WTV ARCHIVES: NEW TRICKS
Updated 12-4-99
This page, and the uninformed speculations contained within, 1999 ulTRAX@webtv.net.

NOTE: Tricks are presented chronologically, not by category.

MAIL2NEWS:
This is hardly a trick, just the well known method to post to NGs from mail. While this method has certainly been abused, it was of great benefit in the days before C&P to those who had mail files they wished to post. Unfortunately, this method is not always reliable.

mail2news-YYMMDD-alt.discuss.webtv.hacking@anon.lcs.mit.edu

Note: you must put the current date in the "YYMMDD" section... say, February 14 1999 = 990214. If you wish to cross-post, be sure to add a + sign between each NG name.

DECONSTRUCTING URLs
This is not a hacking trick per se, but it can reveal things in a webpage that the owner never intended anyone to find. Say if you have the URL www.webtv.com/secret/purple/next_gen.jpg Once you access this page try removing the last section so in the GoTo you'll have only the following: www.webtv.com/secret/purple/
This might be a web page or it might be an image directory. One can continue doing this: www.webtv.com/secret/ might reveal a hidden directory. The simple fact is one never knows what one may find.


HIDING HOMEPAGE DIRECTORIES
Using the example above if you were setting up the webpage "www.webtv.com/", by default this would also be your main directory. Anyone could access it (including all the files you did not wish to make public) by deconstructing your URLs. In order to hide your directory create a page called www.webtv.com/index. Now when someone tries to access www.webtv.com/, they will just get the page called "index" on which you can put anything you wish... including a note saying you won't find anything here using that old trick. This technique can also be used on any sub-directory.


GETTING WTV URLs
To get WTV URLs simply set up a page with a referrer such as mad rabbit on an F KEY. Then, whenever you are on a WTV page, hit that key. The URL should be in the bx at the top of the page. NOTE: There is a WTV bug that sometimes causes this (and other ) pages to misload. If you do not get the referrer box, hit CMD + R to reload.

TEXT to SPEECH CODE:
Here used as an embed.

<embed src="http://www.bell-labs.com/cgi-user/tts/voicestts-nj?voice=man&text=ninety+percent+of+the+universise+is+missing+are+you+curious+where+it+might+be+hiding&audio=.wav" autostart=true>

ANIMATION TRACERS: Determinator/March 98
This cool HTML trick left trace images of animated gifs when used in a table.
<html><table background border=10><tr><td align=center><img src="https://members.tripod.com/~edoku/key3d.gif" width=150></tr></td></table>

NOSAVE OVER-RIDE: mattman69/Summer 98
This trick can be used to "save" to FAVs those WTV pages using the "display nosave" tag.
1: While on the page you want saved, go directly to a regular webpage that ordinarily could be saved.
2: While there, hit "save". The Save panel will come up.
3: Then hit "save" twice in rapid sucession.
4: Immediately hit "back". The Save Panel should come up on the page you want to save.
5: Pick a FAV folder and hit "Return".

NOSEND OVER-RIDE: mattman69/Summer 98
This trick can be used to "send" to another (or yourself) those WTV pages using the "display nosend" tag.
1: While on the page you want send, go directly to a regular webpage that ordinarily could be sent.
2: While there, hit "send". The Send Panel will come up.
3: Then hit "send" twice in rapid succession.
4: Immediately hit "back". The Send Panel should come up on the page you want to save.
5: Choose and address and hit "Return".

EXTRA FAVORITE FOLDERS: wtv-wizard/summer 98
Wizard writes: "The trick bypassed the 20 folder limit by directly accessing the form's action on the add-folder page. The url/command was:

<wtv-favorite:/commit-add-folder?new-folder-name=_______"> (fill in the blanks and repeat as often as desired).

This could be accessed without being in favorites at all. In fact, it even worked as an embed... as MirrororriM discovered, much to the dismay of those who read his post. It created a FAV folder saying one had been hacked.

form action="wtv-favorite:/commit-add-folder" method="get"><input type=hidden name="favorite-folder-name" value=""><input type=text name="new-folder-name" value="Folder"><input type=submit value="add">

CREATE EXTRA FOLDERS (more than 20):
This trick uses the basic add-folder code to create possibly an unlimitd number of extra folders in each user. Word is WTV is trying to kill this trick. This Trick uses the FIND method, which WTV has removed in the Spring '99 BugFix upgrade. It may work with the SPELL Trick, but that Trick was killed by the Grunge upgrade.

C&P this code into your FIND box... be sure to add a Folder Name:

""action="wtv-favorite:/commit-add-folder?new-folder-name=ADD_NAME

Hit ENTER. You'll get an error notice.
Hit FIND twice. The FIND Box will disappear, then pop back up.
Hit ENTER and the new folder will be created.

RETURN TO DEMO: golden-post:/October 98
Though DEMO may be a retail function inseperable from each of our boxes, WTV had found a way to stop our access with the Summer 98 Upgrade. This new trick used the wtv-head-waiter:/login command as an embed or bgsound in the Stock page. The original method I learned involved bringing up the GoTo panel as the new page was loading, typing in some nonsense, then hitting "return". A simpler method involved just hitting "back" as the new page loaded.

DISABLE HTML IN RECENT PANEL Golden-Post/October 98
If this codes is used in the Subject line of a post or letter, the reader will have all the HTML in their RECENT box disabled, revealing the code.
</textarea>?=")}}</table></td></a><xmp> OR </textarea>?=")}}</table></td><xmp>

GETTING DNS NAMES FOR WTV IPs: ecwfrk2/October 98
In October 98 the realization hit that all WTV IPs on the Client:ShowServices list had DNS equivalants. ECW discovered that the could get these names from http://beacon.webtv.net a Ping utility WTV had set up for ISPs. Simply enter the numerical IP into the box. Do not use the Port numbers.
DISABLE HTML IN RECENT PANEL METHOD 2: MasterDon/January 99
An easier way still to disable the HTML code in the RECENT Box is to use this code: ")<xmp> in the subject area... then mail the letter.

DECODING FILE:// PAGES: eat_meimacookie/1-29-99
This technique has proven to be one of the biggest discoveries yet. It has opened up the Plus HD so we can finally see it's File structure. What the technique does is allow us to see all the subdirectoires contained in a directory. From there we can use those subdirectory names to get the next level. At some point we end up with a final file, be it a midi, a image, a html page, or raw code. Just keep in mind that what you see will probably seem like pure "jibberish".
Try to access FILE://DISK/BROWSER/TV/IR/ . To do so C&P this code:

="" action="FILE://DISK/BROWSER/TV/IR/"

and use the FIND METHOD. When you access it, you get this mess:

S'%.. S'%.GROUP-UPDATEROUP-~1 S'%Acabcodes.datCABCODESDAT$S'%cAvcrco!des.datVCRCODESDAT/S'%=Asatcodes.datSATCODESDAT1S'%oƁAcabnames.datCABNAMESDAT2S'%nMAvcrnames.datVCRNAMESDAT4S'%y'Asatnames.datSATNAMESDAT5S'%xAdelayr.datDELAY DAT5S'%

But, note there are real words embeded in this jibberish.

Take those words and add them to the original URL to get:
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/delay.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/satnames.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/vcrnames.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/cabnames.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/cabcodes.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/satcodes.dat/
file://disk/browser/tv/ir/vcrcodes.dat/

Note: at times you may get a error message saying the file "contains a type of information WTV can not use". If you get this just try adding a backslash or two on the end of the directory or URL. Also, not all Plus HD have the same directories. For example, if you do not have DOOM loaded on your HD, no matter how much you try to access FILE://DISK/DOOM/, you will only get error popupssaying the file is missing a publisher's address.

AVOIDING TV ADS DURING LOGIN: ?/99?
This was posted in the a.d.webtv.improve and it seems to have been around for a while.
To avoid ads go to Phone Setup (217 Power-off) and select the Audible Dialing option.
A less elegent way is to log on though the 411 Tech Info Page. While the power is off hit 411, then power on, then connect.

CHANGING SITEMETER (Web Counter) CODE TO GET WTV REFERRERS: ulTRAX/May '99
Some of you Plus users might remember that up until last Summer sites like the Transloader and Mad Rabbit that provided referrers could not pick up WTV URLs. It was that time that both sites changed from using the javascript document.referrer command to history.previous.

Unfortunately, popular webpage hit counters that collect referrers also have this problem. If people get to our sites though mail or NG links, these counters fail to pick up the referrer but instead assign the visitor into the "null" or "undetermined" category. This is hardly of any use to us. For example take the javacript version of SiteMeter's counter:

<!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" startspan ALT="Site Meter" --> <script language="JavaScript"> document.write("<a href=\"http://www.sitemeter.com/"); document.write("stats.asp?site=ulTRAX\" target=_top>"); document.write("<img src=\"http://www.sitemeter.com/"); document.write("meter.asp?site=ulTRAX"); document.write("&refer="+escape(DOCUMENT.REFERRER)); document.write("&hours="+(new Date()).getHours()); document.write("&minutes="+(new Date()).getMinutes()); document.write("\" border=0 alt=\"Site Meter\"></a>"); </script> <!--WEBBOT bot="HTMLMarkup" Endspan -->

Note the DOCUMENT REFERRER command in caps. To get WTV URLs simply replace that command with "HISTORY.PREVIOUS". This code change has been authorized by SiteMeter.

DELETE COOKIES: JHodgeCMI(JayHodge)/June '99
A year ago someone discovered that individual Cookies could be deleted... but it was a time consuming job requiring a return to each of he domains that placed them and having javascript to reset their clock. Unfortunately, Javacript was removed in the summer 98 upgrade.

After over a year of WTV saying one's Cookie List could not deleted, Jay Hodge discovered a simple command that deletes one's entire Cookie List. Before you use this trick be aware that some of your Cookies might contain PWs and site preference settings that you might have to reenter. Give how Cookies have been abused by ad hucksters to invade our privacy and collect information on us... reconfiguring a site or two is a small price.

Before you try delete your list you might want to check your list using the well known wtv-cookie:/list trick.

The deletion code is wtv-cookie:/reset. Jay used the SPELL method above but for those of you who not yet have the BugFix upgrade, it also works with the FIND and SUBJECT methods.

After you use the code you should check back with your Cookie List. You should get a pop-up saying there is no information at that page. But if you then visit a site known to issue cookies, such as Tripod, and recheck the Cookie List you'll notice a new entry: www.tripod.com.

Jay tells his story this way: "I was at your site and learned of the 'spell-trick' and.... then the code came up about how to 'check' your Cookies [List]. I thought if we can check... we can eliminate!!! Late the other night after one hour of 'playing' with codes, I went to bed...the next morning when I tried to get into one of 'my' sites that used a 'cookie' I had to go through the password drill like I had just signed up. I 'knew' I had just seen the cookie-- went and did the cookie:/list but they were all gone!!! So, I tried to replicate the codes I'd used--and when I got the pop-up window that said "There is no Webpage available or other info"--I knew I had it."