Saving unedited copy and domains

One of the problems that bugs anyone that writes is saving your copy as you edit and re-write it. On paper, this is not an issue...you just work through all the scrunched up paper on the floor until you find the perfect paragraph that you discarded hours ago!

However, when writing digital documents, quite often you will write something, then delete it, then realise some time later, that it was right after all. And it's gone.

I think I have found a way to solve this and am now trialling a free tool called j.otdown.com. You can save each iteration as you work, simply by saving to your bookmarks. Then, when you have finished, you can delete the lot and stare admiringly at your finished article, book, website copy, blog post etc with all those carefully guarded jewels of inspiration within.

If nothing else, j.otdown and another tool by the same developer, David LeMieux, have made me realise another nugget that hadn't really occurred to me, and also reminded me of a path my mind took one long night years ago. Can't find the domain name you really want? Register the domain name minus the first letter. e.g. otdown.com, then set up j as a subdirectory on your server. Easy peasy. You just got your URL. And it stands out because people will notice the dot and think about it.

Years ago, when there were all sorts of rules about who could register which TLD eg .org or .net, there was also a bit of a kickback as UK companies quite often wanted .com domains but the assumption in some people's eyes was that .com was a US thang. A discussion about having .co.us as a TLD started one of those bizarre discussions.

If you could register a .co.us domain, what would it be and why?

I remember: cous.co.us as a Morrocan recipe site. Vis.co.us for a site about mud wrestline. Rau.co.us was a thrash metal site. This then moved onto various other TLDs and how you could use those to come up with weird and wonderful websites. Luckily, much of the discussion is lost and not recorded on j.otdown!!