In a comment on a previous thread, I provided a link to an image that illustrated what I was talking about. Never mind what I was talking about; that’s not the point.
The point is, when I copied and pasted the URL for the image, I found it was, in my humble and uninformed opinion, longer than was necessary. Here’s the URL:
data:image/jpeg;base64,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
Really. For those of you keeping score at home, that’s 9,903 characters. Or, to stretch it out, nine thousand, nine hundred and three.
Come on. Even if you assign a different combination of letters and numbers to every image ever created in the history of the planet, or ever will be created before our sun goes cold billions of years from now, you wouldn’t need that many characters to designate a specific one of those images.
That’s just ridiculous. TinyURL, anyone?
TinyURL made short work of it, so to speak: “http://tinyurl.com/maxhcwr”
But you knew it would, right?
That’s a data URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Url
The entire image is contained in that URL, so it doesn’t have to be loaded from anywhere else. Those are the bits of the image file, encoded into text using a scheme called base64. It’s like an email attachment.
Exactly, but with an important caveat:
For well over ten (15+?) years anow, and still counting, data villains have hidden malware in image files. Why? Few users ever imagine image contains a digital hazard. Of course, better detection software detects the older (known) encryption schemes, but criminals never stop refining techniques to thwart the status quo, and many cost-conscious users still “go bare” once in a while.
You, of course, knew this already, but for the benefit of the unwary this was an excellent place to warn others.
Oh.
Google Shortener extension makes this of it:
http://goo.gl/xeZ0
No, it doesn’t. Geez.