DNS or IP ident

DNS or IP ident

[Wes Groleau]

Looking for apps for Windows XP and Mac OS X
that when double-clicked, will display the
user's IP address on screen, OR will identify
the host to DNS.  Or both.

This is for a first-time computer user on
dialup DHCP to receive services from a tech
support person.

Tech support can push assistance to the client,
but only if the client provides an IP address
or a name for DNS lookup.

Not very picky about implementation,
but would _prefer_ compilable Ada source
(other language and/or precompiled is OK)
and for the DNS option, would prefer to
read the hostname from a config file,
but a GUI for input is OK.

-- 
Wes Groleau
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau

Re: DNS or IP ident

[Wes Groleau]

I wrote:
> Looking for apps .... identify
> the host to DNS.  ....

I know about  http://www.dns2go.com  and
that would be fine except that to use it,
one must agree to accept what most would
otherwise consider large amounts of spam.

-- 
Wes Groleau
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau

Re: DNS or IP ident

[Adrian Knoth]

Wes Groleau <wesgroleau@despammed.com> wrote:

> Looking for apps for Windows XP and Mac OS X
> that when double-clicked, will display the

Symbolic link (how is it called in m$-term?) to winipcfg. The current
IP is shown. I don't know whether this tool is still in XP, in 9x it is.

> This is for a first-time computer user on
> dialup DHCP to receive services from a tech
> support person.

Other approach: let the user visit a website. This could be done by
an icon on the desktop. Let this website be user-specific. Take a
look at your server-log and this is the IP.

Other stupid approach: guide the user to http://adi.thur.de, hope he's
not using a proxy and let him tell you the IP shown at the bottom :)

Way #2342: Write your own crippled client-server-app. It is nothing
more than opening a socket and the server should tell you the remote IP.

> Tech support can push assistance to the client,

Ask for physical address, I guess this would be faster :) (knowing those
ugly remote-telephone-support-talks)

BTW: What's wrong with dyndns? I'm also using it but there is nothing
like spam. Do you need to register with a valid email-address? Does
it have to be a human address? Ask your local sendmail-admin to
provide trash@yourdomain.com as a direct link to /dev/null.


-- 
mail: adi@thur.de  	http://adi.thur.de	PGP: v2-key via keyserver

Was passiert wenn ich... #%(!%#%#@@%$#*^@(@#$!#*$NO CARRIER

Re: DNS or IP ident

[Wes Groleau]

> Way #2342: Write your own crippled client-server-app. It is nothing
> more than opening a socket and the server should tell you the remote IP.

Thanks, Adrian.  I could end up doing that, but
I was trying to avoid doing something that (may
have been) already done.  Your other suggestions
sound good, and I will study them further.

"Tech support" is me and my iMac and OS X....

The "client" is my 71-year-old father who got conned into buying
Windows XP for the first computer he ever had.  He doesn't
type, has no practice with a mouse, and doesn't know "window"
from "rectangle on the screen with stuff inside."  Considerable
confusion reigned for a few minutes when I said cursor (meaning
text insertion point) and they thought I meant "the little arrow
that moves when you move the mouse."  They finally downloaded
their e-mail last night after having the computer for four weeks
and being on the phone with me for seven plus hours (not all at once).

By the way, they have a supposedly new Earthlink account,
they've only given the address to less than ten close relatives,
they've sent out e-mails only to those relatives, yet their first
download was 65 messages, sixty of them porno or get-rich spams.

But I'm wondering off of our Ada topic.....

-- 
Wes Groleau
http://freepages.rootsweb.com/~wgroleau

Re: DNS or IP ident

[Will]

http://www.geocities.com/wv9557/

Wes Groleau <wesgroleau@despammed.com> wrote in message news:<3C8E7D33.7988C01E@despammed.com>...
> Looking for apps for Windows XP and Mac OS X
> that when double-clicked, will display the
> user's IP address on screen, OR will identify
> the host to DNS.  Or both.
> 
> This is for a first-time computer user on
> dialup DHCP to receive services from a tech
> support person.
> 
> Tech support can push assistance to the client,
> but only if the client provides an IP address
> or a name for DNS lookup.
> 
> Not very picky about implementation,
> but would _prefer_ compilable Ada source
> (other language and/or precompiled is OK)
> and for the DNS option, would prefer to
> read the hostname from a config file,
> but a GUI for input is OK.