Top 5 Top 5’s

This time of year everyone is making lists of their most memorable moments of the year. So, here is my top 5 top 5 lists for 2008:

Top 5 news stories (for me):
1. The devastating Sichuan earthquake on May 12 2008
2. Barack Obama showing us all that ‘he can’ on November 4 2008
3. The collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 13 2008
4. The siege of Mumbai on November 26 2008
5. Russia’s attack on Georgia whilst the Beijing Olympic Ceremony was in full flow on August 8 2008

Top 5 memorable 2008 events (for me and in no particular order):
1. Beijing Olympics opening ceremony
2. Obama wins US elections
3. The credit crunch
4. George Bush dodges journalist shoe thrower
5. Lewis Hamilton winning the F1

Top 5 2008 buzzwords:
1. ‘Change’
2. ‘Credit Crunch’
3. ‘Rickrolled’
4. ‘Tweet’
5. ‘Social media’

Top 5 videos (there are many I could have included, this was a hard category):
1. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDqSvJ6aHc)
2. Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLG3S5WzHig)
3. Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lcmNaXmjvs&feature=related)
4. George Bush dodges shoe-icide (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uIj0YvDBKE)
5. Lewis Hamilton wins F1 on last lap (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5g9ilv0UxM&feature=related)

Top 5 songs (this will reveal lots about my taste in music):
1. Pocketful of sunshine – Natasha Bedingfield (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMRn2JcSrtg)
2. Mercy – Duffy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE2orthS3TQ)
3. Don’t stop the music – Rihanna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsRWpK4pf90)
4. Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJTiXoMCppw)
5. Hot n Cold – Katy Perry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMRn2JcSrtg)

Facebook Facelift

I've been trying out the new look Facebook over the past fortnight and have found myself reverting back to the old one.

The beauty of the old Facebook was that it was simple to navigate - the new look was too cluttered and I couldn't find the information I wanted in its usual place. I thought I was alone! However, it seems that many others are in the same boat. According to this BBC article almost 10 million out of 40 million prefer the old style.

What I also found interesting is that Facebook has kind of become a victim of its own success - the Petition against the new Facebook seems to have generated a rather large following. It now remains to be seen whether this group has any influence on the platform that raised it and made it successful in so many other petitions. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you!

Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to go back to the new look style soon with the compulsory switch over.

Domain name shake up

There has been much discussion about ICANN's potential plans to open up the internet domain name system. There is a good summary of the story here from the BBC website.

I don't normally sit on the fence, but on this occasion I can't for the life of me decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Here is a summary of my thoughts:

Good
- It allows companies to turn their brands and individuals to turn their names into domain names
- It will allow for new domain names to be internationalized meaning support for Asian and Arabic languages

Bad
- The creation of hundreds and thousands of new domain names making it harder for us to find what we are looking for
- Less regulation means more potential for fraud
- The application fee to register a domain name is expected to be at least several thousand dollars

It sounds like, maybe, the big fish will benefit, I think!!

Update: Chris Green says "I think the ICANN proposal is a bad move. It will create a cyber squatting war, cost ISPs millions and won't solve the problem"