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<p>Convenience at the price of opaqueness. <br>
</p>
<p>Ease of visual transcription for the plausible error of doling
malware.</p>
<p>Like most shortcuts, doesn't do the job if it infects someone. A
simple mistaken keystroke sends someone to the unintended. No one
mistypes stuff, right?<br>
</p>
<p>The brand might not be what you intended.</p>
<p>With all due respect,</p>
<p>Tom</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/08/2018 01:40 PM, Ken Gagne
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:1539020448.485823.1534860696.57112460@webmail.messagingengine.com">
<title></title>
<div>I use URL shorteners for a few reasons. A short link:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<ul>
<li>is easier to remember and type, without having to look up
the original, long link.<br>
</li>
<li>is easier for someone to use if seeing it in a presentation
or a hardcopy handout.<br>
</li>
<li>takes up less space in print.<br>
</li>
<li>is better branding.<br>
</li>
</ul>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>However, I create my short links with <a
href="https://yourls.org/" moz-do-not-send="true">YOURLS</a>,
an open-source URL shortener that you install on your own domain
— no integration with (or dependency on) bit.ly, ow.ly, or other
third-party services. Some examples of links I've created in it:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://gamebits.tv/dox" moz-do-not-send="true">gamebits.tv/dox</a>:
my Computerworld article about removing your profile from data
brokers.<br>
</li>
<li><a href="http://kgagne.com/moo" moz-do-not-send="true">kgagne.com/moo</a>:
my referral code for Moo.com.</li>
</ul>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I also used YOURLS to create <a href="https://a2.click"
moz-do-not-send="true">a2.click</a>, a URL shortener with a
frontend that anyone can use — but only if the submitted URLs
match my domain whitelist.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>-Ken</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>On Mon, Oct 8, 2018, at 12:43 PM, Esther Schindler wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>Are they still a thing? <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I used to use them because they provided some level of
tracking click throughs. That went away.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I also used to use them back when Twitter counted all the
characters in a URL as part of its 140. That went away too.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I’m not sure when/why anyone wants to use these any more…
even before the security vulnerabilites. <br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<blockquote type="cite">
<div>On Oct 8, 2018, at 9:04 AM, Tom Henderson <<a
href="mailto:thenderson@extremelabs.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">thenderson@extremelabs.com</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<div><span class="font"><span class="size">I can give you
a long list of<span> </span></span></span><a
href="http://ow.ly/" moz-do-not-send="true">ow.ly</a><span
class="font"><span class="size"><span> </span>shortened
URLs that will give you a malware dose the size of
Cincinnati.</span></span><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><span class="font"><span class="size">ONE SINGLE
MISTYPED character will send a user into plain hell.</span></span><br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>--<br>
</div>
<div>Ipg-smz mailing list<br>
</div>
<div><a href="mailto:Ipg-smz@netpress.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">Ipg-smz@netpress.org</a><br>
</div>
<div><a
href="http://netpress.org/mailman/listinfo/ipg-smz_netpress.org"
moz-do-not-send="true">http://netpress.org/mailman/listinfo/ipg-smz_netpress.org</a><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Tom Henderson
ExtremeLabs, Inc.
+1 317 250 4646
Twitter: @extremelabs
Skype: extremelabsinc</pre>
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