Webwasher targets radioreference.com

[JT-112]

FYI, I was surprised to have my work access to radioreference.com blocked by webwasher this week...

My company uses webwasher to keep people from visiting nasty websites using the company's PC and network (which is fine) but I sure as heck can't see how or why the webwasher folks selected radioreference.com as a bad site.

 

[RyltnVFD]

Have you tried using https instead of http? That normally gets through most web blocker systems. I'm not sure if RR has an https server, though.

 

[rdale]

No it doesn't, so that suggestion won't go anywhere.

 

[loumaag]

I was surprised to have my work access to radioreference.com blocked by webwasher this week...

I don't see why you are surprised. The very first sentence of the description of the WebWasher URL filter describes exactly what was done.

Unmanaged access to inappropriate or distracting Web content involves legal risks, compromises network security and reduces employee productivity (Emphasis added.)

 

[JT-112]

Well, since my company deals heavily in the communications business....

Plus, from what I understand the overwhelming amount of sites that I've seen blocked by webwasher at my company have been, well, very naughty. I would not put radioreference.com in that category by any means. Far more distracting and time-wasting sites are not blocked.

 

[Thayne]

About 1 year after I retired, some IT type found my DSL Modem still attached to THEIR computer that they filtered heavily thru their LAN/WAN.

They told my old working buddies that I would have been fired for that and then they tried to find out how I got the DSL installed in the first place--of course nobody knew anything.
They have fired a lot of people for surfing.
It's kind of like leaving Reeses pieces on a diabetics' desk, IMHO

 

[N_Jay]

About 1 year after I retired, some IT type found my DSL Modem still attached to THEIR computer that they filtered heavily thru their LAN/WAN.

They told my old working buddies that I would have been fired for that and then they tried to find out how I got the DSL installed in the first place--of course nobody knew anything.
They have fired a lot of people for surfing.
It's kind of like leaving Reeses pieces on a diabetics' desk, IMHO

How the heck did you get DSL installed in a business? :twisted: :roll:

 

[loumaag]

Since WebWasher also provides usage reports, the IT people probably saw that there was an undue amount of company time being spent on RR, so it got blocked. If you are truly using the site for reference for your company's benefit, unblocking should not be a problem, on the other hand if you are surfing on company time for personal reasons, you need to get back to work.

 

[RyltnVFD]

BTW- Lou or anyone else that could answer- why doesn't RR have an https server? There's quite a bit of us who do most of our surfing with https, and when we hit an unsecure site, it's kinda like hitting a brick wall.

 

[rdale]

https requires more processing and takes longer to send the data back and forth - so there's no reason to make that switch for data that is open...

 

[scanfan03]

Try going through an online language translator.

 

[N_Jay]

Find a reason you need it and put in a request.

I don't know many places taht block sites and do not have a way to request a site to be opened.

 

[Thayne]

If I told ya how I got the DSL installed, they might kill ME.
The really funny thing is they even paid for it for 3 + years--

 

[mkewman]

hahahaha. you wouldn't by chance work in government? that sounds like something that would happen in a government agency hahaha.

 

[hotdjdave]

How To Get To RR At Work; Bypass The Filter

The best thing to do is talk to your supervisor have him/her or you talk the IT department and let them know you need to access the site for work related business. If that doesn't work or you can't do that, then read on:


Instead of http://www.radio.reference.com, try these URLs:

http://72.3.135.37

http://www.r%61d%69o%72e%66ere%6ec%65.com
(note: this will not work with Mozilla based browsers: Firefox, Netscape - Use IE).

http://tinyurl.com/j8y86
​

You can try going to http://www.anonymizer.com/enterprise/ and type in the URL in the box in the top right corner.


Another option is to use an anonymous proxy server. In the past, I have successfully done this; but you have to know a little about the Windows network, proxy, port, and firewall settings, and have access to a list of good proxy servers. Note: This may be a violation of your company policy and/or you may need administrator rights on your PC to accomplish this. See these articles (note: make sure you don't look up these at work):
http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Bypass-your-School-and-Work-Filters-with-an-Anonymous-Proxy-Server&id=112347
http://www.voidspace.org.uk/technology/escaping_the_firewall.shtml
http://www.realvnc.com/pipermail/vnc-list/2004-October/047362.html


Another option is to buy a free-standing modem and hook it up to your computer. Sign up with a free ISP (or free trials of paid ISPs - keep rotating companies' free trial offers). You would have to have a free analog phone line available to you. Then you could use the dial-up access to surf whatever you wanted without restriction. Note: again, this may be a violation of your company policy.


I also suggest you get something like CCleaner to clean up your tracks. CCleaner is one of the best FREE cleaning programs I have ever seen and used. CCleaner stands for "Crap Cleaner." Their updates and improvements are often, unlike most other "free" programs. It is free and available at ccleaner.com. Others I use are Window Washer, by Webroot (makers of SpySweeper); and CyberScrub. These are the two top Windows cleaning programs available and have trial versions available (or P2P it). The third top one is Anonymizer, which I don't use. Others may have favorites as well, but I have done this for years and have put these on many computers (clients, friends, work (gov't) computers, etc.).


There are other things to try also, but I can't think of them right now. Maybe others will write their ideas or solutions here, too.

 

[Grog]

Tinyurl is blocked by websence filters......



Your organization's Internet use policy restricts access to this web page at this time.

Reason:
The Websense category "Proxy Avoidance" is filtered.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

URL:
http://tinyurl.com

 

[blantonl]

https requires more processing and takes longer to send the data back and forth - so there's no reason to make that switch for data that is open...

Actually, SSL communications on today's hardware is negligable overhead. 5 Years ago this was an issue, but today it's really nothing.

The big issue is getting a certificate assigned from one of the CA's - it is very costly for something that really doesn't provide much benefit for our members. A Verisign SSL 128 bit certificate costs $695 I believe.

Lindsay

 

[Xitium]

http://www.radioreference.com

I have never seen this before explain to me how you know what % codes equal what letters?

 

[dimab]

I have never seen this before explain to me how you know what % codes equal what letters?

the numbers after the % sign are the HEX values equivelant to the ASCII characters and their values. The % tells the browser to translate the 61 into an ASCII character.
If you don't put the % in front, the browser will treat the number as such, and not know to translate it into the ASCII value.

 

[crayon]

If I told ya how I got the DSL installed, they might kill ME.

As they should.

It is very irresponsible to jeopardize an internal network with an external, unsecured connection to the internet.

Shame on you.