Free2Surf Proxy Blog

There hasn’t been a whole lot going on in the ‘proxy world’ as of late. I noticed that on September 11th, a new version of the Glype Proxy script was released. Version 0.4 beta has some new features, including a “massively revamped javascript parser”, as well as a new plugin feature which will allow for compatibility with sites such as YouTube, and more. You can read the details of the release here, or you can grab a copy of the script here. This script seems to be increasing in popularity, especially as word spreads that some schools have blocked PHProxy proxified pages altogether. More to come on this as more information is available.

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When it comes to freely available web-based proxy scripts, Glype Proxy may not be the most well known. But it’s an “up and comer” so to speak, and definitely worth keeping an eye on. Glype Proxy 0.3b was released on August 6th, and it comes with some new features - namely, server side caching. What this means is that files that are commonly requested by users of your proxy site will be saved on the server. The script also comes with am improved setup wizard, and other notable features include IP banning, access controls, and a “curse word” filter. The script can be downloaded here. Please remember that this is still in beta, so there may be some bugs, in which case you should report to the script’s support forum. Feel free to post your Glype proxies in the comments of this post!

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If you are even the least bit familiar with web-based proxy sites, you know that there is no shortage of them. A simple Google search will reveal thousands of them. If you’ve ever wondered why there are so many of them, the answer is simple: money. People create these sites and put ads on them in order to make a profit.

The ad program that is most commonly used on proxy sites is Google’s AdSense. For those of you out there that use AdSense on your site(s), this article may be of interest to you. It summarizes an experiment where less adsense ads on a site resulted in more money in the long run. This happens because if less ads are shown, higher bidding advertisements will appear in those ad spots. The opposite of this is also true, where if you show more ads, lower bidding ads will appear on your page, resulting in a lower CPC - It’s worth a shot, right?

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I came across a somewhat unique concept today: ProxyDesigner.net. This site would come in handy for those of you that want to create a proxy site, but don’t know anything about HTML and CSS. It uses a template originally designed by Free Proxy Templates, and it allows the user to change colors, advertisement options, links, and more. After you customize your proxy, it produces a ZIP file for you to download. If you are lazy or just don’t know anything about HTML, ProxyDesigner.net may be helpful to you. Also, if you haven’t seen it already, Proxy Builder takes this concept one step further by allowing you to choose between PHProxy and CGI Proxy. Pick one and get started today!

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A new version of the Glype proxy script has been released, Glype v0.2. It now supports Basic HTTP Authentication and even goes some way to towards parsing Javascript. With this new version, users will be able to login to sites such as Gmail, Facebook and all other interactive scripts. There are more features as well - Find out more at Glype Media, or download Glype v0.2 right here. Obviously, Glype is a new script and may still have some kinks to work out, but it is definitely headed in the right direction. For more information on free web-based proxy scripts, check out Free Proxy Scripts: A Rundown.

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If you know anything about web-based proxy sites, you’ve probably heard of PHProxy and CGIProxy. These are the two main scripts that are the driving force behind thousands of free proxy sites. But there are more free web-based proxy scripts out there. I created a new page on Free2Surf Proxy Blog that gives a rundown of each one of these freely-available scripts. Read all about them here: Free Proxy Scripts: A Rundown

If you happen to encounter a proxy script that I failed to mention here, be sure to let me know!

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I’ve covered several methods of getting around school and work filters, but I haven’t mentioned one of the most obvious (and well known): web-based proxies. There are literally thousands of these sites out there. People grab a freely-available script (such as PHProxy or CGI Proxy) and upload it somewhere, do a little bit of customization (at least in some cases), and there you have it - Another proxy site. The reason there are so many web-based proxies out there is because they are constantly being blocked by network administrators, so there is a constant need for new ones. As long as people keep using these proxy sites (and they keep clicking the ads) they will keep appearing.

If you haven’t used a web-based proxy site before, it’s pretty straightforward: Simply locate the URL entry box on the site (sometimes it’s impossible to miss, other times it may be a bit hard to find amongst all the ads and other crap) and enter the address of the site you wish to visit, and press enter (or hit the ’submit’ or ‘go’ button, whatever it may be labeled as). If your school or workplace has sites like MySpace and Facebook blocked, these sites will allow you to access them, and that seems to be mainly what proxy webmasters market them as - ‘MySpace Unblockers’, or some variation of that. I don’t have an enormous list of free web-based proxy sites, because I don’t use them myself, and therefore I have no need for them. Anyway, here are some proxy sites for you to use.

• GoFish MySpace Proxy
• 911Surf MySpace Unblocker
• LetchaSurf MySpace Unblocker
• Proxaroo Filter ByPass
• SilverSurf Proxy Unblocker
• Ultimate MySpace Unblocker
• Diglet.org - Privacy at Work
• Glush Proxy
• SurfUnblocked.com
• Proggsey.info
• BrowseSneak.com

Some webmasters have decided to make entire networks of proxies, rather than just creating a handful of them. Examples of this are The Centurian Proxy Network, ProxyNetwork.cc, and of course Privax. These can be great for locating a proxy that works well for you, but on the downside, it’s just as easy for a network administrator to block one site as it is for them to block an entire network of sites. Proxy webmasters, feel free to post your proxies in the comments section of this post.

Want to make your own proxy? It has become ridiculously easy - There’s even a site out there that will install the script for you automatically (this one). I’ll be touching on all of the freely available proxy scripts in my next post, so stay tuned. Happy surfing!

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I don’t know how many of you have had a friend or loved one over in Iraq, but they definitely rely quit heavily on the internet in order to stay in touch with friends and family. I had a friend over there for a year, and MySpace was pretty much the only way I kept in touch with him. I know for a fact that the majority of soldiers stationed over there use MySpace (or a similiar social networking site) in order to stay in touch with people. So for those that are still stationed over there, this article is definitely bad news.

According to a memo that was sent on Friday by the US Forces Korea commander, the Defense Department will soon begin blocking access to YouTube, MySpace and 11 other popular Web sites on its networks. This is a major step, and will impact soldiers significantly - Possibly more than the Defense Department understands. Fortunately, members of the military can still access the sites on their own computers and networks, but Defense Department computers and networks are the only ones available to many soldiers and sailors in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sites affected by this ban are YouTube, Metacafe, IFilm, StupidVideos, and FileCabi, the social networking sites MySpace, BlackPlanet and Hi5, music sites Pandora, MTV, and 1.fm, and live365, and the photo-sharing site Photobucket. You can read the full article here.

I wonder how much trouble a member of the military would get into if they were caught using, say, a MySpace Unblocker site to access MySpace? Surely some soldiers are aware of proxy sites and how to use them… I hope that this move doesn’t affect our soldiers serving abroad too much, and that they are still able to stay connected to their family and friends.

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I recently had a chance to speak with Chad, the brains behind SweetProxies, a new proxy directory. What makes this site different from all the other ones out there? I feel that SweetProxies is a breath of fresh air in the “proxy community”, if you will, because it offers a new twist on the traditional directory/topsites model. Let’s see what the man behind the site has to say about it. Read the interview in it’s entirety after the break.

(more…)

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A new version of Surrogafier was released yesterday. Surrogafier version 1.0-rc2 comes with a long list of changes, including overall speed improvements and javascript parsing fixes. For those of you that don’t know, Surrogafier is an easy to install three tier web proxy written in PHP. Get the new version here.

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