Who are these so-called “web designers,” and what are they all about? It’s a profession shrouded in mystery.  Here’s a little pop quiz to familiarize you with this baffling vocation.

1. Who truly gets no respect?

A) Rodney Dangerfield
B) Osama Bin Laden
C) Web designers
D) Web designers and Osama Bin Laden

ANSWER: D. Web designers don’t get respect because it’s a job where it’s hard to define the actual work that goes into it. Osama Bin Laden doesn’t get respect because he is the most hated man on earth.

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Domainers have been busy buying up .pro domains since September 2008, when RegistryPro relaxed the domain extension’s certification requirements.

Launched in 2004, .pro domain ownership was limited to an elite few professionals in fields such as accounting, engineering, law and medicine. Plus, to be eligible for a .pro domain, these professionals had to be based in Canada, Germany,  UK and the US.

The registration process was full of cumbersome twists and turns, and .pro ownership cost several hundreds of dollars.

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President-elect Obama will be the first president to post videos of his weekly Democratic address on YouTube, in addition to the traditional radio format, reports the Washington Post.

There’s no denying his party’s tech savvy. During the presidential campaign, the Democrats sent out countless text messages to people throughout the U.S. to remind citizens to register to vote, to go to the polls, and to get others involved in the campaign.

Reportedly, the Democrat party’s text message announcing Joe Biden as Obama’s running mate reached 2.9 million U.S. mobile subscribers. That made it “one of the most important text messages” ever, noted Nic Covey, Nielsen Mobile’s Director of Insights.

If you’re planning to buy or sell domains, chances are you’re considering Sedo and Afternic, two of the most established domain marketplaces. Both take unusual approaches with their customer service phone numbers.

Afternic boldly features its 1-800 (1-866-284-4125) number front and center. However, when you call it — and I did several times during their office hours — you get to listen to a message that states, “Your call is important to us” repeatedly for a minute or two, after which you’re prompted to leave a message. I did, and the call was never returned.

Sedo, on the other hand, does not appear to make its phone number public. I couldn’t find a single phone number on its entire website. Eventually I gave up and requested the number via e-mail, and received it the next day. Here’s the ironic thing: a person actually answered it and was able to provide information immediately.

Afternic promotes its phone number and doesn’t staff it. Sedo hides its phone number and has staff ready to serve. Odd.

By the way, Sedo’s customer service phone number is (617) 499-7200.

Microsoft recently launched U Rank, a search engine that allows online users to organize, edit and annotate search results, and share information with others.

Here’s what Microsoft has to say about U Rank.

The percentage of Internet users who use search engines on a typical day has been steadily rising from about one-third of all users in 2002, to 49 per cent, reports PEW Internet.

That’s huge. In fact, the number of those using search engines on a typical day is pulling ever closer to the 60 per cent of Internet users who use e-mail — to date, the Internet’s biggest app.

Other popular daily Internet activities include checking the news (39 per cent) and studying the weather (30 per cent).

Those using search engines on an average day are more likely to be “socially upscale” reports the study, with at least some college education and incomes over $50,000 per year. They are also more likely to have six years of online experience, have their homes wired with high-speed connections, and be young and male.

Kiss those bulky hardcover telephone directories goodbye.

Google is releasing Google Chrome browser in 100 countries on Sept. 2 to take on Internet Explorer and Firefox, and make the Web a better place.

Google Chrome promises to be “clean and fast,” and run today’s complex web applications more efficiently. For instance, by keeping each tab in an isolated “sandbox,” Google claims it is able to prevent one tab from crashing another, and provide improved protection from suspect sites.

Plus, Google says it’s improving speed and responsiveness across the board. “We also built a more powerful JavaScript engine, V8, to power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers,” reported the search engine giant.

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Despite recent economic woes, Forrester Research reports online retail sales are projected to grow 17 per cent in 2008 and surpass the $200 billion mark.

What is more, reports Principal Analyst Sucharita Mulpuru, the bulk of online retail sales are driven by tenured Gen Xers and Boomers, a cross-section of the web buyer population that values the convenience of the online channel and is actively spending more on the Web.

She noted: “These folks are less price-sensitive, disproving the theory that online shopping inevitably leads to brand-disloyal shoppers.”

Gen Xers account for 34% of all online shoppers, while Boomers represent 38%.

Google is reducing ads on web pages to an all-time low, which has many people scratching their heads.

“Virtually any other company facing slow economic times would be interested in increasing the places in which it could sell ads,” wrote Saul Hansell, in the New York Times article Google deliberately sells fewer ads – and may have gone too far. “It certainly wouldn’t take steps to reduce them.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Rosenberg, Google’s Senior Vice-President for Product Management, said that Google has no plans to increase its coverage because of its efforts to improve what it calls “ad quality.”

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Just one comment captures just how fast the Web’s killing TV.

A friend and his crew taping a 2010 Olympics-related event in Vancouver were approached by a group of kids, ages six to 10 years old, who asked excitedly: “Cool, are we going to be on YouTube?”

YouTube. Forget about TV from the decades past. And when the group was told no, but that they’d be featured on TV, that news was met with a big, disappointing “Awwww.”

The new generation is onto something.

Sooner than later, those TVs in the family rooms will be giant screen monitors powered by the Web. The tipping point is here.