It can take awhile to figure out all the shortcuts and features in the ever-growing list of Google web applications. The Google Operating System blog unearths a quick URL hack to display a Google app's entire help file—normally split up on cross-linked pages—in easily-saved and printable HTML. Head to the app's "support center," usually found at, for example, mail.google.com/support/, and add ?fulldump=1 to the end of the URL. Hit the Google Operating System link for direct, download-able links to the most popular apps' full help files.

Read More »

Google can reorder search and news results from the last day, week, a few months, or entire year by adding a small string to the end of the search URL. Just add this string—&as_qdr=d—to the address bar and hit enter. You'll get a custom drop-down box that lets you re-order results based on date. It's great for getting past the same top results you've already looked through, as well as grabbing only the newest links related to gadgets, software, or whatever else you're searching. Sadly it doesn't work on Google Images, but let us know in the comments if it does work on other Google searches.

Windows Mobile only: Windows Mobile and PDA devices may have a copy/paste function, but selecting and copying can be a serious click-click-click pain. ceSnipURL, a free link-shortening app for Windows Mobile-compatible devices, does the same kind of work as SnipURL, TinyURL and all the rest, but much more conveniently. Load the app and paste in a URL, and it's automatically converted (using snipr.com) and copied to your clipboard for texting, emailing, or any other use. ceSnipURL is a free download for Windows Mobile 6 and compatible devices only.

Read More »

If you're regularly sent TinyURLs but have been burned one too many times by clicking through to an embarrassing link at the wrong time, head to TinyURL's preview page and enable previews. This old but useful feature will set a cookie in your browser, and henceforth all TinyURLs you click on with direct you to a landing page that will display the full link so you can make a more educated decision as to whether or not you should wait to visit the link. For similar solutions that change or preview TinyURL links on-the-fly, check out previously mentioned Embiggen bookmarklet or Tin Foil Hat.

Read More »

Windows/Mac/Linux (Firefox): Save yourself the time of copying, pasting, and fixing mistyped links with QuietURL, a free Firefox extension that converts URLs with typos or bad formatting. QuietURL comes with a standard set of common fixes, but users of regular expressions can get ultra-specific on what gets fixed. If you're a regular browser of a forum or site that willfully obscures URLs by messing with the link code (as in "hxxp:// ..."), QuietURL can automatically fix those as well, or pull the reverse. For those looking to fix their own fat-fingered URLs, try URL Fixer or switching your router to OpenDNS. QuietURL is a free download, works wherever Firefox does.

Read More »

Web site NSFW.in is a URL-shrinking web application à la TinyURL with a twist, allowing users to share Not Safe For Work (NSFW) links without fear of compromising your poor, unsuspecting friend. When you follow a NSFW.in link (like this one, which actually is safe), you've got to confirm that you are indeed ready to view a web page that's potentially not safe for a work environment. Confirm, and you're through, reveling in the work-unfriendly filth of the dirty, dirty link. Now disperse, and share NSFW links across the internet with impunity!

Read More »

Need to send a line of text too long for an instant message, but don't feel like dashing off an email? Find some text you want access to later while using someone else's computer or a remote connection? Textsnip, a free text-capture site that provides TinyURL-like links, has you covered. Throw in the text (or HTML, CSS, PHP or most any kind of formatted code), and TextSnip will put it into a URL, tabbed spacing preserved. Depending on how quickly you email and whether you mind sending to yourself, TextSnip is either redundant or an inbox-saving memory enhancer. TextSnip is free to use, no sign-up required. Thanks Julie!

Read More »

YouTube announced in November that they would be testing out encoding videos at higher resolutions (and with higher-quality audio encoding). Now it appears that a small sampling of uploaded videos can already be seen at their higher resolutions, simply by adding a little tag to the end of the video's URL. To get a (slightly noticeable) bump in resolution, try adding &fmt=6 to the end of the address line. The trick, according to YouTube watchers, seems to work primarily with newer videos, and bumps the resolution from 320x240 to 448x336. Add &fmt=18 to the end of the URL, and you might get an MP4-encoded version, with better audio and a 480x360 resolution.

Read More »

Link-shrinking services like TinyURL are great for sending long links, but sometimes you might want to share a list of sites with a contact over Twitter, IM, or even mobile phone text. LinkBunch, a free link consolidation service, enables... Read More »

Link-shortening services like TinyURL are great for sharing complex URLs (hello, Amazon) over email or IM, but most of us would have a hard time pulling a link like tinyurl.com/3yw6ew from the tops of our heads. MeaningfulURL provides a link-shortening service that lets you customise the name your short URL gets. Paste a long link, choose a prefix like "invite.to." or "enter.to," then add your own text after that to make the link, like "http://enter.to/mycoolsite." The bad news is that the freely-provided links expire in 3 days (you can shell out $2 or $3 for certain prefixes), but for a long URL you need to get at from anywhere, MeaningfulURL might do the trick.

Read More »