As I may have mentioned before, I have a weird hobby of domain name window shopping. I documented some of the tools I use in 5 Great Domain Name Tools. One of the sites that I mention, BustAName.com has recently launched two new portions of the site. The first is an affiliate program for referring users who make a purchase, and the second is the beta launch of their Web Hosting search and comparison site HostSearchr. I exchanged e-mails with the lead developer and they are currently tweaking the service, intend to add a ton more hosting options, and are implementing the affiliate program for the new service as well. Their blog has an excellent post right now provideing 8 rules for picking a domain name:

1. Must be Readable/Pronounceable
2. Must be Memorizable
3. Keep it short
4. Letters Only
5. .COM only
6. Describe Your Site
7. Don’t Follow the Crowd
8. Plan Ahead

Also, be on the lookout for .biz and .info names as well as the current .com, .net, and .org options.