title: How can I simulate a 'down' website?
body: <p>I am writing some failover code so that if my desktop app cannot connect to its website, it can instead try a backup website.</p>
  
  <p>However, I cannot seem to figure out how to simulate a test if a website is 'down' or not. If I try an obvoiusly incorrect url such as "http://www.mybadsite.badTLD" , my ISP provider sends me to a default catch page. </p>
  
  <p>Whereas when a site is truly down and you cannot connect to it, you get the browser message saying it cannot connect. This is what I need to emulate.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks</p>