Namechk is a new service launching on Wednesday that helps you find open usernames at 84 different Web sites. Like UsernameCheck, a service we covered last year that has since shut down, it takes only a few seconds to come up with the results and provides a link to the page for each user at the sites where it's taken.
What's really impressive about this service is the speed. In a few sample searches, it averaged about 8 seconds from start to finish. And you don't even have to wait to see all the results because they stream in as it does its business.
Combine this with a domain checker like Domize or BustAName, and you could create a name-squatting empire in short order.
Namechk scours 84 different sites to let you know where usernames have been taken or are still available.
(Credit: CNET)
Sorry, John.
If you're one of those people who tries to grab his or her own preferred username on every new service that comes along, just in case the service becomes hot one day and you want to start using that cool ID, check out this new tool: Usernamecheck.
All it does is ask you for a user name, and then pings about 45 services so it can return to you "taken" or "available" for each one.
If a name is taken, it can't tell you if the owner of it is you or someone else (how would it know?), and there's as yet no way to add new sites for it to check--you have to wait for the developer to add them. Also, it's slow. And it doesn't appear to work on anything but Firefox.
But this is a useful tool for managing one's personal brand. And here's a tip for parents-to-be: Run your baby names through it, as well as through BustAName. Your kid might thank you.
Related: The looming crisis: Personal syndication overload.
Via Delicious.
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