5 Free Programs To Access Blocked US Online Stores

Posted by Harshad

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 08:21 AM PDT

Ever wanted to do some online shopping only to find out that the online store does not allow you to access their website from a country outside of their own? Many retailers (mainly from the United States or United Kingdom) do this; sometimes you cannot browse the store products, while others don’t ship outside of the country.

(Image Source: Fotolia)

Well, in this mini-series we will teach you how to access, browse and shop from websites like these. In this first post, we’ll first show you how to browse these websites even if you aren’t within the country.

Editor’s Note: In future articles, we’ll give you some payment alternatives for when the website does not accept your local credit card and how to ship your purchases from the website to your doorstep when they do not offer international shipping.

Recommended Reading: 20+ Coupon Sites For The Best Shopping Deals And Bargains

1. TunnelBear

TunnelBear is a very simple to use program with an On/Off switch to surf on US or UK websites. Upon installation, you’ll have to register with an email address in order to start using it.

You’ll then have 500MB of free bandwidth to use per month (tracked by the program). This is plenty if you know what you want to buy and just want to click on that ‘Buy Now’ button.

Download: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android

TunnelBear

2. Tor Browser Bundle

The Tor Browser is a simple Firefox portable browser, modified with Tor to let you surf on websites that deny you access based on your location. Upon downloading the file and extracting its contents, just click on Start Tor Browser to begin surfing.

Don’t treat this as a replacement for your primary browser as the Tor Browser just allows basic usage without browser plugins.

Download: Windows | Mac | Linux

Tor Browser Bundle

3. HotspotShield

HotspotShield is a program that allows you to surf and shop on blocked sites. However, the free version is heavily ad-supported and you might have to click on some ads to continue surfing.

There is no registration required or bandwidth limitations. Once installed, it runs in the background and you can use your primary browser to surf.

Download: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android

HotspotSheild

4. PrivateTunnel

To download PrivateTunnel, you’ll have to first register for an account and download the program. You get 100MB monthly bandwidth but can earn more if you refer friends to get the program or when they make a purchase.

The program is easy to use and lets you surf on websites in the US, UK, Canada and Switzerland.

Download: Windows | Mac | iOS | Android

PrivateTunnel

5. OkayFreedom

You don’t have to register for an account if you can live with 500MB of bandwidth per month. However, you can earn 100 MB per recommendation and get a total of 1GB usage per month for free.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the OkayFreedom, the icon sits on your PC taskbar for easy access. You can check how much you have used here. It allows you access to websites in the US, UK, Germany, France and Switzerland.

Download: Windows

OkayFreedom

Web Design: Drag and Drop with jQuery UI Sortable

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 12:38 AM PDT

We have covered how to give custom style to jQuery UI, starting from the UI Accordion, UI Slider and the UI Date Picker. Today we will continue our exploration on jQuery UI in theming jQuery UI Sortable.

This particular plugin will enable a group of DOM to be sortable, meaning that we are able to move the object from one to another position. The following is how the final result will look like.

If you are ready, then let’s just get started.

Demo

Step 1: Preparing Essential Files

Before we start working on the code, we need to prepare a few essential things, including: the jQuery, the jQuery UI library, and the FontAwesome to deliver the icon we are going to use later on.

For the jQuery and the jQuery UI library, you don’t have to host them on your own, the better, practical way is to link them from CDN, as follow:

  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.8.2.js"></script>  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.9.1/jquery-ui.js"></script>

Put those scripts inside the <head> or before the closing body tag for better load performance.

Furthermore, we will not use the default styles that come with jQuery UI, so we need to create a new CSS file to store our custom styles and then link it to our document, as follows.

  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />

This next step is optional, you can leave is you want to. But, I prefer to normalize all the default DOM styles with noremalize.css or else you can also use CSS Reset from Eric Mayer.

Put this line inside the head before the style.css we have created previously.

  <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://necolas.github.com/normalize.css/2.0.1/normalize.css">

To sum up, here are all the files we link through inside the <head> tag.

  <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://necolas.github.com/normalize.css/2.0.1/normalize.css">  <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" />  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.8.2.js"></script>  <script src="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.9.1/jquery-ui.js"></script>

Recommended Reading: Reviewing CSS Priority Level

Step 2: HTML Structure

The HTML structure for jQuery UI Sortable is quite flexible. We can use a <div> or <dt>, as long as we wrap them inside a parent element with specific id attribute.

And in our case, we are going to use the <li> tag. Put all the HTML shown below inside the <body>.

  <ul id="sortable">      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 1</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 2</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 3</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 4</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 5</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 6</li>      <li class="ui-state-default">Item 7</li>  </ul>

Step 3: Activating UI Sortable

The id attribute that is attached on the parent element, as shown in the above code snippet, is important. This id is used for activating the DOM element to jQuery UI. To do so, put all the following script inside the <head> tag, right after all the other scripts we have added before.

  <script>      $(function() {          $( "#sortable" ).sortable({               placeholder: "ui-sortable-placeholder"           });      });  </script>

At this point, the UI Sortable should already work. You can click, hold, drag them top to bottom or vice versa. However, the presentation still looks white and plain.

Step 4: Defining New Font Family

As we mentioned earlier, we will need FontAwesome to deliver an icon. Download the package here, extract it and place all the fonts under a folder named font. And put these lines inside the style.css to define new font family in our web document, FontAwesome.

  @font-face {    font-family: "FontAwesome";    src: url('font/fontawesome-webfont.eot');    src: url('font/fontawesome-webfont.eot?#iefix') format('eot'),     	   url('font/fontawesome-webfont.woff') format('woff'),     	   url('font/fontawesome-webfont.ttf') format('truetype'),     	   url('font/fontawesome-webfont.svg#FontAwesome') format('svg');    font-weight: normal;    font-style: normal;  }

Step 5: Styling The UI Sortable

In this step, we will start off styling the UI Sortable by adding background color for the body tag as follows:

  body {  	background-color: #333;  }

Then, we specify the fix width of the UI Sortable, position it at the center of browser window as well as add some gimmicks, like so:

  .ui-sortable {  	width: 350px;  	margin: 50px auto;  	background-color: #ccc;  	-webkit-box-shadow:  0px 0px 10px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);    box-shadow:  0px 0px 10px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, .1);    list-style-type: none;     padding: 0;   }

At this point, our UI Sortable will look like this screenshot below.

UI Default State

Next we will add the default styles for the <li> elements. These styles consist of the background gradient colors, the length of the elements, the borders, the text styles and specifically remove the border for the first child and the last child of the <li>.

  .ui-sortable li.ui-state-default {   	margin: 0;   	height: 45px;  	line-height: 48px;  	font-size: 1.4em;   	color: #fff;  	outline: 0;  	padding: 0;  	margin: 0;  	text-indent: 15px;  	background: rgb(78,82,91);  	background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,  rgb(78,82,91) 0%, rgb(57,61,68) 100%);  	background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,rgb(78,82,91)), color-stop(100%,rgb(57,61,68)));  	background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,  rgb(78,82,91) 0%,rgb(57,61,68) 100%);  	background: -o-linear-gradient(top,  rgb(78,82,91) 0%,rgb(57,61,68) 100%);  	background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,  rgb(78,82,91) 0%,rgb(57,61,68) 100%);  	background: linear-gradient(to bottom,  rgb(78,82,91) 0%,rgb(57,61,68) 100%);  	border-top: 1px solid rgba(255,255,255,.2);  	border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.5);  	text-shadow: -1px -1px 0px rgba(0,0,0,.5);  	font-size: 1.1em;  	position: relative;  	cursor: pointer;  }  .ui-sortable li.ui-state-default:first-child {  	border-top: 0;   }  .ui-sortable li.ui-state-default:last-child {  	border-bottom: 0;  }

After adding those colors, our UI will start looking better, as shown in the following screenshot.

Placeholder

No, this is not the Placeholder attribute for HTML5. The placeholder in jQuery UI refers to the blank spaces where the DOM element can be placed on. In this case, we will add this area with grey background and dashed border, like so.

  .ui-sortable-placeholder {  	border: 3px dashed #aaa;  	height: 45px;  	width: 344px;  	background: #ccc;  }

Now, when you try to replace the DOM position you should see the area as shown in this screenshot below.

“Movable” Icon

Lastly we will add an icon to the <li> to show that it is movable. To do so, we will add this icon through the :after pseudo-element and assign FontAwesome font family exclusively.

  .ui-sortable li.ui-state-default:after {  	content: "\f0c9";  	display: inline-block;  	font-family: "FontAwesome";  	position: absolute;  	right: 18px;  	top: 9px;  	text-align: center;  	line-height: 35px;  	color: rgba(255,255,255,.2);  	text-shadow: 0px 0px 0px rgba(0,0,0,0);  	cursor: move;  }

That’s all the codes we need. Finally you can view the demo and examine the source code through the following links. We hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

What To Do When Good Hosts Go Bad

Posted: 25 Mar 2013 12:35 AM PDT

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Rob, a creative copywriter, designer and videographer who is half of the dynamic duo behind Arbenting, Dead Wings Designs and Arbent Creative Media at Twitter.

Years ago when I started blogging, we setup our sites, and picked a host that was affordable while meeting all of our needs at the time. This worked out for a while. The host was not bad at all. We had a good control panel that gave us access to everything we needed. Our downtime was truly minimal. Our load rate was mainly slowed by our own code, and nothing more.

It was cheap hosting, but it was effective. Then came the spike…

(Image source: Fotolia)

One day we had a post that was featured on SwissMiss and everything went haywire! Suddenly, our traffic load was too much for our small little hosting package, and we needed to adjust … immediately! Unfortunately, the host we had been using for their affordability, became much more unaffordable when we started looking at the larger hosting packages.

So we had to change hosts.

Not because we wanted to, but because we had no other choice. In our hunting for a new host we looked around and picked our next one based on reputation for stability. But as Niska pointed out on the short-lived, but beloved series Firefly, “Reputation is just talk.” And while overall, things with the new host have been good, the reputation that preceded them, promised us so much more.

Walk the Walk

As things progressively decline with our current host, we are finding their ability to back-up their reputation, slipping. We understood that there are going to be times when hosts begin to have issues, and as a result, their customer base will inevitably suffer in some ways.

Be it sudden slow load times, or intermittent unexpected downtime, sudden slow load times, newly exposed security risks, or you know, sudden slow load times… whatever the problem (load times) that you are facing gives you more and more reason to walk.

(Image source: Fotolia)

When customer service is so heavily weighted in regards to consumer concerns these days, and so many brands pride themselves on this aspect of their service, the last thing you would expect for a reputable host to do would be to lie.

To effectively try and dismiss any customer complaints as obvious problems on the client-side of the equation is a mistake. This not only tarnishes the host’s reputation with established customers (you know, the ones whose word-of-mouth reviews and recommendations bring them business) but it makes their rank of a good host, drop significantly to the bad end of the spectrum. It will be hard to stop customers from shopping around for better alternatives.

Call It!

When it’s time to bail from your host, you will know it. You may not want to admit it at first. You might even try to convince yourself that things will get better once again, and return to the stability of old. Which is understandable. It can be a complete pain to move to a new host, as there is a lot to consider.

(Image source: Fotolia)

But after a bout with denial, when you have finally accepted that it is time to give up on the patient and call it, here are some things to do to make this transition as smooth as possible.

Determine Your Needs

Naturally you want to get all your ducks in a row before you begin, so start by determining your specific hosting needs. That will let you know just what direction it is that you need to move in. Hard to figure out how to proceed, if you don’t know what it is you really need.

Where do you place your priorities with regards to hosting?

Start by asking yourself some basic questions:

Which matters more to you, speed or stability?
Is price the determining factor, or is reliability more important?
Do you feel you should have to compromise and accept one over the other?

Then of course, you need to focus your queries and start asking more situation specific questions about your current host. For instance: Why are you leaving your current host? What needs do you have that they were not meeting? Are they being up front about issues they are having, and if so, have you given them enough time to sort them out?

Recommended Reading: Web Hosting Consumer Guide: 9 Tips You Should Know

Consult the Masses

After you have asked yourself questions about your current host and your needs in that area, you need to move on and get other perspectives. consult the masses and get their take on the various hosts and what they offer. Otherwise you are liable to end up in a boat exactly like the one you just fled.

So check out reviews, or do your own investigating and ask around the social media networks. Speaking of which, this is also the best way to find out if your own host is perhaps not being as forthcoming and honest about issues you are having.

If you follow them on Twitter and Facebook, you can track and see what others are saying to them. To see if they are experiencing the same issues you are, proving that it is more than likely something on the host’s end. Something they are denying. Use the power of the internet to find out where you need to be moving to and who you need to be trusting with your site.

Plan, Plan, and Plan Again!

This is essentially all about planning. There is a lot to take into consideration when moving hosts, and if you are not careful, the move will come with some downtime. So like the header reads, you will want to plan, plan, and plan again to be sure you don’t have any downtime if you can help it. Your users will really appreciate it.

Be sure that you also get your backups in order, and have them ready should anything happen in the transferring of files. If all goes smoothly, you won’t need them, but best to be prepared just in case. If your databases get corrupted and you don’t have a current back-up, the headaches will begin.

Once all of your plans are in order, you are then able to go on and make the move! Safely. Backed up, and secure.

Tell Them Why

Again, you don’t want to let your current host know that you are leaving until the switch has been made, just for sake of airing on the side of safety. But once the move is done, and you are canceling, tell your current host why you are leaving, not just that you are. Make them aware that the issues you experienced are costing them clients.

And beyond that, tell the community through reviews and the like. Don’t keep this all to yourself, get the word out there so others can heed your words of warning. If any host has been less than cooperative about slow load times on their VPS servers, and even denying, then let people know. This will at least pressure them to take you more seriously.

To Conclude

When good hosts go bad, you need to do what is best for your site and make them move. Cut and run to a better solution for your hosting needs, whatever they may be.

Don’t let their problems cost you visitors.

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5 Free Programs To Access Blocked US Online Stores

5 Free Programs To Access Blocked US Online Stores

1. TunnelBear

2. Tor Browser Bundle

3. HotspotShield

4. PrivateTunnel

5. OkayFreedom

Step 1: Preparing Essential Files

Step 2: HTML Structure

Step 3: Activating UI Sortable

Step 4: Defining New Font Family

Step 5: Styling The UI Sortable

UI Default State

Placeholder

“Movable” Icon

Walk the Walk

Call It!

Determine Your Needs

Consult the Masses

Plan, Plan, and Plan Again!

Tell Them Why

To Conclude

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