Two-faced URLs
Dev tools
url shortener
SHOW HN2011
Two-faced URLs
This is a URL shortener that gives a link that sends "preview" processes one place and actual users…
brokenthings.orgHow HN took it
5 positive, 2 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 2 critical, out of 9 comments about the project. Thread score +0.23.
Execution: 3 for, 1 againstIdea: 1 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Clever routing based on headers and bot detection
From 3 comments
Clever use of content negotiation!
inportb on HNVery clever/sneaky!
makethetick on HNClever. I assume the only way for Facebook and Twitter to circumvent this would be to fake all of the HTTP headers sent by, say, a modern version of Firefox. I don't think it's…
phillco on HN
Useful for setting custom link previews
From 1 comment
This actually could be quite useful. Sometimes people need to post a nicely described link with an adequate thumbnail, yet the Facebook bot finds only some random image. With…
bgarbiak on HN
Objections
URL shorteners are harmful and should be eliminated
From 1 comment
Yet another reason for URL shorteners to be banished from the web (not that this will ever happen). Besides the arcane input requirements of Twitter and the semi-retarded…
pak on HN
Preview bots could be defeated by caching or faking headers
From 2 comments
To defend against this, social networking sites should simply cache the link that the preview bot sees, and send users there directly instead.
jasondavies on HNClever. I assume the only way for Facebook and Twitter to circumvent this would be to fake all of the HTTP headers sent by, say, a modern version of Firefox. I don't think it's…
phillco on HN
Questions
How does it distinguish HEAD and GET or bot requests?
From 2 comments
At a guess: HEAD requests give one URL, GET requests give another?
rmccue on HNI think it knows the user agent of specific bots and serves different pages based on that, as social networks tend to do a full GET request in order to grab a screenshot.
MattBearman on HN
Alternatives named
Twitter's own link handling
From 1 comment
That's one thing that mildly annoys me about twitter. It clearly knows where a shortened link is heading because it reveals the full URL on the mouseover. Given that information,…
billpg on HN