19th April 2002

As I fall asleep every night, I can't help but wonder if I'm six IP addresses away from Kevin Bacon? That's the way my mind (and the Internet) works. When you send an instant message to a friend, pull up a Web page, or download your e-mail, you're establishing a network connection with a remote computer. These connections are cached; the next time you reach out to touch someone, the communication will be quicker. Sometimes, as Lockergnomie Brian Kowald points out, it's proper to flush this cache. Windows 2000 / XP users are well aware of IPCONFIG, the command line network tool. It's time to switch on the switches! Use "/flushdns" (sans quotes) to clear the stored connection data. Use this when your Internet connection is working, but one or two locations aren't resolving. You also might consider doing this before you walk away from the computer (to cover your tracks). So, how can someone see where you've been recently? IPCONFIG, in conjunction with the "/displaydns" switch, will tell all. Now, do you miss the GUI- driven WINIPCFG? You'll want to get WNTIPCFG, which can easily be found through Google.