Most of us find ourselves in situations where a website we wish to visit is blocked by a software or by our ISP (Internet Service Provider). So the question arises, how can we access blocked websites? The answer to this is simple: Proxy websites. Before going into details, let us know a bit about these proxy websites. 

Proxy Websites

A proxy website acts as an intermediate source between the user and server the site being contacted is hosted on. Users send requests to proxy websites which conveys them to the site's server. The reply received by the proxy website is then forwarded to the user's computer. This gives an impression to ISP's and blocking software that the user is visiting the proxy website but in reality, s/he is visiting the site which was blocked. Thus, proxy servers also provide extra security to users by hiding their online activities from their ISP's.

 

Commonly Blocked Web Sites

The sites which are most commonly blocked at workplaces, schools and offices include websites like Facebook, Orkut, Blogger (blogspot), Google News, Typepad, eBay, MySpace, YouTube, MSN, Yahoo! Messenger, Bebo, Google Talk, Gmail, Photobucket, AOL AIM, Flickr, Twitter etc. In some countries, social bookmarking sites like Digg and Reddit are also blocked. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, China have even blocked access to mainstream media websites like The New York times. A proxy website can be used to easily access these blocked websites. As proxy websites hide a user's location, they can also be used to access popular websites which are restricted to particular countries and block users from other countries from visiting them.

Types of Proxies

There are two types of proxies. First, there are web proxies which have an interactive interface; and second, the proxy servers which work on the basis of IP Addresses and port numbers. Proxies can also be segregated on the basis of anonymity into Anonymous, Transparent and High Anonymous depending upon the amount of privacy they provide.

How to Find Proxy Websites and Proxy Servers

A simple Google search containing the word "proxy websites" is likely to return a lot of useful results. However, most of them are likely to be lists containing proxy servers which you can setup using their IP Address and Port Number. So, in order to find interactive proxy websites, you will have to search for something like "Facebook Proxy Server" or "Orkut Proxy Server". A search like this is most likely to return interactive proxy websites with which you can access your blocked website by simply entering the URL in URL field. If you want additional security and anonymity, you can opt for a paid proxy server.

If you do not want to search, here are few popular free proxy websites you can use:-

1. http://www.hidemyass.com


2. http://www.spysurfing.com/


3. http://proxify.us/p/

 

 

How to Setup Proxy Servers using their IP Address

If you wish to visit your blocked website using a web proxy, you do not need any setup. However, if you wish to use a proxy server that can only be accessed by using its IP address and port number, you must configure your browser to use it. Follow the instructions given below to setup this type of proxy in your browser:-

Google Chrome and Internet Explorer Users

Google Chrome uses the same network settings as Internet Explorer. So, in order to configure Google Chrome to use a proxy server, you have to configure Internet Explorer. You can configure a proxy server in Internet Explorer by following the instructions given below:-

1. Start Internet Explorer.


2. Click on Tools, Internet Options.


3. Click on Connections Tab, select your Network Connection and click on Settings.


4. Check on Use a Proxy Server for this Connection.


5. In the Address field, add the IP Address of your Proxy server. In the Port field, enter the Port Number.


6. Click on OK and OK again.

 

Mozilla Firefox Users

Mozilla Firefox users can configure their browser to use a proxy by following the instructions given below:-

1. Start Mozilla Firefox.


2. Click on Tools, Options.


3. Click on Advanced Tab.


4. Click on Network tab.


5. Click on Settings.


6. Encircle Manual Proxy Configuration.


7. Enter the IP Address and Port Number at the appropriate place. In most cases, it will be a HTTP server.  

After you have successfully configured your browser to use the proxy server, you will be able to access blocked websites whenever you browse the internet with your browser.

There’s a pretty interesting thread on Hacker News where people have shared links to their favorite technical talks. The thread includes dozens of links pointing to YouTube, Vimeo and other video websites.

It’s a treasure trove and I want to click on every single video that’s mentioned on that page but the problem is that I will then end up having at least two dozen new tabs in the browser. And this isn’t just about Hacker News, you can open any popular thread on sites like Quora or Reddit and you’ll be overwhelmed with links pointing to interesting stuff.

How do you deal with such a large collection of raw links? I have written an app called Video Slides that some may find handy here. The app will scan the text for video URLs and put them all in a single sideshow without cluttering your browser.

 

ou copy the text of the entire thread and paste it into Video Slides. The app will then extract all the Youtube and Vimeo URLs from your text and will create a slideshow putting one video per slide. You can use the arrow keys to navigate through the slides.

You may paste text from comment threads, HTML source of a web page or even email messages and there’s no need to use any special formats. You can even use the short youtu.be URLs. The app currently extracts Vimeo and YouTube URLs only but going forward, we should be able to use any web service that supports oEmbed.

Internally, Video Slides uses the Embed.ly API to extract the embed code for the video URLs while the presentations are generated through the awesome reveal.js library. Give it a try and your feedback will help shape up the next version.

 


Hiring a photographer is getting old fashioned now because of the emergence of stock photo agencies. If you are working with a photographer then you have access to only a limited number of images while if you are going with a stock photo agency, where many photographers come together to share their work, you get access to literally thousands of images.

Our recommendation is that you go for Depositphotos.

Depositphotos was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Florida, USA. Their customers belong to varied parts of the world spreading to 192 countries. Depositphotos provides support in 14 different languages and allows people to buy and sell stock photos, vector images and videos.

As of writing of this article it had more than 13 million files, more than 900 thousand satisfied customers and a rating of 4.7 stars based upon the feedback of nearly 400 thousand people!
All the files stored on Depositphotos are “stock files” and “royalty free.”

By stock files I mean the photography and videos that are meant for the purpose of commercial or editorial usage such as advertisements, brochures, articles, and product packaging. Such files are most commonly used by graphic designers and artists.

By royalty free I mean that once you buy a file, you can use it lifelong for any purpose you choose as long as you abide by the terms and conditions imposed on you by the seller. You will have to pay only once and there will be no hidden monthly or annual fees.

Talking of payments there are two methods to buy files. One is to choose a subscription plan out of the four plans available and the other one is to purchase credits and use the pay-as-you-go offer. Click this link for details on the subscription plans and prices.

The main difference between the subscription plans and pay-as-you-go credits is that the former allows you to download only a limited amount of images per day and your subscription ends after your prescribed months are over while the latter allows you to download any number of images at any time for a period of one year.
Depending upon your chosen plan the price of an image can go as low as 0.36$.

See the screenshot below for details on plans and pricing.

Go and check out the website, they offer a free signup, and let me know what do you think in the comments below.

Most of us do not have access to photoshop or don't know how to use it for photo editing. I have made their life easy by this tutorial showing how to edit your photographs online.

I was a big fan of Picnik image editor until Google merged it with Google+ and the standalone editor was shut down. Since then I have switched to PicMonkey which is an equally awesome online photo editing tool though some of the image effects and photo touching tools are only available to premium customers.



An impressive web-based image editing tool

Today I chanced upon another interesting web-based image editor that’s fast, the UI is beautiful with several useful features. It’s called Picozu.

While Picnik and PicMonkey are purely photo editing apps meaning you can use them to edit your existing images, Picozu lets you both edit and create new images from scratch. Picozu is written in pure HTML5 and CSS3 and requires no Flash or other plugins.

To get started, you can upload load images from your computer or you can directly import photos from your other cloud-based accounts like SkyDrive, Google Drive, Facebook or Dropbox. Alternatively, you may fire your webcam and capture images direclty inside Picozu.

The app offers a layer-based editing workflow seen in editing software like Photoshop or GIMP. There are dozens of filters and image-effects to give your photos a distinct look. Or you can use the regular tools and brushes to manually touch your photos.

Their Firefox add-on takes screen captures and imports them into Picozu for editing. There are also built-in tools for creating photo collages and posters.

If your current Internet speed is very slow and you are living in an area where broadband connections are still not available, here are some ideas to help you download web pages faster on your computer. You may use the same tips to  improve your web browsing experience on a sluggish USB modem.

Surf the Web Faster on Slow Internet

1. Turn off web images, the Adobe Flash plug-in, Java Applets and JavaScript from your browser settings as these files are often the bulkiest elements of any web page.

2. Increase the size of your browser cache. If the static parts of a site (like background graphics, CSS, etc) are stored in the local cache, your browser can safely skip downloading these files when you re-visit the site in future thus improving speed.

3. Sometimes the slow DNS server of your ISP can be a bottleneck so switch to OpenDNS as it can resolve website URLs into IP addresses more quickly. If you aren’t too happy about OpenDNS redirecting your Google queries, follow this simple hack.

4. Finch can serve a light-weight version of any website in real-time that is free of all bells and whistles. For instance, the New York Times homepage with all external resources can weigh more than a MB but Finch trims down the size by 90% so the site loads more quickly on a slow web connection.

5. Flinch (mentioned at #4) is good for reading regular websites but if you just need to check the latest articles published on your favorite blogs, use BareSite. This service will automatically detect the associated feed of a website and render content quickly inside a minimalist interface.

6. The Google Transcoder service at google.com/gwt/n can split large web pages into smaller chunks that will download more quickly on your computer (or mobile phone).

7. Monitor your Internet speed to determine hours when you get the maximum download speed from the ISP. Maybe you can then change your surfing schedule a bit and browse more during these "off peak" hours.

8. You can use a text browser like Lynx or Elinks for even faster browsing. It downloads only the HTML version of web pages thus reducing the overall bandwidth required to render websites.

9. When searching for web pages on Google, you can click the "Cache" link to view the text version of a web page stored in the Google Cache. Alternatively, install this GM script as it adds a "cached text only" link near every "Cached" link on Google Search pages.

10. Move your web activities offline as far as possible. You can send & receive emails, write blogs and even read feeds in an offline environment. Also see: Save Web Pages for offline reading.

11.  You can interact with websites like Flickr, Google Docs, Slideshare, etc. using simple email messages. Uploading a new document to Google Docs via email would require less bandwidth than doing it in the browser because you are avoiding a trip to the Google Docs website.

12. Applying the same logic, you may also consider using tools like Web In Mail or Email The Web as they help you browse websites via email. Just put the URL of a page (e.g., cnn.com) in the subject field of your email message and these services will send you the actual page in the reply.

13. Bookmarklets are like shortcuts to your favorite web services. You neither have to open the Gmail Inbox for composing a new email message nor do you have to visit Google Translate for translating a paragraph of text. Add relevant bookmarklets to your browser bar and reduce the number of steps required to accomplish a task.

14. Use the netstat command to determine processes, other than web browsers, that may be secretly connecting to Internet in the background. Some of these processes could be consuming precious bandwidth but you can block them using the Firewall.

15. Use URL Snooper to determine non-essential host names that a website is trying to connect while downloading a web page. You may block them in future via the hosts file or use Adblock Plus to filter out advertising banners on web pages.

16. If you don’t want to spoil your web surfing experience by stripping images and other graphic elements from  a web page, get Opera Turbo. It will first fetch the requested web page on to its own server and then send it to your machine in a compressed format. Opera Turbo won’t change the layout of a web site but can lower the image resolution so that they load faster on slow Internet.

17. Change the user agent of your desktop browser to that of a mobile phone like Apple’s iPhone or Windows Mobile. This will help you browse certain web sites like Google News, WSJ, etc. much faster because they’ll serve you a light-weight and less cluttered mobile version of their sites thinking you’re on a mobile phone.

You have a feeling that someone else used your computer (or at least made an attempt to login) while you were out for a quick coffee break. Maybe that colleague with whom you share the cubicle knows your password or he made a few guesses before finally giving up.

How do you get notified when such an attempt is made to intrude into your computer?


Email alert with a webcam picture of the intruder.

A new website (made in Turkey) called MouseLock.co may have a simple solution here. They will send you an email alert as well as a picture of the intruder as soon as someone tries to use your computer.

Here’s how Mouse Lock works.

You sign-in with your Google Account (they’ll send the alert to your Gmail address) and then select a secret pin on the screen. Next, put your mouse cursor in a designated area on the Mouse Lock website and leave the machine.

Now when someone moves the mouse, they will also have to enter the original pin. If they fail to do that in the first few seconds, Mouse Lock will send you an email and, if the computer has a webcam, it will use that to also snap a picture of the intruder.

Mouse Lock won’t prevent the intrusion but will at least notify you the minute it happens. And best of all, this a web app and thus requires no installation.

Internally, the site uses jQuery (mouseLeaveEvent) to detect mouse movements while the webcam photographs are captured using the getUserMedia() API currently supported in Chrome and Firefox. The alerts, possibly due to a bug, are triggered even when any of the keys are pressed and that makes it a little less useful since there’s no way to lock the computer after setting up the monitor.

16. Around Me

Around Me figures out where you are and lists local stuff - banks, bars, petrol stations and, er, Apple Retail Stores. The app's reliance on Google Maps info means there are gaps, but it's nonetheless handy to have installed when in unfamiliar surroundings, and the 'augmented reality' landscape mode is amusing, if flaky.

17. Dictionary.com - Dictionary & Thesaurus

Over two million definitions, synonyms and antonyms are available in the palm of your hand with this free, offline dictionary and thesaurus. The app is fast and efficient, includes phonetic and audio pronunciation of words, and its interface seems perfectly suited to the iPhone.

18. Air Video Free

Air Video Free can stream (and convert as necessary) video from any computer running the free Air Video Server. You only get access to a small number of items per folder or playlist, but some careful planning can get around that limitation.

19. Adobe Photoshop Express

If you're looking for Photoshop-style power, Photoshop Express won't impress. However, if you're after a quick, free, highly usable tool for making edits to your iPhone photos, Adobe's app is ideal. Use it for cropping, straightening, exposure adjustments, colour effects, sharpening and more.

20. iHandy Level Free

One of the tools from the excellent iHandy Carpenter toolkit app, iHandy Level Free turns your iPhone into a spirit level. By default, it'll show just how wonky your device's accelerometer is, but tap the calibrate button and you get an accurate and great-looking level.



 

 

11. Twitter

The official Twitter app might lack some of the features found in the likes of Tweetbot, but it does provide a sleek and simple means of using the service. It also directly mirrors the latest navigational scheme on the Twitter website.

12. Comics

In all honesty, Comics is a little awkward compared to using it on an iPad, but you won't find a better comics experience on an iPhone. The app is free, as are dozens of downloadable comics - and once you run out of those, many more are available to buy. Reading works on a frame-by-frame automated 'zoom' basis, and is surprisingly usable.

13. Wikipanion

The Wikipedia website works fine on iPhones, but a dedicated app is a better bet. Wikipanion is a freebie which gives you quick access to article sections, in-article search, viewing options, bookmarking, and the ability to tweet about whatever odd fact you've just unearthed. Also, wonderfully, there are no ads.

14. Evernote

Clients to access the popular Evernote service for storing notes and ideas online are available for so many platforms that we half expect a ZX Spectrum app to be announced tomorrow. On the iPhone, Evernote is efficient and usable, enabling you to rapidly scan your notes and also create new ones.

15. Kindle

With iBooks on the iPhone, you might wonder why you should bother with Amazon's Kindle. After all, the app's not as pretty as iBooks, nor is there an integrated store (you buy in Safari and sync purchases to the app). However, Kindle offers a massive selection of books compared to Apple's app and the reading experience is great.

6. National Rail Enquiries

For anyone commuting by train, National Rail Enquiries is a handy app to have installed. There's journey planning, timetables and a location-aware 'next train home' option, along with progress tracking, so you can see when a train's likely to show up. It's not as usable nor as pretty as UK Train Times, but it is broadly similar - and five quid cheaper.

7. Skype

FaceTime is a great alternative to standard voice calls, but it's no good if you're trying to contact someone without a Mac or compatible iOS device. Therefore, Skype remains an essential download. The interface is simple and usable, enabling anyone with a Skype account to make free calls to other Skype users and cheap calls to anywhere in the world. If you're on Pay and Go, this is particularly handy, but the app also enables iPod touch users to utilise their devices for calls.

8. Movies by Flixter

Although some aspects of cinema listings app Movies by Flixter are disappointingly US-centric (notably regarding details on upcoming movies and DVDs), it succeeds where it matters. Select a film and the app figures out where you're located, lists nearby cinemas, and displays times your chosen film is showing. Efficiency can be further increased by pinning favourite cinemas to the top of the list.

9. TonePad

Virtual pianos and guitars are all very well, but purely digital musical toys are more suited to Apple handhelds. TonePad is the best of them, using a grid-based interface that enables you to turn notes on and off and compose pleasing and harmonious loops; your creations can be edited, saved and uploaded to share with other users.

10. Thomson Reuters News Pro

There are many free news apps, but Reuters News Pro offers a breadth of coverage that makes it a winner. Preferences enable you to tailor the app's output to the UK, and the toolbar provides swift access to news, pictures, videos and stock markets coverage.

There are now hundreds of thousands of apps available for your iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPod touch and iPad, and, surprisingly, many of the best are free.

The following list showcases our pick of the 70 best free iPhone apps, and includes iPhone applications for social networking, travel, news, photography, productivity and more.

Most of these apps are also suitable for the iPod touch.

If your top free iPhone apps aren't covered, tell us all about them in the comments.

You can also take a look through the top 10 free iPhone apps with our nifty video.

1. Facebook

The world's biggest social network brings a tightly honed experience to the iPhone and iPod touch, but nonetheless still enables you to access your contacts, feeds and other important information. This sense of focus makes it in many ways superior to using Facebook in a desktop browser.

2. PhotoSynth

We did a bit of a double-take on seeing Microsoft's name attached to this, not least given the lack of a price-tag. But PhotoSynth is a really great panorama app; it's user-friendly and fun to use, especially when watching your panoramas take shape while you capture them.

3. RunKeeper

The prospect of Nike+ but better and for free might sound unlikely, but that's what RunKeeper provides. Previously split into 'pro' and 'free' versions, the developer now generously includes all the features in one free app.

That means you can spend no money, yet use your iPhone's GPS capabilities to track your jogging and cycling routes, and examine mapping and details of your pace and calories burned. Activities can be shared online, and treadmill runs and other exercise details can be entered manually.



 

4. Pulse

RSS has a reputation for being a rather dry technology, feeding you dull lists of headlines. Pulse flips RSS on its head, providing streams of feeds that grab your eye with photographs. It's perhaps not for the hardcore RSS crowd, but if you follow a small number of feeds, it's a great choice.

5. Dropbox

Plenty of apps exist for transferring content between your computer and your device, but Dropbox is free and easier to use than most of its contemporaries. Dump files you want to sync in a folder on your computer and Dropbox for your device will enable you to access them, download them for offline viewing, and, in many cases, view them.



 

Have you ever been to a place where you think you will visit the place again? Or you’re looking for a simple solution to share a direction/location with friends without directing them via phone call?



We know that we can bookmark a webpage so we can re-visit the page again. As for a location, we can try Pin Drop iPhone/iPad app to drop a pin on current location as a bookmark in a map.

In short, Pin Drop allows you to bookmark a place with a pin on a map so you can refer it back when you want to re-visit the place. Furthermore, it also allows location sharing in between friends or anyone. It is definitely your second brain for places.

Pin Drop can be used via:

• iPhone/iPad App, OR


• Web

Use Pin Drop as iPhone/iPad App

Using Pin Drop as an app is straight and simple. First of all you have to install Pin Drop app from iTunes. After that, create a free account with Pin Drop so you can backup all your pins to cloud.



You’re allowed to add categories for your pins, such as restaurant, bar, coffee house and etc for easy search.

To drop a pin, tap on "Drop Pin" button on bottom. Your current location will be displayed and you may tap on "Set Pin Location" to bookmark it. After that, insert details for the bookmarked location with name, category and description.



To refer back bookmarked pins, tap on "Pins" or "Categories".

The best part of Pin Drop is it supports driving and walking directions from current location to a particular bookmarked pin. You may use it as GPS device.

Use Pin Drop as Web Application

Web app version of Pin Drop supports more features than iOS app. If you think the screen on iPhone is too small, you can always use the web version and sync them afterwards.



Here, you can drop pins on the map, or search for a place or address. You’re allowed to create unlimited numbers of colour coded categories to keep your pins organised. Filter by category, distance and time since the pin was dropped.



You can also create a curated list and share pins with friends by email, text, Facebook or Twitter.

You can create Photo collage of your facebook friends. Click here to visit the site that lets you to do so. then Click on Friends tab. Proceed to More tab. From “Choose an option” dropdown, choose any of the dashes “—” . Your Facebook friends collage is right on your computer screen.

Sendible lets you schedule Facebook messages ahead of time so you can send messages to your friends, customers or colleagues in the future.

Here is a screenshot describing it in detail.



 

Google now allows you host webpages including HTML, JavaScript and CSS files. Once stored, they are available from anywhere, and easy to work on with others.

Click link below to know all the steps involved in this process,

https://googledrive.com/host/0B716ywBKT84AMXBENXlnYmJISlE/GoogleDriveHosting.html

This is a revolutionary step in Google Drive Hosting.

So what are you waiting for, just use this , save your money and enjoy. :-)