* WhoIs ULTRA from AnalogX
Look, I’ll tell you about this tool but don’t tell anyone else. It is way too useful and if we keep quiet we’ll be one up …
OK, here’s the story: How often have you sat around a table with a load of other people and played the “what domain name should we use” game? I don’t know about you but I have done this exercise more often than I care to think and it is a real pain.
Any kind of tool that makes this task easier is welcome. So when I stumbled across a freeware tool named WhoIs ULTRA from AnalogX (see links below) I was delighted.
The way it works is neat: In the user interface you enter a target word and WhoIs ULTRA then consults a configuration file that specifies what letters and characters, syllables, and words should be used to permute the target word. WhoIs ULTRA then tests each resulting domain name against all or whatever subset you select of the some 111 domain registries world wide.
The result is a list of domain names that are available, registered, or unavailable (registered but no Web site). You can right click on any entry to open the site in your browser, copy the URL to the clipboard, or display detailed information from the registrar’s whois server.
You can save the report in HTML in either summary or detailed form or export the results in a comma separated variable file. The configuration menu item lets you edit the permutation configuration file, select which domains to use (there’s even an option to select just the “big three” – .com, .net and .org).
This is a really useful little utility that I wish I’d had back in the dot-com boom when I really needed it. Even so, it is surprising how often the domain name problem raises its ugly head and now, both of us are better equipped. Just don’t tell anyone.
