Show HN: Catchy.link: make urls short, memorable, manageable, and temporary

4 points by brent_noorda ↗ HN
I've just created the URL shortener I've always wanted: http://catchy.link

The main reason I use catchy.link is to quickly make a short, memorable, and pronounceable link I can share with people in my group, class, meeting, conference, or chat room. I appreciate that I can change the destination for a link after I've created it, or even let the link expire. And doing so without using passwords is a plus.

For example, the Show HN you're reading now is at: http://catchy.link/ShowHN/CatchyLink

A few features of interest to HN readers:

* emphasis on memorable URLS

* quick creation and URL management without creating an account

* no passwords (email is used when verification is necessary)

* links are temporary (from 1 day to 1 year) but you can extend them

* written in Go and running on Google App Engine

I hope others find catchy.link as useful as I do. Thanks, y'all, for any feedback, and for not trying to break it.

Website: http://catchy.link

Documentation: http://catchy.link/CatchyLinkManual

Source Code: https://github.com/BrentNoorda/catchy-link

This Show HN announcement: http://catchy.link/ShowHN/CatchyLink

4 comments

[ 68.9 ms ] story [ 571 ms ] thread
This looks very similar to https://sayable.co/ which requires you to remember exactly three words with no expiration.
similar in the effort to make links easily pronounceable. Different in many other ways.

Say, since https://sayable.co/ uses three words to link to any web address, and http://what3words.com/ maps any geographic coordinate to a set of unique 3 words, do you suppose they could be tied together into a tool to convert any web page into a geographic coordinate? :-)

>(email is used when verification is necessary)

This sounds really insecure, many people know my email as I have it shared everywhere (as contact form, etc.), and using just email would mean anyone would be access my catchy account.

The link isn't actually created until you respond to an email saying "did you really create this link?" So it is as secure as your email is secure.