I’ve been thinking about URLs recently. A thrilling topic, for sure.
Specifically, I’ve been thinking about URLs on Twitter and why we still have to preface them with “http://” to create an active, “clickable” link. With space at such a premium, why do we have to waste these 7 characters? Can’t they just assume http unless otherwise stated?
Barring any changes to the Twitter API, the recognition and reconstruction of abbreviated URLs will have to be implemented separately by Twitter.com, the big clients (Twhirl, Twitterific, etc.) and anywhere else that Twitter posts are displayed. This could lead to discrepancies between how each site/service handles abbreviated URLs. Perhaps they’ve shied away from this idea because of complications from new top level domain classifications (.us, .ly, etc.). However, accurately identifying abbreviated URLs in the post string is a fairly basic programming task. I, for one, would like to see Twhirl (my Twitter client of choice) interpret URLs this way, and I bet others would too.
After all, we’ve learned to be a lot more efficient when choosing our words for the content of a post. Shouldn’t we do the same when sending out a URL?
Thanks to VMware, I’ve had a chance to play around with Google’s new Chrome browser. All-in-all it’s a nice step. Carter made a good point that it won’t really be a game changer until the new Java engine, V8, and Gears are fully utilized and Chrome apps begin to do things we haven’t seen before. Very true.
However, it’s Chrome’s Omnibox, a multi-functional URL box, that piqued my interest for a couple reasons:
1) Bye, Bye YubNub: I’ve been a big fan of YubNub, a site that lets a user query numerous sites from a simple, quick-loading web page. (I profiled YubNub once before on my old blog.) However, the Omnibox supercedes YubNub by planting this functionality right in the browser.
2) A New Revenue Stream: I’ve yet to see any evidence of this but it’s entirely possible that Google could plant advertisements into the Omnibox’s dynamic site suggesetions, either by paid advertisements (more likely) or moving a suggested website’s position closer to the top of the queue. This loosely parallels what I’ve seen in the brokerage business aimed at professional investors where firms are doing all they can to move upstream in a client’s investment process by gaining access to their trading book (i.e. the list of positions they need to enter/exit). The logic is that the earlier you determine a users/traders intentions, the earlier you can capitalize on this knowledge. Chrome’s Omnibox gives Google just such an advantage should they decide to use it.
After four, incredible years in New York City, it is time to move on. Technically, I have already left.
I am writing this from Austin, Texas where I will spend the next two years earning an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at UT. I’m incredibly excited for everything the program has to offer and Austin has been a blast so far. There is a reason the city is growing so fast.
But leaving NYC, however, was bittersweet.
It is a cliche to say that “only the strong survive” in New York but it’s true. Living there challenged me to grow professionally and personally. For that reason, I recommend living there, however brief, to anyone who is interested.
Perhaps that is also what makes leaving so difficult. A small part of me feels… like the city won, like I threw in the towel. Rationally, I know this is not true. I had terrific opportunities for both work and study in New York and leaving for Texas was the right move. Yet the thought persists.
Perhaps this is why so many people never leave; they’re unwilling to submit to the city.
It’s one of the places where I’ll be posting online. Other sites include Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, and, for anything and everything, FriendFeed.
I’ll use this site for long-form posts and I’m considering importing posts from my old blogger account. Any thoughts?
There’s more work to be done (about page, comment system installation, appearance tweaking, etc.). But since I have the feedburner url working, I figured I might as well start posting.
