:: DEVERASTIC ::

Ad Filtering Using "Hosts" File

2007-02-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

To block the Banner Ads and to stop malicious softwares from contacting Ad servers, I use windows hosts file [ %WINDIR%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts ]. Yes, it is hosts and not host.

A hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. When you type a URL in the browser address bar... say deverastic.blogspot.com, windows [ even Unix/Linux ] checks if this URL is available in the hosts file. If NOT found, it will contact the DNS sever.

That means, if windows finds the URL (or hostname) mapped to an IP in the hosts file... it will NOT contact the DNS.

Lets do a small experiment.

[ Ping deverastic.blogspot.com ]
1. Start -> Run -> cmd
2. Ping www.deverastic.blogspot.com

Reply from 72.14.219.191: bytes=32 time=239ms TTL=245
Reply from 72.14.219.191: bytes=32 time=238ms TTL=245
Reply from 72.14.219.191: bytes=32 time=242ms TTL=245

[ Now I map the name www.deverastic.blogspot.com with my localhost ip 127.0.0.1 ]

1. Open the hosts file [ c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts]
2. You will find a default entry in hosts file :

127.0.0.1 localhost

lets add a new line

127.0.0.1 www.deverastic.blogspot.com

3. Save the file
4. Start -> Run -> cmd

Ping www.deverastic.blogspot.com

Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="128">
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="128">
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="128">

Lesson- If you have the names of the Ad Servers, you can map it to the localhost IP and block the request from going outside your machine. Mvps.org has collected a list of hundreds of Ad servers and created a hosts file. [ download ]

A DEVERASTIC Hack !!

URLs :
Hosts_file (wikipedia)
mvps.org

NNDB - Notable Names Database

2006-12-17T12:58:00.000-08:00

While I was searching for a list of all the previous Time Person of the Year, I bumped into NNDB. Notable Names Database is an online database of biographical details of notable people.

Excerpt from NNDB home page :

NNDB is an intelligence aggregator that tracks the activities of people we have determined to be noteworthy, both living and dead. Superficially, it seems much like a "Who's Who" where a noted person's curriculum vitae is available (the usual information such as date of birth, a biography, and other essential facts.)

Alan Shugart's name came into my mind and I thought of giving it a try..and this is the result - Alan Shugart.

A Deverastic effort indeed.

"You" Are The Time Person Of The Year !

2006-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

"Who was the Time - Person of the Year in the year 1982?"
In my college days, this was a common question in all the quiz competitions I attended.
Hey don't tell me you don't know the answer. Ok lemme tell you the right answer - It was "The Computer".

List of all Time - Person of the year ( 1927 - 2005 )

But this post is to report the announcement of Time's Person of Year 2006.
Its "You". Yes, you. You control the Information Age. Welcome to your world.
2006 is considered the year of "People-generated content". The credit goes to Web 2.0 sites like youtube, myspace, etc.

Excerpt from Time

But look at 2006 through a different lens and you'll see another story, one that isn't about conflict or great men. It's a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. It's about the cosmic compendium of knowledge Wikipedia and the million-channel people's network YouTube and the online metropolis MySpace. It's about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change the world, but also change the way the world changes.

Second Life - Do something thats not possible in real life.

2006-12-15T10:40:00.000-08:00

Guys I don't have words to describe this Deveratsic new Virtual World - The Second Life.

So, as any wise guy would do, I steal the words of Camille Dodero. It would be very shameful on my part if I copy and paste the entire article - Does your life suck? published in The Phoenix.

This is Second Life (SL), a three-dimensional virtual environment created by Linden Lab, a seven-year-old San Francisco–based company. In this pixelated alternate world — a mainland surrounded by islands that spans more than 42,000 acres in real-world scale, bigger than metropolitan Boston — account holders aren’t users, they’re “residents.” In this world, you can fly. You can “teleport.” You can’t drown. You do not age. You can have an awkward version of cyber-sex. You can tailor your “avatar,” an endlessly customizable 3-D representation of your Second Life self, in any imaginable shape. You can be an emerald dragon, a horned devil baby, a furry fox, or a lumbering gingerbread man. But most avatars you’ll encounter are idealized human shapes. And in this world, real people spend real money (yes, actual US dollars) on make-believe skate boards, T-shirts, and islands like Zephyr Heights, which cost $1250 US Dollars to purchase from Linden Lab with a USD $195 monthly maintenance fee — possessions that can’t be ridden, worn, or visited outside a computer screen.

If you are hearing this for the first time, I suggest you vist the following wiki sites :
1. Virtual World
2. Second Life
3. World of Warcraft

and of course the official sites :
1. Second Life
2. World of WarCraft

4Shared - The Best Online Storage Site

2006-12-15T10:01:00.000-08:00

4Shared.com - one of the best online storage site I have ever seen.
And I tell you this man.. its simply DEVERASTIC !!

I like this site for the simple reason that they have tried to mimic Windows Explorer...and are successful to a great extent.

Highlights :
1 GB FREE Space
Multiple File Upload and Download
Preview of Media and Simple Text files
Automated Thumbnail for Images

For the full list of features visit http://www.4shared.com/features.jsp

I want to show you, all the features with images ..but I have promised myself not to embed any images :(

Google Launches Patent Search

2006-12-15T09:46:00.000-08:00

Yet another DEVERASTIC tool in the google's toolbox.

From the pages of Google Blog

Today, we're excited to be releasing the beta version of Google Patent Search, which makes it easy to search the full text of the U.S. patent corpus and find patents that interest you. Start your exploration at www.google.com/patents or visit the Advanced Patent Search page to search by criteria, including patent number, inventor, and filing date. You can view images of original patents online.

Google Patent Search uses much of the same technology that powers Google Book Search, so you can scroll through pages and zoom in on text and illustrations just like you can with books.

Manually Download YouTube Video

2006-12-14T11:01:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting video I wanted to download..
Free Hugs Campaign. And dude, the music by Sick Puppies is Deverastic!!.

Steps to download the video :

1. Open http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4
[ change the above URL with the URL of your favorite video ]
2. View HTML source of the page
3. Go to the location where it reads

var fo = new SWFObject("/player2.swf?video_id=vr3x_RRJdd4&l=219&t=OEgsToPDskJ6hzIz0nthdF_pVo8BRyly"

I'll split this into components

player2.swf
video_id=vr3x_RRJdd4
l=219
t=OEgsToPDskJ0f3WIwmYOzdzgFZ0TSJOI

4. To download, all we need is the video id [video_id] and t id [t].
We build a new URL to download the video :

http://www.youtube.com/get_video?video_id=vr3x_RRJdd4&t=OEgsToPDskJ0f3WIwmYOzdzgFZ0TSJOI

Paste the above URL in the browser address bar and hit enter.
TA.DA.. you get your video.

[ UPDATE ]
Just found a site max.subfighter.com where you get bookmarklets to save videos from Youtube, Google and DailyMotion.

The VENICE Project - From the makers of Kazaa and Skype

2006-12-13T02:40:00.000-08:00

TheVeniceProject

"We are in the process of launching a secure P2P streaming technology that allows content owners to bring TV-quality video and ease of use to a TV-sized audience mixed with all the wonders of the Internet. All content on The Venice platform is provided by content owners directly, and it's all protected with the highest standard of encryption and we are working within the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) framework to ensure that it complies with appropriate content protection and ownership regulations."

Heyyyyy the Venice Project is now available for BETA Testing.

Its gonna be the dawn of a new era - the Internet-TV era.
Remember its from Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis - the founders of Skype and Kazaa

Hopefully Venice also will be Deverastic !!

Snap Preview - Site Preview For Any Link

2006-12-13T01:40:00.000-08:00

I happend to visit IamNotADoctor.
Its there I first saw Snap Preview Anywhere.

Snap Preview Anywhere displays a preview of ANY site that is linked to from your page. Your site visitors can now visually decide whether a site is worth visiting before actually clicking the link to go there.

Few examples : [ just move your mouse over the link ]
YouTube
Wired magazine
Technorati Blog Search
BBC

The good news is ... its FREE !!
All you need to do is to paste a piece of Javascript just above the </HEAD> tag.

Is it not Deverastic !!??

HowTo Save Video From Youtube | Google | MySpace

2006-12-12T11:26:00.000-08:00

Its not Save exactly...its STEAL ..or the more accepted word is Download.

Herez how ...
Just paste the URL of your favorite video in
1. javimoya
[From the makers of VideoDownloader Firefox plugin ]
OR
2. keepvid

and TA.DA. you get a link of a file which you should save with the extension ".flv"

Oh but how will you play a .flv file?
You need FLV Player

Isn't that Deverastic !?

Deverastic? Whats that?

2006-12-12T10:18:00.000-08:00

"Deverastic doesn't mean anything. I searched all the dictionaries."
Well, may be thats true...but the word now has a meaning.
It means Awesome, fabulous !! The next time when you want to say ..."That was awesome !!" ... try to say.. "That was DEVERASTIC!!" and feel the power of the word. :p