UPDATE (Oct 26, 2010) :: I disbanded my original URL shortening service and have created a new one with an even shorter URL! I’m leaving this page up for posterity, but I’ve changed the links where applicable. Also, I wrote about my new URL shortening service, so you may want to head on over there first!

This time, it’s mine!! After I got onto Twitter and Facebook, I starting noticing all these little weird looking links and came to realize they were just pointers to much longer links. URL shortening services have sprung up just about everywhere. The issue of really long links is more of a problem to Twitter users because you only have 140 characters to type your message, but they’re starting to gain traction for just about every use. Use my new URL shortener to shrink you long urls today!

You would want to/need to shorten a url when you don’t have much space to post one or you want to make it easier for someone to remember. Now, there are tons of sites out there that can shorten long links into something tiny, but I didn’t want to trust my links in the hands of some fly-by-night service. Instead, I opened my own service and now I’m offering the service to everyone.

xi.io URL shortener

What is it?

Take this link for example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FKindle-Wireless-Reading-Display-Generation%2Fdp%2FB0015T963C%3Fpf_rd%5Fm%3DATVPDKIKX0DER%26pf%5Frd%5Fs%3Dcenter-1%26pf%5Frd%5Fr%3D0Y2V14K8W4X1MTQ9XB9B%26pf%5Frd%5Ft%3D101%26pf%5Frd%5Fp%3D1253201642%26pf%5Frd%5Fi%3D507846&tag=ledfrog-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325. It’s a direct link to Amazon.com’s Kindle page. Now, imagine you’re on Twitter and you want to send that to your followers. It’s not going to happen.

Instead, you drop on by my new site and create a link that looks like this: http://xi.io/8m. Much nicer, wouldn’t you agree? In fact, this URL went from being 358 characters long down to only 15! That’s a difference of 343 characters!! You can use these links for any purpose and the best part is, you can also search for keyword text, so instead of getting a randomly generated number, you can get a text phrase (if available).

How is this site different?

It’s not so much different in features as it is in name. Other services such as goo.gl, bit.ly and u.nu all offer the same services, but as you can see, they all use International domain names.

Personally, I find two things wrong with this. The first reason is that the links are not universally recognized by a lot of Internet users. If fact, I’ve talked to some people that say they never click on links like that at all! This can provide low click-through ratios for your links.

The second reason is that these domain names are controlled by the countries who own the extension. This can, although probably not likely, lead to the domains becoming obsolete or even being taken back by the local government.

What can you do with a shortened URL?

The uses for this service are only limited to your creativity! Here are some ideas:

• Use shorter links for Twitter posts
• Cloak affiliate links
• Mask a long URL for marketing materials
• Use a shorter URL for your site to make it easier to tell your friends how to get there

This service is free and allows you to make an unlimited amount of links. Check it out by going to xi.io now!

This one is for all you Firefox users out there. It looks like no browser is safe from the threat of viruses and other threats. And yet another reason why I love my MacBook and Google Chrome browser. Together, they’re a strong team. If you’re using Internet Explorer or Safari, you too should consider Chrome.

Anyway, if you do use Firefox you should consider updating because this bit of information just came out:

Mozilla addressed a critical security vulnerability with a minor Firefox update, bringing the browser to version 3.6.2. The vulnerability could potentially allow an attacker to “crash a victim’s browser and execute arbitrary code on his/her system.”

Users of Firefox 3.6 will have this update automatically downloaded and installed, but you can also manually apply it by selecting “Check for Updates…” from the Help menu.

The release notes for Firefox 3.6.2 can be found here.

-Originally posted here at Mashable.com

For those of you who switched to Firefox because you didn’t like Internet Explorer, now you can switch to Chrome, a far better browser (at least until someone hacks it too).

It seems like a simple task and for the most part it is, but what happens if you set up your IMAP email account and then you get an error message stating this when trying to delete messages:

Unable to Move Message

Well first, let me send you over to an awesome guide for setting up IMAP email on iPhone alongside the Mac app, Mail. The link for this guide can be found here and it contains a very detailed look at the configuration from beginning to end. I only have one piece to add to it.

If you’re getting the message above, it’s simply because by default, iPhone wants to use the Trash, Sent and Draft folders on the phone rather than the same folders on your mail server. What this means is when you try to delete a message, you get an error saying it can’t be moved. For whatever reason, iPhone does not allow you to throw email away in your phone’s trash. My best guess on this would be that it defeats the purpose of IMAP, which is to completely map ALL folders on the server to each of your email devices.

At any rate, the fix is very simple. Follow these steps:

1. Go to the iPhone Settings
2. Tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendars
3. Tap on the email account you wish to edit
4. Scroll down to Advanced
5. Under the header ‘Mailbox Behaviors’, tap on each of the three mailbox folders and check off the identical box under the ‘On the Server’ header.

You’ll see that you’ve changed the folder from being ‘On My iPhone’ to ‘On the Server’. Once the changes have been made, you’ll be in business!

I’ve run into this issue so many times while fixing client computers and it seems like every time I do a search for a fix, I get a different answer each time and sometimes, the fix works, sometimes it doesn’t. Well today, my troubles are over! And hopefully yours as well.

I found this ridiculously organized and thorough tutorial over at DanFischbach.com that should fix this problem 99% of the time. In fact, if it can’t fix this issue, you’re better off restoring your system. When you’re done with that, give your pc to your little cousin and buy yourself a Mac.

Anyway, moving on…this guide was written by Dan Fischbach way back in 2006, but for all you Vista-haters out there, it’ll still hold up today. I’m not going to re-post the multi-page guide here, but I will provide a mirror for at least one of the large downloads required for the repair to work.

To see the guide, click here. To download the needed disc images, see below.

Windows Vista Recovery Disc — 120Mb
Save Me Disc — For good reasons, I won’t be posting a download of the second disc. As it often changes, it would be a much better idea to download it directly from the source.

*If the link above is not there, the mirror is not available at the moment. Try again later.

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