Have you ever sent an email message that included a long, indecipherable URL (web link) that broke across two lines so it didn't work for the recipient of your message? If so, there's a free, easy to use service sponsored by Gilby Productions that converts those long web links to a short (tiny) URL that'll always work.
You can go to http://tinyurl.com, enter the long URL in the text box at the top of the page and it'll generate a tiny URL that begins with http://tinyurl.com/. The new link never expires, so you can use it whenever you wish (in email or on web pages).
You can also add TinyURL to your Internet Explorer Links menu (how to do so is explained at http://tinyurl.com). Once added, you can navigate to any site and generate a TinyURL instantly for that site using your Links menu.
As an example, here's a moderately long URL to a Wikipedia article on the birth of modern copyright:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law#The_birth_of_modern_copyright
The TinyURL for the same site is:
http://tinyurl.com/8m7wel
Obviously the longer the original URL, the more "character" savings you'll encounter.
Copyright: Off Air Recording
-
Johnson County Community College is phasing out VCRs on campus in favor of
DVD players. Many faculty members have off-air recordings on video tape and
have...
14 years ago
1 comment:
These URL shortening services are great tools and handy to use. Fortunately, they are getting easier to use, which will help users with less web experience to use them.
Of some interest is the sheer number of these services, as seen in this post on Mashable.
My concern is that when one of these services go away, all of the short URLs created by that service become 404'd. It seems that many of these URLs created are short-term objects whose use ages rapidly age. But from an archival standpoint, the loss of the link is something to consider.
Keith
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