I already have a Google+ profile with this ugly long URL:

https://plus.google.com/106542087505398120198/

I recently discovered in this LifeHacker article that the author has a much shorter Google Profiles name (here: http://www.google.com/profiles/ginatrapani).

I tried if I already had such a profile by using my Google nickname and the first part of my Gmail address as suffix but this didn't work.

I checked all my Account settings but I can't find out where to apply or change for such a name. If I go to http://www.google.com/profiles it leads me straight to my Google+ account.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?