Picking Domain Name

The hardest thing about getting a new web site going is deciding what the domain name is going to be. I remember when I started this podcast, I wanted webhostingradio.com. Sadly enough though, it was already taken. WebHostingShow.com was my second choice though and I was able to pick it up with no problems at all. Of course when picking a domain name it has to be related to your web site or product in one way, shape or form.
Which domain name extension do you want to go with? There are plenty out there, but my usual rule of thumb is to go with a .com if at all possible. Why? This is the one that people know, are familiar with and is pretty much in the general public's mind when it comes to associating businesses with the Web. If I told you my company's name was the Web Hosting Show, you would type webhostingshow.com first to try to find me. Your first thought is not to go type in webhostingshow.co.uk or webhostingshow.biz.
Now where the rule might be broken is if you can get a better second choice than a first choice. For example, you want to go register greenlatern.com but it is taken. You do a little more research and find though that greenlantern.net is avaliable. Then it would be ok to go with the .net. Also you can do lots of creative things with the domain extensions too. An easy example of that idea would be del.icio.us.
When it comes to hyphenated domain names a lot of people out there will tell you they are good.They will then start going on and on about the search engines and good keywords. I think that is all a bunch of bologna. While search engines are important you need to keep in mind you are making a web site for people to read first, not search engine robots.
Check out these domain name search engines that will give you a little more help when it comes to finding out if a domain name is avaliable or not.
What domain name extensions are avaliable out there? Wikipedia has a good list of country code top-level domain name extensions.