Hack DNS for Faster Web Browsing (increase internet speed)

What is DNS? Domain Name System (DNS) is like a phone book, but for Internet. DNS translates human-readable computer hostnames, e.g. www.linuxblog.co.cc , into an IP address needed by the networking equipment to deliver information. In other words, when you open your browser and type an URL in the address bar , e.g. www.linuxblog.co.cc , the DNS server translates that URL into a numeric IP address, from www.linuxblog.co.cc to xxx.xxx.x.x.
Now, if you have a DSL, ADSL, Dial-up or FIOS (fiber-optic service) Internet connection, you must understand that your computer uses the default DNS server(s) from your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and if this DNS server is slow in resolving URLs, you (the victim) will see that almost all the web pages that you try to access, are loading slow. So, practically it doesn't matter how fast your Internet pipe is. For example, you can be the proud owner of a 1 Gbps bandwith,but if the DNS servers from your ISP are slow, your web surfing will be slow too.

What can you do to fix this? You can call or go to your ISP and complain about this problem, until you get tired probably, or you can continue reading this guide in order to improve your web surfing sessions.

Use OpenDNS - Make your Internet better

Probably you have figured it out already that you must change your DNS servers, in order to speed up your web surfing. And to achieve this, you will have to use the OpenDNS service, which is the #1 DNS service provider around the world.
OpenDNS is FREE and requires nothing to download. Moreover, it will not replace your existing Internet connection, it will just make it better. Also, OpenDNS offers some other free services, like the possibility to have your personal web shortcuts. For more information about OpenDNS please visit the official home page.

Here is what you must do. Please back up your DNS addresses before replacing them with the ones from OpenDNS, in case you want to return to them later for any reason. The DNS server addresses for OpenDNS are:208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220

For Static IP address

If you have a static IP address that you must manually configure in order to have Internet access, please use the following method.

Open a console and type:

CODE

sudo gedit /etc/resolv.conf

and add the following lines, above the existing lines in that file:nameserver 208.67.222.222
nameserver 208.67.220.220

For Dynamic IP address (DHCP)

If you use a dynamic IP address (DHCP), that means you get your Internet IP address, subnet mask, DNS and gateway automatically from your ISP's DHCP server, please follow the instructions below:

Ubuntu Software Centre 5.0 Designs Hint At Great Things to Come…

The Canonical design team are currently hard at work designing, testing, evaluating new layouts for the Ubuntu Software Centre version 5.0.

Their work so far has resulted in three highly impressive mock-ups of Ubuntu Software Store interfaces heavily featuring an aggregated set of features that are par-the-course for Application Stores across various platforms.

Revamp begins

Canonical’s Matthew Paul Thomas writing on the 2nd of June said: -

“…my design colleague Calum Pringle and I have been working on revising the design of Ubuntu Software Center. The objective is to make USC more interesting and attractive, both to Ubuntu users and to application developers.

For the competitor analysis, we looked at the Android Market, Mac and iPad App Stores, Blackberry App World, Bodega, and Chrome Web Store.

There are a few common elements we have noticed that we don’t have currently. Regardless of the final layout, it would be helpful to start thinking about how we might implement each of these.”

Some of these ideas include: -

• Top rated applications
• Context-specific recommendations
• Top Rated
• Most Popular
• Preview videos
• Multiple screenshots
• Custom artwork for application screens

He continues: “For layout ideas, we’ve considered metaphors like a convenience store, supermarket, department store, vending machine, museum, art gallery, and even a sushi bar. “

These latter analogies play heavily in this current spate of designs. current mock-up designs, particularly in this ‘notice board’ one: -

Before you get too excited by the shiny shiny bling bling the mock-ups above are still subject to change, refinement, evaluation, user feedback and not all features shown will appear in Ubuntu 11.10.

But what you can get excited about is that the Ubuntu Software Centre – arguably one of Ubuntu’s strongest assets – is finally getting the level of design attention is so desperately needed.