Applications will open tomorrow to register custom top-level domains.

From Thursday, it will be possible to apply to register almost any word as a web address suffix, as an alternative to the familiar top-level domains such as .com and .co.uk.

It is expected that many of the largest organisations will apply to register their brand names, such as .pepsi and .virgin. At a cost of £120,000 just to apply - and even more again to get the new domain into operation - this is not something that makes financial sense for most (if any) small businesses.

However, it is likely that many place names and business sectors will be registered and their sub-domains offered for public sale. So for example, in the future it may be possible to register berrypoint.cardiff or berrypoint.webdesign as domain names.

The current window for applications is open for 3 months, with the first custom domains not expected to be online until 2013. At least until then, .com and .co.uk will remain the domains of choice for most small business websites in the UK.

We have just completed a new website for Hillside Free Range:

www.hillsidefreerange.co.uk

Take a look to read about the animals they breed and the free range products on offer.

Google is dropping support for older browsers from 1st August.

From this date, Google will only provide full support for the latest version of each browser (e.g. Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 4) and the previous major version.

People using older browsers will lose some functionality when using Google applications such as Gmail and Google Docs. Eventually, the applications may stop working altogether.

This will effect users of these applications still on relatively popular browser versions such as Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3.5.

Regardless of whether you are affected by this change, we would recommend that all users upgrade to the latest version of their preferred browser as this offers the richest and most secure browsing experience.

We are pleased to announce that we have now moved to our new offices in Cardiff Gate Business Park.

The new offices will enable us to offer an even better service to our customers and will support the future growth of the company.

Our new address is:

Berrypoint Ltd
Regus House
Malthouse Avenue
Cardiff Gate Business Park
Cardiff
CF23 8RU

Please use this address for all future correspondence and when visiting.

If you need help finding the new office, please refer to our map and directions or give us a call on 029 2199 2000 and we'll be happy to direct you.

All other contact details remain unchanged.

UK websites have been given one year to comply with the EU's Privacy and Communications Directive, due to come into force tomorrow.

The directive requires websites to obtain users' consent before using cookies - small text files used to store information and track users.

Technically all firms must comply with the law, but the UK government has announced that it needs more time to find a workable solution. While the directive is intended to protect users' privacy, if implemented as stated it would cause significant disruption to web browsing.

We are tracking this issue and will advise our customers if and when any action is required. However, none of our websites use cookies in a way that we anticipate being affected by the directive.