VB: Pass current user credentials to proxy server

In a corporate environment its not usual to have to pass through a proxy server to get out to the net, this can often be a challenge when building apps/scripts etc. However – to make things slightly less complicated, you can use the VB snippet below to pass the details of the currently logged on user to the proxy.

You can also adjust the code to pass username and password if you wish, however best make it secure!

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Switch DNS providers for a faster internet experience

A lot of time is spent waiting for webpages to load… Or so you think! One thing you might not know is some of that time is spent waiting for results to come back from your ISP’s DNS servers most people will never bother to change their DNS server settings therefore leaving some ISP’s servers with huge volumes of traffic which could impact the speed of your internet experience.

Public DNS providers are becoming more and more common and more popular among speed hungry keyboard warriors, so it seems fair to suggest theres a need for an application to speed test these servers an provide you with the best possible combination based on your locationconnection.
That’s where namebench comes in. “namebench hunts down the fastest DNS servers available for your computer to use. namebench runs a fair and thorough benchmark using your web browser history, tcpdump output, or standardized datasets in order to provide an individualized recommendation. namebench is completely free and does not modify your system in any way.”
namebench is open source and is available for Mac, Linux and Windows
NB: To implement namebench’s suggestions will require changing advanced system settings, or settings on your internet router which could render your internet connection useless. Make a note of the changes you make and where you make them in case you need to roll back the implementation.

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VM Gets the IE8 treatment

IE8 Logo

Today I have decided it’s about time I treat my Vista VM to a the delights of Internet Explorer 8. I have not used the browser since it’s early BETA stages, when I was less then impressed by it’s failures to be able to display most websites, and I found the compatability mode a little too slow. So hopefully those bugs will now have been ironed out.

The download is available to the public from IE8’s homepage, the download comes in at 13.3MB, but as with all IE installs, this simply downloads more files from the net prior to installation.

The download finished quite quickly, however with most installs thesedays requires a reboot before it takes effect.

Over the next few hours, I will be using IE8 as my default browser whilst I work on an offline website I am building for someone. I will post back any rantsravesreviews as and when I come across them.

For now – enjoy the future of one of the worlds most commonly used browsers!

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Use OpenDNS to improve web browsing speeds

As a heavy internet user I am always looking at ways to improve response times of websites… Thanks to Chris Prillo via Twitter I have now discovered the magic that is OpenDNS. I have tried free DNS servers in the past, but never been happy with the results. However this one seems to be working well for me.

OpenDNS has servers situated strategically at the most well-connected intersections of the Internet. Unlike your ISP, our network uses Anycast routing technology, which means no matter where you are in the world your DNS requests are answered by our closest datacenter. Anycast routing also means that you are automatically routed to our next closest datacenter in the event of maintenance or downtime. This makes your Internet faster and more reliable.

If you want to try OpenDNS for yourself, you can find detailed instructions over at their website: https://www.opendns.com/start

Give it a go, and let me know what you think.

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