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Kiwi Geeks Seek Domain

Codeine writes "A group of professional Internet engineers and technicians from New Zealand are following the published procedure to obtain the delegation of GEEK.NZ from the NZ Domain Name Commissioner (DNC). If successful, GEEK.NZ would be New Zealand's twelfth second-level domain."

21 of 197 comments (clear)

  1. Won't happen... by clinko · · Score: 4, Funny

    This won't happen, I'm still waiting on the paperwork on GoatMe.nz

  2. Very cool. by jericho4.0 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    One of the press releases on the linked page answers 'why?'.
    "GEEK.NZ defines a distinct community of interest, just as other second-level domains do," explains Andy Linton. "However, GEEK.NZ also provides an opportunity for deploying additional, more experimental services such as DNS Security (DNSSEC) and IPv6, which are many years away from deployment in other registries, like CO.NZ." Linton sees GEEK.NZ performing a role for DNS service which is analogous to the role the high-speed, optical research network, "Internet2", provides for ISPs.
    Cool! I want one. It would be cool to have an 'anything goes' kind of area on the net. No production servers, just experimental services, protocols, etc. Or how about a domain in which hacking (cracking) was allowed/expected? We would learn a lot about security.
    --
    "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
    1. Re:Very cool. by eddeye · · Score: 5, Funny
      It would be cool to have an 'anything goes' kind of area on the net.

      You mean like international waters? Where cowboys wage shootouts and sea captains marry cows? Those poor saps back on land will never know the simple pleasures of a monkey knife fight. <sigh>

      --
      Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch.
  3. Re:Ummm....? by muzzmac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Like the world gives a crap about 1/2 of the US centric stories posted here.

  4. Re:Ummm....? by zapfie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How hard would it have been for you to just ignore the story? It's not like they can satisfy 100% of readers 100% of the time. I personally found it to be interesting. Also, you don't really speak for all of Slashdot.

    --
    slashdot!=valid HTML
  5. Re:i don't understand by bdash · · Score: 5, Informative

    Not sure why the "12th second level domain" phrase surprised you. The New Zealand Domain Name Structure describes the current structure and processes surrounding the creation of new second level .nz domains. It mentions that the general form of NZ domain names is name.domain.nz where name is the user chosen name, and domain is one of .ac, .co, .cri, .gen, .govt, .iwi, .mil, .net, .org and .school.

    The fact that that document only lists 10 second level domains surprises me as this would make .geek.nz the 11th...

  6. Re:Ummm....? by G-funk · · Score: 4, Funny

    Like the rest of the world needs to hear about everytime senator palpatine^H^H^H^H^H^H^H hollings takes a shit?

    --
    Send lawyers, guns, and money!
  7. Re:i don't understand by King+of+the+World · · Score: 5, Informative
    Just in case anyone is wondering, the 12 2nd level domains are firstly the usual .co.nz, .org.nz, .net.nz, .gen.nz (general), .ac.nz (tertiary educational), govt.nz (duh), mil.nz,

    The unique ones are school.nz (other educational), maori.nz (general maori tribe), iwi.nz (local maori tribe), cri.nz (gov research),

    As well as geek.nz there's a proposal for bank.nz.

    Certain domains are open for anyone to use (maori.nz) but others (bank.nz, iwi.nz) require procedures to register.

  8. The original definition of the word geek... by dagg · · Score: 5, Funny
    Originally, a `geek' was a carnival performer who bit the heads off chickens.

    Indeed. I did not know that. That's pretty sick. The stuff you learn by clicking on slashdot links. I thought people who bit heads off chickens were hobo's.

    --
    Geeks need help finding this...
    --
    Sex - Find It
  9. Terrible summary. by SlashChick · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Wow. Upon reading the summary, my first thought was "Why do I care?" I mean, geek.nz... they're just going to put up a website or something, right?

    Actually, they're trying to get a domain extension of sorts, much like the pre-existing .org.nz, .net.nz and .co.nz. (I don't know whether I should blame the story submitter, the Slashdot editor, or the guys who wrote the webpage for the completely ordinary, ho-hum writeup, since all of them seemed to assume that we understood exactly what they were trying to do.)

    From what I gather, the domain name commissioner of New Zealand is in charge of approving second-level domains. There is a list of criteria for these domains here (which is linked from the geek.nz website.) These people are trying to put geek.nz in the same realm as .co.nz, .net.nz, and .org.nz based on the criteria in the linked PDF above (namely, that they have a long-standing common interest and should get a second-level domain for it.)

    The linked website is pretty terrible in terms of explaining to the rest of the world these geeks' true motivation to do this. Okay, you want a second-level domain, and you meet the criteria... and? Is this to make your government open up its domain name system to anyone who has a legitimate interest? Is it just a cool project? Unfortunately, the website that they made shows none of their motivation for doing this.

    As it is, it seems to be a cool novelty, but these geeks failed to express any sort of goal for this project. Interesting? I suppose. Slashdot-worthy? Not really.

    1. Re:Terrible summary. by WasterDave · · Score: 4, Informative

      Actually, they're trying to get a domain extension of sorts, much like the pre-existing .org.nz, .net.nz and .co.nz.

      No shit, I think you might find that the words "a second level domain" gave the game away. I mean, it'd be fine to be a newbie, but don't slate the editors for giving a terrible summary.

      As it is, it seems to be a cool novelty, but these geeks failed to express any sort of goal for this project.

      Well, dah. We get a second level domain of .geek.nz. Hello? That _is_ the goal, what's there to no know?

      Dave

      --
      I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
  10. Not cool... *sigh* by SlashChick · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "One of the press releases on the linked page answers 'why?'."

    You know, some people bang their heads on the wall when they see bad code. Others get really frustrated when they see bad design, or bad grammar, or any number of things.

    I get frustrated when I see a project whose founders obviously think is "cool," but which completely fails to answer the question "Why should I care?"

    Obviously, you found that answer, and you certainly did better than I did.

    I read the Slashdot summary, which completely failed to answer the question "Why should I care?" Then I clicked on the link, which also completely failed to answer that question. It's really frustrating to see the pertinent information on the site buried in a freakin' press release that very few people will ever read. (I mean, I'm guessing you clicked on the press release as sort of a last resort, and it's certainly not the place where most people would go to find out why this project is cool.)

    The lesson I would like other geeks to learn from this article is damn, people, if you're doing something cool, put it in bold type on your front page! Say "We are here because we want to kick some ass. We're going to kick the ass of the domain name commissioner because we want to try out the latest cool geek technologies and this is the best way for us to do it! Hey, JOIN US! Help us out!"

    The first rule of sales is that you have to convince the prospect that your product matters. This holds true whether you're selling encyclopedias door-to-door or whether you're trying to convince your boss to fund the purchase of new server equipment! Unfortunately, geeks have this tendency to throw out facts and just hope that people make the connection between those facts and their product being awesome. It really comes to light in a situation like this, where 95% of the audience doesn't know anything about New Zealand's domain structure or why a new second-level domain is a ground-breaking, earth-shattering, AWESOME achievement! That's why almost all of the posts here have been either "Huh?" or "Why should I care?"

    As much as you may hate sales; as much as you want to believe that the facts will speak for themselves... take this article and the responses to it as a reason why they won't. Next time you're trying to convince someone that they absolutely should go with Linux, or that they absolutely, without a doubt, should use this piece of awesome software for their projects, answer the question that they will always think of first: "Why should I care?" If you can answer that, you've won half the battle.

    If you can't answer that, and you try to just throw out facts and hope that they speak for themselves, you'll get the same response that these guys got...

    "Huh?"

    1. Re:Not cool... *sigh* by CoughDropAddict · · Score: 5, Informative

      I agree with your sentiment completely.

      However I think this particular submission was reasonably clear. A group of professional Internet engineers and technicians from New Zealand (ie. a private group) are following the published procedure to obtain the delegation of GEEK.NZ (ie. they'll be able to give out .GEEK.NZ domains to anyone) from the NZ Domain Name Commissioner (DNC). If successful, GEEK.NZ would be New Zealand's twelfth second-level domain.

      It's significant because it allows a private group to define what a particular subdomain looks like by who they grant registrations to. It is leveraging the delegation model of DNS to give a particular social/professional group their own DNS namespace.

      A more detailed explanation could be useful to people not familiar with DNS, though.

  11. Accuracy? by 6hill · · Score: 4, Funny

    A more accurate second-level domain for these fellas would be peoplewithtoomuchtimeontheirhands.nz, no?

  12. Why this is relevant around here by swmccracken · · Score: 5, Informative

    Recently, the maori.nz domain was created. It was created on the grounds that it was of cultural value for a clearly defined subculture of NZ, AIR.

    However, there was something of a geek feeling that this wasn't very fair - it was a domain created on the basis of race and race alone.

    In protest, and in a "if they can get it, why can't we" various people attempted to create the geek.nz domain. There is something of a race issue that we have to work through around here - thoughout the greater culture, stretching as far back as The Treaty of Waitangi

    (Yes, there is something of an opening-the-floodgates problem, but there is a moritorim on new applications at the moment.)

    (BTW, this isn't exactly news, as the idea was mooted, AIR, many months ago.)

    Oh, and New Zealand Herald / NZPA Coverage

    It's a cool thing, let us have our fun! :-)

    Okay, I'm probably overplaying the race issue - it is something of a bugbear for me, however, that is the rationale behind.

  13. Sounds like eu.org! by MavEtJu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Sounds like the eu.org domain, which is a free-to-register one used by European people. Go geeks!

    --
    bash$ :(){ :|:&};:
  14. Good to see by term0r · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Recently .bank.nz was put through the aproval process for the 2nd time, and failed to reach the 70% support required. Basically I see it being totally pointless to have a .bank.nz tld as there are only about 10 different banks in NZ. (and they all have the relevant .co.nz TLD)

    But, finally a tld comes out that is worth supporting, and fits me perfectly. And reading through all the latest postings on the InternetNZ mailing list, I think it has a good chance of getting put through. I am definately voting for it, though I am a bit biased as I just want a.geek.nz for an IRC host :)

    Some useful links, which may or may not be redundant:

    Outline of the process
    More info
    NZ Registry Services

    All in all its a pretty good time for domain names in NZ, with our new Shared Registry System (SRS) just coming online last Saturday. Finally some competition in NZ for domain registrations.

  15. We need more top level domains. by thogard · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just where is this New Zealand thats getting the geek domain? Is that up on the east cost with all thouse other New states? My geology wasn't very good in school.

  16. Voting by avij · · Score: 4, Funny
    The approval process for GEEK.NZ includes a period for public consultation, which is followed by a vote conducted over the internet.
    Cool, a new Slashdot poll:
    • YES for GEEK.NZ
    • NO for GEEK.NZ
    • I want CowboyNeal.NZ!
    • I don't live in NZ, you insensitive clod
    --

    Follow your Euro bills at EBT
  17. Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls by cioxx · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here are my thoughts on this SLD (Second Level Domain) proposal: It's unnecessary.

    Hear me out. New Zealand has 3,908,037 people, give or take a few. I seriously doubt there are even 5,000 geeks who would get those domains. No one would pass up an opportunity to aquire .com domain or any other TLD. This idea is very specialized, hence serves no purpose.

    Besides, all my friends from NZ have .com/.net/.org domains already.

    I do have a proposal on what type of domains New Zealand government should implement, since the topic came up.

    *.holycowmyinternetisslow.nz - for people who are still on 28.8k dialup modems inside of New Zealand
    *.udpmatch.nz - for packet kiddies who are looking for a mate
    *.neal.nz - will be reserved for Cowboy Neal in case he ever moves there
    *.sheep.nz - hot sheep erotic fanfiction
    *.cliche.nz - will serve as the domain for humor sites incorporating "beowulf cluster" and "In Soviet Russia" jokes all the time!
    *.rom.nz - domain for Romainians who are considering moving to New Zealand to trade ROMS and Emulators for Atari 9600

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some NZ official to see these suggestions and put them on a fasttrack.

  18. What 'bout LoTR domains? by ryochiji · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is New Zealand we're talking about. There's gotta be a LoTR related domain. Something like hobbiton.nz or shire.nz should do nicely.