Microsoft Using .MS TLD

mqudsi writes "Microsoft is using the .MS top-level domain, assigned to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, for its Web 2.0-flavored Popfly project. You can get your own .MS name if you really want to — there are no restrictions on foreign ownership — at $180 US for 2 years. As of this writing microsoft.ms is available." In an obliquely related note, TechBlorge has up a rumination on the resemblance of the Popfly logo to Tux.

Hmm, that was fast

[AsmCoder8088]

I just checked on whois.net and it appears microsoft.ms is now registered....

[whois.adamsnames.tc]
Yes
microsoft.ms is registered.

Domain Name: microsoft.ms

Registrant
Domain Registrant
id domain privacy network (iddp.net), 588 sutter st. #129, 94102-1102 san francisco, ca
United States
E-mail: [e-mail]
Phone: +1.4154408001
Fax: +1.4154408001

Registered 22 Dec 2005

[ensignyu]

Whoever wrote the linked blog apparently doesn't know how to do whois lookups.

Could this be...

[tiffany98121]

... the absolute lamest Slashdot article ever posted?

Paranoid much?

[MSFTVet]

I can assure you that not only is the duck imagery NOT the logo for Popfly but that any resemblance to "Tux" is completely coincidental. Me thinks the Tux fans are a bit paranoid. The duck image is just a photo that the team thought was a fun way to illustrate how people can express themselves by doing whatever they want with Popfly...get it? The one duck has a style unique among the others? It's just a ducky picture! Me thinks the Tux fans are perhaps a bit paranoid.

Re:Popfly?

[Osty]

That's nine managers and six developers. No wonder the team "hustles for resources." They're probably going broke paying management wages to sixty percent of the staff. It says three more people aren't pictured -- we can bet that two of them are more managers.

You're obviously not familiar with Microsoft position nomenclature. Of the names listed, there are three real managers -- the GPM, the PUM, and the Engineering Manager. You're confusing "Program Manager" and "Product Manager" as actual managers. They aren't.

Program managers [microsoft.com] "manage the program", not people -- they write specs, interface with customers, etc.

Product managers [microsoft.com] "manage the product", and are purely marketing. Again, they don't necessarily manage people.

Program managers and product managers are roughly on par with developers and test developers. They don't make the same big bucks as GPMs or PUMS.

Re:Popfly?

[QuantumG]

Hehehe.. you've been in corporate land too long. Go visit a startup. There, they have: developers (the guys who write code), sales (the guys who find customers) and managers (the guys who do everything else). These dudes are managers. Perhaps "suits" would be a better term.

Adium

[SpeedyDX]

Adium [adiumx.com] has a cute duck logo. If anything, Popfly's logo, being a duck, should be compared to Adium's.

But uh ... yeah, all of that resemblence thing is just flaimbait.

Re:Per Industry TLD's

[mechsoph]

Don't confuse DNS with the Web.

Both DNS and Usenet have a hierarchal organization. My point was that the granularity of namespaces provided by DNS is less than the granularity provided by trademarks.

Also, Usenet is neither behind nor in front of the Web. They are different applications, and both are still quite useful.

Re:is bluescreenofdeath.ms available?

[iMac Were]

I like bu.ms

Popfly == out

[plawsy]

Most pop flies are caught and result in the batter being out. In fact, when the Infield Fly Rule [wikipedia.org] is invoked, it's an automatic out. Fitting.

Re:is bluescreenofdeath.ms available?

[MadJo]

Because that looks a lot like P.ms