Your IP Address is 38.107.179.244

What is an IP address?

Every time you connect a device to the Internet, it is assigned a unique number to identify it from all of the other connected devices around the world. This number is called an Internet Protocol (IP) address and it consists of four numbers separated by periods, which is why the IP address is sometimes called a 'dotted-quad'. You have probably seen IP addresses but you may not have recognized them. They look like 127.0.0.1.

These numbers of the IP address are commonly assigned to internet service providers within defined region-based blocks.  Because of this an IP address is often used to identify the particular region or country where the computer is connecting to the Internet from. While the IP address is not a good method for precisely locating an Internet user, it can be used to find the user's general location.

The human mind has a greater ability to remember words than a numeric sequence so common practice dictates that the numbers of many IP addresses are also assigned to a Host name. Host names can be substituted for IP addresses, and vice-versa, allowing users to easily connect to their ISP.

In the past, ISP's would issue one IP address to each user. The practice continues today but these static IP addresses are now an additional service that costs extra. The change was initiated because the limited number of IP addresses, combined with increased internet use, created a situation where the available IP addresses would have quickly run out.

To resolve this situation, ISP's came up with Dynamic IP addresses where IP addresses are issued from a pool of IP addresses belonging to the ISP, using DHCP. While the switch to dynamic IP addresses has put some limits on the abilities of the average user to host websites, mail servers, FTP servers, etc., the average user will never notice the missing functionality because virtual hosting allows them to use a single machine with multiple domain names and IP addresses.

Internet anonymity

One of the biggest issues in the digital realm is Internet anonymity as it relates to the subject of internet privacy and its related issues. Internet anonymity is generally thought of as the method people use to communicate and conduct business on the Internet while protecting their real world identity.  With the prevalence of identity theft on the rise, being able to control your own internet anonymity is of supreme importance.

The information revealed by the user is controlled by the individual.  Obviously, personal information is a major concern, but maintaining Internet anonymity goes much farther than just protecting the users name and other personal information.  Internet anonymity also includes protecting the identifying information of the users computer and location as well. Maintaining ones Internet anonymity means using the resources of the Internet without providing other users the ability to associate your web activity or personal information with you.

 Internet anonymity is a hot topic of discussion and several risks to personal privacy are perpetually brought into the conversation. Cookies are, by far, the most well known and hated privacy risks. Stored texts that are relayed to your web browser with information about websites that have been visited, cookies are stored on the computer’s server and reopened every time that specific website is revisited. While these cookies make it possible to download the page faster and authenticate your sessions, the stored cookies present a risk to your security by storing specific information about you, such as preferences, passwords, log-in IDs and your electronic shopping cart information.  Because of this, many Internet anonymity experts recommend very strict programs for the accepting of cookies or blocking cookies altogether.

Advocates for Internet anonymity often argue that they are proponent of free speech on the Internet because anonymity allows Internet users the ability to freely express themselves without fear of repercussions. They claim that Internet anonymity is vital to online discussions and forums, especially when these discussions relate to personal questions or topics.  In these forums, many of those who participate might be dissuaded if they were required to admit who or where they are. The importance of such anonymity is often related to discussions such as medical forums where patients may ask medical questions of doctors or others who suffer from their condition. In cases where these topics might be of a highly personal nature, the people asking the questions on the forum might not seek traditional medical advice because of embarrassment. Internet anonymity allows them the chance to seek advice and get help while keeping their personal information confidential.  Advocates for Internet anonymity also claim that it is absolutely necessary for the transmission of confidential information.  In recent news, the Internet is even being used to fight crime as illegal activities and criminal behavior are being reported to authorities via the Internet because it gives the witnesses and reporters the security needed to offer their testimony.

Unfortunately, there are two sides to every story. Opponents have brought up that there are those who would abuse their privilege of anonymity and that it fosters illegal activities.  Spamming, the common name for the bulk sending of unsolicited email, is the most common abuse of Internet anonymity. While most spam emails are simply the irritating but non-threatening junk mail of the Internet, documented cases of spam being used to promote hate-speech, threats, and harassment are well known. The ability of spammers to remain hidden behind their wall of Internet anonymity has made it impossible to eliminate this threat from the Internet. Anonymity has another dark side in the protection it offers for criminals and sexual predators to pursue their crimes online using forums and discussions groups to protect their identity while they target their prey over the Internet.

The plain truth about Internet anonymity is the fact that it will be a long standing discussion.  In the mean time, Internet users can, and should, take proper precautions with their identity, preferences, and IP addresses, if anonymity is something they are concerned with.  Since so many people are closely concerned with these issues, disabling cookies has become a built in option for many web browsers, including Mozilla Firefox and Opera, which offer the option of automatically deleting all cookies when you close the browser. In fact, every user of the Internet needs to be aware of what information they are providing on the Internet, including online screen names and profiles, to protect their identity and Internet anonymity.

What is a Server Header Check?

Commonly referred to as a server header check, the Server Header Check tool calculates a range of useful browsing results. These can vary and are tailored to take on board the information you are seeking. When the URL is entered, the tool will display information including Character Set, Content Type, the date of last modification, the details of the server, status code, set cookie and X-Powered-By.

When you are familiar with the workings of each of these things, the relevance of the information that will be contained in the results becomes clear. These things are useful for assessing the headers of a URL, which could be required for any number of reasons. One such reason may be that the user wishes to know the type of server being used and whether cached files are used. In the case where you run a website yourself, you may find this tool useful in checking that your site's status code creates the right response for visitors.