Masters of Their Dumbmains

What's In a Name? A Good Laugh?

My friend Amy sent me this interesting story from the online version of New Scientist magazine (www.newscientist.com) about ill-conceived Internet domain names that I thought I'd reprint below:

Unfortunate Domain Names

A NOTE circulating round the internet, which some readers will have seen but others won't, lists internet domain names consisting of run-together words that can be parsed in unintended ways.

Firstly there is "Who Represents?", a database of agencies for the rich and famous, the domain name of which is www.whorepresents.com. Second is the Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views: www.expertsexchange.com. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island: www.penisland.net. Need a therapist? Try www.therapistfinder.com. And if you want to stock up on bedding plants, try the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales, Australia: www.molestationnursery.com.

The list concludes with the mythical power company www.powergenitalia.com. We say mythical, because we investigated this site back on 5 July 2003. It turned out not to be the Italian subsidiary of the UK electricity company PowerGen, but a small company in Tuscany that charged batteries. But even that, it seems, no longer has this domain name, which has been relegated to the category of urban myth. The other sites are all real.