diff --git a/actions/newmessage.php b/actions/newmessage.php
index 7dce97d20b..2455f42e94 100644
--- a/actions/newmessage.php
+++ b/actions/newmessage.php
@@ -53,10 +53,15 @@ class NewmessageAction extends Action {
 			$this->show_form(_('No content!'));
 			return;
 		} else if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
-			common_debug("Content = '$content'", __FILE__);
-			common_debug("mb_strlen(\$content) = " . mb_strlen($content), __FILE__);
-			$this->show_form(_('That\'s too long. Max message size is 140 chars.'));
-			return;
+		
+			$content = common_shorten_links($content);
+
+			if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
+				common_debug("Content = '$content'", __FILE__);
+				common_debug("mb_strlen(\$content) = " . mb_strlen($content), __FILE__);
+				$this->show_form(_('That\'s too long. Max message size is 140 chars.'));
+				return;
+			}
 		}
 
 		$other = User::staticGet('id', $to);
diff --git a/actions/newnotice.php b/actions/newnotice.php
index 37cca982d6..8ea47b235b 100644
--- a/actions/newnotice.php
+++ b/actions/newnotice.php
@@ -51,10 +51,15 @@ class NewnoticeAction extends Action {
 			$this->show_form(_('No content!'));
 			return;
 		} else if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
-			common_debug("Content = '$content'", __FILE__);
-			common_debug("mb_strlen(\$content) = " . mb_strlen($content), __FILE__);
-			$this->show_form(_('That\'s too long. Max notice size is 140 chars.'));
-			return;
+			
+			$content = common_shorten_links($content);
+			
+			if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
+				common_debug("Content = '$content'", __FILE__);
+				common_debug("mb_strlen(\$content) = " . mb_strlen($content), __FILE__);
+				$this->show_form(_('That\'s too long. Max notice size is 140 chars.'));
+				return;
+			}
 		}
 
 		$inter = new CommandInterpreter();
diff --git a/actions/postnotice.php b/actions/postnotice.php
index be486a1e9d..b4a272e618 100644
--- a/actions/postnotice.php
+++ b/actions/postnotice.php
@@ -59,8 +59,11 @@ class PostnoticeAction extends Action {
 		}
 		$content = $req->get_parameter('omb_notice_content');
 		if (!$content || strlen($content) > 140) {
-			common_user_error(_('Invalid notice content'), 400);
-			return false;
+			$content = common_shorten_links($content);
+			if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
+				common_user_error(_('Invalid notice content'), 400);
+				return false;
+			}
 		}
 		$notice_uri = $req->get_parameter('omb_notice');
 		if (!Validate::uri($notice_uri) &&
diff --git a/actions/profilesettings.php b/actions/profilesettings.php
index e5698011ac..2ae7360876 100644
--- a/actions/profilesettings.php
+++ b/actions/profilesettings.php
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ class ProfilesettingsAction extends SettingsAction {
 		} else if ($this->nickname_exists($nickname)) {
 			$this->show_form(_('Nickname already in use. Try another one.'));
 			return;
-                } else if (!is_null($language) && strlen($language) > 50) {
-                        $this->show_form(_('Language is too long (max 50 chars).'));
+        } else if (!is_null($language) && strlen($language) > 50) {
+        	$this->show_form(_('Language is too long (max 50 chars).'));
 		}
 
 		$user = common_current_user();
diff --git a/actions/twitapidirect_messages.php b/actions/twitapidirect_messages.php
index a0a09a4108..3037890ad2 100644
--- a/actions/twitapidirect_messages.php
+++ b/actions/twitapidirect_messages.php
@@ -113,9 +113,12 @@ class Twitapidirect_messagesAction extends TwitterapiAction {
 		if (!$content) {
 			$this->client_error(_('No message text!'), $code = 406, $apidata['content-type']);
 		} else if (mb_strlen($status) > 140) {
-			$this->client_error(_('That\'s too long. Max message size is 140 chars.'),
-				$code = 406, $apidata['content-type']);
-			return;
+			$status = common_shorten_links($status);
+			if (mb_strlen($status) > 140) {
+				$this->client_error(_('That\'s too long. Max message size is 140 chars.'),
+					$code = 406, $apidata['content-type']);
+				return;
+			}
 		}
 
 		$other = $this->get_user($this->trimmed('user'));
diff --git a/actions/twitapistatuses.php b/actions/twitapistatuses.php
index 539a0b1b3b..ca79feb4c6 100644
--- a/actions/twitapistatuses.php
+++ b/actions/twitapistatuses.php
@@ -253,13 +253,19 @@ class TwitapistatusesAction extends TwitterapiAction {
 			return;
 
 		} else if (mb_strlen($status) > 140) {
+			
+			$status = common_shorten_links($status);
 
-			// XXX: Twitter truncates anything over 140, flags the status
-		    // as "truncated."  Sending this error may screw up some clients
-		    // that assume Twitter will truncate for them.  Should we just
-		    // truncate too? -- Zach
-			$this->client_error(_('That\'s too long. Max notice size is 140 chars.'), $code = 406, $apidata['content-type']);
-			return;
+			if (mb_strlen($status) > 140) {
+
+				// XXX: Twitter truncates anything over 140, flags the status
+			    // as "truncated."  Sending this error may screw up some clients
+			    // that assume Twitter will truncate for them.  Should we just
+			    // truncate too? -- Zach
+				$this->client_error(_('That\'s too long. Max notice size is 140 chars.'), $code = 406, $apidata['content-type']);
+				return;
+				
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Check for commands
diff --git a/classes/Command.php b/classes/Command.php
index 0795f86afb..c2409d140a 100644
--- a/classes/Command.php
+++ b/classes/Command.php
@@ -197,9 +197,14 @@ class MessageCommand extends Command {
 			$channel->error($this->user, _('No content!'));
 			return;
 		} else if ($len > 140) {
-			$channel->error($this->user, sprintf(_('Message too long - maximum is 140 characters, you sent %d'), $len));
-			return;
-		} else if (!$other) {
+			$content = common_shorten_links($content);
+			if (mb_strlen($content) > 140) {
+				$channel->error($this->user, sprintf(_('Message too long - maximum is 140 characters, you sent %d'), $len));
+				return;
+			}
+		}
+		
+		if (!$other) {
 			$channel->error($this->user, _('No such user.'));
 			return;
 		} else if (!$this->user->mutuallySubscribed($other)) {
diff --git a/classes/User.php b/classes/User.php
index 916524b8e8..e3fa93395e 100644
--- a/classes/User.php
+++ b/classes/User.php
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ class User extends Memcached_DataObject
     public $smsemail;                        // varchar(255)  
     public $uri;                             // varchar(255)  unique_key
     public $autosubscribe;                   // tinyint(1)  
+	public $urlshorteningservice;			 // varchar(50)
     public $created;                         // datetime()   not_null
     public $modified;                        // timestamp()   not_null default_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
 
diff --git a/classes/laconica.ini b/classes/laconica.ini
index 480b872d11..aa0225739e 100644
--- a/classes/laconica.ini
+++ b/classes/laconica.ini
@@ -295,6 +295,7 @@ smsreplies = 17
 smsemail = 2
 uri = 2
 autosubscribe = 17
+urlshorteningservice = 2
 created = 142
 modified = 384
 
diff --git a/db/laconica.sql b/db/laconica.sql
index 872481ace4..d9a6dbf86a 100644
--- a/db/laconica.sql
+++ b/db/laconica.sql
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@ create table user (
     smsemail varchar(255) comment 'built from sms and carrier',
     uri varchar(255) unique key comment 'universally unique identifier, usually a tag URI',
     autosubscribe tinyint default 0 comment 'automatically subscribe to users who subscribe to us',
+	urlshorteningservice varchar(50) default 'metamark.net' comment 'service to use for auto-shortening URLs',
     created datetime not null comment 'date this record was created',
     modified timestamp comment 'date this record was modified',
 
diff --git a/lib/settingsaction.php b/lib/settingsaction.php
index 705ccf3eb6..9e783431f2 100644
--- a/lib/settingsaction.php
+++ b/lib/settingsaction.php
@@ -97,7 +97,10 @@ class SettingsAction extends Action {
 					  _('Updates by instant messenger (IM)')),
 				'twittersettings' =>
 				array(_('Twitter'),
-					  _('Twitter integration options')));
+					  _('Twitter integration options')),
+				'othersettings' =>
+				array(_('Other'),
+					  _('Other options')));
 		
         $action = $this->trimmed('action');
         common_element_start('ul', array('id' => 'nav_views'));
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index a5eeab0566..edddcd2a70 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -747,6 +747,50 @@ function common_render_uri_thingy($matches) {
 	return '<a href="' . $uri . '" class="extlink">' . $uri . '</a>' . $trailer;
 }
 
+function common_shorten_links($text) {
+	$r = htmlspecialchars($text);
+	$r = preg_replace('@https?://[^)\]>\s]+@e', "common_shorten_link('\\0')", $r);
+	return $r;
+}
+
+function common_shorten_link($long_url) {
+	
+	$user = common_current_user();
+	
+	$curlh = curl_init();
+	curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, 20); // # seconds to wait
+	curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_USERAGENT, 'Laconica');
+	curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
+	
+	switch($user->urlshorteningservice) {
+		case 'is.gd':
+			curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://is.gd/api.php?longurl='.urlencode($long_url));
+			$short_url = curl_exec($curlh);
+			break;
+		case 'snipr.com':
+			curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://snipr.com/site/snip?r=simple&link='.urlencode($long_url));
+			$short_url = curl_exec($curlh);
+			break;
+		case 'metamark.net':
+			curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://metamark.net/api/rest/simple?long_url='.urlencode($long_url));
+			$short_url = curl_exec($curlh);
+			break;
+		case 'tinyurl.com':
+			curl_setopt($curlh, CURLOPT_URL, 'http://tinyurl.com/api-create.php?url='.urlencode($long_url));
+			$short_url = curl_exec($curlh);
+			break;
+		default:
+			$short_url = false;
+	}
+	
+	curl_close($curlh);
+	
+	if ($short_url) {
+		return $short_url;
+	}
+	return $long_url;
+}
+
 function common_xml_safe_str($str) {
 	$xmlStr = htmlentities(iconv('UTF-8', 'UTF-8//IGNORE', $str), ENT_NOQUOTES, 'UTF-8');