Re: JSH: new prime factoring location

Richard Tobin wrote:
In article <46e36b5b$0$47111$892e7fe2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Mas Plak <spamless@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

http://www.geobytes.com/IpLocator.htm?GetLocation

There's no way to determine where a given IP address is located,
and the web site you mention is no exception.

-- Richard

Not quite.

One can determine from reverse DNS a qualified name -- including a TLD -- for any IP address. By definition, anything with a .uk TLD will exist in the United Kingdom. (The non CC-TLD's are a bit more complex).

Furthermore, from other auxiliary information, it is possible to determine the subnet from which a computer hails. For example, doing a whois query on my NNTP-Posting-Host reveals that my location is administered by a center in Reston, VA. From that data, one can conclude that my location is somewhere in the vicinity of said city. Doing a whois query on your host information reveals that your location is at the University of Edinburgh. Doing a whois query on JSH's IP address places him in the Bay Area subnet of Comcast.

It is however true that I can never pinpoint your exact location, but it is nearly always possible to place an IP address to within a metropolitan area.
.