I just found a site which shortens URLS, for example the url for this forum is https://www.electrical-contractor.net/cgi-bin/forumdisplay.cgi?action=topics&forum=Non-US+Electrical+Systems+|AMP|+Trades&number=9&DaysPrune=1000&LastLogin=
The shortened URL is
http://xrl.us/l9x Try it.
This is the site that gives a short urls
http://www.metamark.net/ Anyway I thought it was pretty cool
Regards Graham