Don't let DNS get between you and your Daily Kos.
If your computer already knows the IP address for Daily Kos it won't need to go ask DNS and risk getting no answer.
Instructions follow for how to hardcode your local host file to avoid DNS lookups for known hosts.
For Windows Users. Unix-brand users have a similar file in a different location, but you know that already if you use any flavor of Unix.
Use any ASCII text editor to modify the file
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
There is no extension for this file, and you must ensure that no extension gets added by your editor.
Simply append this line to the bottom of the file on a line all by itself.
69.9.161.200 www.dailykos.com
CAVEATS - potential gotchas.
- MOST IMPORTANT. Which ever editor you use, be sure to save as file type "All files (*.*)". You must not save this file with a three-letter extension or Windows will not be able to find it. Notepad will want to append a TXT three-letter extension by default. You have to select "All files (*.*)" as the file type to save. Similar behavior with wordpad, which will suggest a DOC extension.
- Since there is no three-letter extension for this file, Windows will not know which program it should use to open it. Open Notepad manually and navigate to the file.
- If you want to go in through Windows Explorer, you may have to unhide the windows/system32 folder because Windows XP (most common) hides these folders by default. After unhiding the system folders, right click on the hosts file and choose Open. Windows will ask you to choose the program to use from a list. You can use notepad or wordpad.
- If Kos's IP address ever changes, you will need to a) remove this line from the hosts file, or b) update it with the changed IP address.