Let's have an honest talk about TLDs. You may think they don't affect you at all. You live a clean life, let's say. When you visit a website, the details of the URL and the stuff that comes after the final dot aren't really what you care about most. But recent developments in the field of top-level domains demand attention. "If Google has its way we will soon see .Lol, .Google, .Docs and .Youtube domain names available for use," says Inquisitr. "The Internet search giant has submitted approximately 50 domain name extension requests to the Internet Corporation for the Assignment of Web Names and Numbers (ICANN), the agency that overseas domain name use and extensions for internet websites located around the world."  Wait, .lol?   "Is Google looking to buy a sense of humor?" asks BrandChannel. "Too funny," says Mashable.  "OMGWTF" says (is "says" the right verb?) Business Insider. Amazon also has applied to control dozens of TLDs. But it's not all laffs and lols.

It could affect the wider world and even you. "There is also something interesting that both Google and Amazon could be trying to do here in their wide-ranging list of names," Techcrunch says. "Given that both have already made extensive investments into becoming all-in-one platforms, offering content, cloud services, data management, devices, ecommerce and more, it seems like they are one step away from running their own one-stop shop internet platforms for others that want to go online."  (In other words, setting up their own private luxury Internets!)   Furthermore, TC quotes a guy named Abe Garver saying the new domains "will radically change organic search results and further swing the advantage from the haves to the have nots ... not just in the U.S. but around the world."  LOL indeed.

Spoiler alert: the new Ridley Scott sci-fi movie Prometheus is so hard to understand, it makes the plot of  Lost seem like shampoo instructions. "Even in a flawed film I'll still find value -- it may not be an entertainment value, but storytelling done badly has educational value, at the very least," says Terrible Minds, where it is suggested that the Gods of Plot are punishing the movie's characters. Numerous blogs have risen to the challenge of cracking the code. Movieline "jumps right into the spoiler goo" to ponder the biggest unanswered questions that Prometheus raises, and the first question listed is simply "why?"  "Why does pretty much anyone in Prometheus make any of the decisions they make? Like... Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) with the helmet-taking-off. Really, is sniffing (and contaminating) the alien world atmosphere on the planet you just landed on and know nothing about such a good idea? Vickers (Charlize Theron), running in the one direction that will lead her to being squashed by a giant falling spaceship?" Good questions! But questions are easy. We want answers. Sci-fi authority io9 promises "all of your lingering Prometheus questions, answered! ... We asked everyone we could get a hold of, from the actor who played scientist Charlie Holloway to screenwriter Damon Lindelof." [Lindelof also wrote Lost, if that explains the inexplicableness.] "I do feel like, embedded in this movie are the fundamental ideas behind why it is the Engineers would want to wipe us out. If that's the question that you're asking," Lindelof says.

Switching gears - heh - American cyclist Lance Armstrong is in the news for all the wrong reasons again. "For Lance Armstrong, the doping allegations aren't going away. In fact, they're starting all over again," reports HuffPo. "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has filed formal charges against the seven-time Tour de France winner, threatening to strip him of his victories in the storied cycling race."  It's possible that Armstrong would lose his seven Tour de France wins all in one day, which would set a new record.  If guilty he could even be forced to give up his heroic sounding name (not really). The Conversation provides a thorough rundown of the details and the chemistry involved in the unfolding situation: adding "Obviously, these topics cannot be discussed freely. Commentators often refer to an 'Omerta' within professional sport, a Mafia-like code of silence which prevents anyone speaking out. Drug users who 'come clean' are routinely portrayed as corrupt, bitter or litigious people, regardless of the truth or falsity of their stories." Interesting take on the matter over at Drunk Cyclist, which says: "They call it 'a massive doping conspiracy...'  We call it 'racing.' I do not see this ending well for our Mr. Armstrong. As an aside, if any or all of Armstrong's Tour titles are stripped, who in the hell can they rightfully call the winner? The top five is a who's who of the disgraced and implicated in professional cycling." Brutal. Lance has maintained his innocence. In a poll at TMZ.com, more than 60 percent of respondents voted that Lance is innocent. Hope is a higher gear.