Here's a gift for you geeks out there.
It's Tiny URL.
Tiny URL lets you add a widget to your browser toolbar and then, when you find a web page you like/want to share, you just click on the widget. Tiny URL then kicks in and converts the URL of the page into, literally, a Tiny URL - a small, manageable one.
Take this stunning triple-nested Klein Jar image, for example:
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/images/I046/10314758.aspx
Becomes
http://tinyurl.com/6qtwa5
Or, even more compellingly,
http://www.amazon.com/Fear-Loathing-Las-Vegas-American/dp/0679785892/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220453012&sr=8-1
Becomes
http://tinyurl.com/6xtjhn
It even puts it on your clipboard automatically. So, no more emails with links that break a line and become unuseable, no more mad, long URLs and no more being unable to slip a link into things like Tweets and Facebook updates!!!
Sorry, the inner geek got out. And yes, I do feel better now...
I like and use tinyurl too! Old but good and works like a charm
ReplyDeleteHmmm. But where's the money?
ReplyDeletemaybe its me, but i get scared adding links that don't quite tell me where i'm going by looking at the url. I feel like i'm going to get phished.
ReplyDeleteKeefie: good question. Did some digging as a result. TinyURL is the side product of a 20-something unicycle nut called Kevin Gilbertson, who found usergroup URLs driving him mad. Seems to be funded by Adsense - he's got an Alexa rank of 1000-odd, which ain't bad at all!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem to be the CIA or anything...
Mars: There are potential downsides to TinyURL - see Wikipedia. These include the fact that if TinyURL goes down, so does your link and, yes, potential phishing or malicious redirection. But I would only ever click on a link sent by someone I trust - URL or TinyURL...
ReplyDeleteSo interesting. Does that mean I have to switch my computer on?
ReplyDelete