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Governing Body Approves a “Complete Overhaul” of Internet Navigation

The BBC reports that ICANN has unanimously approved sweeping changes to the rules that govern domains. Non-Roman alphabets (e.g. Hebrew, Hindi, Chinese, Cyrillic, etc.) and hyper-localized TLDs (such as .nyc, .ldn for London) will go live next year.

Also, apparently, anything goes. You can request new TLDs based on your own name, your company’s name, or your area of interest.

Julian Gomez knows the cigar business. From selling door-to-door to Miami gas stations to managing premium cigar warehouses, he’s done it all. In 2003, Julian began selling cigars on ebay and instantly recognized the power of the Internet to take his enterprise global.

Julian saved enough money from ebay earnings to buy a simple shopping cart. Selling cigars from his apartment, Julian focused on two fundamental principles:

• Know your customers.
• Know your cigars.

Since then, CigarPlace.biz has grown into a world class online destination for cigar connoisseurs from Wisconson to Tokyo.

In 2007, Julian realized that the future of CigarPlace.biz depended on technology that enabled his business to build relationships with customers. With so many competitors entering the market, price was no longer enough; it was time to step up and lead.

CigarPlace.biz contacted Ecommerce Partners with an idea of making a site that empowered customers to discover new cigars and provided deeper insights into the products. Julian wanted to give the kind of personal service he perfected on the streets of Miami to the online world. His ambitions required a partner who had the patience to understand his vision and the skills to execute.

Over the next six months, Ecommerce Partners worked hand-in-hand with Julian to meld his vision and knowledge with the latest web technologies. ECP provided its core ecommerce 3 engine with extensive modifications to allow easy navigation via precise, industry-specific details. The result is the new CigarPlace.biz, the most comprehensive portal for cigar sales.

Ecommerce Partners is proud to support CigarPlace.biz and Julian as they move this online industry to the next level with ongoing marketing, hosting and development support.

We have a great site, with unique features not seen in this industry and a go-forward plan to keep CigarPlace.biz as the number one location for premium cigars.

Ken Auletta, respected author and writer for The New Yorker since 1992, joins Charlie Rose against the latter’s bleak backdrop tonight for a chat on Google and related topics. Don’t just dismiss these two as a couple of crusty relics. They’re both media veterans with reputations for thoughtfulness. I’m gonna watch. If you miss the broadcast and wonder why I’d bother to care, watch it online here at your convenience.

18 January 2008 UPDATE! Sadly, Auletta never materialized last night, and I’m wiping egg from face. If you tuned in at my urging — unlikely, judging from my colleagues’ tepid reactions — please accept this Economist story covering Google’s recently revealed philanthropic initiative and Larry Brilliant, the company’s charity guru. It’s a big, ambitious plan designed to offset all that evil Google’s been doing.