A new take on URL modification

April 28, 2009 12:13 AM

Getting into a lather wondering which of the new wave of URL modifiers - tinyurl, bitly, trim, etc - to use? Why not give gianturl a whirl?
posted by puffmoike (49 comments total)

wheeeeeee!
posted by felix betachat at 12:19 AM on April 28, 2009

or, make that: wheeeee!
posted by felix betachat at 12:19 AM on April 28, 2009

Sorry puffmoike. Your thread's no fun if MetaFilter won't resolve gianturls.
posted by felix betachat at 12:20 AM on April 28, 2009

This may be the ultimate annoyance tool for sending links. I think I may have to reply to every tinyurl, etc with one of these.
posted by Chan at 12:24 AM on April 28, 2009

Awesome.

I may finally have a reason to do this ridiculous twitter thing.
posted by koeselitz at 12:29 AM on April 28, 2009

I read that as "gianturd". Hmm.
posted by Mikey-San at 12:35 AM on April 28, 2009

it's so BIG!
posted by sexyrobot at 12:35 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

gianturd
posted by ryanrs at 12:46 AM on April 28, 2009

tinyurl / gianturl infinite loop
posted by ryanrs at 1:07 AM on April 28, 2009 [65 favorites]

runaway pop-ups
[warning: annoying]
posted by ryanrs at 1:33 AM on April 28, 2009

tinyurl / gianturl infinite loop

Waiting for tinyurl ...
Waiting for gianturl ...
Waiting for tinyurl ...
Waiting for gianturl ...
Waiting for tinyurl ...
Waiting for gianturl ...
Waiting for tinyurl ...
Waiting for gianturl ...

God I can't wait to send that to someone.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:34 AM on April 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

arbitrary javascript
posted by ryanrs at 1:52 AM on April 28, 2009

That's what she said.
posted by Poolio at 1:53 AM on April 28, 2009

Ok, if you want to use gianturls on Metafilter, you'll need to delete any spaces in the generated url and replace the commas with %2C.

When your browser retrieves a gianturl, the server returns a short web page:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=YOUR_URL_HERE">

Gianturl checks to see if YOUR_URL_HERE matches a valid http url. If not, it appends http:// to the front. If we want to submit a javascript: url, then we have to prevent the http:// from being tacked on.

Fortunately the check regex is crappy and simply checks for an http:// anywhere in YOUR_URL_HERE, not just at the front. So we can include a valid url in, say, a javascript comment:

javascript:alert(location);//http://example.com/

Gianturl strips out a lot of useful characters suck as ' " * and others. Figuring out how to avoid these is an excercise for the reader.
posted by ryanrs at 2:36 AM on April 28, 2009 [3 favorites]

GiantURL was created as a free service to make posting short URLs harder. Using it for spamming purposes is encouraged and any such use will result in the GiantURL being disabled and you will be reported to all ISPs involved and to the proper governmental agencies.

Not sure if that's deliberate or not.
posted by theyexpectresults at 3:22 AM on April 28, 2009

gianturl to fix commas in other gianturls

Open the above url in another window. Replace the portion of the url after the # with your own gianturl. Press ENTER and a message box should pop up with your properly escaped gianturl. This fixed-up version of your gianturl should work in Metafilter.
posted by ryanrs at 3:51 AM on April 28, 2009 [3 favorites]

Beyond the tiny/giant loop, what possible applications could this have?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 3:57 AM on April 28, 2009

Wanna see me teach it Spanish?
posted by ryanrs at 4:02 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

You could probably use gianturl for steganography, if you can identify bytes that aren't in use.
posted by jenkinsEar at 4:07 AM on April 28, 2009

A useful "longer URL" service: longr.us provides a descriptive URL that contains the domain name and title of the target page. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/27/MN0O17A8Q5.DTL&tsp=1 becomes http://longr.us/sfgate.com/sacramento.has.2.more.swine.flu.cases.california.s.count.rises.to.13 . And it has an API!
posted by lasagnaboy at 4:37 AM on April 28, 2009 [17 favorites]

In all honesty, gianturl actually does address a concern I have with tinyurl: Hash collision.
posted by DU at 4:43 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you're actually hardlinking a giant URL in your posts you're doing it wrong.

ps check this out!
http://www.gianturl.com?OjdfCpYfKN,,4thY6X5,7,pX2L2LCjc9R,6cJL0Q4,WlY30s1l8,,w5F,TK0d,XSwB
Lx2l1t4BC,P5Tn48w,P,l4Q,W5vhcLHj6,Z8,Y,mH4,C5g8,FKNcK2y1mG1,Bw6mXPj,jh0,,g0px,ch
XLv,ByTz,9P1,lCW7Vq8jLMm1,r1v,Dl,k,,,2r0SC5QVfc2zb9H8F,8,,qh,3M,GcgFd3t,0ym,J9,,qyw
vgmLD8B7SctjQ6z,6r6fp7,FLPxv6d,3zkf7sNpV,ml6sQ8Y2L7pS3Gq7lwl3,r,,Yh,7xDBv,yNjtQM,,
Zm8g8w6D,bS3Bn96vDPkm4L,V1,rqMG,9kJ5y,,pR5JB7y2HLQBxJ3d5rP8L,c3,CF,Jmx6,,g7ctQ,v
JZ,nFp,j,2,1r,RP4,j8zZSg7gj6ffCbd,Dbc8y5N,1BD,q1z,1J9,K0F,r,,5F,XgrKw9jG5,xjX8gpnz,
wzzB,6,5L,zh,2lt4k0v,3dG,,xt3hP1j,s5qJh,,,j7cS3H6,0nB0,t6qzq7smJDXh,9,V,dsq,,wCVJb
Dx9b8,1HGyC5Yk80sRVnn0MtD0qx,TPs4sB5tRk,B1MP6s7SSY,t,6s4,,8BQb9vZYn,mm4Ljq6jwF,b
P,,wNfWj,5B2,dQB2,w9bZDx4yd4mrSdylJfh0b1GF4VKys0wh9B3J,6QmvzJ0WK,pd,g4v,8vs,L3,s,pv
YuvTck
posted by Potomac Avenue at 5:07 AM on April 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

In all honesty, gianturl actually does address a concern I have with tinyurl: Hash collision.

Lucky for us, tinyurl is just based on incrementing so you don't have to worry about hash collisions. That means you can go in the Other-People's-Links Wayback Machine by typing in stuff like tinyurl.com/a or tinyurl.com/Mice!
posted by soma lkzx at 5:08 AM on April 28, 2009

Hash collision.

"You got your corned beef hash in my chicken hash!"
"You got your chicken hash in my corned beef hash!"
[together] "Tastes great!"
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:20 AM on April 28, 2009

Incrementing? But that's not secure at all! I might have people linking into MY internet!
posted by DU at 5:20 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Actually, Tinyurl stopped doing it that way because people could predict what the URL would be: for example, http://www.tinyurl.com/cunt used to point to Laura Bush's website.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:23 AM on April 28, 2009

the shortest is u.nu
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 5:24 AM on April 28, 2009 [2 favorites]

Strangely enough, http://www.tinyurl.com/penis is still up. Beats me.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:26 AM on April 28, 2009

Nice one, East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94!

I like u.nu.
posted by rmmcclay at 5:37 AM on April 28, 2009

I miss evilurl.com.
posted by tarnish at 5:38 AM on April 28, 2009

How pissed off do you reckon these guys were not to get /1?
posted by flabdablet at 5:41 AM on April 28, 2009 [9 favorites]

This just reminds me of how I've long wanted to register www.bababadalgharaghtakamminarronnkonnbronntonnerronntuonnthunntrovarrhounawnskawntoohoohoordenenthurnuk.com (and, on the more commercial side, www.bigmacfiletofishquarterpounderfrenchfriesicycokethickshakesundaesandapplepies.com).
posted by mothershock at 5:46 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Strangely enough, http://www.tinyurl.com/penis is still up. Beats me.

You're probably not half as confused as the marketing staff at Toshiba, South Africa:

"Hey, we just had another spike on the website for our Portégé R200-127 model...why do these never translate into sales?!??"
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:22 AM on April 28, 2009 [4 favorites]

I like tinyarrow, myself: http://‽.ws/鰰 for example.
posted by skynxnex at 6:56 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

puffmoike: "Why not give gianturl a whirl? "

Cute!

I recommend FreakingHugeURL. Which can be found at

http://www.freakinghugeurl.com/refer.php?count=12&url=Vm0wd2QyUXlVWGxXYTJoV1YwZG9WVll3Wkc5alJsWjBUVlpPV0Zac2JETlhhMU pUVmpGYWMySkVUbGhoTWsweFZqQmFTMk15U2tWVWJHaG9UVmhDVVZadGVGW mxSbGw1Vkd0c2FsSnRhRzlVVjNOM1pVWmFkR05GZEZSTlZUVkpWbTEwYTFkSFNrZ GpTRUpYWVRGYWFGVXhXbXRXTVhCRlZXeFNUbUY2UlRCV2EyTXhWREZrU0ZOclpHc FRSVXBZV1ZSR2QyRkdjRmRYYlVaclVqRmFTVnBGV2xOVWJGcFlaSHBDVjJFeVRYaF dSRVpyVTBaT2NscEhjRk5XUjNob1YxZDRVMUl5VW5OWGEyUllZbGhTV1ZWcVJrdFRW bkJHVjJ4T1ZXSkdjRlpXYlhoelZqRmFObEZZYUZabGEzQklXWHBHVDJSV1duTlRiV3hU VFRKb1dWWnJXbGRaVm14WFZXdGtWMWRIYUZsWmJHaFRWMFpTVjFwR1RrNVNiR m93V2xWak5XRkdXbk5qU0d4WFRWZG9NMVpxUmtwbGJVWklZVVprYUdFeGNGbFh hMVpoVkRKT2RGSnJaRmhpVjNodlZGVm9RMWRzV1hoWGJFNVRUVmQ0V1ZWdGRHd FdiVXBJWVVoT1ZtRnJOVlJXTUZwVFZqRmtkVnBIZUdsU2JYY3hWa1phVTFVeFduSk5 WVlpUWWtkU1lWUlZXbUZOTVZweFUydDBWMVpyY0ZwWGExcHJZVWRGZUdOR2FG aGlSbkJvVmtSS1QyUkdTbkpoUjJoVFlYcFdlbGRYZUc5aU1rbDRWMjVTVGxaRlNsaFpX SEJIVjBaVmVXUkhkRmRpVlhCSldWVm9UMVp0Um5KVGJXaFhZVEZ3VkZacVJuZFNN Vkp5VGxaT2FWSnRPVE5XYTFwaFZURkZlVkpyWkZoaWF6VnhWVEJvUTFsV1VsWlhib VJzWWtad2VGVXlkR3RoYlVwV1ZtcGFXbFpXY0doWlZXUkdaVWRPUjJGR2FHbFNia0p 2Vm10U1MxUnRWbGRVYmtwaFVteEtjRlpxVG05a2JGcEhWbTA1VWsxWFVucFdNalZ MVjBkS1NGVnRPVlZXYkhCWVZHdGFZV015UmtoUFYyaHBVbGhDTmxkVVFtRmpNV1 IwVWxoc2FGSldTbUZhVjNSaFYwWndSbHBHWkZSU2EzQXdXbFZhYTJGV1pFZFNhbH BYWWxSRk1GWlVSbHBsUm1SWldrVTFWMVpzY0ZWWFYzUnJWVEZzVjFWc1dsaGlW VnBZVlcxNGQyVkdWblJOVldSWFRVUkdlVlJzVm05V01VbzJVbXRvVjFaRldreFdha3BQ VW14YWMxcEhiRk5OVlZZelZteGFVMUl4YkZkWGJrcE9WbXh3V0ZsWWNGZFdSbFp5V m10YVQxVlVNRGs9
posted by Rhaomi at 7:47 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

Beyond the tiny/giant loop, what possible applications could this have?

A genuine use for snark?
posted by mattoxic at 7:50 AM on April 28, 2009

I like So Cute Url. Metafilter converts to http://www.socuteurl.com/froggybutton.
posted by rifflesby at 7:56 AM on April 28, 2009 [3 favorites]

Ugh. So Cute makes my blog end in "mayor puppet," which reminds me of the freaky Mr. Rogers' monorail set and the marionettes with the big heads.
posted by misha at 8:08 AM on April 28, 2009

i always thought hugeurl was the tool for this kind of thing. check it out here ->
http://www.hugeurl.com/?MjJlNjVmMWJkMWE3MTA2NmIwNjFkNmY4ZDNj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bFpVVlZGM1VGRTlQUT09
posted by mexican at 8:42 AM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

mothershock: "(and, on the more commercial side, www.bigmacfiletofishquarterpounderfrenchfriesicycokethickshakesundaesandapplepies.com)."

www.twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonionsonasesameseedbun.com is still available.
posted by Joe Beese at 9:34 AM on April 28, 2009

I bet this thread was a lot more fun without the fucking page breaks.
posted by Sys Rq at 10:58 AM on April 28, 2009

I feel like chicken.
posted by flippant at 11:05 AM on April 28, 2009

You know, before there was tinyurl.com, there was makeashorterlink.com.

Yeah.
posted by Kalthare at 2:08 PM on April 28, 2009

People are looking at me and wondering why I'm giggling.

"Well, there's this metafilter thread about a parody of tinyurl..."
"What's tinyurl?"
"It's a website where you can shorten a URL."
"Why would you want to do that?" or "What's a URL?"

....

"What's Twitter?"

....

"What's the point of that? Why would anyone care what I had for breakfast?"

....

Fuck it. I just told 'em I'm looking at lolcats.
posted by desjardins at 2:26 PM on April 28, 2009 [6 favorites]

I still want someone to make a gianturlesque service for linking to images that generates a url that is ascii art of the image being linked to.

GET ON IT PEOPLE
posted by flaterik at 2:54 PM on April 28, 2009 [4 favorites]

Wanna see me teach it Spanish?

gianturl english / spanish translator

Insert your english text after the #.
posted by ryanrs at 10:04 PM on April 28, 2009 [1 favorite]

http://dickensurl.com/ Converts your URL to a quote from Dickens.
posted by Science! at 6:52 AM on April 29, 2009

Of course, if you get tired of all this gianturl/tinyurl unenlightened nonsense you can try dickensURL.

http://dickensurl.com/1b6/
If_you_could_see_my_legs_when_I_take_my_boots_off,
_you'd_form_some_idea_of_what_unrequited_affection_is.
posted by Memo at 6:58 AM on April 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

OK, you can all un-favourite the unicycle comment now. tinyurl.com/1 through /5 are all sites belonging to Kevin Gilbertson, who made tinyurl.

One day I hope to learn to read the internet.
posted by flabdablet at 8:11 AM on April 29, 2009