Image Credits: eHow Here is the big disclaimer: If it is blocked, it means that you are not supposed to access the Website. Especially at work, if you use one of the methods listed here and get caught, you might lose your job!
8 Alternative but Innovative Ways to Access Blocked Sites
1. Screen-Resolution.com
Screen Resolution Checker is actually meant to check how a website looks in different resolutions. It works only on Internet Explorer, but surely a cool alternative way to access blocked sites. You can click on the internal links and navigate through the website.
2. BrowserShots.org
Browser Shots is similar to Screen resolution checker, but doesn’t support navigation through the website. It gives the static snapshots of the website URL you request for but can be useful to access those blocked websites which don’t need you to login to access the content. The snapshots given are of very high quality, and it would be of the whole page from header to footer.
3. Google Cache
Search engines like Google and Yahoo cache web pages and these cached pages are stored in search engines themselves, which likely will be added to the blocked list. Click on the ‘cache’ will bring you to a cached version of the page, as updated as for how Google caches it. I have seen many admins blocking the URL of Google cache itself, in that case, try yahoo or other search engines, they must work! Many of the schools, colleges and offices block their students/workers from accessing social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, Orkut, Myspace etc. One of the most widely used methods to access blocked websites is to use Proxies or Anonymizer websites. But using proxies is not easy and most of the times only the network admins will have access to it, and almost all the anonymizer sites gets blocked by firewall as well.
4. Online Translation Services
Online translation services like Yahoo BabelFish, Google Translate etc allows you to translate a website from one language to another and display the translated results on their own page.The trick here is to enter the URL (website you’re blocked), re-translate it even if you don’t need to and let Google or Yahoo fetch you the content! And again, if Yahoo and Google Translate are blocked, you can search for other alternatives!
5. Retrieve web pages via Email
Web2Mail is a free service that sends websites you want to read right into your inbox. All you need to do is send an email to www@web2mail.com with the URL as subject title. You can also try WebinMail. Update: The service is not active anymore.
6. Google mobile Cache
Use Google Mobile Search. Google displays the normal HTML pages as if you are viewing them on a mobile phone. During the translation, Google removes the javascript content and CSS scripts and breaks a longer page into several smaller pages.
7. Subscribe to RSS Feed
This might not work for all sites, but if the site you intended to visit provides RSS feeds, you can subscribe and read it with an RSS reader, or have it regularly send the contents to your email.
8. Wayback Machine
Wayback Machine is a internet service that periodically keeps a copy of almost all websites in the Internet way from the date they’re started. Clicking on the latest copy of what Wayback Machine should be somewhat similar to the real site. Another way to access blocked sites via caches. Not helpful always. Update:
9. Yauba
Yauba is tipped to be the World’s first Privacy Safe search engine. Yauba basically delinks your browser and the target website and routes all traffic through their servers. Thanks Hanson for the heads up. Do you know any other innovative and effective way to access blocked websites? Do you still prefer to use proxies? Some of the related posts on accessing blocked websites which you might be interested to know about:
Access Blocked Websites via Mobile Simulators UltraSurf – Access Any Blocked Site View Private Websites Safely at School/Work Access Blocked Websites by Bypassing URL Filtering Top 5 Free VPN Services
