Slashdot Mirror
UrlHosted Experiment: Host Content Within the URL
New submitter graphicore writes to point out an experimental "unhosted" app that challenges the concept of the URL. By putting the post data after the # mark, the URL is (mis-)used as the data storage. You can store your data within your bookmarks list, host it via a URL-shortener(!) like here: http://goo.gl/DYxr5m or attach it directly to a tweet
I also attached the full-url to this slashdot post :-) This raises the question about who is hosting the content and it will probably break the internet.
This is a quote from Google's shortener policy: "Please remember that goo.gl directs you to content that is already in existence on the internet. This is not content hosted by Google." It could also become a storage strategy for any other web app. The app is GPL v3, no strings attached.
And there's always DNS, too.
Not sure if serious, but I'll bite. The default action for URLs ending in #~~~~ is for the browser to find a tag named ~~~~ and scroll to that. It's used to link to a specific part of the page. Originally the tag needed to be an <a name="~~~~"> tag, but modern browsers will find any tag with id="~~~~" and use that.
It's used here because the browser does not send the #~~~~ part of the URL to the server, so you're not limited by the URL length limits in certain browsers*cough*IE*cough*. Instead, the webpage includes javascript that reads the window location variable to find the #~~~~ and parse it.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Yes and no. You could fit a bittorrent tracker into it. Then you're hosting your bit torrent tracker files into a short URL.
It doesn't break the internet but it does dramatically shift the question of who is "Hosting" content and who is "just sharing a link". There is a lot of legal uncertainty about what constitutes for instance copyright infringement. If you post a link to a tweet with a serial number are you committing piracy? If the website has a widget which then embeds the tweet are you worse or better off? If you post a URL which has the serial number in the URL... are you then just sharing a link or are you sharing the content? Does Google's URL shortener bare any legal responsibility under safe harbor for taking down URLs that contain copyrighted material?