My Digital Direct » proxy servers http://www.mydigitaldirect.com Digital products and consumer electronics Tue, 30 Mar 2010 05:37:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 The Real Search for UK and US Proxies http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies/ http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:09:45 +0000 mydiar http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies/ You may have already come across the word proxy online. It is a fact that proxies are an important tool of surfing online. It’s probably best to start by explaining what a proxy server is, well in the very simplest terms, a proxy server is a computer which sits and handles you web requests. Instead of asking for a web page directly, the proxy fetches the pages for you, and so protects your real identity from that server. It’s the man in the middle who fetches your web pages and delivers them to your computer.

So why would people want to use say a UK proxyserver ? Well there are actually many reasons, but I’ll give you some of the main ones.

Security and privacy, using a proxy server prevents every web site you visit harvesting your details and logging your visits. Many websites do this, for all sorts of reasons. Your IP address is logged on virtually every website you visit even if it is not used, using a proxy means that the IP address of the proxy is recorded instead. Of course this only works if you use a secure and properly configured proxy server, which most people never actually do prefering the free ones.

To access blocked and restricted content, lots of web sites control access to their content. Examples include media sites like Hulu and the BBC who block access by IP address to specific countries. Lots of big online companies charge different prices to different countries in a desperate attempt to hold on to the old price discrimination models that used to bring in such great profits. Again they normally block by IP address, so if the proxy IP you use is in the right country then you access the sites.

The problem as ever is that people will insist on thinking that a free proxy server is a good idea, of course anything for free sounds good but alas it is not the case here. Remember a proxy server costs lots of money to run, just ask yourself why would anyone offer these for free? Well tehre’s again lots of answers but the main reasons are they don’t know – the servers have been hacked into and proxy access enabled, some will supply you with adverts with your browsing in order to generate income but by the far the worst are the ones run by identity thieves. These people provide you with a fast, reliable proxy because they know they can use it to steal your account details and paswords in exchange.

I like proxies, they break down artificial borders which companies are trying to create, they also help protect us from arbitrary censorship from dodgy governments. Just be careful when you use unknown proxies. If you want to read more about proxies – please visit my blog which has lots of information onanonymous proxies

]]> http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies/feed/ 0 The Real Search for UK and US Proxies http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies-2/ http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies-2/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:09:45 +0000 mydiar http://www.mydigitaldirect.com/2010/01/27/the-real-search-for-uk-and-us-proxies-2/ You may have already come across the word proxy online. It is a fact that proxies are an important tool of surfing online. It’s probably best to start by explaining what a proxy server is, well in the very simplest terms, a proxy server is a computer which sits and handles you web requests. Instead of asking for a web page directly, the proxy fetches the pages for you, and so protects your real identity from that server. It’s the man in the middle who fetches your web pages and delivers them to your computer.

So why would people want to use say a UK proxyserver ? Well there are actually many reasons, but I’ll give you some of the main ones.

Security and privacy, using a proxy server prevents every web site you visit harvesting your details and logging your visits. Many websites do this, for all sorts of reasons. Your IP address is logged on virtually every website you visit even if it is not used, using a proxy means that the IP address of the proxy is recorded instead. Of course this only works if you use a secure and properly configured proxy server, which most people never actually do prefering the free ones.

To access blocked and restricted content, lots of web sites control access to their content. Examples include media sites like Hulu and the BBC who block access by IP address to specific countries. Lots of big online companies charge different prices to different countries in a desperate attempt to hold on to the old price discrimination models that used to bring in such great profits. Again they normally block by IP address, so if the proxy IP you use is in the right country then you access the sites.

The problem as ever is that people will insist on thinking that a free proxy server is a good idea, of course anything for free sounds good but alas it is not the case here. Remember a proxy server costs lots of money to run, just ask yourself why would anyone offer these for free? Well tehre’s again lots of answers but the main reasons are they don’t know – the servers have been hacked into and proxy access enabled, some will supply you with adverts with your browsing in order to generate income but by the far the worst are the ones run by identity thieves. These people provide you with a fast, reliable proxy because they know they can use it to steal your account details and paswords in exchange.

I like proxies, they break down artificial borders which companies are trying to create, they also help protect us from arbitrary censorship from dodgy governments. Just be careful when you use unknown proxies. If you want to read more about proxies – please visit my blog which has lots of information onanonymous proxies

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