w.y.s.i…WTF?

With the recent attention Google wanna-be “cuil” is getting, I thought it may be time to take a look at some of the other websites that try to pawn off the lack of ability to secure a strong domain name by using a ridiculous spelling of a normal every day word.

(and I know how hard it is to get a good domain name nowadays, so I understand trying something different, but really…)

1. Cuil.com - pronounced “cool”

Ok thank goodness som article explained it becuase I never would have guessed. Of course, everyone knows that available 4 letter domains became non-existent eons ago (in internet years), but this is really stretching. Whoever came up with this one was probably smoking a little too much Web 2.0 “kraq”.

2. Kuler - pronounced “color”

Adobe must not think much of their built-in spell check to let this monstrosity out into the wild. Plus, it is just a SUBDOMAIN at adobe.com. If you are only using it as a subdomain, why not just call it whatever you want.

3. Sphinn - pronounced “spin”

SEO is one of my focus areas so I always run across this on and it just “phisses” me off. Any reasonable person would likely read this and think it was pronounced closer to “Sven” and hey, who wouldn’t be interested in a social linking site to articles for and about about dudes named Sven.

This one always reminds of the dork quiz bowl team I faced off with (and obliterated) that called themselves “ghoti” a.k.a. “fish” (explanation). But for the life of me, I dont’ know what the usage cases for a silent “h” are when preceded by “p”. (and yes, it is possible to be on a cool quiz bowl team)

There are more out there and I’ll update this post as I run across them.

Got some you want to share? Post in the comments!

But right now I am hungry, so I think I will kuk some dhinnr.

I am a Southern boy. Born and bred and proud of it, though from time to time, it is really hard to defend some of the things about Southern culture that emerge on the national radar.

Like when you hear some jackass like Brad Paisley singing a song on the Grammys about how he wants to check his girlfriend for ticks.
Ticks are parasitic creatures that feed off their hosts and spread disease.

Sound like anyone you know, Brad?

Quit feeding off the dregs of Southern culture and perpetuating the virulent disease that is the current stereotypical views of the South.

There are great individuals and organizations fighting hard to have our states taken seriously and to abolish the perception of Southerners as somehow inferior to those of other regions. Please stand on the side of those trying to improve our lives.

Or at the very least, just shut up and  don’t make it any harder for us.

Ray Charles would have seen this coming.

As soon as I saw that ridiculous and blatantly irresponsible tv ad Apple put out where a “pilot” tells an empowering story of how he used his wonderful little iPhone to overthrow the bureaucratic and oppressive thugs that run air traffic control by checking his weather widget and schooling them on when it is and isn’t safe to fly, I knew it wouldn’t be long before some jackass with more disposable income than common sense and a corporately sponsored sense of superiority and entitlement decided to take the reckless hint dropped by Apple and decide to involve themselves in matters reserved for trained individuals.

Luckily, some people do not suffer fools gladly.

After an iPhone-wielding douchebag decided that plane he was on did not need to be rerouted due to bad weather and made his misguided opinions loudly known. The pilot responded as such:

“If the passenger with the IPhone would be kind enough to use it to check the weather at our alternate, calculate our fuel burn due to being rerouted around the storms, call the dispatcher to arrange our release, and then make a phone call to the nearest Air Traffic Control center to arrange our timely departure amongst the other aircraft carrying passengers with IPhones, then we will be more than happy to depart. Please ring your call button to advise the Flight Attendant and your fellow passengers when you deem it ready and responsible for this multi-million dollar aircraft and its passengers to safely leave.”

Read the whole story here:
PlaneBuzz: We Knew This Was Going To Happen: iPhone Equipped Passenger Takes On Flight Crew Over Weather