checking URLs with curl
since CURL can output useful metrics, such as request time, number of redirects, post-redirect url, etc.. a simple but effective check can be made with a simple wrapper.
$ ./check_http.sh http://google.com
0,1.659404,200,2,https://www.google.ro/?gws_rd=cr,ssl&dcr=0&ei=QaRUWsWdBqaYjwSBlILoAw