Monday, December 07, 2009

Something Useful

UPDATE: While all of the information below is true about blocking your IP address, which can be useful, it appears that Hulu.com is on to this proxy business. They are denying access to anyone who logs on using a blocked IP address. Damn.


I guess I'm a thief. Well, some institutions would think so anyway. Why? Because I download stuff from the Internet. Stuff like music, movies and episodes of TV shows. I guess I really don't care about big business making even more money, but that's not what this post is about.

My friends from NOB (north of the border) have been telling me about this website called Hulu.com. It is a site for USA TV shows. You can stream episodes of some of your favorite shows. Or just excerps from them. So if you miss an episode, no problem. Just go to Hulu and catch up. Or maybe you don't have cable. No problem. Go to Hulu and watch the latest episode of your favorite program.

The problem for those of us living outside of the USA is that it is not available to us. The site checks your Internet address and if you are not coming from the USA, you are denied access. Talk about discrimination.

Well all of that changed for me recently and it can change for you too. I found a great, safe, website that allows you to access Hulu and any other website that records your IP address and blocks you because of it. It will also hide your address from prying eyes that may want to do you mischief.

So if you want to be able to stream USA TV shows and watch whatever you want, go to http://www.anchorfree.com/ and download the free software. I did it and am sure glad I did!

14 comments:

Sue said...

Thank you for this great link! I have had the same frustrations as you - when my URL is detected from Mexico, I cannot access free sites that people in the US or Canada can access. My URL also results in my pages showing up in Spanish quite often, and I have to change the language - maybe this software will help with that issue too.

I experienced this URL privacy issue first-hand when a guest in the US asked me to look into flights from Cancun to Cuba - they could not even see the schedule once the site detected their URL in the US. From Mexico I was able to see the schedule and could book a flight, if I'd wanted, and from Canada I had the same freedom. I tried it, just for kicks, from my hotel in the US, and sure enough, as soon as the airline site determined that my URL was in the US, it blocked me. Didn't matter that I was not American, just mattered that something related to Cuba was being accessed from an American URL.

So yeah, our internet behaviors are certainly being monitored. Thanks again for the link!

Life's a Beach! said...

I was shocked to find out about that whole 'blocking' thing when I was on Isla. I had planned on keeping up on the latest episodes of shows I watch. I couldn't believe it! Big Brother is definitely watching! Thanks for that link!

Ann said...

Glad you'll now be able to watch all those great " beach " movies! I will download before we come next month--thanks for the info!

lisa said...

Glad you found a solution! Don't blame you about blogging on your personal health, is no ones business unless you want it to be!

Steve Cotton said...

Now that truly is Something Useful.

Megan said...

Me too! Me too! I love it!!!

jeanie said...

I won't pretend to understand this blocking thing but I know it exists. Silly me thought it's the internet therefore it's anywhere. Great site Wayne thanks!

PS Really nice to hear from you. I hope all is well.

Liz said...

Hi there,
I just randomly stumbled onto your site & i figured we must be kindred spirits--i initially named my blog "Gringa en Paraiso"! but i've since changed it to La Fruta de Paraiso to reflect the focus on my tropical farm (i'm in nicaragua). Here's to living south of the border and la vida loca!
saludos,
Liz

Anonymous said...

Well, don't feel too bad ... all those "free" movies/TV shows, etc, are no longer free. (Surprise, surprise...)

I still fall back onto UTube for just about everything .... but you know about the continuing effort to charge for everything on the net .... not the Good Old Days at all .....

IslaZina said...

Thank you! I installed this when I got my laptop in the states to protect my identity in WiFi settings, then deleted it and was trying to remember it because, yes, it is so useful here!

Theresa in Mèrida said...

I just installed it, but Hulu detects the anonymous proxy and refuses to let me access unless I let down my shields. And then of course, it won't let me access because I have an iP address in Mexico...foiled so soon on my life of crime.
Thanks anyway, it has plenty of other uses.
regards,
Theresa

ERB said...

Many Thanks Wayne. Was thoughtful of you, and it 'hits the spot' ...so to speak. ERB (A regular reader of your blog. And I wish you well with current health stuff.)

IslaZina said...

I now remember. The tool bar needs to be reset with popup blockers and loading anything takes a while! We'll just see if I can get Conan. That will make the deal sweet. But, having been to Walmart, Soriano and and a health insurance salesman, I might not have the strength to wait up!

Jonna said...

I have that program as well but it seems they need a bunch of new IP addresses to give out or something. Everyone is on to them. My son says what we need is a 'tunnel' to a virtual server or something like that. I think he said he could set it up for me, maybe it isn't hard for a friend to do for you in the US?