Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


RealityClash

192 posts

Master Geek


#85087 13-Jun-2011 20:50
Send private message

Hey all,

For the past few months I have been using Vodafone's 100MB a month for $10 prepay add-on just for doing things like email and the odd bit of web browsing on my HTC Wildfire and I noticed not long ago that I get free Facebook and Twitter with this add-on.

So this got me thinking, If someone had developed a proxy app that ran inside Facebook, would I then be able to use this app to access pretty much any web page for free through Facebook? If so, does anyone know of such app?

Thanks 

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #480738 13-Jun-2011 21:07
Send private message

lets post this idea on a public forum!



nairda
140 posts

Master Geek


  #480740 13-Jun-2011 21:09
Send private message

If you're talking about  this, then the offer is for 100MB of free data per month for the first 3 months - not zero-rated access to facebook, so a facebook app would not benefit you in the way you envisage. 

asmcar
331 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #480741 13-Jun-2011 21:10
Send private message

johnr: lets post this idea on a public forum!


This is priceless, even posted it in the vodafone section just for you! Maybe the vodafone forums isn't the best place to discuss ripping off vodafone....  



jbard
1377 posts

Uber Geek


  #480742 13-Jun-2011 21:11
Send private message

johnr: lets post this idea on a public forum!


Don't worry, i'm sure no one will notice ;)

Starplay
267 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #480743 13-Jun-2011 21:13
Send private message

bahahaha... this has made my day. lol

johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #480746 13-Jun-2011 21:14
Send private message

You could have at least posted it in the off topic!

Peppery
919 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

  #480752 13-Jun-2011 21:23
Send private message

A Facebook app wouldn't work because these aren't hosted by Facebook (and traffic is only zero rated to the Facebook servers). It would be possible to set up a server that could proxy Internet requests over the messages system (a la TCP over DNS) but the latency and speeds would be pretty horrible that you may as well just spend the damn money on mobile data.

 
 
 
 

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).
raytaylor
4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #480754 13-Jun-2011 21:24
Send private message

Lets be nice to the guy. I remember being young and having some funny ideas.

For a number of years I was keen on setting up a PRS / UHF CB radio repeater for the local boy racers which I found some early attempts failed because i didnt know enough about radio at the time - or licensing.

The free facebook that telecom does (i dont know if its the same as vf) is to a text only version of the website that doesnt support any of the plugins or extra apps that run on the facebook service.
Remember that all those plugins like farmville are really just applications running on other websites that just use facebook as a login / user authentication system and front end interface to advertise themselves.
They can do a few advanced things like post things on users walls but they only talk to facebook through an API - which is like an interface where applications can send and recieve information from facebook's system using a limited set of specific commands. Unfortunatley there is no free for all exchange - the commands are very specific.


Like many of my ideas, people laughed. And I do find this particular one quite funny.





Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here


raytaylor
4014 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #480758 13-Jun-2011 21:27
Send private message

Thought i would add

Can you imagine surfing the web through a proxy system where all html and images had to pass through a facebook comment? I can just imagine what a mess that persons wall would look like as they use their phone.




Ray Taylor

There is no place like localhost

Spreadsheet for Comparing Electricity Plans Here


johnr
19282 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user


  #480759 13-Jun-2011 21:28
Send private message

I was into CB / PRS radio

muppet
2568 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #480762 13-Jun-2011 21:32
Send private message

RealityClash: Hey all,

For the past few months I have been using Vodafone's 100MB a month for $10 prepay add-on just for doing things like email and the odd bit of web browsing on my HTC Wildfire and I noticed not long ago that I get free Facebook and Twitter with this add-on.

So this got me thinking, If someone had developed a proxy app that ran inside Facebook, would I then be able to use this app to access pretty much any web page for free through Facebook? If so, does anyone know of such app?

Thanks 


Technically, this could work, yes.  However you'd start pulling and pushing so much data quickly that Facebook's automated spam detection routines would be triggered and you'd get shutdown.
You're also tunnelling TCP over an application sitting again onto of TCP.  So your actual throughput would be pretty slow.

Easier to do would be via Twitter, at least a "bot army" that was following you could work in tandem to spit back replies to your "Tweets" requesting data.  Same problem as above, tunnelling TCP over an application over TCP applies.

Proof of concept: Yes.
Something actually useful: Probably not.




Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

 

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!


billgates
4705 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #480764 13-Jun-2011 21:34
Send private message

johnr: lets post this idea on a public forum!


and that too on a forum which is accessed by VF's engineers




Do whatever you want to do man.

  

muppet
2568 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

  #480765 13-Jun-2011 21:36
Send private message


Like many of my ideas, people laughed. And I do find this particular one quite funny.


Why? It's the answer to questions like this that let you bypass firewall, avoid corporate proxies etc as required.  I think it shows some decent thinking and is certainly more interesting than discussing another mobile phone price plan, ADSL price plan or something equally non-geeky and inane.

Edit: IMHO, of course.




Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

 

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!


Beccara
1469 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #480772 13-Jun-2011 21:54
Send private message

It's interesting from a security POV, With the zero-rating of many sites these days, Youtube/Facebook/Twitter/etc there will come a day where someone smart figures out how to pass normal traffic. It wouldn't be fast but a cheap VPS box in the states and you could torrent via it albeit slowly but unlimited.

From a corporate side it's another way out of the firewall and security, effectively a tunnel right over your security




Most problems are the result of previous solutions...

All comment's I make are my own personal opinion and do not in any way, shape or form reflect the views of current or former employers unless specifically stated 

quickymart
13935 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

  #480791 13-Jun-2011 22:47
Send private message

John - is there any way to turn off the notification about "three months free FB for Prepay!" when I access Facebook from the VF menu? I'm postpaid and find it rather annoying to have to click another link...can it be turned off? Surely people are aware of this by now :)

 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.