Play Detective With URLInfo

Did you know:

• that Linux.com is running on Unix?
• that Lifehacker calls its publishing system ganja?
• that there is a secret job opportunity hidden in every page of Web Worker Daily?
• that Google runs on a customized Apache server called GFE?
• that Google Analytics site uses Google Analytics itself to track visitors?
  

How did we find these goodies? Well, read along to find it.

URLInfo is a new web application that gives you information retrieved from a web-server's header data, the kind of data that normally web browsers hide from you. These data headers provide a lot of information like the server OS, the web server software, and a number of custom tags. Apart from these header information, URLInfo also gives you the time it took to get the reponse, the data size of the response obtained, the images contained within the page and the number of external and internal links.

How can you use this application for your benifit?

1. First, it is pure fun.
   eg: see the the header data of WebWorkerDaily.com here. It says: X-hacker If you're reading this, you should visit automattic.com/jobs and apply to join the fun, mention this...
   Clearly, the people who made the website for WebWorkerDaily thought that anyone smart enough to look into there server tags would be worth hiring!
2. It gives you an idea of the server, OS and the platform used by the website.
   eg: the header data of DailyGyan.com, shows that the server type is GFE/1.3, which is an indication that it is hosted by blogger.com. See this page for a list of server types that Google uses.
   
3. Gives an idea of the tracking software that the website uses.
   It told us that Google is not using any tracking software, but Google Analytics is using itself!
4. It gives you an idea about the response time of the server. Use it to check the conditions before and after optimizing your site.

What other uses did you find? Did you find any easter eggs in any website using this? Share with us in the comments.