INTERNET
‘Taipei’ domain announced
The creation of a “.taipei” domain was announced yesterday by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), with Taipei joining the ranks of cities such as Tokyo, New York and Paris in having its own domain. The domain name has been approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which manages the Internet’s domain name system, with registration for Web addresses using the new domain to open to holders of internationally registered business trademarks on Dec. 1. The first wave of registrants is set to include Taipei 101, the National Palace Museum and corporations such as Din Tai Fung, China Airlines and Asus, with registration to be opened to all applicants at an unspecified date.
TRANSPORTATION
YouBike hits 30m riders
Taipei’s YouBike system reached 30 million total users on Oct. 22 following the doubling of its ridership with more than 2.6 million newly registered EasyCards in the prior six months, officials said. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and Giant Co president Liu Chin-piao (劉金標) personally initialed first and second-generation YouBikes to commemorate the record. Hau said the system’s success — garnering 99 percent approval ratings across the municipality — was due to tireless negotiation by the city administration and other units, adding that initial difficulties had paid off significantly. With 176 stations in Taipei, the system is rapidly growing into a symbol of the ease of travel within the municipality, Hau said. The useful nature of the system has also encouraged its implementation elsewhere, with a total of 86 stations spread across New Taipei City, Taichung and Changhua, regional transportation officials have said.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it