How to read a blocked URL
Some places of work may block sites like BlogSpot (Blogger) as part of their IT policy, so how to you read these sites now that they are blocked.
Bookmarklets
Bookmarklets are no good as you have to be at the blog HTML page, and this is our problem as any URL with “Blogspot” has been blocked.
Here are some bookmarklets for reference anyway:
Grazr Preview, RSS Preview Blum…I’m sure there are many other bookmarkets out there.
Not sure if these 2 preview feed content: Extract, Feed URL Locator.
RSS Reader
Simple, use an RSS Reader…but this is a committment.
Another way is non-committal feed grazing, see below.
XML version
You can’t read the xml version of the Blogspot blog as it will have “Blogspot” in the URL, but if it has a Feedburner feed then you are in luck.
RSS Grazing
Otherwise you can use an RSS grazing service like 2RSS, just enter the feed of the Blogspot blog and see the latest posts.
Feed Meme’s Simple Ajax Feed Reader (and exposed version) does the same thing, or enter the feed URL into Grazr.
What about finding the feed URL in the first place in order to graze it
It’s not always easy to find the feed for a blog, try something like allinurl:feedblitz xml (see the 5th hit).
Google Blog search doesn’t promote the feed URL.
Technorati doesn’t promote the feed URL of a blog.
Actually didn’t Yahoo! web search always list the XML URL of a web page where available?
Bloglines does infact enable you to search for feeds, and you can even preview the feed contents…they have my native feed and not my Feedburner feed listed 
View RSS version of a post permalink
These feed grazing methods above will only help for the latest posts, what about a random post from a year ago, how can you read the RSS version of this post.
eg. in your search results is a post from a year ago, but when you click on it, it is blocked as it has “Blogspot” in the URL.
Even if you feed graze the feed of this blog, it will only show 20 or so latest posts at the most, and the post you want to read is about 300 posts ago.
I don’t know of a way yet, this brings us back to RSS archiving, ie. a permalink for the RSS version of every post.
Solution
Bitty to the rescue, remember that old chestnut.
This service allows you to enter a URL, feed, podcast feed or OPML, and you can read the contents within this mini browser. They even make it easier by providing easy ways to enter OPML’s or feeds eg. if you don’t know your del.icio.us feed, just enter your username in the del.icio.us box provided and Bitty will discover it for you.
Another feature is that you can grab a widget for your blog sidebar already set on the feed, OPML, etc…page of your choice. If visitors want to enter in their own OPML and RSS they can also do that.
The main difference Bitty has over other OPML Readers like Grazr, is that you can actually read a HTML page in this mini browser, and that’s just what has saved the day.
This post, http://3spots.blogspot.com/2006/06/feedmeme-online-public-rss-readers-and.html may be blocked in some workplaces as it has “Blogspot” in the URL.
Well enter that URL in the Bitty Browser where it says “Enter a URL or search term”, then click on “>>”, then click “Open it Squeezed” (skip the ads), and there you have it, you have a work around to read a URL that is blocked.
[ADDED 22/05/07: Phonfier is an even better solution]
[ADDED 5/06/07: Mowser is the best yet]
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Hi John,
aren’t anonymising services (proxies) a better way here?
One I frequently use is anonymouse.org, e.g. :
http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://libraryclips.blogsome.com/2007/05/09/how-to-read-a-blocked-url/
BTW: strictly speaking, the domain is in the url here (in the request parameter) but that’s no different for the phonifier frame in the bitty browser.
Comment by Pascal Van Hecke — June 5, 2007 @ 10:19 pm
Pascal,
Not sure how all this blocked stuff works, I thought it was blocking words that appear in a URL, but then the word “blogspot” is still in the mobile browser, but is not blocked.
Same with Facebook, I can get to the Facebook homepage…problem is that when I login in, it fails and asks me to enable cookies, but they are already enabled.
That service you shared is blocked for me, so far the mobile browser is my best option.
How do those proxy services work, do they try and trick the proxy and bypass it?
For others some other mobile browsers are:
IYHY http://www.iyhy.com/
Skweezer http://www.skweezer.net/
Comment by Johnt — June 6, 2007 @ 2:00 am
A “proxy” is a generic name for a machine that puts itself between your computer and a machine on the internet (the web server of a site that you’re visiting).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server
From what I understand, there’s a proxy server at your work that filters out blocked domains…
A proxy can have other functions as well, such as passing through and even anonymizing your traffic, and that’s what I was referring to… In your case, you bypass the filter function of your company proxy by using other proxies on the web (mowser etc…), whose original intent is nog anonymising traffic but making html readable in Bitty Browser or mobile devices.
Services like anonymouse.org or anonymizer.com have as single goal passing through traffic without revealing your ip address and other details to the destination site. Because these services are a popular way of circumventing company filters (by company proxies), most of the time they’re blocked as well…
Comment by Pascal Van Hecke — June 6, 2007 @ 10:59 am
Thanks Pascal,
How does this blocking happen, is it when it see’s a particular word appear in a URL?
If it is I don’t get it, as when using mowser blogspot blogs don’t get blocked, yet the word blogspot is still in the URL
Comment by Johnt — June 7, 2007 @ 1:29 am
Pascal,
Reason cookies has been disabled at Mowser
http://my.mowser.com/forum/topic/show?id=700984%3ATopic%3A1142&page=1&commentId=700984%3AComment%3A1167
Comment by Johnt — June 7, 2007 @ 8:21 am
No, they normally block a domain name… some blogspot.com might be blocked, whereas Mowser is still unknown to the censors
(even if it has blogspot.com in the request url)
Comment by Pascal Van Hecke — June 7, 2007 @ 8:47 am