Story of a tiny Island, Tuvalu that became billionaire rich just by it's name. Popular .tv domain extension.

A tiny sinking island that hit the golden mountain.tv

.tv is the country code for the tiny island nation of TUVALU. Tuvalu is a Polynesian island nation located midway between Hawaii and Australia with a tiny population of less than 10,000 in 2013. Tuvalu owns the ".tv" domain extension, and receives millions of dollars each year for allowing non-Tuvaluan companies to have their very own "dot TV" domain name. Unfortunately the Island is in danger of sinking.

Back in the mid 80's when countries were being allotted two letter codes for their identity is when Tuvalu struck gold, it was allotted .tv as cctld. In the 80's no one had any idea that this was going to be a continuous money shower in the future years to come.

VeriSign announced a partnership with Demand Media. Headed by Richard Rosenblatt, the former chairman of 
networking site MySpace, the firm plans to market popular domain extension .tv as a prime location.

In 1998, Jason Chapnik a Canadian entrepreneur who was president of Information.ca approached the Tuvalu government with an idea on how to profit from their popular country code. However Chapnik was not the only one interested in .tv. Anton Van Couvering who was the former President of Net Names had been consulting Tuvalu on how to profit from their country code. Van Couvering stepped down as a consultant in order to become a bidder for .tv through his company Net Names.

After months of negotiation in the fall of 1998 Tuvalu decided to go with Chapnik. Chapnik started out with a pricing structure that would price .tv much more than traditional prices for .com/net/org but more reasonable than the current premium pricing under Verisign. They started out taking $1000 deposits for the first year with renewals at $500 a year. There was also an auction structure set up to settle domain disputes or if there was two or more entities that shared a certain name.

Chapnik made many promises and gave rather high estimates to the Tuvalu government on sales of .tv domains. When Chapnik was unable to raise the $50 million upfront payment to the Tuvalu nation he brought in a white knight to save the deal.

Enter Idealab, the California incubator came in and Tuvalu agreed to license its cctld for $1million per quarter adjustable for inflation, with a $50 million cap over 10 years. Additionally the Tuvalu nation got a 20 % interest in the company.

Popular domain extension DotTv or .tv

In August of 2000 Idealab announced the three most expensive sales in .tv history. Free.tv,China.tv and Net.tv were sold for $100,000 for the first year and an additional percent for each year following. ChinaGo.com is the registrant of China.tv and Net.tv and have maintained their registration to the present day. Free.tv is registered to a Pennsylvania man that also has kept the registration up to date.

In another marketing deal Dot Tv gave the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences the domain emmys.tv for free in exchange for them to promote the site during their telecast of the EMMYS in Sept of 2000.

During this time some individuals started to make a big leap into the .tv extension. The two largest being Thunayan K Al-Ghanim a Kuwaiti businessman who has one of the largest domain portfolios on the planet. Al-Ghanim through his Future Media Architects owns suchs gems as Sexy.tv, Mp3.tv,several 1 letter .tv domains such as s.tv,t.tv,l.tv and z.tv and many more. Another major player Igal Lichtman also know to many as Mrs Jello/exoticdomains.net/Boogie Productions, owns such gems as xxx.tv,girls.tv,n.tv,x.tv, fun.tv and many more. One benefit these early adopters received was cheap premium renewal fees. Al-Ghanim has $50 renewals and Lichtman has $25 renewals. It was not uncommon to be able to negotiate renewal fees back in the early days especially if you were a big player in the .tv extension.

On January 7,2002 IdeaLab sold its Dot Tv International unit for $45 million to Verisign. The deal was an all cash deal and Verisign at the time stated the transaction would add less than $1million in sales for the 4th quarter of 2001. Verisign also said it would add $7 to $10 million in deferred net revenue.

Verisign took over and started doing business at www.tv where premium registrations could only take place through Verisign with a minimum two year contract. Non premium registrations were $50 at www.tv but other registrars such as Go Daddy, Idotz.net, Moniker and a whole host of others offered 1 year registrations for as little as $29.99 to as high as $59.99.

The extension responded in 2007 posting more sales than the previous 3 years combined. Such names as De.tv, Surface.tv, Six.tv and AuctionNetwork.tv have all sold for over $20,000. It is also known that the domain ME.tv sold with a non disclosure we did verify that it was at least xxx,xxx Demand Media being the buyer.

Highest reported sales in the secondary market are Travel.tv for $65,000 and Mail.tv for $35,000 both purchased by Thunayan K AL-Ghanim from the same seller.

Sinking Tuvalu Island which owes the popular domain extension DotTv or .tv that made the tiny Island millionaire rich.

World War I Christmas Truce of 1914: British and German soldiers met in no man's land for the spirit of Christmas.

British and German soldiers met in no man's land and sang carol, exchanged gifts and took photographs.

During World War I, late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force heard Germans troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches.

Artistic view of famous World War I Christmas Truce of 1914

The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man's land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out.

Famous Christmas Day Truce of 1914 between British and Nazi German in newspaper

The sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies.

Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit. The 1914 Christmas truce was an opportunity for both sides to bury their dead. 

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeated.

During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destory the Christmas spirit.

A First World War soldier’s account of the Christmas truce of 1914 has been released for the first time, chronicling “one of the most extraordinary sights anyone has ever seen”.

Captain A D Chater was serving with the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders when peace came briefly to the British and German trenches on the Western Front.

His letter to his “dearest mother”, describing the famous moment former enemies risked their lives to walk out into no-man’s land to wish each other a happy Christmas and play football, has been released by Royal Mail with his family’s permission.

First World War soldier’s account of the Christmas truce of 1914. 
Captain A D Chater  letter to his “dearest mother”

Best rare natural phenomena that occur on planet Earth Part-1

Here are some of the best wonders of nature that will surely amaze you. 

Best rare natural phenomena that occur on Earth.

Cloud Waves (Panama)

Cloud Waves (Panama) : Raw nature.

At first glance, it may appear as though tsunami is poised to crash over the Florida coastline.

But much to the relief of Panama City residents, this breath-taking series of photographs shows a natural phenomenon far less destructive - waves of clouds. 

Helicopter pilot JR Hott captured these breathtaking images, which show the low-lying haze swooping over high-rise buildings down the coast.

Vaadhoo Island, Maldives

Vaadhoo Island, Maldives at night: Heaven on earth

The famous group of islands are known for being a heaven on Earth. But Vaadhoo Island has a lot of surprises, that are revealed at night.

The mesmerizing shining water looks like a mirror, that reflects the sparkling stars above. However, the secret is this: phytoplankton – the marine microbes – are bioluminescent and emanate the blue glow. The species create the most romantic natural lighting in the world.

Brinicles

Brinicles formation: Amazing nature, Amusing Sea

One of the more curious processes that occur beneath the Antarctic sea ice in winter is the formation of brinicles. These are hollow tubes of ice that project down from the ice pack into the sea below, like icicles.However, brinicles form in a very different way from icicles but are poorly understood, partly because of the difficulty in observing them. 

Ice Flowers

Ice Flowers "Frost FLowers"

 These are formed during mild frosting giving away shape of flower with petals also called as "Frost Flowers" .

Red Algae (Sydney, Australia)

                              Red Algae (Sydney, Australia)

Some of Sydney's most popular beaches were closed as the water turned blood red. A few tourists reportedly feared it was the blood from a shark attack, but the colour was caused by a bloom of algae.

More best rare natural phenomena that occur on the planet Earth

More best rare natural phenomena that occur on planet Earth Part-1

Best rare natural phenomena that occur on planet Earth Part-2

Here are some of the best amazing wonders of nature that will surely amaze you. 

Best rare natural phenomena that occur on Earth.

Sea foam (Australia)

Sea foam (Australia)

Row your boat ashore, if you know what's good for you. A beach town in Australia experienced some weird weather recently when its coastal area became engulfed - literally engulfed - by sea foam.

Scientists say the rare occurrence happens when foamy bubbles form a powerful wave, forcing air into the water.

Snow Donuts

Snow Donuts

A snow roller is a rare meteorological phenomenon in which large snowballs are formed naturally as chunks of snow are blown along the ground by wind, picking up material along the way, in much the same way that the large snowballs used in snowmen are made.

Unlike snowballs made by people, snow rollers are typically cylindrical in shape, and are often hollow since the inner layers, which are the first layers to form, are weak and thin compared to the outer layers and can easily be blown away, leaving what looks like a doughnut or Swiss roll. Snow rollers have been seen to grow as large as two feet in diameter.

Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland is as close as reality gets to those who dream of a winter wonderland. Contrasts are a key factor in the allure of Lapland where 24-hour sunlight in the summer replaces the dark winter days. The hustle and bustle of towns and ski resorts is just minutes away from the peace and quiet of the wild wilderness.


Roaming rocks of Death Valley 

Mysterious Roaming rocks of Death Valley 

For years, researchers had been stumped by a phenomenon involving stones in Death Valley that seemingly move on their own across the desert floor.
About a century ago, people discovered a strange phenomenon occurring at the Racetrack Playa portion of Death Valley. Rocks weighing between 25 to several hundred pounds seemingly moved by themselves across the 3-mile-long patch of desert. Until now, nobody was quite sure how it occurred.

More best rare natural phenomena that occur on planet Earth..

More best rare natural phenomena that occur on planet Earth Part-1

Indian Mobile Giant Micromax enters top 10 global phone Vendor in Q1 2015

Indian Mobile Giant Micromax has entered global top 10 phone Vendor in Q1 2015

Indian mobile handset manufacturer, Micromax with 1.8% global market share during the January-March quarter of 2015 entered the global top 10 mobile vendors according to the research firm Gartner.


Micromax sold 8.16 million mobile handset in first quarter of this year against 7.7 million in Q1 2014, an average growth of 4.7 per cent.

South Korean firm Samsung top the list with 21.3 per cent share, followed by Apple (13.1 per cent), Microsoft (7.2 per cent), LG (4.3 per cent) and Lenovo (4.2 per cent).

Some other brands in the top 10 include Huawei (4 per cent), Xiaomi (3.2 per cent), TCL Communication (3.1 per cent), ZTE (2.7 per cent) and Micromax (1.8 per cent).

Global top 10 mobile brand vendor in Q1 2015; Data by Gartner (May 2015)

“In light of their strong smartphone sales in the emerging markets, the Indian and Chinese phone manufacturers increased their footprint during the first quarter of 2015. Six of them were in the top 10 in the first quarter of 2015,” Gartner Research Director Anshul Gupta said.

Global smartphones sales to end-users witnessed 19.3% increase to 336 million units during the first quarter of 2015, led by strong growth in emerging markets (excluding China).

Indian Mobile Manufacturer Giant Micromax in global top 10.

The fastest growing regions were emerging Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe and the Middle East and North Africa, Gartner said.

“During this quarter, local brands and Chinese vendors came out as the key winners in emerging markets. These vendors recorded an average growth of 73% in smartphone sales and saw their combined share go up from 38% to 47% during the first quarter of 2015,” Gupta said.

Samsung had 24.2 % share of the global smartphone market in the January-March 2015 quarter, followed by Apple (17.9%), Lenovo (5.6%), Huawei (5.4%) and LG (4.6%).