In article <telecom24.518.14@telecom-digest.org>, Robert Bonomi
<bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com> wrote:
> In article <telecom24.517.16@telecom-digest.org>, Dave Garland
> <dave.garland@wizinfo.com> wrote:
>> It was a dark and stormy night when Patrick Townson
>> <ptownson@telecom-digest.org> wrote:
>>> or DHS International http://www.dhs.org where you can register domains in
>>> the name of your choice in the 'n3.net' top level and a few other top
>>> levels.
>> ".net" is the "top" level.
>>> or SMARTDOTS http://smartdots.com where you can register domains
>>> in the name of your choice in the top level '.tc'
>> I think that they actually own about 25 domains such as "at.tc" and
>> "net.tc", and offer subdomains. I have a few sub-subdomains there
>> myself, though I'm converting them to .com since Google doesn't seem to
>> index them. ".tc" is the national top-level domain for the Turks &
>> Calicos Islands.
>> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: You are correct; it is '.net' and
>> not 'n3.net' which is the top level. 'n3' is one underneath it. I
>> thank you for telling me the geographic location of '.tc' and I
>> believe that '.tf' is somewhere in the southern part of the Indian
>> Ocean. I do not know where '.tt' is located, nor '.tv' although the
>> latter is used by many
> .tf is the "French Southern Territories" -- a group of 4 *UNINHABITED*
> islands in the southern Indian Ocean, about equidistant between
> Africa, Antarctica, and Australia. NO permanent residents, only
> visiting researchers studying native fauna. (according to CIA world
> fact book.)
> .tv is "Tuvalu". an island group in the South Pacific about halfway
> between Hawaii and Australia. They are most noted for leasing
> their Internet domain (.tv) for _US$50_million_ in royalties,
> paid over a dozen years.
> .tt is 'Trinidad and Tobago. an island group between the Caribbean Sea,
> and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela.
> part of the Atlantic Ocean.
> See ISO 3166-1 (on-line at www.iso.org) for what all those two-letter
> codes mean, and the CIA world factbook (can be found online at:
> http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ ) for where the place
> is, and "more than you really want to know" about what they do there.
> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: I don't suppose you know about '.ms'
do you?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. And there *is* an interesting story
there.
It seems that, a number of years ago, the titular ruler of the Duchy of
Grand Fenwick[1] (the Duchess Gloriana) fell head-over-heels in love with a
dashing Italian nobleman -- the Count Giovaninni Bruno Enzo Ippi.
The Duchess, exercising the powers of her throne, purchased a tropical
island (located a distance south-east of Puerto Rico), and caused a
mansion to be constructed there -- this was to be a private 'getaway'
for her, and her soon-to-be-husband.
After the construction was completed, Gloriana abdicated the throne,
married the Count, and they retired to the island hideaway, to live for
the rest of their days. Gloriana also renounced all of her titles of
nobility, saying that now, to her, the only title that mattered, and the
one that gave her happiness, was that of "Mrs. Ippi".
With that background, the rationale for the assignment of that particular
ISO code to her domicile should be obvious.
[1] for more on the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, consult the histories written
by Leonard Wibberly -- "The Mouse that Roared", "Beware of the Mouse",
"The Mouse on the Moon", "The Mouse on Wall Street", and "The Mouse
that Saved the West".
Robert Bonomi (bonomi@host122.r-bonomi.com)