class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/rdd.me-icon.png" alt="customised url shortener"/>Don’t just shorten URLs; make the pages you link to easier to read. Readability’s new “rdd.me” service combines the function of a traditional href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/tag/url-shortening/">URL shortener with the easy-reading functionality Readability is known for.

Web-app href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/web-reading-place-readability/">Readability is a great way to reduce the clutter of any website and just read the article that you’re looking for. It’s a great way to read MakeUseOf articles, for example: you’ll only see the content you care about. Readability is so good, in fact, that Apple used Readability code to add href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/features-safari-5/">the “read later” function in Safari 5.

If you’d like to offer this functionality to your follower on Twitter or other social media outlets, you’re in luck. Rdd.me shortens URLs, then gives those who click the shortened URLs the option to read the articles in a clean, clutter-free manner. Whether they use this functionality is up to them, of course, but they just might thank you for giving them the option.

A Customised URL Shortener

It’s simple to shorten a URL; just head to href="https://rdd.me">rdd.me and you can paste any link:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/readability-shorten.png" alt="customised url shortener" width="580" height="255" />

Click “Shorten and Read” and you’ll have your link, ready to copy and paste into you social networking sites. It’s really not much more complicated than that if you’re just posting; what’s cool here is what the links do with your work.

What Readers See

If this were the entire story, of course, there wouldn’t be much else to say. But when your followers click the link you generated, they’ll see the article along with this top-bar:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/readability-bar.png" alt="free url shorteners" width="580" height="123" />

href="http://rdd.me/vnp1r9dw">Click here to see this in action, right now.

If readers chose to enter Readability mode, they’ll see the entire page re-formatted to show only text:

class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/readability-text.png" alt="customised url shortener" width="580" height="260" />

All of the usual href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/web-reading-place-readability/">Readability options can be found here, from custom fonts to converting all links to footnotes.

Once someone decides to enter Readability mode, all “rdd.me” URLs will automatically take them to this mode. This is nice, because your social followers will come to associate content you share with clean and easy to read formatting.

Conclusion

It’s pretty clear what this service is about: increasing Readability’s presence on the web. If people start using this URL shortener regularly, Readability will have more oportunities to show off its usefulness.

I’m okay with that, because I think this is well done. I like the idea of a URL shortener with added value, and I’ve always loved Readability, so to me this application is a no-brainer.

What do you think, though: is there value here, or is this just a cheap ploy to advertise Readability’s subscription service? Fill us in below, in the comments; that’s why we have comments (though if you’re using Readability the comments are hidden…)

Also feel free to suggest ideas for other value-added customised URL shorteners. For example: I think it would be great if links to the Huffington Post automatically re-directed to the source material linked to at the bottom of the article, saving me from the effort of scrolling past the poorly-written summary just to find a link to the actual article.

But that’s just me. Please share your ideas for alternative URL shorteners below, and we’ll see if any become a reality. />
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More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/better-alternatives/" title="better alternatives" rel="tag">better alternatives, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsing/" title="browsing" rel="tag">browsing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsing-tools/" title="browsing tools" rel="tag">browsing tools, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/reading/" title="reading" rel="tag">reading, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/url/" title="URL" rel="tag">URL, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/url-shortener/" title="url shortener" rel="tag">url shortener />

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Wholesale 2nd 1GB Portable Mini MP3 Clip Player Shuffle Built-in

Popular style Clip mp3 player high quality, wholesale MP3 Player supports both MP3 and WMA music format, has high speed USB 2.0 version, and rechargeable Lithium battery built-in.

Note:  This is not the Ipod shuffle, and this product has no association with Ipod. The pictures you see are real pictures of the Clip MP3.

Main Features :

Support multiple music formats: MP3 audio format Random play mode control with single button Built-In Rechargeable Li-ion battery via charger or USB port Rechargeable Li-ion Battery can be up to 4 hours Continuous MP3 playback Hot Plug and Play directly Act as USB Flash Drive (Can store other data file) Operating System: Supports Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP (Window 98 needs driver),  also support OS Mac 10 and Linux 2.4 FCC and CE approved for home and office use

General :

Memory:1GB Weight:18g Color: Blue,Black,Pink,Silver,Green Dimension:44mm x 29mm x 12mm Play Back Time:Up to 8 hours Data transfer rate:5 pins USB 2.0 high speed at 480Mb/s max. Audio connector: 3.5mm stereo headphone jack

Power Supply :

Battery Rechargeable Li-ion polymer Charging Time 2 hours

Others :

Operating System (Driver included: Windows 98SE), (Do not need driver: Windows ME, 2000, XP),
     (User need to find USB driver themselves: Mac OS, Linux )

Accessories :

Crystal box 1GB MP3 Player Earphone Headset USB Cable

http://www.papayaone.com/portable-player-shuffle-builtin-p-2811.html

PapayaOne – Online wholesale electronics store based in Asia. Alcohol breath testers, Apparel, Audio, Cameras & Camcorders, Car, Cell Phone Accessories, Cell Phones, Computer Products, Digital Quran, Fashion Bag, Fashion Jewelry and Watch, Flashlights, Iphone Accessories, Toys. Excellent savings from everyday low prices, quality products, friendly customer service, fast door-to-door delivery.

Wholesale 2nd 1GB Portable Mini MP3 Clip Player Shuffle Built-in

Popular style Clip mp3 player high quality, wholesale MP3 Player supports both MP3 and WMA music format, has high speed USB 2.0 version, and rechargeable Lithium battery built-in.

Hey, wouldn’t it be great to send and receive faxes from your Windows XP computer without having to buy expensive software? If you have a fax modem installed or you can have one installed, you can do just that. But you’ll need to take a few steps because the fax service is not installed by default.

This is a great idea if you have a home office since the business world seems unable or unwilling to let go of Faxing and move on to E-mail. At least, Faxing with the computer allows you to send the Fax to a printer and eliminates one more ancient office machine.

Here is a tip for you business owners and office managers: I know from personal experience that Faxes can be pulled from the Fax machine unreadable. You can reduce cost by pitching the Fax machine and making a company wide policy change to E-mail only. You will never have to call a customer and ask them to waste their time and resend a fax again.

Here’s what you do: Click ‘Start’, ‘Control Panel’, ‘Add/Remove programs’. Click ‘Add/Remove Windows Components’ on the left side.

When the window opens, scroll through and make sure the Fax Services box is checked. Click ‘Next’ and follow the prompts. You will be asked to insert your Windows XP CD. Click ‘Finish’ when the Wizard is done.

Now to configure the service: Click ‘Start’, ‘All Programs’, ‘Accessories’, ‘Communications’, ‘Fax’ and finally … ‘Fax Console’.

When the Fax Configuration Wizard starts, go through the steps to enter sender information, select the modem you want to use, (probably the only one listed) and choose whether you want to be able to send or receive faxes, or both.

Enter the TSID information: Info that appears as a header when you send a Fax and the CSID information that is displayed on the sending fax machine. (The TSID and CSID usually consist of a fax number and business name.)

Select whether you want the machine to auto answer or manually answer. If you choose auto answer, specify how many rings before pickup. Also select whether to automatically print faxes or store a copy in a folder. Click ‘Finish’ on the Summary page of the Wizard.

Done! Now you can send and/or receive faxes! If you want to of course. You can manage your Faxes by clicking ‘Start’, Accessories’, ‘Communications’, ‘Fax’.