
Ohnoitsjamie
507787
Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/202.142.4.253|202.142.4.253]] ([[User talk:202.142.4.253|talk]]) to last version by Ohnoitsjamie
{{Cleanup|date=April 2008}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2008}}
A '''domain hack''' is an unconventional [[domain name]] that combines domain levels, especially the [[top-level domain]] (TLD), to spell out the full "name" or title of the domain, making a kind of [[pun]].
For example, <tt>[[blo.gs]]</tt> makes use of the [[top-level domain|TLD]] [[.gs]] ([[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]]) to spell "blogs", <tt>[[Chronology|chronolo.gy]]</tt> uses the [[top-level domain|TLD]] [[.gy]] ([[Guyana]]) to spell "chronology", and <tt>[[Telly|tel.ly]]</tt> uses the [[top-level domain|TLD]] [[.ly]] ([[Libya]]) to spell "telly" (a popular British slang term for television).
The [[subdomain|third-level domains]] <tt>[[del.icio.us]]</tt> and <tt>[[Daniel J. Bernstein|cr.yp.to]]</tt> make use of the [[second-level domain|SLDs]] <tt>icio.us</tt> and <tt>yp.to</tt> from the TLDs [[.us]] ([[United States]]) and [[.to]] ([[Tonga]]) to spell "delicious" and "crypto" respectively.
In this context, the "[[hack]]" represents a trick (as in [[Computer programming|programming]]), not an exploit or break-in (as in [[Computer security|security]]).
==Shorter domain names==
Domain hacks offer the ability to produce extremely short domain names. For example, <tt>[[blo.gs]]</tt> has a total of only five letters, versus the <tt>blogs.com</tt> (eight letters). Domain hacks default to the omission of the <tt>www.</tt> prefix, with the side effect of shortening the domain name, as every letter is taken into account as the site's title.
This makes them potentially valuable as redirectors (like <tt>i.am</tt>, which redirects to [[FortuneCity]]'s ''V3'' service) and as base domains from which to delegate subdomains.
==History==
On Monday, [[November 23]] [[1992]], <tt>inter.net</tt> was registered.<ref>Whois domain search [http://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=inter.net&type=domain]</ref> In the 1990s, several domain names ending in "pla.net" were registered. On Friday, [[May 3]] [[2002]], <tt>icio.us</tt> was registered to create <tt>[[del.icio.us]]</tt>, the most visited domain hack,{{Fact|date=December 2007}} with the prepending of the "del" third-level domain.
[[Yahoo!]] acquired <tt>[[blo.gs]]</tt><ref>Winstead, Jim. [http://blo.gs/for-sale.php blo.gs: sold] [[June 14]], [[2005]].</ref> on [[June 14]], [[2005]], and <tt>del.icio.us</tt><ref>Schachter, Joshua. [http://blog.del.icio.us/blog/2005/12/yahoo.html del.icio.us: y.ah.oo!] [[December 9]], [[2005]].</ref> on [[December 9]], [[2005]].
[[Whois|Who.is]] is a whois server, indicating the registered ownership information of a domain. It was established [[June 12]], [[2002]] and registered to an address in [[Reykjavík]], [[Iceland]].
[[Whocalled.us]], a consumer-complaint site listing telephone numbers of known telemarketers, was first registered in [[2005]].
On [[11 September]] [[2007]], [[name server]]s for [[.me]] were delegated by [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority|IANA]] to the Government of [[Montenegro]], with a two-year transition period for existing [[.yu]] names to be transferred to [[.me]]. One of the first steps taken in deploying [[.me]] online was to create [[.me|.its.me]] as a domain space for personal sites.
==Se.cx==
The [[shock site]] [[Goatse.cx]] introduced a domain hack consisting of a domain name ending with "se" and the domain [[.cx]] ([[Christmas Island]]). On [[January 14]], [[2004]], the [[Christmas Island Internet Administration]] revoked this domain registration for [[acceptable use policy]] violation.<ref>[http://cocca.cx/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3 Council of Country Code Administrators - Acceptable Use Policy .cx - Christmas Island]</ref> Similar names have been used for parody sites such as oralse.cx or analse.cx. In some cases, [[.cz]] ([[Czech Republic]]) or [[.kz]] ([[Kazakhstan]]) are used instead of [[.cx]].
==Other languages==
A fad amongst French-speakers was to register their names in the [[Niue]] TLD [[.nu]], which led to "so-and-so.NU", which in [[French language|French]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] means "nude" or "naked"; however, [[as of 2007]], Niue authorities have revoked many of these domain names. The handful that remain are joke domains without actual nudity. Likewise, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish speakers sometimes use .nu, because it means "now" in these languages.
Another French-speaking example is [http://teu.be teu.be], where "teube" can be translated as "dumb" or "dick" in English. [http://voyez.ca Voyez.ça] ("see that") is a collection of [http://jpe.gs JPEGs] and [http://louez.ca Louez.ça] ("rent that") is a listing of rental properties in [[Montreal]], [[Canada]]. "Aucun.info", which means "no information", is used as a base for [http://freedns.afraid.org FreeDNS] subdomains.
German examples are [http://schokola.de Schokola.de] (chocolate), [http://autom.at Autom.at] or [http://fals.ch fals.ch] (wrong).
In Dutch, company.it stands for "information technology company".
Some organisations situated in [[Switzerland]] use TLDs to specifically refer to their canton (like the [[Belgium|Belgian]] TLD .be for the [[Canton of Berne]]).
An [[Afrikaans]] example is [http://dieinter.net dieInter.net], "die" meaning "the" in English ("the internet"). Email addresses in this domain can then be expressed as "user at the internet".
A Portuguese example is [http://vai.la vai.lá] ("go there"), a redirector much like [http://go.to go.to] in English or [http://www.cest.la cest.là] ("it's there") in French. There are also a handful of sites on subdomains of vai.nu, which means "go nude". Other examples include [http://notici.as notici.as], (as «noticias» means "news") and [http://dicionar.io dicionar.io] (where dicíonario means "dictionary").
In Spanish, « redes » means "networks" so [http://red.es red.es] is used as the site of Spain's domain-name registry operator. The site [http://educ.ar educ.ar] ("To educate") is the Argentine government education portal.
In Russian, ''net'' (as «nyet») means "no", so there are many domains in the format "something.net".
In Czech, Polish and Slovak, ''to'' means "it", so there are many domains in the format "do-something.to" (e.g., [http://zrobie.to zrobie.to], meaning "I will do it").
In Slovenian, the [http://najdi.si najdi.si] ("Find it yourself") is a popular local search engine.
A [[Gibraltar]]ian example is [http://www.gibtele.com gibtele.com] - The phone company in Gibraltar is called Gibtelecom and they have used the .com to their advantage.
A [[Serbia]]n example is [http://www.bankerinter.net bankerinter.net] - an [[Internet service provider|ISP]] based in [[Niš]].
==See also==
*[[Country code top-level domain]]
*[[Generic top-level domain]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://xona.com/domainhacks/ Domain Hack Search] A domain hack search utility with over 300,000 suggestions.
* [http://doma.in/?p=3 Domain Hacks: Inventive or Poor Attempt at Being Cool?] Domain hacks examined in depth by doma.in writers.
* [http://meta.uncyclomedia.org/wiki/UnSource:List_of_domain_hacks List of domain hacks]; over a hundred active sites hosting content under clever or unusual hostnames.
* [http://linuxmafia.com/pub/humour/coolhosts.html Coolest Hostnames on the Net] (1997) list of classic domain hacks & strange hostnames & email addresses.
* [http://www.dnxpert.com/2007/11/08/montenegro-me-tld-to-attract-interest-for-domain-hacks/ Montenegro .me tld to attract interest for domain hacks] Montenegro .me tld to attract interest for domain hacks.
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