Intro
From time-to-time I come across sites that really help out, and ones that true, might be found quickly in a Google search, but some offer capabilities you may not have even realized existed.
The links
So without further ado, here they are. They need some organizing yet!
– Geographic location finder for any IP address. There are zillions of them out there. Some are overly aggressive with advertizing so be wary. Here’s a really good one that shows your IP and perceived location without the ads: https://www.vpnmentor.com/tools/ipinfo/
although I normally use https://ipinfo.io/ .
Formula plotter (math) – very nice
https://www.desmos.com/calculator
Naming Convention
Everyone is pretty familiar with these two-letter codes. Theer is also a 3-letter convention as well. But what is much less well known is the UN way to designate almost every single location on the planet with a 3-letter code:
UNECE 3-letter place/city/town codes
Click on a country and it will show you all the 3-letter codes.
This is not the same as the IATA airport codes! It is more extensive.
Networking
Check your speed by downloading one of the large files from ftp://speedtest.tele2.net/ such as ftp://speedtest.tele2.net/50MB.zip .
Reputation links
– Reputation information for any mail server. Just plug in the IP. Will also show what blacklists the server is on and the reputation of others servers on that segment. I think it’s run by Cisco. http://www.senderbase.org/
– Reputation of any URL, sponsored by Bluecoat, makers of the free edition K9 Webfilter. http://sitereview.bluecoat.com/sitereview.jsp
Webmaster links
– archive.org will show what your site looked like in the past, sometimes even years in the past.
Now retired: – www.alexa.com, to see how unpopular your web site is. Retired by Amazon May 2022! Not sure if there is an equivalent…
– Say you see a photo on a web site and you want to know if it was used elsewhere, or if the site cropped it
– Open source information and knowledgeable discussion. http://www.softpanorama.org/
-Is this web site(s) up?
https://httpstatus.io/
Generating a custom favicon
https://favicon.io/ is an honest broker. you can generate a favicon from letters (e.g., CPP). There are lots and lots of options.
Security
-0 Patch (I learned of this 12/2023) may be an option to get continued securtity coverage when your Windows 10 support runs out in October 2025. https://0patch.com/
-This is a very good article discussing the Windows 10 to Windows 11 upgrade options for those whose hardware doesn’t support Windows 11: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/when-windows-10-support-runs-out-you-have-5-options-but-only-2-are-worth-considering/ar-AA1lFA82?cvid=4d6aafa9d73448dbc024424b335d1451&ocid=winp2fptaskbarent&ei=15
-Good discussion of ongoing security matters, though too heavily weighted on Social networking. Articles daily with interesting reader comments. http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/
– Web site malware checker. http://sitecheck.sucuri.net/scanner/. I’ve used it once. I guess it’s OK, but probably not nearly as thorough as commercial products. I guess it doesn’t look for vulnerabilities, just malware.
– urlquery.net, a service for analyzing and detecting web-based malware
IT
– most under-appreciated blog by an IT professional, networking concentration. http://drjohnstechtalk.com/blog/ Hey, I can toot my own horn!
– Screen-sharing application join.me
– Ookla’s Down Detector gives the status of hundreds of major web sites. https://downdetector.com/
Home User
– Best broadband speed test. https://fast.com/ It’s simple, but doesn’t shower you with aggressive ads.
– speedtest also looks good. https://speedtest.net/
Another better alternative to speedtest.net (again no aggressive ads) is https://speedtest.expereo.com/
I think nperf.com may be the best, however. https://nperf.com/
Prevent your neighbor’s WiFi SSIDs from being offered to you: https://www.howtogeek.com/331816/how-to-block-your-neighbors-wi-fi-network-from-appearing-on-windows/
– Permanent HTTP site – will never be https: http://neverssl.com/. It can be hard to find a site that doesn’t run SSL these days so this can be useful, e.g., when you want to sign on to guest Wifi such as hotels offer.
Find an Android phone: http://google.com/android/find
Programmers
Here’s a really good introduction to REST API by Microsoft: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/best-practices/api-design
Computer and Linux Hobbyist
– Cheapest low-power Linux computer. http://www.raspberrypi.org/. At about $35 this looks really interesting for the hobbyist.
Towards a Responsible and Ethical Internet
– a search engine that doesn’t track! I just heard about this on Marketplace. Unfortunately it’s not as sophisticated as Google with type-aheads. I checked a few searches that should bring up some of my blog posts and – they did – so it must have some reach into obscure web sites duckduckgo.com
And another I’ve just learned about: https://www.startpage.com/
Security
Check out how many times yuor email address and other info about you have been leaked on the Internet. It’s enlightening and also depressing: https://haveibeenhacked.com/
A victim of Identity Theft?
Go to this checklist maintained by the Federal Trade Commission: https://IdentityTheft.gov/