First the URL: Kup.in is a fast URL redirection service run off Google’s new App Engine.

This was mostly a test project than anything else, just to gauge how easy App Engine is to start up and get going (very easy!). I’ll post in detail later, but here are bulleted observations:

1. I’ve been sitting on this project for ~6 months. The dilemma was that if I did this in PHP, I’d be slow coding it (and also ugly) but fast to deploy. If I did this in Python/Ruby, it’d be much easier, but deployment’s a bitch. With the App Engine, deployment is a simple appcfg.py update . which is uber cool.
2. You’ve got to have py25-openssl installed if you’re on Macports.
3. I couldn’t get Django templates to work (some import _md5 error which I suspect again is my Macports). I didn’t need templates here.
4. The code is opensource on Github. Fork it and do what you will! I’ll decide on a license after I wake up!

Speaking of which, it’s 3 in the morn here and I’ve got office tomorrow!