JJMelo » Web http://jjmelo.com Tue, 01 May 2012 20:33:50 +0000 en hourly 1 Google’s URL Shortening Service – Main Disadvantage http://jjmelo.com/blog/googles-url-shortening-service-main-disadvantage/ http://jjmelo.com/blog/googles-url-shortening-service-main-disadvantage/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 02:48:40 +0000 jjmelo2012 http://www.jjmelo.com/blog/2010/10/05/googles-url-shortening-service-main-disadvantage A couple of days ago Google officially launched their URL shortening service, in an already crowded scene (Bit.ly, Twitter’s t.co, etc). The service is very easy to use, just go to http:// goo.gl, input the URL you want shortened and voilà! If you are logged into your Google account, they will even provide detailed stats, like number of clicks, referrers, etc. You can even get a QR code. Here’s the kicker; those stats are available for anyone, just by appending .info to the end of the link, and there is no way of making that data private.

Check it out: http://goo.gl/Te9cs takes you to this page.
http://goo.gl/Te9cs.info – that will give you the stats for that link.

They say it clearly: “All goo.gl URLs and click analytics are public and can be shared with anyone”. What does this mean? Well, if you don’t care to share how many clicks your shortened URL has gotten, then this service is for you. But, if you aren’t too keen on sharing with potential competitors the success (or failure) of your social media / e-commerce / publicity campaigns, then stick with Bit.ly my friend. Or, if you want to run your own (private) URL shortening service, try an open source solution such as YOURLS.

]]> http://jjmelo.com/blog/googles-url-shortening-service-main-disadvantage/feed/ 0 Cheap Security Certificates from Dreamhost http://jjmelo.com/blog/cheap-security-certificates-from-dreamhost/ http://jjmelo.com/blog/cheap-security-certificates-from-dreamhost/#comments Thu, 28 May 2009 23:40:13 +0000 jjmelo2012 http://www.jjmelo.com/blog/?p=449 I’m a sucker for funny and informative newsletter and blog posts, and the latest blog post from Josh Jones, head of Dreamhost (great hosting – read more here) is both of these characteristics and it introduces a new product (or just a deeply discounted one) – $15 SSL certificates. After a long rant about how flawed internet security is (and our reliance on them SSL certs) he makes the announcement that Dreamhost will now offer 100% trusted and signed SSL certificates.

I’ve had to deal with SSL certificates in the past (it is definetely not easy to do) and now I can get them installed easier and cheaper than before. Again, Dreamhost will be my one-stop shop for hosting, domain registrations and future SSL certificates

[photo credit]

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