OpenDNS : Change DNS server to Improve Internet Speed

When ever we need fast Internet connection, we usually opt for a broadband connection which offers higher speed and it’s a good practice. Though, very few people are aware of the fact that at times, even using Faster broadband connection you might not get great speed. Specially, in the case when you are browsing or using torrents. This usually happens because of DNS (Domain name system) provided by your ISP. One, easy way to get rid of this scenario is by using Public DNS servers like OpenDNS or Google DNS. We have also, talked about DNS benchmark which let you test which DNS will help you to improve internet speed and today, we will look into open DNS.

WHAT IS OPENDNS:

Open DNS is a service which offers free and premium DNS for any organization or individual to enhance security. Their prmium DNS helps you to load pages faster and also avoid loading malicious pages. Open DNS comes with many features like, Domain blocking, typo correction, secure DNS and offers botnet protection.

In simple word, if you are using default DNS provided by your ISP, you should switch to Open DNS and give it a shot. I have been using it on my computer from long time and at time I try Google DNS too, when I change location. Specially, from an individual perspective, Open DNS helps in securing your computer by blocking those sites which are malicious in nature. Also, if you are struggling with page loading failed issue or opening a web page take ages, despite of broadband connection, using Open DNS will solve your problem. They maintain a big chunk of DNS cache, which helps in faster query and helps in improving internet speed.

Ex: Just to give you an overview DNS do name resolution, that is when you type  It resolves the website name into the server IP address and that’s how site opens at your end.But sometime the DNS provided by your ISP couldn’t do name resolution effectively because of low cache size and the server is not powerful enough to take care of all the queries and that’s the reason you face the website could not be found error message.

You can come over this problem by using Open DNS. According to wiki page an Open DNS is DNS resolution for consumers and businesses as an alternative to there Internet service provider ISP. The open DNS is fast because there servers are located at major location and they maintain large size of domain name cache.

Open DNS offers premium and free service and for normal  home user like you and me, free DNS I.P is good enough. Here are current open DNS I.P, which you can use and change your DNS settings to them:

• 208.67.222.222
• 208.67.220.220

Use this DNS address to speed your internet. Enter these DNS address in your network connection settings as shown in the image:

Well, as I mentioned it works best with Certain ISP which DNS is not that strong and failed to load pages most of the time. I’m an Airtel broadband user, but I prefer to use OpenDNS instead of using default Airtel DNS. You can learn more about them on official openDNS site.

Do let us know, if using public DNS servers, helped you to boost speed of your internet connection?

Best Online Sites to Compress your URL

URL’s are getting short day by day, people like to say things within 140 character on Twitter and that’s where these URL compressor sites come into the picture.

There are many online Web services, which let you compress your URL. You can use any of them, and here I’m creating a list of all such websites which you can use to shorten your URL.

It’s not an extensive list, but I’m using some of the best on the web, that you can use.

Update: Twitter now offers their own URL shortening service which is not open for public. When ever you tweet any thing on Twitter, it will be compressed using T.co shortener. Infact, now many online services like Zite, Pulse offer their URL shortener. If you are a Blogger, you can use Yourls to create your own URL compressor site.

LIST OF URL COMPRESSOR SITE:

In this post I’m giving the Other Link Shorten URL which will make your work more handy.

Goo.gl:

Let me start with official Google URl shortener service call Goo.gl. This is useful when you need extra details like where your link is clicked, link referrals, browser and system details. Very useful but again, don’t use it to compress your spam links. You can use Goo.gl service here.

Bit.ly URL Compressor: (Affiliates should not use this link shortener)

One of my favorite service in the list as it offers API and you can easily use it with third party apps like Tweetdeck, Bufferapp and many more. I have been using it for a while and it offers detailed information regarding your compressed URL’s. They also offer one Chrome extension, which will make your work easier. I recommend you to create an account on Bit.ly, as most of Twitter related Web services, allow you to use Bit.ly URL service and your link will be shortened using their service. Check out bit.ly

Note: It’s not recommended for Affiliate marketers to use bit.ly.

Ow.ly:

This is another popular URL compressor site by social media company Hootsuite. The tool is simple to use, as you can see in above screenshot, add your Long Url and click on Shrink to get a short URL.

EasyURL:

The Unique thing about this service is that, you can choose your new shorten URL between 4 different domain and use which ever you like.Above all It’s Spam Free.

Yep The URl:

The Most Interesting part about this URL is it’s name and it’s easy and quick to use.

For now, these are the few online services which I can think of, but if you are aware of other services, do let me know via comments. Especially, if you are looking to hide your affiliate links using any of these sites, I recommend you to avoid it, as most of time affiliate links are marked as spam. Instead use Gocodes plugin in WordPress, which is free and easy to use.

There are many more URL compressor sites available online, but I would recommend to stick to above three. As they are never been marked as spam links, and you will have no issues while sharing shrink-ed link to your social media platform.

Gmail account disabled : nightmare with Gmail

I got my gmail account back

Gmail is the best web mail I have ever used and I’m using it for more then 3 years, most of my important accounts is connected to Gmail.

probably you should reconsider reading my article   on Your gmail is hacked: crosscheck

Tonight when I was sleeping one of my friend called me to say your Orkut account is gone and I was shocked as I have used orkut extensively in past few years.

I opened my Gmail account and the message which i got is “your Gmail account is blocked”

I started feeling numb at the very moment because I know the consequences of loosing my primary account, I tried logging into my other Google services that includes blogger , Google analytics, Google webmaster tool

everything was gone for me. 

I emailed Google about it then and there and they returned with an email which asked me to provide the details of my account so that they can look into the issue,

By that time I have lost my hope of getting back my account and the only thing which I was looking for an answer from them ” WHY my account?”

I almost submitted that form probably 5 times in which I had to submit lots of thing like time when I created my account, frequently emailed user and lots of other details which only an account holder can know.

finally after 5 hrs I got a reply from Gmail team saying I can now reset my account as it has been activated.

• The things which scared me after I realized that I lost my gmail account:
• Lost control over lots of account which is related to my Google account
• Lost contact to so many people/friends whom I get in touch via email/IM
• Lots of Email important one
• I’m about to join accenture and the only mode of communication is Email.

There are many which I don’t need to explain because I’m sure you can think of   whats the feeling of a common person who lost his email account.

My sincere thanks to Google team for reactivating my account back.