A Tip, Or Two...

How to easily defeat IMDb geolocation and always display English titles for ALL movies

2014-12-30T15:16:00.000+01:00

If you are, like me, a cinema buff coming from non-English speaking world, but are used to English movie titles, you are probably mad at IMDb for displaying SOME titles in your native language, even though you've explicitly set U.S. English in your site settings.
You might also be an American living temporarily abroad, which potentially could be even worse.

Anyway, the good news is, there is a simple trick that solves our problem. All you have to do, is to add X-FORWARDED-FOR with U.S. IP address to your browser's headers and delete old cookies. After that, you are immediately presented with US version of all the pages.

In case you don't know how to do that, here are some simple instructions for Windows:

First make sure you have U.S. and English in your IMDb settings:

1. Chrome browser

Install ModHeader

Install EditThisCookie

Configure ModHeader like this:

Now, go to IMDb and use EditThisCookie to delete all site cookies:

After that you should refresh the page, log in and enjoy all movie titles the way you intended them to be.

2. Firefox browser

Install HTTP Header Mangler

Install CookieKeeper

Since HTTP Header Mangler does not have button (which I like), this is what you need to do:
Make a new text file named headers.txt (or whatever suits you) with following contents:

imdb.com

.*regexp\d+

X-FORWARDED-FOR=199.254.254.254

Put the file in your Documents folder or root directory of your C:/ disk and then go to Firefox Add-ons -> Extensions -> HTTP Header Mangler options and point to the file's location:

Use CookieKeeper to find imdb.com cookie folder and delete it. Now you can navigate to IMDb, log in and start using the site.

That's it. If you are using different platform like Mac, Linux, Android etc., or just some other browser (BTW, you are not using IE, are you? :D ) -- well, Google is your friend. Just search for adding/modifying HTTP headers.

Of course for a few dollars a month you could solve ALL your location related problems, by simply purchasing some VPN service. Do your own research, or just check the Anonymous VPN page for my current recommendation.

****
A.S.

Scroll wheel equivalent (mouse wheel emulation) on Synaptics TouchPad

2012-10-30T00:39:00.000+01:00

In case you have a Windows laptop with Synaptics touchpad, and you are not using mouse, chances are you've stumbled upon the following little annoyance: In some applications, actions mapped to mouse's scrolling wheel can't be triggered by touchpad. I'll use the example of Foobar2000, but there are many programs suffering from the same incompatibility with Synaptics TouchPad at its default settings. In this post I will present a simple workaround, which anables a proper emulation of mouse wheel, at the cost of software not changing the cursor into scrolling indicator anymore. Personally, I hardly consider this a lost of functionality, as I really don't think I need an indicator to tell me I'm scrolling a page. Doh!

With Synaptics' device, there are two methods of scrolling. You can either make use of side zone, or go for multi-finger gestures and two-finger scrolling. As side zone is there to emulate grabbing the scrollbar's thumb with your mouse, we'll have to use the second method. First we need to make sure Synaptics software is installed. Workaround was tested using software version 15.2.20 (drivers page) on Windows 7 64bit, but it should work on Windows 8 as well.

Next go to Control Panel -> Hardware and Sound -> Mouse...

... ->Device Settings -> Settings, and enable MultiFinger Gestures and then Two-Finger Scrolling on Synaptics TouchPad:

Now, as I've mentioned before, I'll use an example of Foobar2000. In this popular audio player, there is a feature in Facets UI element, where you can place a mouse cursor over a displayed album art, press & hold the Ctrl key, and change image size by turning mouse wheel. If you try to do this with two-finger scrolling on touchpad, regular mouse pointer is changing into Move cross, and there is no resizing taking place:

If trying to scroll without holding Ctrl key, pointer is changing to scrolling indicator. Again, no resizing whatsoever:

In order to change that behavior, we need to modify Synaptics registry settings, by adding a new value to Windows registry. Run regedit.exe in order to open registry, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPEnh and add a new DWORD (value's data will be set to 0) named UseScrollCursor. It should look like this:

Alternatively, download .reg file I've uploaded here, containing following code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Synaptics\SynTPEnh]
"UseScrollCursor"=dword:00000000

Double-click it in order to merge into Windows registry (when asked, click "yes" - twice).

Finally, we need to restart Synaptics process (SynTPEnh.exe). Open Task Manager, locate and terminate the process, and then start it again from within the task manager (need to provide correct path to executable), or locate the file (usually in C:\Program Files\Synaptics\SynTP\ ) and execute it. Again, you can just download .bat file from here, and double-click it. Here's the contents of the file:

@echo off
taskkill /f /im SynTPEnh.exe
start \Progra~1\Synaptics\SynTP\SynTPEnh.exe

That's it, now the two-finger scrolling perfectly emulates mouse wheel. If, at any time, you want your scrolling indicators back, you may change the newly created value's data to 1, or just delete it.
****
P.K.

Shop Amazon Gold Box - New Deals. Every Day

onlineticketexpress.com
Best Deal Online On All Sport And Cultural Events
Guaranteed!

How to sign up for U.S. Spotify without Facebook account

2012-10-15T01:09:00.000+02:00

Short version:
Create a German account and switch to U.S. afterwards.
Long version:

The jury is still out on how exactly Spotify affects music industry around the world. Some say it makes it harder for small, unknown outfits to brake through, because, with all that music available at user's fingertip, competition's becoming too tough. Others say it's a great opportunity for labels and artist to collaborate with the service and pocket some extra money, otherwise lost to "piracy". To some extent controversies stem from the fact that one of the major investors in Spotify is Sean Parker - a founder of Napster (portrayed by Justin Timberlake in Social Network movie), thus a person universally hated in music business circles. What matters for us is, he was certainly a man responsible for very tight integration of Spotify with users' Facebook accounts, mostly in the USA. Although, as of September 2012, U.S. users are not restricted anymore to accessing the service solely via Facebook login, they still need an account in this popular social networking service in order to sign up.

It may come as HUGE surprise to some, but there are people out there who don't like Facebook, and don't want to ever use it. They dislike it so much, they will probably never read this post, because there is a Facebook button underneath. When those guys try to sign up for Spotify (and they come from the USA, or just use U.S. IP address), they're greeted with following screen:

Only if they finally succumb, and sign up for Mr. Zuckerberg's social platform, will they be given a choice of either registering via Facebook, OR creating a Spotify account using just an e-mail address. Now, that's good enough for most people. Majority uses Facebook anyway (hell, they can't live without it), so they don't have any problems in the first place. Those who do, can sign up for Facebook, use it for creating Spotify account independent from the social platform, and then continue using those credentials, slowly forgetting about trauma caused by interacting with the "evil" social networking service. But what about those who simply won't use Facebook, no matter what?

Well, in case of a free Spotify account, after the initial 6 months period, and compared to other countries where the service is available, U.S. users have (at least for now) no additional restrictions, but they are forced to use Facebook during the process of account creating. On the other hand, we have Germany, where you can sign up without Facebook, but there are restrictions on free account, and even if you plan to go Premium, German account still sucks, because it's more expensive (€9.99 =/= US$9.99). So basically, paranoid Facebook haters want to sign up for German account, and then switch the country to U.S. (you are allowed to do it ONCE only, so there is no switching back).

To do the above, first you need to pick up a German Proxy (any one from this list should do). You can also find a proxy that supports SSL, so you won't get the following warning and/or a heart attack :-)

For the sake of this tutorial, I will use https://seeproxy.me/ . Paste the following URL https://www.spotify.com/us/signup/plain/ into the field in the middle of the page and click on 'Surf!' button:

This time around you won't be bothered with Facebook, which is a really cool thing, given your irrational antipathy towards this great social networking service with over a BILLION accounts ;-)

After you click on "create an account using your e-mail address" ( it most likely won't work in Opera, for whatever sophisticated technical reason [pun intended], which means you may need to grit your teeth and force yourself into using another browser), they will try to lure you into signing in with Facebook account once again. But you'll just fill the required data in. Since "you are in Germany", use a German Zip code - 04003 should be just fine. Click Continue, on the next page choose the free Spotify, click Continue for the last time, and (after exactly 90 seconds) you're done.

Close the Proxy window/tab, make sure you have U.S. IP address, go to Spotify website and edit your profile. Change your country from Germany to USA, and the Zip code to your real one (if you live in the U.S. - otherwise leave it as it is).

****
P.K.

Shop Amazon Gold Box - New Deals. Every Day

How to watch Live BBC on iPlayer outside the UK

2012-10-08T22:12:00.000+02:00

One of the simplest and most effective free methods for accessing from abroad Geo-blocked UK sites, is installing on your Windows computer an Expat Shield application. Ads placing in this program is on the verge of being intrusive, but it's easily "cured" with the help of AdBlock or other ad-blocking software. Speed and ease of use are there, application never causes any system instabilities (I've been using it on my Windows 7 64bit laptop for quite a long time now) and most importantly, IP addresses of the proxy servers it uses are happily accepted by BBC iPlayer and ITV Player. Live feed is nice and stable, and any amount of buffering or bitrate throttling there is, it's probably caused by overloaded Akamai media servers used by BBC.

Download the small executable file from authors' site. Run it, and it will download the installer (you can also get the Expat Shield installer v2.25 here). I suggest you deselect the option to install the toolbar:

When starting, application opens a new window/tab of your default browser, displaying messages about the connection process:

You can uncheck the option to start application with Windows:

After successful connection you should close the window/tab used by application. If your browser blocks ads, you won't even notice Expat Shield is working, otherwise you will see a banner on top of every single page. You can close it, but it's annoying nonetheless. During disconnects, program thanks you politely, but then tries to scare you ;-)

It's worth noting that application silently installs add-ons for IE and Firefox. In case of the latter it's not functional,...

...but it has no negative impact on connecting ability. Of course without the add-on there is no browser protection mentioned before. In IE, working add-on gives you, for instance, the option to disable Google "spying":

Through the AnchorFree servers, you will connect to BBC i ITV without problems. Very rarely (close to never) will your IP be rejected, and even if that happens, a simple reconnect will solve the problem. During the Expat Shield session your BitTorrent traffic (if any) will be blocked, but that's hardly a surprise. In case you also use AOL Desktop, as described in my other post, don't forget you can't use both of them simultaneously on the same computer in attempt to have two different IPs for different programs.
****
P.K.

Shop Amazon Gold Box - New Deals. Every Day

onlineticketexpress.com
Best Deal Online On All Sport And Cultural Events
Guaranteed!

How to access services like Netflix, Hulu or Pandora outside the USA

2012-10-03T00:11:00.002+02:00

Spotify, Pandora, CWTV, Netflix or Hulu - these are only few from so many services accessible exclusively within the U.S. Because of international laws regarding media rights, US citizens traveling abroad can't, for instance, access Netflix, which they paid for. It's very unfortunate that media companies seem unwilling to try and work something out, in order to satisfy their customers. Not to mention the rest of us, poor citizens of the (supposedly) globalized world, dying to watch videos on Hulu, or listen to some music on Pandora. :-)

There are countless commercial Proxy and VPN services of course, but they all have one thing in common - you have to pay for them. For traveling business person VPN is a must, but for most people it's an unnecessary expense. So, for those of us who will not pay (read: the cheap foreign bastards), there are some free solutions. Free proxies, experimenting with Tor or modifying browser headers some times work, but not always. With one exception.

There is a free application which will provide you with US IP address and 2.5-3Mbps download speed, sufficient for watching online movies, which you can use for free anywhere in the world (unless you are in hell, or any other place on Earth where internet traffic with USA is blocked).
That program is a good ol' AOL Desktop.We will use version 9.7 which works on my Windows 7 64bit, and should also work on Windows 8. You'll find installer on official site, and also here and here. You might have read on the internet some horror stories about AOL software, but I assure you it's not so bad.
With default settings AOL Desktop doesn't function as Proxy, but one single tweak changes that. We will begin installation, and uncheck all default options.

We will create a new account:

Choose the free option :)

Enter your personal details. The first segment of e-mail address (without '@aol.com') will be your Screen Name:

More personal details. Enter any US Zip code (10000 will do just fine):

We will be automatically signed on. We are not ready yet, so we need to sign off:

Next we click on Connect Options...

...and then Advanced Broadband Settings:

Here we click on Add a Broadband profile:

Name your profile, e.g. US IP:

Now the most important part. From Connection Type drop-down list select Home Network and save.

Exit AOL Desktop - we don't really need main application, as we will be using dialer . Click on Start AOL Dialer:

Enter your Screen Name, password and connect using default Broadband profile. If you don't do that, you might get an error message:

Next sign off by clicking Disconnect from Dialer, and then connect again (Connect with Dialer), but this time use profile you have created before (US IP):

Open your browser of choice, and check your IP address at http://whatismyipaddress.com/.

"Th-th-th-that's all, folks!" :-)

---------------------------
Few remarks:
---------------------------

Don't forget about two-step connecting (connect with Broadband-disconnect-connect with US IP, especially when you connect for the first time after starting computer.
If can't connect with dialer for some reason (sometimes there is no icon in system tray), start the main application and connect from there (two-step as well). Just don't close it, or you will be disconnected.
During first dialer use, you will be asked to set it as default dialer. It's better not allow it, but in case you do it by mistake, you must change following setting in your Internet Options:

Here's how my internet connections look like.

Disconnected from AOL (AOL Dialer set as default, otherwise it won't show here):

Connected to AOL:

You might want to avoid updating the application:

Last, but not least, don't forget it's AOL software after all. There is good chance you will face some small problems. For instance, if you are connecting with your US IP profile, and it takes unusual amount of time, click Cancel and then Sign On again. Repeat if necessary.

****
P.K.

Shop Amazon Gold Box - New Deals. Every Day

onlineticketexpress.com
Best Deal Online On All Sport And Cultural Events
Guaranteed!