Shrink Those URLs!

Note: This article has been moved over from my previous blog for historical purposes.

Ever had a URL that looks like this:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?ovi=1&mqma
p.x=300&mqmap.y=75&mapdata=%252bKZmeiIh6N%252bI
gpXRP3bylMaN0O4z8OOUkZWYe7NRH6ldDN96YFTIUmSH3Q6
OzE5XVqcuc5zb%252fY5wy1MZwTnT2pu%252bNMjOjsHjvN
lygTRMzqazPStrN%252f1YzA0oWEWLwkHdhVHeG9sG6cMrf
XNJKHY6fML4o6Nb0SeQm75ET9jAjKelrmqBCNta%252bsKC
9n8jslz%252fo188N4g3BvAJYuzx8J8r%252f1fPFWkPYg%
252bT9Su5KoQ9YpNSj%252bmo0h0aEK%252bofj3f6vCP

Remember the last time you tried to mail this to someone and the person wrote back saying it did not work ? 

Well, i dont know about you but this happens to me all the time. I finally found the answer to my problems !! Heres this site called tinyurl.com which allows you to compress long urls into short ones. For example, the above url shrinks into 

http://tinyurl.com/6

Try copy/pasting it into a new browser window, it still works !! Give it a shot

Enter a long URL to make tiny:

U can try it here with the really long URL that i have put in. Just pick up the new short URL it generates and past it into the browser and viola !! it works exactly like the original.

The site is a free service and uses URL redirection. Way to go !!