URL Magic

Why you should use Tiny.cc

I use tiny.cc for my URL shortener whenever possible. Why? Because:

1. It's free - with all the same statistics, bookmarklet, etc. the other services offer.
2. They allow you to edit the link destination, or even delete the short link entirely.
3. They have an open API.
4. You can create QR Codes for your links.

Short dictionary URLs

Using The Free Dictionary

Co-worker @jonathanwindle clued me in to The Free Dictionary's short URL:

http://tfd.com/ word

So, linking to the definition of colloquially looks like this:

http://tfd.com/colloquially

Using DuckDuckGo (alternate)

To create a short URL for linking to a word's definition, use the short URL for DuckDuckGo and their Bang syntax together:

http://ddg.gg/?q= word +!di

So, linking to the definition of colloquially looks like this:

http://ddg.gg/?q=colloquially+!di

Notes:

• https doesn't work, but the link will redirect to https://duckduckgo.com before evaluating the rest.
• The bang specifier has to come after the q= portion of the query parameter.
• The Bang code above redirects to Dictionary.com, but others are available.