Ms Stealing Traffic

Well, I am not exactly sure where to place this thread, but since Microsoft has chosen to effectively steal bandwidth and traffic from millions of websites (including CelticRadio.net), it would seem appropriate to place it in our technical support thread.

About 6 months ago I decided to create customized error pages so that visitors and members would receive a nicely formatted error code rather than just a plain white page and nasty error code.

A few months ago I noticed that my 404 error code page was actually going back to a microsoft generated page with a link to msn search! I thought something was mis-configured on the server and I would fix it later. The only problem is that on linux the 404 error page was coming up just fine.

Turns out that Microsoft has made changes to their web browser, so that they are effectively stealing all 404 traffic unless the 404 error page is greater than 512kb and is not dynamically produced! Here is an article that describes it in more detail:

Microsoft Traffic Theft Article

So, after some configuration and work for the past hour we have managed to combat microsoft and reclaim our 404 error page.

Here is an example of our 404 error code:

http://www.celticradio.net/php/play.php

Now we can start reclaiming all of that lost traffic!

Just another reason not to like Whimp Gates.

Now, if I can only get Dell to install Linux in my new computer I'll be ordering.

Sucks doesn't it! I discovered this note when studying Apache docs on how to set up a custom 404. Mine is 1717 bytes, no Microfluff theft here =) Another place where IE doesn't follow the standard, and sucks for it

Well it is just not right. I setup a beautiful script that takes the error code as a variable and passes to the code which then looks in the database for the custom error specs.

So, and this is only for 404, I had to create a special htm file (not php) that has 512kbs of comments and then I did a javascript redirect to the proper error php page.

For some reason it would not allow me to do this in php. Probably another constraint Microsoft has placed on the browser.

another reason I don't like ie
and there're several "ie hijack" cases
that you even can't use regedit

I've noticed that the hijacking of web pages seems to be an increasing problem--one that is no longer limited to spammers and hackers. Seems like the "smartest man in the world" would have enough brains to figure out that annoying his customers this way is not the way to build lasting relationships.

If this is such a problem, why not switch gears to Netscape or Mozilla? Would it be that hard? I'm just getting started in studying JavaScript, so I'm not sure how hard it would be.

this is not that easy
1. almost all webpage are just for IE
2. migration from IE to mozilla is not that easy, IE is just with windows, and installation mozilla is not that easy, and plugins as well
mozilla is mainly for advanced users, the most powerful feature is popup management and full functional mail filter option

I am all-time netscape user, it's easy to migrate to mozilla

Bah, a website that is only viewable in IE is one that does not belong online IMHO. If it follows standards, it'll be viewable in more than IE. If it doesn't, it's broken and needs to be fixed. "Just for IE" . . . "Just for the recycle bin."... Pages may be developed with IE, but I have seen very few websites that didn't work just fine in Mozilla. As for the difficulty on installation.... It's probably easier in Windows, but I must admit, plugin management is a bit of a pain.

From my limited knowledge, HTML should work the same on any graphical browser. JavaScript is another story. There are standards, but development can lean toward stuff that works on one browser and not as reliably on another. So I can imagine the hardest part would be parsing through all the JavaScript to ensure that it all works both ways.

BTW: Mingkee, Mozilla is not really all that different from Netscape. They both use the Gecko engine and have pretty much the same look and feel as well as functionality. I actually find Mozilla works a bit better.

The whole idea behind Java, as I recall, was to be completely platform-independant. Write once, run anywhere. . .

Not to be pedantic or to Lazarus this thread but JavaScript is not Java. While the later is pretty much platform independent (write once, test everywhere), JavaScript is dependent on the environment in which it's run. So the javascript environment for IE 3 is different than IE 4, 5 or 6 and completely incompatible with Netscape 4.7x and nothing at all like Opera. While the basics of the language (looping, decision making, etc behave the same, it is inconsistent across browsers how to reference the HTML objects.

Yes, I just found this out tonight while trying to dynamically turn off the address, toolbar, etc. from the browser. It can be done with netscape using something like this:

But this does not work with IE.

Came across this mugshot of our favorite buddy, Bill Gates, in his younger days. He was pulled over for running a stop light and didn't have his license with him, requiring him to be taken to the station and booked.

he doesn't look terribly unhappy about it, does he?