johnfoss
2007-04-16, 04:38 PM
It took me long enough to read through my May issue, but in the Mac OSX Hints section, where they tell people how to do clever things and list undocumented keyboard shortcuts and things, the first topic this month was "Send long URLs via E-mail."
Most of this "hint" involved explaining at a newbie level how to insert a hyperlink into a rich-text email message so it won't have problems with line-breakage. If you don't want to use rich text, it then suggests using angle brackets (<>) at each end. Never tried this, but the instructions are for Mac Mail, which I don't use anyway. They're always listing hints for Mac Mail and iCal, when I use Entourage. How about more hints for me?
Anyway, after that it says:
"If neither of those methods works, visit a Web site that converts long, messy URLs into short ones--TinyURL.com is one good example. Past your long URL into TinyURL.com's text field, and then click on the Make TinyUrl button The site will produce a short reference URL--for example, http://tinyurl.com/27ghfn--that most e-mail clients won't need to break."
TinyURL is Gilby's money-making creation, which in theory helps pay for this web site. I don't know how he does it, but kudos for getting more TinyUrl press!
Most of this "hint" involved explaining at a newbie level how to insert a hyperlink into a rich-text email message so it won't have problems with line-breakage. If you don't want to use rich text, it then suggests using angle brackets (<>) at each end. Never tried this, but the instructions are for Mac Mail, which I don't use anyway. They're always listing hints for Mac Mail and iCal, when I use Entourage. How about more hints for me?
Anyway, after that it says:
"If neither of those methods works, visit a Web site that converts long, messy URLs into short ones--TinyURL.com is one good example. Past your long URL into TinyURL.com's text field, and then click on the Make TinyUrl button The site will produce a short reference URL--for example, http://tinyurl.com/27ghfn--that most e-mail clients won't need to break."
TinyURL is Gilby's money-making creation, which in theory helps pay for this web site. I don't know how he does it, but kudos for getting more TinyUrl press!