How Did They Ever Do That!
You've seen things on web sites where you wondered, "How
did they ever do that!"
It was extraordinary. It was outstanding or clever or
diabolical.
Browser's "view source" menu item can uncover much, and
it's often quite adequate. But when you need extra snooping
abilities, use Master Snooper V2.
For example, I recently found out that Google indexed the
web site at URL
http://www.professional-pm.com/find/1048/willmaster-master-series-cgi-programs.html
and that the page is a copy of our Master
Series index page. What made me suspicious is that Google
indexed one thing, but when you go there with your browser
something entirely different happens — you get redirected
automatically, through ClickBank (which causes the browser
to store a ClickBank cookie), and end up at our very own
Master Series web site.
Clever, and a thief not only of intellectual property, but
also of traffic. But not a thief of Master Series affiliate
commissions because, wouldn't you know it, ClickBank no
longer pays commissions on Master Series product sales.
(We have our own affiliate program.)
Because browsers are automatically redirected, I used
Master Snooper V2 to have a look. And there I found the
content Google spidered for their directory, a copy of
our very own Master Series index page.
Master Snooper V2 can snoop on almost any web page that
a browser can load. It can snoop framset and JavaScript
code that might not be viewable with a regular browser.
Until the end of this month, readers of this article can
download the ZIP file containing Master Snooper V2 from
/a/27t/pl.pl?274art
After that, that link will break and the procedure at
/a/27t/pl.pl?snooper must be followed.
Master Snooper V2 was created to see how things are done.
It most emphatically was not created to steal content or
copyrighted works or to access content not available to the
general public.
Master Snooper V2 won't run JavaScript, ignores cookie
requests, has no need to use CSS formatting directives,
and doesn't follow frameset rules.
Therein lies its power.
When you give a URL to Master Snooper V2, you get exactly
what's there — no more, no less.
If the URL is to a frameset page, you get the source code
of the frameset. If the page is a redirector, you get the
redirecting code itself, but don't get redirected.
To see external CSS or JavaScript files with relative URLs,
append the relative URL to the current directory URL. Here
is an example:
If the code for the page you are viewing is at
http://example.com/books/babies.html then the current
directory URL is http://example.com/books/ (just remove
the file name from the end of the page URL).
Now, if babies.html has something like this
<link
rel="stylesheet"
type="text/css"
href="../global.css">
then ../global.css is the relative URL.
Append the relative URL to the directory URL to get:
http://example.com/books/../global.css
And that is the URL to give to Master Snooper V2 when you
want to see the source code of the CSS file.
What I usually do is paste this into the snooper form:
http://example.com/books/babies.html
Then backspace delete the file name.
Then copy and past ../global.css, which gives me
http://example.com/books/../global.css
And then click the "snoop" button.
It's rather efficient. Not much can hide.
When you want to see what's really there, give the job to
Master Snooper V2. It's so simple, anyone can use it.
Question:
Did you find this article interesting and understandable? How can it be improved?
Your response is anonymous.
When done typing, click anywhere outside the box. [more info]
Will Bontrager
©2004 Bontrager Connection, LLC
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