Afghan domain

March 10, 2003 7:41 AM

There's a lot of news coverage this morning about Afghanistan going live with their official country domain ".af" - the first two advertised sites are here (?) and here (via the BBC). There's a less publicized, and much better site here via google. I guess you know you've made it as a civilization these days when the glass is lit. I remember how excited I was when the ADSL synchronized and my pop up adventure began. . . I hope this isn't our farewell present to this country, though.
posted by jdaura (11 comments total)

They've got rather better web designers than another recently born country.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:02 AM on March 10, 2003

Don't forget the Afghan defense department at www.af.mil.
posted by dhartung at 8:02 AM on March 10, 2003

hoho.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:07 AM on March 10, 2003

www.af... I like that domain.
posted by twine42 at 8:39 AM on March 10, 2003

Oh, I remember the days of hq.hq.af.mil - when telnetting to it would display a nice message about being tracked, and then your modem lights would go solid while it probed you.

Scared the hell out of me :)
posted by shadow45 at 8:42 AM on March 10, 2003

It probed you? I've been buying the wrong modems.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:51 AM on March 10, 2003

That www.af/ site was designed by an outfit called Synergy International, previously in the news in this context. Apparently it is owned by Armenians though based in Vienna, Va., with offices in Moscow as well. Does this mean the Russians are trying to get back into Afghanistan?
posted by beagle at 8:53 AM on March 10, 2003

If you want to find what .af sites are listed on google, one trick is to search for site:af -kxhgialh (af minus some random text). The trick works well with other domains too.
posted by bobo123 at 8:59 AM on March 10, 2003

Great tip bobo123, it's interesting to see the order sites come out in.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 9:19 AM on March 10, 2003

grea tip! thanks.. i love more googlehacks :)
posted by shadow45 at 1:49 PM on March 10, 2003

I have nothing to add here, except to tell you all this post helped my team win a pub quiz this evening. Never let it be said Metafilter has no use in the real world. My love to you all.
posted by John Shaft at 1:36 AM on March 11, 2003