Copyright: ® 1997, David Smith


Internet Loafer

Part of AutoWinNet95, available from http://www.webcom.com/autownet

Author's EMail: autownet@webcom.com

FREEWARE

Internet Loafer is Copyright ©1997 by David Smith, All Rights Reserved

This application is free, and can be distributed by any medium, to anywhere, for any reason

Wanna include it on your shareware CDROM?  Go right ahead - I give full permission

FREEWARE

What's new in Version 2.0

- Now includes nice graphical interface.  Many improvements here, I think you'll like it!

- Greatly enhanced the "ping" processing and speed.  Now uses a purer "ping" from a different winsock library

- Rude comments when server is slow

Internet Loafer keeps you on the Internet while your computer is unattended.

Most Internet providers have an inactivity timeout.  They hang up after a few minutes if you do not do anything online.  So if you decide to read a news article off a web page, chances are you will hear a click if you read too long.

Internet providers do this so people do not call in and stay online forever.  Chances are you are paying for a dial-up account that supposedly has 24-hour access, but your provider will eventually hang up on you because it thinks you are not there.

Obviousy, a serious pain if you are reading a document, had to use the restroom or just got a phonecall.  When you come back, you have to press redial, and hope you can get logged in before all the phonelines are used up by other Internet customers.

Internet Loafer solves this problem by connecting to an Internet server every few seconds, tricking your provider into thinking you are busy at the computer.  Now you can take that phonecall or microwave a snack without worrying about your connection.

Note: Please do not use Loafer everytime you dial up.  If you hang out online for lots of hours everyday (for no reason), your provider will probably complain quickly, and may even cancel your account.  Dial-up customers typically have a rule in their providers agreement that says you can not be online constantly.

Internet Loafer features:

Ping a server at a customizable interval

A ton of options for nonstop ping, advanced timeout features, stop after # of pings

Convenient taskbar icon to keep it out of your way when minimized

Stop pinging, then restart at any time

Customizable site list

Ability to ping at random times or to random servers which avoids a server pattern

Customizable server, port, timeout, interval and actions to take when launched

Remembers your settings between sessions - no need to re-type

Detailed status and progress messages throughout the ping

Ability to ping extra times during processing

Emulates World Wide Web activitiy instead of just a "ping"

Intuitive, easy to use Windows 95 interface with attractive Explorer-type buttons

Internet Loafer controls

Ping Iinterval - How often to ping your server.

  Note: A minute or so should be often enough.  Do not over-do it.

Timeout (in seconds)- How long to wait for server response before giving up

Stop after - Ping XX number of times, then stop

Either Start Ping or Ping Now.   When you first startup, press Start Ping to begin processing.  Once running, you can press Ping Now at any time to do an extra ping.

Stop pinging.  You can press Start Ping again to resume.

Minimizing hides Internet Loafer in the taskbar

Close the application.  He may pause a second or so to cleanup the current connection.

Use your favorite sites!

Loafer defaults to a listing of 50 sites.  If you want to include your own custom site list, here's what you do:

Make a new file called SITES.TXT in your Loafer directory.

Add site names to it, one site per line.

You can include any web page server, but rememeber: just the server name.  No http or slash, or filenames.

Valid examples:

www.netrail.net

www.pygmy.com

www.bekkoame.or.jp

www.braintree.com

www.te.hik.se

www.igsnet.com

www.vironix.com

www.netsurf.org

www.eudora.com

www.wizzardsoftware.com

www.deadsys.com

www.diamondridge.com

Please do not include non-valid names, such as:

http://www.site.com   (the http:// should not be there)

If you're confused about what a valid site is, then do NOT create a SITES.TXT, and let Loafer use his defaults.  Enough invalid sites will seriously hose your Loafer sessions.

Right-Click Menu Commands:

(use your right mouse button to access these menu options at any time)

Restore Loafer

(see above)

Ping now

(see above)

Ping at random intervals

Disable the "interval of pings", and select a random number of seconds between 1 - 130.  The value is generated after every ping.

Ping rapid recovery

The moment he connects to the web server, he slams the connection shut, ignoring received data.  If you want a fast-whack on your web servers (use up very little winsock time), then check this option.

Randomly choose site

Select a random site from the combo box   (this also disables the site combo)

Ping and minimize on startup

If checked, he will immediately start pinging and hide in your taskbar.  No button pressing!

Rough pinging

Ping non-stop, very quickly…   If combined with Ping rapid recovery, you appear to be working really hard on the 'Net!    (If used too often though, your provider will charge into your house with a butcher knife)

Note: Pressing Stop or Close while this is turned on may cause a delay in halting the pings.  Please be patient…  Also - this hogs all winsock time, so if another Internet application is running, it probably will timeout.

On ping failure, change site

If a ping fails to connect, then change to the next available site from the "Ping Host" combo box.

Show animation

Wanna see some cute graphics?!

Bring to top on failure

When an error occurs, brings Loafer on top of any window you're working in.  This may get annoying!

Kill Loafer after 10 errors

Just what is says…

Track time statistics

Should he show you the cool stats?  (1.12 Seconds for this ping, and 3.11 seconds average)

Display Rude Comments

When a server is slow to respond, the Loafer will make a comment about this.  Comments include:

"Slow today, huh?"

"Someone fall asleep over there?"

"Bring some coffee and donuts!"

Quick Start:

Go ahead and dial up your Internet provider

When online with your internet provider, startup Internet Loafer and type 60 into the Ping every box (you want to ping the default server every 60 seconds)

He will immediately minimize into your Windows 95 taskbar, and be a yellow happy face.  After a few seconds, right click the happy face in your taskbar, and choose Restore Pinger.  If he was successful, you will see something similar to:

Connecting to www.shareware.com

Opening socket

Site successfully closed

Ping sent on 1/22/97 9:26:26 PM

In the grey status box.  This means he tried connecting with the server, connected, then disconnected with no problems.  If a problem does occur, the smiley face turns into Skull and Crossbones and whatever error happened will be detailed in the status box.

Important!  Please read!

Note: To remove the splash screen, put Loafer in your AutoWinNet95 directory.

I write on the Internet Loafer for relaxation after a stressful day at work.  If you don't like it, don't use it.  Any good suggestions will be used immediately and given full credit.  Any valid complaints will be acted upon and bugs fixed.  Any whining, moaning, bitching or cussing will deleted and no response given.

Yours,

- David Smith  (autownet@webcom.com)