A URL Czar for Google?
Saturday, January 17, 2009 by Dave Winer.
A simple idea in a twit. 
Google should hire someone to beautify their URLs. Seriously would make their products 100 percent more attractive and usable.
I'm always cleaning up their URLs. Why can't they do that for me?
For example -- a Google Map link to the Empire State Building:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Empire+State+Building,+New+York,+NY&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.36116,66.708984&ie=UTF8&z=16&iwloc=A
And if you don't sign out first, they include your home address in the URL. Oy. Talk about security leaks. Geez Louise. Someone at Google, please get a clue!
Anyway why shouldn't this be, simply:
http://maps.google.com?q=Empire+State+Building,+New+York,+NY
I just filled out my profile. Its url is:
http://www.google.com/s2/profiles/103628798844723879427
http://users.google.com/dave.winer/ ;
Lady Bird Johnson had a program to beautify America's highways. Google needs someone to beautify their information superhighway.
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Dave Winer, 53, pioneered the development of weblogs, syndication (RSS), podcasting, outlining, and web content management software; former contributing editor at Wired Magazine, research fellow at Harvard Law School, entrepreneur, and investor in web media companies. A native New Yorker, he received a Master's in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, a Bachelor's in Mathematics from Tulane University and currently lives in Berkeley, California.
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