I was reading about using URL-shortening services for citations. One concern with these URL-shorteners is that they completely disguise the content behind the URL; worse yet for citations is that they hide the validity of the source.

Since ThnLnk doesn't always "thin" the links, i.e., your resultant URLs aren't necessarily shorter, I implemented the completely numeric URL:

http://thnlnk.com/0000002128

But now to put more information into the "thin link" I added the domain to the numeric URL:

http://thnlnk.com/solutionwatch/0000002129

Now you have a source and a thinner link!

People have been writing about ThnLnk, which is a Good Thing. Hands-down, as you can see, people can't say enough good things about us!

Here are just a few select comments, mostly for my own self-deprecation, from the Internets.

(On the other hand, ThnLnk is ranked #14 on Listible's List of Web 2.0 Products. Web 2.0? OK, I'll take it!)

Cool New Technology: ThnLnk - Semantic URL: "While this service may have limited use, it does it's job very well."

semantic URL redirecting service: "ThnLnk tags URLs in a readable format so you know where you're going before you click. It is nice to use ThnLnk when sending a link to a friend so they know what they're getting"

Semantic urls, not domain: ThnLnk.com: "[ThnLnk] takes a long URL and makes it more sensible, thus making some really short URLs longer. Confused? It's not that bad. The idea is curious, having URLs that actually tell you what they mean, for example all the MakeYouGoHmm URLs are just dated and do not tell you what, but actually when."

Generador de "URLs semánticos": "Ahora que está de moda lo de usar "URL semánticos" (esos largos, con todas las palabras del título) no podía faltar un web que te permita crear los tuyos. Por ejemplo: http://thnlnk.com/meneame/Noticias.ridculas.pero.votadas/Bj9. Como era de esperar, falla con cualquier caracter con acentos."

ThnLnk - No, really that's the name: "[T]he idea here is just as stupid as the name. A way to hide those really ugly URL's. Isn't that the idea of a hyperlink? For example, if you want to link somewhere on this really new thing called the Internet, you create a hyperlink (bare with me). What this does is take what's between the open and close anchor tag and link that to where you tell it."

Well, OK, it's not awesome news. . . . Nor is it even remotely interesting. But I switched over the development DBs that ThnLnk has been running on over to production DBs.

You could hold your breath, but there's really no point. Except just for kicks. If you get your kicks from stuff like that.

So I feel like it's about time to call this point v0.2.

I like releasing Alphas because everything can always be in flux. But isn't that the way the emerging web should be?

At Amazon, we always said, "The web isn't shrink-wrap." We'd make a formal release, and then scramble for the next few hours fixing things--at the same time throwing in little things that the manager might not have "approved."

For what it's worth, in this release:

• Additions to the home page: rotating mottos and examples.
• Cleaned up the DB.
• Released the ThnLnk This! bookmarklet.
• Blocked linking back to ThnLnk and ThnLnk'g images. (Though this is a policy decision that may be reversed.)
• Fixed a bug in the hostname parsing that screwed up with country-specific domains.
• Fixed regex clobbering of non-English characters.
• Fixed bug regarding tildes and plus signs.
• Added Google AdSense - hopefully it's non-obtrusive enough. But we have to fix the fact that the ads are having trouble being relevant.
• Added some sense of humor. Subject to management whims.

Thanks to Jill for the idea--a bookmarklet in your toolbar to create ThnLnks with one click! It also grabs the title of the web page for you.

Maybe I shouldn't so surprised--but I am--how many users put phrases or titles into the URL field, and then also put a title in the Title field. Then invariably they are disappointed when their ThnLnk URL doesn't work.

So we'll get a fair amount of URLs like this:

http://my web page

Is this carelessness, folks helpfully trying to break the form, or do I have too high a standard for what people would think to use the service for?

With tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek but not-enough-people-looking-to-make-a-difference so I-might-as-well-not-even-try, I put up a random tagline generator to the home page. Such nuggets of wit such as:

"Hundreds of URLs served since 2006."
"Because a world without meaning is meaningless.",
"Giving meaning to the web for the past few weeks."
"Show your URLs that you care. Because you do. I know that. But do they? Do they?"
"Because it pays to be the middleman."

Next, I want to implement the "fade-in" box with Ajax. That would be hot. Too hot. But just hot enough.

One problem with the spread of ThnLnk is that it's pretty transparent to the non-technical user. They get to the content with no "experience" with ThnLnk, which means that even though they use ThnLnk to get to the content, they don't attribute it to the service.

So while they "use" it by using the link, they would probably never come back to the home page and apply the service themselves.

And hence I thought of an interstitial or framing the content with a thin toolbar at the top for creating ThnLnks or at least an attribution.

But, personally, it feels a little greasy. The thing is, services like ThnLnk should be as transparent as possible. It shouldn't put a "bump" in the user experience. Unfortunately, this will be at the cost of user acquisition--and potential monetization through targeted ads in a toolbar.