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Conference gyro::internet_toolss

Title:Internet Tools
Notice:Report ALL NETSCAPE Problems directly to [email protected].rnet? Read note 448.L for beginner information.
Moderator:teco.mro.dec.com::tecotoo.mro.dec.com::mayer
Created:Fri Jun 25 1993
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:4714
Total number of notes:40609

4583.0. "The Shortest URL in existence" by teco.mro.dec.com::tecotoo.mro.dec.com::mayer (Danny Mayer) Fri Mar 28 1997 10:07

	It had to happen sometime:

Subject: Anguilla Internet
Date: Thu, 27 Mar 97 22:24:15 -0800
From: Brian Reid <[email protected]>

>I've been predicting for a couple of years that the Offshore Tax Haven
>concept would be a growth industry for the Internet. It's happened, and
>it's happened in a way that's going to melt the world's DNS root
>servers as they are currently instantiated. Dontcha love it! Not only
>is it conceptually cool and operationally destructive, it's the
>shortest URL in existence:
>
>    http://ai/
>
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
4583.1aiSTAR::BLAKEOpenVMS EngineeringFri Mar 28 1997 18:513
>>    http://ai/

And a good browser will accept just "ai" as the URL, too!
4583.2isPlainHostName(host)TEMPER::koba[email protected]Mon Mar 31 1997 07:149
>>>    http://ai/
>And a good browser will accept just "ai" as the URL, too!

Maybe some internal auto-proxy configuration file should be changed to think
that the 'ai' is not a plain hostname but a FQDN :-)
Is the internal Millicent's auto-proxy configuration first?


_koba
4583.3one-upsmanship, found shorter page addressesJAMIN::OSMANEric Osman, dtn 226-7122Tue Apr 29 1997 11:4817
    
    
    Hey, I found two shorter ones:
    
    	q
    
    This one is "forbidden".
    
    and
    
    	x
    
    speaks for itself...
    
    /Eric
    
    
4583.4JAMIN::OSMANEric Osman, dtn 226-7122Tue Apr 29 1997 11:508
    
    
    Also, there's
    
    	z
    
    
    
4583.5JAMIN::WASSERJohn A. WasserTue Apr 29 1997 16:175
> Hey, I found two shorter ones: q and x

	But those are not Fully Qualified Domain Names.  If you
	try "http://x./" it won't work because the actual domain
	is "x.com.".
4583.6Other two-letters that workSTAR::COPETue Apr 29 1997 18:0110
    There are a fair number of two-letter country domains, though.
    Strangely, some end up elsewhere... I guess something (Netscape?) is
    tacking on a .com?
    
    http://af/		Atlantic Financial
    http://ao/		Alpha Omega Computer Systems
    http://aq/		AlphaQuest
    http://nt/		Nortel
    ...
    
4583.7PYRO::RONRon S. van ZuylenTue Apr 29 1997 19:208
    Right... by the default Navigator tags on ".com" if it can't find a
    host for the name given.  (Similar to how most browsers add http:// by
    default to the beginning.)  It allows lazy folks to type names of
    companies... like "DIGITAL" or "Intel"... and it goes to their main
    web site.  Probably not a good habit... but it works.
    
    --Ron
    
4583.8shortest url candidateXSTACY::PATTISONA rolling stone gets the wormWed Apr 30 1997 10:357
If you type '0' you get the proxy server's page. 

unhelpfully,

Dave    

4583.9CIRCUS::GOETZETibetan karma not Made in ChinaWed Apr 30 1997 13:365
    auto domain guessing--it doesn't work in Palo Alto. I think it 
    ends up tacking .pa.dec.com onto the name you type in. On the
    other hand, when I'm using my ISP, it works.
    
       erik
4583.10An even smaller URLTUXEDO::strutt.lkg.dec.com::struttMon May 05 1997 14:334
re: .4 and .5
Although not fully qualified, the URL . works.

And "." is smaller than q, x or z :-)
4583.11JAMIN::OSMANEric Osman, dtn 226-7122Tue May 06 1997 10:323
    what's your point (hee hee)
    
    
4583.12MRPTH1::16.121.160.242::slab[email protected]Wed May 07 1997 01:335
I laughed at that.

Somebody hit me, hard ... please.