Finch.

Unclogging the tubes.

New and improved under the hood! To get started, just type the URL (Web address) you want to go to:
http://
Take the survey | Finch Bookmarklet | Encrypted Version
Read about Finch on LifeHacker, MakeUseOf, Digital Inspiration, and PC.com.

What does Finch do?

Finch makes slow Internet bearable, by stripping away the fat of web pages, leaving just the content. It takes out CSS, images, flash, metadata, iframes and more, meaning less for your computer to load. For example, the New York Times homepage, with external images and scripts, weighs in at a whopping 5396 KB. Finch reduces that to just over 2KB, squeezing it to 00.03% of the size*.

Why use Finch?

Maybe you're browsing the Web on your mobile, or on your PC through your mobile, and you're outside your 3G coverage area. Maybe you're in the country, or somewhere that doesn't have ADSL. Maybe you're near your data limit for the month, or you've passed it and your internet's been slowed. In all of these cases and more, if you need straight info and you need it fast, Finch is the way to go.

What doesn't Finch do?

Make you coffee. Pages viewed through Finch also won't run JavaScript, so AJAX apps like facebook definitely won't work, and at this stage sites using cookies won't function properly, meaning you won't be able to log in.

How else can I do it?

As an alternative to Finch in situations where you can install software on your computer, you can install lynx or links if you're familiar with the command line, or Opera Mini.

Can I use Finch to look at nasty things?

No. While finch acts as a proxy, it passes on your real identity to the server in X-Forwarded-For and X-Finch-Identity headers.

Credits

I probably owe a big thanks in the inspiration of Finch to my school's IT department, and their craptacular Internet speeds. Finch is written in the Python programming language, and uses Google App Engine's WebOb framework. To parse the (X)HTML DOM, we use Beautiful Soup.

The Rules

The following is a summary of rules imposed by Google on applications running on its App Engine service.
Anything you view using Finch must not be:
  1. Infringing copyright
  2. Pornographic or offensive
  3. Content related to hate, hacking, gambling or drugs
  4. Content related to any other illegal activity
  5. In violation of the Google App Engine Program Policies
  6. Anything else particularly nasty

*Approximate values. Measured with Apple Safari Developer Tools on 24 April 2009. © 2008-2009 Adam Brenecki.