If you are a business with a name you need to guard, then it is time to get your '.tel' domain name, if you have not completed the pre-registration procedure already.

The launch of the domain name class will create a global directory, through which businesses and individuals can list all their contact information, including telephone numbers, e-mails and links.

I was initially sceptical about the need for a '.tel' domain name. My scepticism was driven in part by the increasing cost of maintaining domains, which can cost anywhere from $10 a year each at the cheapest ones.

In addition to the new '.tel' domain, you also have a choice of '.asia', '.biz', '.info', '.mobi', '.name' and '.pro', which were created separately from the country level domains such as '.bm' for Bermuda. Tuvalu was very fortunate in that its country level domain is '.tv', which has resulted in a steady stream of income for the island from media companies.

But I can now see the need for '.tel', which will not act in the same way as other domain names. In fact the launch of '.tel' marks a relatively significant advance on the way the Internet works.

With '.tel' companies and individuals are not required to create a site to register their details. The global online directory will exist as part of the Internet. Users will just be required to plug their details into the '.tel' domain, thus integrating all their means of communication in a single place.

If you are using a mobile device then a single click on a link will either dial your phone for you, or bring up an e-mail form. So goes the thinking. Whether the '.tel' ending will catch on commercially is still debatable, but I have a feeling it just might.

So just in case, it is worth registering your chosen domain for one to three years.

Owners or licence holders of a trademark were given from December 3, 2008 to February 2 to register a '.tel' name in advance. Yesterday, February 3, the 'landrush' started for businesses that had not pre-registered a name, and for individuals. This period will last until March 24, then it is open season.

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Google has made two more additions to Google Earth that are worth mentioning. The major one is to Google Earth, through which users can now explore the depths of the world's oceans in the same way they view the land.

The 'Ocean in Google Earth' feature includes images of 3D underwater terrain and content from marine scientists. The ocean maps also feature videos of sea creatures in those locations. Wait! You can also virtually swim undersea as though you are a shark, dolphin or turtle. I know which one I want to be! Better to be a predator than those waiting to be eaten, though I hear a dolphin can give a shark a good battle.

Going in the opposite direction, Google has also thrown in images of Mars taken by a Rover exploration craft.

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A reader of this column was inspired to write in with a good idea after reading about the difficulties of finding easy instructions on how to use a particular piece of software, or to fix general problems that occur regularly.

"I believe that there may be hundreds or thousands of corporate CEO types that come to Bermuda (and elsewhere) and, while here, away from colleagues, would welcome a service that would share info or provide education they might not otherwise get," he writes.

"The executives, while here, might be able to accomplish something they'd be embarrassed to ask about while in their corner office or corporate setting...And they might be willing to pay handsomely for it."

I believe he is right. Maybe there should be a secret course for all those executives who cannot keep up with all the software and instruments they are required to use to do their jobs. Anyone willing to host a crash course on the intricacies of the BlackBerry or Excel?

They will bring the champagne and caviar!

Send any comments to elamin.ahmed@gmail.com