Apologies for cross-posting: Check http://www.whatdomain.org/ The WEB's new neighborhoods Over the next two years more than 1,400 new top-level domains will come online, each a new neighborhood. Think you have places to go now? Wait until you see what’s coming. Open Neighborhoods Some new top-level domains will invite anyone to register a domain for any purpose. Need a laugh or want to spread some laughter? Visit a *.lol* website, or set up your own. Interested in motherhood? *.mom* is there for you. And there will be hundreds more to choose from. Internationalized Neighborhoods Why let the Roman alphabet have all the fun? This new domain era will see the first top-level domains in numerous other languages and there will be a موقع. for .みんな in the .世界. The World Wide Web is about to start living up to its name. Geographic Neighborhoods We've discussed country code domains like *.ca* or *.de*. We’ll soon be able to get even more specific with domains related to a specific geography such as a city (visit*.boston*) or region (wine*.aquitaine*). Specialized Neighborhoods Some of the new top-level domains are intended for websites created by members of specific professions, communities, or interests. Looking for a lawyer? A website ending in *.esq* will signify a certified legal professional. Similarly, *.ngo* will be reserved for non-governmental organizations’ websites, and *.catholic* and *.shia* for sites representing those religious communities. Gated Neighborhoods Numerous companies have applied for closed top-level domains and will have complete control over what websites to make available on them. These are usually recognized brand names, like *.montblanc* or *.gucci*. When you visit a website on a closed top-level domain, you can be certain that it’s authorized and overseen by that brand. The new generation of top-level domains will start launching in the fall of 2013 and continue rolling out through 2015. We appreciate your time and interest in learning about this major change coming to the Internet and hope that you’ll find some great new places online, and maybe a new home of your own. ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva twitter.com/lordmwesh google ID | Skype ID: lordmwesh