Comments on: I hate TinyURL’s http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/ Musings on design and technology Fri, 05 Sep 2008 23:52:26 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: epot’s blog » Blog Archive » The “problem with TinyURL” is (partially) solved http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-25889 epot’s blog » Blog Archive » The “problem with TinyURL” is (partially) solved Fri, 18 Jul 2008 19:31:00 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-25889 [...] next step would be an implementation of some “intelligence” in these short URLs (see Udi’s post). And since I never have time (or less and less), I’m a bit sad not to have that time to code [...] […] next step would be an implementation of some “intelligence” in these short URLs (see Udi’s post). And since I never have time (or less and less), I’m a bit sad not to have that time to code […]

]]> By: epot’s blog » Blog Archive » The problem with TinyURL … http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-25683 epot’s blog » Blog Archive » The problem with TinyURL … Sun, 13 Jul 2008 12:56:10 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-25683 [...] tell us they may report your activity to some “agencies” … In addition to the reasons why Udi hates TinyURLs, I wonder how is stored your URLs. Well, it’s not exactly “how?” but “with [...] […] tell us they may report your activity to some “agencies” … In addition to the reasons why Udi hates TinyURLs, I wonder how is stored your URLs. Well, it’s not exactly “how?” but “with […]

]]> By: dan http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-19159 dan Thu, 28 Feb 2008 11:05:20 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-19159 I found that http://www.redirectrevealer.com can unmask these urls and return the final destination url so you see exactly where you are going before you click the link. I found that http://www.redirectrevealer.com can unmask these urls and return the final destination url so you see exactly where you are going before you click the link.

]]> By: Mostly Muppet Dot Com http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-12077 Mostly Muppet Dot Com Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:47:38 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-12077 <strong>The Problem with Permalinks...</strong> I’ve been thinking for quite some time about changing the URL structure at Mostly Muppet Dot Com to be a little more human-friendly. You know, taking out all the “archives” and date-string bullshit and just getting to domain-slash-po... The Problem with Permalinks…

I’ve been thinking for quite some time about changing the URL structure at Mostly Muppet Dot Com to be a little more human-friendly. You know, taking out all the “archives” and date-string bullshit and just getting to domain-slash-po…

]]> By: rnc http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-12011 rnc Tue, 20 Nov 2007 23:07:56 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-12011 try http://decenturl.com try http://decenturl.com

]]> By: Udi http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-11983 Udi Tue, 20 Nov 2007 17:23:44 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-11983 The preview is a nice feature, but having to go through an intermediary page is still very cumbersome. I still see no reason why we can't still put the domain and extension into the short url. The preview is a nice feature, but having to go through an intermediary page is still very cumbersome. I still see no reason why we can’t still put the domain and extension into the short url.

]]> By: TerminalDigit http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-11951 TerminalDigit Tue, 20 Nov 2007 08:29:52 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-11951 I realize you wrote this 2 years ago, but just for people who arrive here in the future, I'd like to point out that adding the "preview" subdomain in front of the tinyurl will reveal the full url that you'll be forwarded to. Using your example, this would look like http://preview.tinyurl.com/9lcad Optionally, you can have TinyURL set a cookie that will always take you to one of these preview pages first. I realize you wrote this 2 years ago, but just for people who arrive here in the future, I’d like to point out that adding the “preview” subdomain in front of the tinyurl will reveal the full url that you’ll be forwarded to. Using your example, this would look like http://preview.tinyurl.com/9lcad

Optionally, you can have TinyURL set a cookie that will always take you to one of these preview pages first.

]]> By: Scott Lawton (Blogcosm) http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-11906 Scott Lawton (Blogcosm) Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:52:04 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-11906 FWIW, I'll vote with Udi. But, instead of a path, just echo the URL's extension in the not-quite-so-tiny URL, e.g. http://burl.fergcorp.com/msn/dj3k0.jpg The URL service doesn't promise anything except that it shrunk the URL and preserved the extension (if any). FWIW, I’ll vote with Udi. But, instead of a path, just echo the URL’s extension in the not-quite-so-tiny URL, e.g. http://burl.fergcorp.com/msn/dj3k0.jpg

The URL service doesn’t promise anything except that it shrunk the URL and preserved the extension (if any).

]]> By: Udi http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-29 Udi Sat, 29 Oct 2005 18:21:49 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-29 I think you're overthinking this Andrew. If I get a regular link with a file extension in it, it still has all these issues that you're describing. But, I'm used to that already and removing the extension simply means less information for me to work with. I think you’re overthinking this Andrew. If I get a regular link with a file extension in it, it still has all these issues that you’re describing. But, I’m used to that already and removing the extension simply means less information for me to work with.

]]> By: Andrew Ferguson http://breasy.com/blog/2005/10/26/i-hate-tinyurls/#comment-28 Andrew Ferguson Sat, 29 Oct 2005 07:10:21 +0000 http://breasy.com/blog/?p=9#comment-28 Here's the thing though: if you start putting in filetype data, then you've set a precedent. If I give you a link to http://burl.fergcorp.com/microsoft/38jf9 and it takes you took a web page, then you would expect that links similar to that one would provide similar type of data. This is reinforced by the fact that I send you another link to, say, http://burl.fergcorp.com/msn/jpeg/dj3k0. This time it's a picture. You would expect that links that follow that format will take you to some sort of picture. So when I send you to http://burl.fergcorp.com/google/dkj39 and it links to Google Image search for something just God aweful, you are suprised because there wasn't a jpeg in the URL. Trust is loss and the system is broken. I know that's not the best example, but it's the best I could come up with. The other issue is implementation. How do you determine what the true filetype is? Many programs/browsers ignore filetypes and depend on MIME types instead. So the link I create could point to a URL that ends in a .jpg, even though it's a PDF file. So now to prevent abuse, you have to load each file and determine its MIME type. Bandwidth is now soaring through the roof. In other news, I've released the BURL source code under a GNU GPL License. So feel free to go download and tweak it to your hearts desire. If you need any help, let me know! Here’s the thing though: if you start putting in filetype data, then you’ve set a precedent. If I give you a link to http://burl.fergcorp.com/microsoft/38jf9 and it takes you took a web page, then you would expect that links similar to that one would provide similar type of data. This is reinforced by the fact that I send you another link to, say, http://burl.fergcorp.com/msn/jpeg/dj3k0. This time it’s a picture. You would expect that links that follow that format will take you to some sort of picture. So when I send you to http://burl.fergcorp.com/google/dkj39 and it links to Google Image search for something just God aweful, you are suprised because there wasn’t a jpeg in the URL. Trust is loss and the system is broken.

I know that’s not the best example, but it’s the best I could come up with.

The other issue is implementation. How do you determine what the true filetype is? Many programs/browsers ignore filetypes and depend on MIME types instead. So the link I create could point to a URL that ends in a .jpg, even though it’s a PDF file. So now to prevent abuse, you have to load each file and determine its MIME type. Bandwidth is now soaring through the roof.

In other news, I’ve released the BURL source code under a GNU GPL License. So feel free to go download and tweak it to your hearts desire. If you need any help, let me know!

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