Photo Matt » OpenDNS
OpenDNS is a great idea, well-executed. They took something basic and ubiquitous, DNS, and improved it by adding spell-checking and phishing protection (usability enhancements). They provide the service for free in exchange for monetizing typo search pages. The typo search pages are simple, fast, and generally useful. What I was looking for is usually the first result. There is no software to install, just two settings to change, and they provide a registration-free way to set preferences on their site. John Roberts is a friend from my CNET days and gave me a preview a few days before they launched, I’ve been using it full-time ever since and it has been invisible in all the right ways.
I read about this earlier this week… but held up on actually switching to it until today, and so far I like it. The DNS Servers are responsive, and when given a bad address they try fixing it. Either by auto redirecting to the correctly spelled domain or providing search results for domains close to what was spelled. It hasn’t fixed a hoster whose DNS servers are refusing to get updated (edit: Probably because they are on generator backup)… but it makes some sites appear faster.
The actual change over is VERY easy to do… in my case I followed the directions for my router (and realized it was what I thought I’d have to do). Swap the DNS server for OpenDNS from my ISP, and I was set.
Tags: Interesting, Internet, Networking, Technology
