Month: May 2024

I just discovered a clever trick that can be used to clear a negative DNS Cache entry. I sometimes need to do this if I try to use a DNS resource before I’ve actually created it. For example, when I start a new project, I often intend to use the hostname ‘app.mynewproject.com’ to run the application website. If I try to open this in a browser before creating the DNS entry, many DNS servers will cache the negative response (ie: app.mynewproject.com does NOT exist, so don’t ask the upstream server for it again), sometimes for a long time.

I’ve found that I can often create a CNAME record that points to the desired resource. When looking up the CNAME record, the authoritative server also sends the response for the record that was thought to be invalid. This must clear the cache, so a subsequent request to the previously negatively cached record then works. This is much faster than waiting for it to expire!

I’ve always found it a pain to copy Disney PhotoPass photos over to my Google Photos account. You have to download them individually (a huge pain), or in batches of zip files, which fails if you select too many, and when it does work, then have to be extracted. Finally, you can upload them to Google Photos.

So I built a small app that does it much easier. Just install the MousePhotos chrome extension. It reads in all of your photos without you having to download them. On the mousephotos site, you create an album and select your photos and it will copy them over to Google Photos in a couple minutes. You can make separate albums for separate trips pretty easily.

I realize it’s a pretty niche audience, but it saves me about 15-30 minutes of tedious work from each trip to Walt Disney World, so I think other people will find it useful as well. Get Started at MousePhotos.com. Use the coupon code ’roundsphere-friends’ for 50% off the posted prices.