Introducing Digg Dialogg!
Check out the first Digg Dialogg with Nancy Pelosi. More guests to be announced soon!
How to Access Gmail if it’s Blocked at Work or School
engtech.wordpress.com — Don't let "the man" keep you from your Gmail account! Here are some clever ways to get Gmail access without any programming or security knowledge. Some clever hacks to check out.
richstyles- 2227 diggs
- digg it
- JexMedia, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13Cool hacks! I didn't know about gmail-lite before reading this article. Thanks!
- gonpost, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10There's another way...
Sign in too google's personalized web page (click sign in on the top right of the page when on the main google page), and then set your options so that it will notify you of recent mail. It'll show you your mail right there, and all you have to do is click on one piece of mail, and then you'll be inside.
It works for bess at school, anyway. I'd imagine it should work for most of you too... - Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+49I wouldn't use GMail Lite hosted by someone else. "This lite service is not provided by GMail or Google." Just what I need, giving my credentials to an unknown third party.
The rest of the article is also crap. If your place of business really wants to prevent you from doing something online, they will. This stuff only applies if they want to annoy you, and be smug in their false sense of security. - Devrdander, on 10/12/2007, -4/+86As a Network Engineer and System Admin let me point out a few things:
#1 If they Block Gmail odds are the web proxy will also see you visiting any other URL's. We use Websense and before that MS ISA and we receive usage reports of users and any site they visit regardless of the URL. Squid will also generate reports etc...
#2 We block pop access outbound, this might actually work however depends on the local system policies and the firewall.
#3 Installing Google Desktop is A) usually impossible due to required system access and B) unauthorized corporate software is a terminable offense. I wouldn't suggest this. Google Desktop is a big corporate no no due to security concerns over it storing data else where.
#4 See #1 comments above.
#5 May make us turn the other cheek but I wont make any changes that will incriminate me. Your email isn't worth my job security.
Generic Proxies: We block all proxy access, using google translate will still show up in our logs. If you generate too much traffic we'll start monitoring more closely.
Overall this is very risky. If the company has gone to any extent to block you from gmail, then that means you shouldn't be using it at work. If you want to get in trouble go for it. Trust me, not only can I see everything users do on my network when I want to, but we do period sweeps and packet captures to look for problem users. We log everything! And odds are if you aren't working in IT, you don't know more than the IT guys in your company. - op12, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nougat, the best part about Gmail-lite is you can run it on any webhost that allows PHP. I agree that I wouldn't login at someone else's, but setting up your own is easy (and you can see all of the code involved, tweak it to your preferences, etc).
You can also name the URL whatever you want, so it wouldn't raise a red flag even if an admin was scanning through URLs in a log. - StarManta, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5devrdander: If I may ask you - why the hell would you block gmail? I can't fathom any good reason... it's hard to even come up with crappy reasons.
- MatthewWood, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1In reply to gonpost's suggestion of using your Google Personal homepage to access GMail, I don't believe the information given is right. You *can* view the message header on your personal homepage, but clicking this - to view the whole message - simply takes you to the relevant GMail page, which will be blocked by Websense or whatever.
- Hubso, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Surely the easiest way is to use the forwarding feature and just forward all your gmail to your work/school email address - to configure while in gmail just go to:
Settings > Forwarding and POP > Forwarding - kenflannery, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Go to Google Calendar, and click the gmail link in the top left of the page. Not sure why this randomly works, but it did where I worked.
Does this work for anyone else? - pixelate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6@ starmanta... i don't like it any better than you, but it's not at all that mysterious why they do it.
1. Any company (not to mention specifically those in the financial sector, etc.) is going to be wary of giving employees an easy way to disseminate confidential information outside of official channels.
2. We already have heard ridiculous figures about the percentage of time American workers waste every day on non work-related websites. Personal email is probably a big part of it.
3. Gmail in particular is a bigger offender because they allow instant messaging from within the web interface.
@ devrdander... great post, good points. however i frequently come up against IT guys who don't know much about what they're doing aside from the basics of administering corporate software and networks. as an experienced user who doesn't have an official IT position, it's frustrating as hell. but i realize there are plenty of employees out there who believe they're experts (there was a great Digg post about this the other day) and probably cause fewer problems when they're locked down. anyone who ACTUALLY knows what they're doing can work around corporate security when they need to and can make the decision on their own about when to risk violating company policies. - foobar5892, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4HACK THE PLANET
- printenv, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@kenflannery
This works for me. - MindStalker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@devrdander: Exactly. Though I personally would see using some of these tricks to get around library or other kiosk blocks acceptable. I have to agree, your job is worth more than access to gmail.
- starsky51, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1My work recently allowed access to personal GMail accounts but have blocked the addresses which handle attachments. Works fine. Before that it was possible to access a basic interface using pageflakes.com.
- ri59, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0How come no one mentioned logmein.com? Encrypted, won't transfer any potential virii, lets you do anything on your home pc.
- Devrdander, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5pixelate, it all depends on your IT guys, I too work with a lot of people in my own IT department that I would say the same about. I however like to think I am a bit above them. It seems like with anything that there are those that look at it as just a source of income, and those like me who make it a lifestyle. I go home have my own private network in my home w/ multiple computers running multiple OS's linux mail server a vm server where I test out things of my own etc. The guys that go home and rarely touch their personal PC's, don't read trade mags, and don't care to learn more than what they work with, are what you are referring to. We commonly refer to them as stale staff who fill the void of busy work. That's why I keep climbing the IT ladder and getting pay raises and promotions and they have been stuck in their position collecting their cost of living raises for the last 3 years. With that being said, not one packet makes it through my network without me capturing and analyzing it. I'm a bit of a security freak in that sense but i've caught numerous users running bit torrent clients where the helpdesk failed to lock down the PC properly. Found people plugging in personal laptops to the corporate network, and other major violations. I don't think its brag worthy but I've put the nail in several employee's coffins for their rampant abuse of our "Information Technolgoies".
There is a fine line to how much restrictions you put on people. Honestly its at the department managers discretion as to what access his employee's have. With a general guidance policy delivered by our HR department (no porn etc) and our Legal department (no pirated software or music etc). As to "Non Productive" access the department managers will get their user reports and from there its their problem to enforce the policy, or submit to IT to refine the policy what they can or cant do. Honestly i think a few emails a day for personal use is fine, keeps people off the phone and keeps them from using their corporate email which by SOX requirements we do have to log. I've worked places where they put out "Public" kiosks in the break areas for people to use. - lowbot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Get a shell account somewhere, many are free nowadays. Connect with ssh. run lynx. navigate to gmail.com. You'll get a usable gmail interface.
Buy a phone/PDA with a data plan and a basic browser or pop/imap client thus removing yourself from the corporate network all together.
Whether or not this is allowed at your place of work/organization is besides the point. - unfinite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I use https://gmail.google.com
I've been using it for over a year and a half at school. - radix76, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Ahh - by the way: this is 'how to get fired - 102' (the public proxy server list a while ago was 101)
As one of those labeled 'the man' (=admin, sec staff) i treat 'trying to get your way around security measures' nearly the same way as actually ' breaching security'.
Only difference: the first time, you get a slap on the wrist (without any of your superiors to know, but with the relevant logfiles are archived - this is established official practice), the next time you get caught on the same or similiar act, you`ll get reported and might loose your job.
No reason to punish some folks innocently/absentminded trying to access the private mails, but deliberately breaking security rules leads to punishment.
On my watch, you have only one 'freebee'.
Successfull breaches of or repeated tries to breach security lead to immidiate report.
This might sound harsh, but we have terabytes of very personal data on our networks (public health-care/government).
Security rules are there for a reason. - aseidl, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Proxy over SSH. Anyone with an internet connection should be able to set up an SSH server (preferably on a non-standard port) and a proxy such as Squid or Privoxy. Simply tunnel the proxy's port, configure your browser and off you go. Could also be used with VNC or Remote Desktop. Problem: Good IT guys will actually monitor the type of traffic and block SSH (regardless of port) to unknown servers.
Tunnel over DNS. Ozymandns, NSTX. Same as above except the SSH traffic itself is tunneled through DNS requests. Requires you to set up a subdomain that your server is in control of. Problems: slow, IT guys might notice an insane amount of DNS traffic.
And, as others have said, try a service like logmein.com, get a data plan for your cell, or resort to dialup, possibly over Bluetooth.
- gonpost, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10There's another way...
- sbrown, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1lol
- dealsdealer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what are the chances of the sysadmin in the IT dept. looking at this same article right now and blocking even those URL's referred in there ...... :)
- dealsdealer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what are the chances of the sysadmin in the IT dept. looking at this same article right now and blocking even those URL's referred in there ...... :)
- DrOnion, on 10/12/2007, -6/+0Just what we needed...
- rAid135, on 10/12/2007, -19/+8Who blocks gmail? Honestly.
- The2ndAct, on 10/12/2007, -0/+25Fidelity Investments.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12The last three places that I've temped at...I really was looking for this just today!
- elnerdo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+29Our school blocks email from 9-2:45, so that if you used it to bring a paper to school, you have the first hour, but after that you can't use it to chat with friends.
- drgori, on 10/12/2007, -0/+21School districts often block all webmail services--blocking students and staff from using those accounts.
- ldhertert, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3my wife's work blocks gmail/hotmail/etc however myspace is open...
- kenjura, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Xerox.
- plamoni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Edward Jones
- n8r0n, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Government
- plamoni, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12However, I would like to add to my above post that there is a really good reason that Jones and other Securities Industry companies block gmail. Sarbanes Oxley (spelling?) and SEC regulations require investment firms to keep all correspondence for a number of years. Because companies like Jones can't exactly keep all your gmail email, they are much better off blocking everyone from using it.
This isn't because they want to be jerks or anything, it's because they don't have much of a choice in the matter.
I would also note that using any of the described methods above has a much higher likely-hood of getting you fired than it does of even working. So if you work for a Securities Industry company, check your gmail at home... - lordsandwich, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Steve Ballmer.
Hey, someone had to say it! - wilf_brim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The G. They also block all proxies, as well as any and all webmail. And any and all blogs, like the one linked here as well, btw.
- nickbender, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6All financial institutions.
In other news... the painful irony is that the page listing said hacks is also blocked >_<
wont be long before digg is too :(. - TimDigg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Citigroup
- printenv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Every bank I have been a contractor at. Also, other then the really tiny software company I worked for every other company over 10 people seems to block webmail (that I have run into anyway).
- robohoe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1At my school, only teachers are allowed to check their e-mail and stuff, along with visiting websites like Youtube or Google Video. As for students, everything is pretty much blocked, even deviantArt.com and at one point, Websense even blocked digg.com (I'm totally serious).
Us students could use that e-mail service though, it's good for sending work to ourselves to check it out at home and work on it when we can't use flash drives (like on old, non-USB computers that our school has in science labs) - mjpaci, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1++ on the Financial Services companies. They do it to protect the flow of sensitive information out of the company. Add on to that SOX rules of e-mail/communications retention and you've got yourself a regulatory hell.
- Frost9999, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Not the UK government. They have a very reasonable internet usage policy.
- nickbender, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@mipaci
very much true. They don't block sites because they fear the waste of time, they block it to have a better way to police the transmittal of sensitive information.
All that being said... most financial institutions have corporate email filters that only trigger on certain words or number sequences (SSN's etc) and every bank/brokerage ever made has a fax machine that is working off the hook. If anyone ever really wanted to... they could fax/mail/email any customer data they wanted unchecked... thus why in general the logic is flawed.
- jacotyco, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1why would you block gmail? besides just do that https:// thing
- Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11SSL has nothing to do with it. Businesses hire people to work, not to browse their personal email, play games and post at Digg.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Doesn't work here...I guess our IT are smart.
- KicktheDonkey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5A lot of businesses block webbased email clients. You know, cause they're not paying you to check your personal email.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4"Businesses hire people to work, not to browse their personal email, play games and post at Digg."
I'm waiting for them to give me work...at their request. I was told I could serf. Keep your parenting to your children. BTW why are you on here during work hours? - SteaminTmann, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@deciphered
I use that method myself @ work, my IT director has the attitude of 'no, its not allowed, but if I dont see it, it didnt happen', so https:// is open, but not http:// - Irco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@jaycliche
no they really aren't, they haven't blocked digg
- wired4u, on 10/12/2007, -9/+22Just use your cell phone
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -12/+11Children don't need cell phones.
- Phoenixfury, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Why did Wired4u get dugg down? I think Wired's solution is really the best solution and it's legitimate too. Using your cellphone to check your personal e-mail during your free time (breaks) won't get you written up or fired. This is a more legitimate way of dealing with getting your e-mail because you are using internet access you are paying for. The concept of the mobile web is for use where you don't internet access, or have restricted access. I doubt any business is going to give a crap about you using your own mobile web access because they won't be liable for what you do on your own internet account.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -16/+19I hope anyone at work who accesses non-approved email gets fired.
As for those who fail at school, please give me back correct change when I order my #2.- Krymore, on 10/12/2007, -2/+19I definitely just had some lady at the McDonald's drive through ask me to count out my own change because not only was she incapable of doing it, she was also apparently unaware of how to get the freaking machine to do it for her.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34@Krymore
But she has 414 friends on myspace. Don't hate. - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -3/+37"I hope anyone at work who accesses non-approved email gets fired"
You must be a blast at break time. - monergism, on 10/12/2007, -7/+7@jaycliche
What's a break? People who have awesome jobs don't have breaks. We work. We work until the work is done. Timecards are for entry and low-level positions. - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"What's a break? People who have awesome jobs don't have breaks."
That is really sad and unhealthy that you skip lunch everyday. Your boss must pat your head a lot. I want an "awesome" job like that. (why are you on here...isn't there more work to be done?) - monergism, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2Lunch is 1-2 hours. Sometimes we discuss work. Othertimes, when beer is involved, we don't talk work as a policy.
- Arkitan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Many times when you have a real job, guess what you end up doing. Working at home. If I'm working on work at home, I should be able to check my email whenever I want, as long as I'm getting my work done. That being said, when I'm at work, I generally don't check my gmail, because I'm too busy with other things. If you can't trust your employees to be responsible with their time, then you shouldn't have hired them in the first place.
- bigfatslob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2That's funny, the reason I failed at school was because I spent too much time taking a #2.
- sir1real, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@monergism
Given:
"People who have awesome jobs don't have breaks."
"Lunch is 1-2 hours."
Therefore:
You do not have an awesome job.
- bullox, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15omg hax!!!
- decipherd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6My work blocks both gmail and blogs... so i cant see how to do it!
- KicktheDonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes, I was wonder if it would tell me how to access the blog post that tells me how to access gmail when gmail's block when the blog post is blocked?
- codyodell, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5You can use http://www.netvibes.com to check your gmail, yahoo, AOL or pop3 account, so far I havn't found it blocked anywhere.
- TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18thanks, added to the blocked list.
- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Don't ya just love digg? Posts like this are such a time saver.
Added to my blocked list as well....
- TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18thanks, added to the blocked list.
- Wargalas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15Be careful with any of these things. If you're found to have circumvented things, your boss could get pissed enough to fire you. Work is for work, not for checking your gmail. digg me down if you'd like, but advice like that will keep you employed and the light bill being paid.
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Do you not take breaks?
- TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11@jay
If your work blocks all web mail then request that they have a few PC's setup for unfiltered type browsing for breaks. I setup a few monitored but unfiltered kiosks for all employees to access. It is a reasonable request. - zbeast, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2If your working for a company that is that low class it was time to find a different job anyway.
- nickbender, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@wargalas
solid advice for the most part... but even the most time consuming careers still benefit from breaks and personal interaction with those outside of their office. Tell me one married person who wont take calls from their spouse, or show me one persons email box with NO personal email... and i'll show you a person who is not happy at their job, no matter how successful they are.
- bethanyb, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3I'm at school right now, and NONE of those links are workin...
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Hang on. The Waaaaaaaaaaaambulance is on the way.
- monergism, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Hang on. The Waaaaaaaaaaaambulance is on the way.
- prelude619, on 10/12/2007, -15/+1my work tries to blok gmail but I figured out that by typing mail.google.com I can bypass the filter! ha!!
prelude619.blogspot.com - beatmix01, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Yeah good luck if you have IT who are worth there $$. We don't block gmail at my office, however we do block the chat feature in gmail.
- kenjura, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11If people are going to waste time at work, they're going to waste time. If they can't chat, or check their mail, or read Digg, they'll just play solitaire. If you've got an employee who wastes too much time, that's a personal issue. Don't try to use technology to solve it.
However, speaking from experience, when your network blocks gmail and google talk (well technically all outbound connections except the proxy server), it's a bitch to work around...but possible. =P - jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1The crime here is that google docs are blocked...so I'm stuck with MS. Maybe I'll try https...though non of those worked anyway for the gmail... :(
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"If you've got an employee who wastes too much time, that's a personal issue."
For sure...the chatty Cathys are usually much more annoying to everyone....and you are allowed two 15 minute breaks by law. - klawz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1what about meebo? do you block meebo.com too?
Where there is a will, there is a way. Block it all or there will be a way to circumvent, every single time. - just1moredigger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1"If you've got an employee who wastes too much time, that's a personal issue."
Actually - that is more of a "Personnel" issue than a "personal" issue.
-----------------------------------------------------
For sure...the chatty Cathys are usually much more annoying to everyone....and you are allowed two 15 minute breaks by law.
Well, not every job description is bound by that part of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Some Emergency responders (cops, ems, firefighters, dispatchers, etc) have much less restrictive labor laws.
- kenjura, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11If people are going to waste time at work, they're going to waste time. If they can't chat, or check their mail, or read Digg, they'll just play solitaire. If you've got an employee who wastes too much time, that's a personal issue. Don't try to use technology to solve it.
- clubmasta2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5If you work/go to school at a place that blocks gmail and you need gmail that bad during those you've failed already, and this article will not help you in life. Though it will help you connect to gmail it might just get you in trouble...if the sys admin is smart enough to know how to block gmail it's more likely they know these exact ways you get around it.
- Fabre, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Here's another tip: to view Gmail without the fancy AJAX stuff, use http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html
- jaycliche, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Non of those work for me...but I guess I could turn on forwarding...just don't want my personal stuff at work (don't mind if google gets it though---lol)
- ajifans, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Another tip is to download for free the gmail application programs for either your mobile phone or your Blackberry.
No good for writing long emails or multimedia ones, but great for checking them or forwarding emails on. - acejones, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6gmail is blocked for a reason at my employer. if i try to circumvent the policies, "the man" will fire me. not worth it.
- underthelinux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11lockheed blocks it. and they make battleships. i'm not going to argue with them.
- steelystan, on 12/20/2007, -0/+0I'm surprised they don't block Digg or Youtube here either...
- Ungh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Gmail.com and mail.google.com are blocked by websense. Googlemail.com is not! (Oh, and YES, I DO use it for legit reasons at work!)
- veggiemoore, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Great! Any way I can check my Facebook?
- RADicalSatDude, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1OperaTor - Opera + Tor + Privoxy
http://letwist.net/operator - ehmjay, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3At our school I know that we can get past the blocked g-mail by using the
https://
trick.
of course if that doesn't work we just use www.urlbrowse.com
does the trick every time! (and yes veggiemoore, it should allow you to access facebook)
i never understood why email was blocked at our school. probably so they can rip us off by printing *****.
the thing that REALLY bugs me is that we had school wide personal email that we weren't told about. a bunch of us started using it until one day it just STOPPED working. obviously something is going down, and I don't like it one bit.- Nougat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Ah, disenfranchised youth; full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
- Mystikal, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Gotta love stealther...
- KennyElendi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Sadly, this article is blocked by my school! Hahaha...the irony...I will read it when I get home, but it seems sooooooooo very promising as I often need to check my email at school but am unable to do so due to restrictions...
- inkubux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I worked at a company before with websense they had tendency to block about everything, Slashdot, gmail, digg, but they forgot one thing th block ssh port.. So when needed I was calling an X browser over ssh to browse the web , it was working #1 :), a bit slow some times but still better than nothing
- shiftless, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Just get a laptop and one of those wireless cell cards. Slower than broadband but you won't be breaking any policies :)
- dilbertmouse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah, 'cause it's worth it to me to pay $80 a month to check my email. And I'm sure if the organization is worried about you using personal email, they'll have no problem with you bringing in your own personal laptop and your own personal Internet connection.
- wisewaif, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2At the British Library in London, they have a simple system that basically bans anything with the word "mail" in it. I can check my gmail through my google account and personalized homepage, but can't read the mails.
If anyone knows of a workaround, I would much appreciate it. They charge $8 an hour for wireless internet, and the whole thing's a scam. - vin301, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0http://litegmail.com/
- KennyElendi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I had thought that that site was taken down due to a legal issue with google. Was it brought back somehow? I mean, it works, but isn't it the same?
- iqula, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Another great way it to get a cosmopod.com account they have a free online desktop that will tunnel through just about anything. You can skype, IM and browse anwhere here too... well worth a look
- intekra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I have to use the https://mail.google.com address or the http://www.google.com/a/mydomain.com for gmail on my domain. Additionally I have to add *google* to my proxy exceptions in IE and FF.
My company uses Websense, ISA, and proxy servers, and are probably taking screen caps of what I am typing at this moment. ;-) - MatthewWood, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0Has anyone noticed that whenever Digg runs an article about ways of getting around internet filters (such as Websense), that workaround ceases to work within a matter of days? I would be very surprised indeed if such companies did not actively monitor sites like this in order to improve their filters.
The comments above have probably helped them successfully close several workarounds today.- godzilla808, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I doubt my IT department is actively monitoring digg, why would...
[no carrier] - SoreGums, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I like proxy servers, especially the ones that allow CONNECT on 443, aka https connections.
I just use this to connect to my external gentoo box running SSH over 443. Then i just connect to my squid server over a tunnel. Works everywhere I've been so far.
All the network guys see is a bunch of requests to host:https since the link is encrypted all they get is a data count. Which when used a lot would raise eyebrows I guess.
But SSH tunnels through most proxy's over port 443 is the one solution I've been able to use everywhere ;)
- godzilla808, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I doubt my IT department is actively monitoring digg, why would...
- Rivetgeek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3ssh tunneling and port forwarding port 80 = FTW
- FortyCaliber, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0What if the article telling you about how to get around the school's filters is also filtered?
- KennyElendi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That is what my problem is....the irony is staggering.
- godmode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Gmail(along with every other mail site probably, ive only tried the main ones) is blocked in my company's intranet. The https thing works though for gmail
- sharjeelsayed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1List of 350+ proxies sites which let you surf Gmail and More http://digg.com/security/List_of_300_proxy_sites_which_let_you_surf_any_site
- tarr2468, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I can't even get to this article now (I'm at school)
I can access gmail though, weird. - luvgroovesalad, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0As the IT manager at my company Gmail is completely blocked, not only do we block access to the site our servers don not allow incoming mail from gmail. WHY you ask?, no not just to be a prick(yes I am one) but if you ever took time to actually real the EULA for gmail, all of your email becomes googles property over time deleted or not you lose your digital rights after 90 days. As if that weren't enough let's say I work for Ford do I really want the people receiving email with targeted ad's from Chevy on the email???? The fact that they scan every email is scary enough as it is... Take a look at the history of some of googles executives, too many NSA and CIA types for me...
- Moriarty, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Here's irony for ya - the article about getting past blocks to gmail is blocked by our websense settings but gmail is not....heh
- bigfatslob, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have used https://gmail.google.com with mixed success. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but usually it'll work after a good ten or so refreshes.
But forget all that. If your admin has such a restrictive policy in place, why don't you just remote login to your own PC at home or elsewhere and do all your surfing from there? I used to work for a company that did not give internet access to anyone without authorization from the VP level. Needless to say, I did not have any access to any http sites. I quickly realized that https was unblocked so I was able to go to https://www.logmein.com, remote login to my home pc, and surf all I wanted. Good thing, too, because I had nothing to do for 7 out of 8 hours of the day. - jake3988, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well, I graduated in June '06 and all throughout my senior year gmail was the only webmail not blocked. Why they block webmail I'll never know, but gmail was apparently so new they hadn't gotten up to date.
- cheez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1my school only blocks the google talk part of it. you can do everything on the gmail page, but the chat box just says "We're experiencing technical difficulties that may prevent your chats from being sent." I dunno how to get around that.
- mporcheron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Our college does the same - I know how they block it. I use to use Gtalkr.com to get around it - sadly Google bought the service (and employed it's creater) then shut it down.
- vexter, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2As an "IT GUY" all I will say is this: Follow this guys advice, and you will like be updating your resume.
- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Exactly.
I'm just a lowly IT guy, but after an incident a few years ago I have been given the authority to fire an employee on the spot, without the need to consult management, if I have proof that they have attempted to circumvent ANY security policy in place on our network.
- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Exactly.
- cafzal, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just use the secure site: https://mail.google.com/mail/
I've been using that trick forever! - raleel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1problem with ssh tunnels is that you have to move the DNS as well. ssl doesn't help that much because they can see where you are connecting to. the ssh tunnelling of X works well though, although you have to have legit reasons to ssh off site. There are a few other ways through this too :)
- radix76, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Well, ok: #5 rescued this one :)
"Always be on the good side of the IT guys. It makes life so much easier. They accept bribes.
1. Food
2. Booze
3. Movies
* (preferably pirated copies — although IT guy probably has a better movie collection than you)
4. Anime
5. Flirting
6. Sex
"
ok - let`s try to bribe me :)- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Umm....
Dude, you're the one in a position of power.
Screw #5, go straight to #6!
- subliminalurge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Umm....
- ytsohptwhere, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Its blocked at my school but I also work for the IT department. It all comes down to you should be using the computers to do work. Also it poses some security issues allowing access to gmail. Just do your work and use your own computer to do your own personal work.
- mgraham, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0I wrote this a while back for getting on the internet at the hotel I used to work at. Once you follow these instructions, you'll have to get to gmail as you would if you were on a cell phone [http://www.google.com/gwt/n , perhaps] due to time-out (which is due to being bounced off of the satellite). The easiest thing to do is to use the proxy settings mentioned below on Firefox via USB drive.
SO, here's how to do it AS IS:
Front-Desk internet access at Comfort Inn:
IEXPLORER.EXE must be ran under the SYSTEM account
in order to alter proxy settings
To do this w/o a history being visible in the RUN cache
CMD.EXE needs to be executed first from RUN
Once there, run TASKMGR.EXE under SYSTEM account
Do this by the AT.EXE utility prexisting in Windows Systems
/at 5:35pm /interactive "taskmgr"
choose a time two minutes away form your current time
before the the taskmanager is loaded, close extraneous
windows to avoid confusion or suspicion (such as the
command prompt --leaving only profit manager open)
when TASKMGR loads, you'll notice in the process list that
it's being ran under the SYSTEM account, not yours
now, anything ran through this taskmanager will also be under
the SYSTEM account
you can click "File" -> "Run" -> "Browse" and find internet
explorer
Run it
in your internet options menu you'll notice that you can now
alter proxy settings
satproxy.chotel.com AND satproxy1.chotel.com resolve to the
same IP
neither are as fast as satproxy2.chotel.com
use port 8080
(8088 is used in IEXPLORE under regular user privleges and
is the only hinderance for internet use)
you may opt to bypass proxy for local addresses
be sure to change settings back when finished
there are other ways to do this same thing if other
restrictions apply
be cautious with where you visit to avoid virus/worm/etc
b/c that is why it was disabled in the first place
[you can also input the path the IE rather than taskmgr]
Some links that may be useful:
http://mail.google.com/mail/x/+gmail&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=5
http://www.google.com/gwt/n
http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html
I admit to copy and pasting most of this without reviewing... Just throwing it out here for anyone who may find it useful -- let me know - KarbonKopy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's actually quite easy, use keywords to block and they'll be hosed. Looks like if you blocked google and gmail.....no one would get anything. Not saying I would enjoy living in a nazi work environment where they block google, but hey, it's doable.
-
Show 51 - 68 of 68 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2008 —
Content posted by