I noticed recently that Craig has added some new art and poetry to his site. I really like the new error haiku:

Not Found

There is nothing here

No web page for this address

404 Error


 ____________
(  return to  ) 
(  craigslist )
(  homepage?  )
 ------------- 
       O 
        O   ^__^
         o  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

Phishing domain names are terribly annoying. Aside from the obvious problems with people playing with the vulnerability of fonts (e.g. “O” and “0”) or taking advantage of common misspellings, there is also the issue of Unicode translations, etc.. A simple domain name can sometimes require a great deal of thought to make sure it is less susceptible to hijacking or abuse. However, the risks are not always from the outside. With that in mind, see if you can find the hidden meanings in these real domain names:

Who Represents is where you can find the name of the agent that represents any celebrity. Their web site is:
https://www.whorepresents.com

Experts Exchange is a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views at:
https://www.expertsexchange.com

Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at:
https://www.penisland.net

Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at:
https://www.therapistfinder.com

There’s the Italian Power Generator company:
https://www.powergenitalia.com

And don’t forget the Mole Station Native Nursery in New South Wales:
https://www.molestationnursery.com

If you’re looking for IP computer software, there’s always:
https://www.ipanywhere.com

The First Cumming Methodist Church web site is:
https://www.cummingfirst.com

And the designers at Speed of Art await you at their wacky web site:
https://www.speedofart.com

Yes, they really are real. Snopes even confirms the marketing site for an Italian company, although the site is now “under construction”:

The powergenitalia.com domain apparently hosts the web site of a real Italian company (Powergen Italia) which sells specialized battery products.

Guerrilla marketing, accident, or intentional joke? You be the judge.

And this just had to be filed under poetry, because my guess is that if the domain owners had read/written more poetry they would have been far more immune to this kind of risk…

According to the pridesource site, Wharton is hosting the decorated poet Sarah Jones:

She also received an NYCLU Calloway Award in recognition of Jones as the first artist in history to sue the Federal Communications Commission for censorship. The lawsuit resulted in reversal of the censorship ruling that had targeted her hip-hop poem recording, “Your Revolution.”

A regular uncensored guest on public radio, she has also made numerous TV appearances on HBO, NBC, ABC, CBS, PBS, CNN, and in her own special, “The Sarah Jones Show,” on Bravo.

Event details are here.

The group that helped Jones fight against the FCC has provided a description of the lawsuit:

The work entitled “Your Revolution” is a protest against the degrading treatment of women in popular culture.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in New York challenges the FCC’s indecency determination for focusing on sexual terms in the work without any acknowledgment that their context is a critique of the frequently offensive treatment of women in popular hip hop music. The FCC filed a motion to dismiss arguing that the artist can not challenge the agency’s determination in federal court.

[…]

While pleased that the FCC recognized the error of its ways, we remain concerned about FCC “indecency” procedures and the harm that can be done to artists like Sarah Jones, and will continue to work on the issue.