Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Safari

Download it with Firefox and it's borked. Download it with Safari, and it's fine. Huh?

electric_counterpoint — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:00:19 -0800

Download a certain program with Firefox and a key feature is broken. Download it with Safari, and it runs fine. Howzzat? My school requires students to use Exam4, a sort of hobbleware text editor, for exams. It has different modes, which control just how hobbled your computer is. In all but one mode, the internet connection is disabled to prevent cheating. On Macs, starting an exam in these modes brings up a login box to authorize Exam4 to disable the computer's ethernet adapters at some low level.

For the longest time, when I would enter my credentials to do this, it would fail to disable my connection. (It would also fail to bring up the actual text editor, so I was never able to enhance my GPA with my 1337 h4X -- instead, I just managed to avoid any exam that forbade Internet access).

This time, tech support diagnosed my problem right off -- they told me to download the file again, but this time to use Safari. Sure enough, it worked straight away. My question is, how could the browser possibly affect a downloaded executable such that it would install and open just fine, but have one feature broken?

For what it's worth, the file is downloaded as a zipped archive with a single executable inside. The only possible thing I can come up with is deliberate interference -- the site could deliberately sniff out Firefox users and serve us a defective file. But that doesn't make any sense, and besides the files from each browser look identical (both are 1,002,699 bytes).

Making Safari act more like Firefox

yankeefog — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:13:10 -0800

I'm looking for Safari plugins that will let it emulate Firefox's handling of saved passwords and superior address bar search. I'm also looking for the Safari equivalent of Linky. I like Safari better than Firefox for the Mac, but there are three things Firefox does better:
1. Firefox lets you see whether a password has actually worked before it asks if you want to save it.
2. When you type a word or phrase in the address bar, Firefox searches the contents of your previously browsed pages, not just the titles.
3. Firefox has Linky, Safari doesn't.

Are there Safari plugins that will let Safari act more like Firefox in these cases?

Safari 4 and Delicious.com together?

xmutex — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:29:10 -0800

Do you use Safari and Delicious.com together, successfully? HOW!? I'm enjoying all aspects of Safari 4 so far, and happy to bid adieu to bloated slow crashy Firefox, but I'm really jonesing for a useful Delicious integration. Delicioussafari.com seems a little (a lot) less than I need. What I need is my bookmark list right there as in the wonderful Firefox Delicious plugin. Any tips?

Breakups SUCK

polexxia — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:01:20 -0800

Is there a way to block a specific page only in Safari (Mac)? My friend recently went through a bad breakup and is having trouble not viewing her ex's myspace profile. I know it's possible to block ALL of Myspace, but is there a way to block JUST HIS profile? so that if she goes to look at it, it stops her from seeing it?

Alternative Browsers

bluelight — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:59:11 -0800

What superior/alternative web browsers to Firefox do you use? I have been using firefox with NoScript and most cookies disabled. When it gets too annoying to enable scripts and cookies, I switch over to Internet Explorer (non-updated version). I really dislike using IE but lately, Firefox has been crashing a LOT.

I was wondering if you had any good experiences with other web browsers such as Safari, Chrome, etc. I plan on keeping firefox but I'd like to explore other options.

I use a PC running Windows XP.

Thanks!

No! Don't refresh you cursed thing!

yellowbinder — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:03:42 -0800

Is there a way to disable (or barring that, predict) auto reloading of web pages on Safari on the iPhone? Hi there. I've had an iPhone 3G for about a year and I love it. However, there's one issue that continually drives me nuts, and I'm hoping someone here knows a way I can fix it.

It's that damn auto-reload "feature" in the browser. Time and again it screws me over.

Example 1: I preload a nice long Mefi thread to read on the subway home after work. Once I get on the subway, I open up Safari, and it reloads. Of course, I'm underground so it can't load, and I'm stuck with nothing to read.
Example 2(a): In Google Reader on the iPhone, it only loads 15 items at a time. Which is fine, I can always load the next 15 and so on and so on. But sometimes I'll actually want to open a new tab to read something, and when I go back it autorefreshes and I have to start all over again. This can be annoying when I've got 120 items or so loaded, and have to go through them all 15 by 15 again, and these are the ones that didn't strike my interest enough to read them the first time through.
Example 2(b): Similar to the above, sometimes an item in Google Reader will have several links I wish to check out. But once I come back to the Reader tab it refreshes, and not only am I back at the first 15 items, but the one I was looking at is now counted as read and doesn't display, so I have to wait until I get home and search for it if I remember.

The most maddening thing is this behaviour is totally unpredictable. I can spend 5 minutes in one tab and not have another refreshed when I go back, or I can spend 30 seconds checking something out and the original tab refreshes when I go back.

Is there any way to turn this auto refreshing off? I've done a cursory poke through the options but can't find anything.

TechSpecs - 16 GB iPhone 3G, Firmware 2.2.1. I'm not interested in jailbreaking/hacking the thing, so legit options only, or I'll just have to continue to suffer.

Help us summit Kilimanjaro in 2010!

kitkatcathy — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:24:59 -0800

We want to 1) climb Kilimanjaro (Western Breach route) and 2) go on a safari afterwards. Looking for advice, personal stories, and information about planning for the trip and training for a high altitude hike. [asking on behalf of my boyfriend] I’m planning a trip for myself, my brother, and my father to climb Kilimanjaro in July or August of 2010. We would like to do a safari after the climb as well.

(I’ve already read these previous questions, but unlike the previous posters, we are willing to invest more money and time - both training and trekking - for this trip).

So my questions falls into 3 categories: Kili questions, gear and training questions, and safari questions.

Kilimanjaro questions
1. Are there outfitter suggestions from anyone who has climbed Kilimanjaro before? I’m looking at two companies now but would love to hear personal experiences about different groups. Budget is not our primary concern in this trip - we are prepared to pay more for an outfitter whose route takes more time and is trained to recognize and respond to altitude sickness.

2. We would like to climb the Western Breach Route. I’d love to hear impressions and advice from anyone who has climbed this route.

3. Is there anything you didn’t know when you were planning your trip that, in retrospect, you wish you knew?

Gear and Training questions
4. Can you climb wearing contact lenses? I am concerned the reduced oxygen levels would be dangerous, but I would rather not purchase prescription sunglasses unless I have to.

5. Another sunglasses question: do you really need glacier glasses or are regular sunglasses be sufficient?

6. What kind of training did you do to prepare for the trek? Previous answers centered around doing lots of hiking, but one of us does not live in an area where frequent, intensive, hikes are possible. He does, however, have access to a gym.

Safari questions
7. If you’ve been on safari in either Kenya or Tanzania what did you like best?

8. Is it worth the extra cost for a private safari?

Other general information: I am in my late 20s, my brother in his 30s and my father in his 50s. Brother and I are in good health, father is working on losing some extra weight. We all hike occasionally but have minimal experience with multiple-day hiking trips and none with high-altitude hiking.

[Mr. Kitkat can provide more detail and follow-up information if necessary]

Thanks!

synchronizing bookmarks between OSX and an iphone

thewalrus — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 02:44:19 -0800

Is there a way to synchronize all bookmarks from Firefox 3.5 to an iPhone running firmware 2.2? I know iTunes can synchronize the PC's Safari bookmarks onto the phone, but... My primary browser is the Firefox 3.5 RC running on OS10.4.11 on an older Macbook Pro. I believe the sqlite database format used to store the bookmarks in 3.5 is pretty much unchanged from firefox v3.0.11 so this shouldn't be an issue.

I've noticed that iTunes 8.1 offers to synchronize the PC's Safari bookmarks with the iPhone. Easy enough. But is there any easy and effective way to export all of my Firefox bookmarks to Safari first? Will Safari 4 import a full set of Firefox bookmarks from the sqlite file?

If I set this up as an automator action for Safari, I guess the plan would be to have Safari periodically overwrite all of its bookmarks with a copy of the ones present in Firefox, and then let the iPhone sync. I would not be manually creating any new bookmarks in Safari as I pretty much exclusively use Firefox, and occasionally Opera.

Disable "Inline Search" in Safari 4 Beta for Mac

Leech — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:19:19 -0800

Is possible to disable "find in page" on Safari 4 Beta? Hi,

I hate that the "find in page" is activated by just typing anything in the page instead of Cmd+F and then search.

On some pages that requires some keystrokes to do some actions it's annoying.

Do you know if it can be disabled to use only the Cmd+F and search box instead?

(Also I'm worried if it's a plugin I've installed functionality, so please confirm me if you're experiencing the same thing or it's only me)

Help me help my browser to go back to completing missing URL endings even though my ISP is jerky

Your Time Machine Sucks — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:39:57 -0800

My ISP's new "feature" of rerouting incomplete URLs to their own custom (awful) search page is hijacking my normal browser behavior of completing URLs with .com. Anything I can do to reassert normalcy? My ISP is T-Online, which like a few other ISPs has started to hijack malformed URLs and send me to an awful "did you mean...?" page, which coincidentally happens to contain advertisements.

Until this started happening a week ago, if I typed "something" into my Safari 3.2.1 (OS X 10.5.x) location field, Safari would complete the URL as "something.com" and go there, but no longer (at least, I was under the impression that this was a Safari thing and not a DNS thing, since Internet Explorer always manifested the re-route-to-a-search-page behavior).

T-Online claims that it is possible to opt out from their new "Navigationshilfe" ("Navigation Help") program, but when I followed their instructions to opt out, nothing changed. Is there a technical solution for this? My router runs dd-wrt so if there is anything I can do there or on my local machine with DNS or hosts settings, that would be ideal.

T-Online's customer support is pretty dumb, so I will consider calling them if there is no workaround, but it is improbable that they will a) know what I'm talking about, b) know if it is possible to turn it off, c) take the correct steps to turn it off, d) not somehow find a way to increase the cost of my plan in the process, so that is definitely a last resort.

Thanks for any advice!

Navigating Safari 4 tabs with Firefox shortcuts?

mck9235 — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 08:29:00 -0800

Looking for a way to use Firefox keyboard shortcuts with Safari 4 on the Mac I'm trying to ditch Firefox (which acts as if I'm doing some type of fancy 3D rendering everytime I open up more than a few tabs) but find myself lost without the ability to switch to a specific tab with Command - #, # being the number of the tab.

I know that in Safari 4, it is Command + Shift + { or } to go left or right through tabs, but I'm really partial to the Firefox way of doing things. Currently, Command + # in Safari takes me to a specific bookmark from the navigation bar...

So -- is there any way to change this behavior in a secret settings panel or with a 3rd party app? (btw, I'm on a Mac w/ Leopard).

Thanks for any suggestions

I need a kid friendly Mac-based web browser

dancinglamb — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:59:19 -0800

Which web browser with parenting controls for a Mac? We recently bought the girls (aged 6 and 4) an iMac. By default, we installed Safari as their web browser because it seems to have pretty decent parental controls. However, since it doesn't allow favicons, the girls (well, really, the younger one), is having a difficult time finding the sites because she can't read the bookmark bar.

I have Firefox on my Macbook and know that depending on the skins, you can see the favicons. Unfortunately, though, I've not been able to find any decent parental control scripts on Greasemonkey. Granted I'm a total dork and only installed Greasemonkey on my computer so I could install the Meta deleted thread script, so maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

Right now, the current protocol is for the girls to come running to find us any time they want to go to a new website. And it is getting old. Quickly. So, while Sophie is learning to read at a frightening pace, maybe somebody can provide insight sooner? :)

Thanks!

How Can I Tag Bookmarks on Safari?

The ____ of Justice — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:12:34 -0800

Is there a program or tool for organizing my Safari bookmarks using tags? (as opposed to folders) I really like the way delicious uses tags to organize bookmarks. Is there a way to do so in Safari? I do not want to use any social/online sites, since a lot of the bookmarks I visit have somewhat proprietary information. Plus, social/online sites would be overkill for me...I'm only using one computer.

I know Firefox has several add ons that do this, but Safari, as far as I know, has none.

Thanks!

Too Much Internet, Mac Style

The ____ of Justice — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:39:51 -0800

Limiting internet access via Airport Extreme or Safari? Hello mefites. I have some issues with internet addiction. While I would like nothing more than to almost completely eliminate my access, I do need the internet daily for work and for projects (about an hour or two a day.) And the occasional askme question, haha.

Currently I own a macbook and have been using "Leechblock" via Firefox to limit my internet addiction. While it initially worked ok, Firefox often slows down on my Macbook, or has a few weird issues displaying sites. I'd prefer to use Safari. (Especially since it still sits on the system anyways and is my other "go-to" browser.)

My questions:

1) Is there any Safari add-on that acts like Leechblock?
2) I have heard an Airport Base station can give timed internet access to different computers in the household. Is anyone using this successfully?
3) Do you have any suggestions for moderating internet time?

I agree this seems like a crazy question, and even weirder to post it on the internet (like walking into a bar and saying "help me with my alcoholism!"), but you can see the level of my desperation here! :-|

Facebook, delicious and flickr not loading!

carofowler — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:30:12 -0800

My facebook, delicious and flickr aren't working, but all other sites are fine. What's wrong and how do I fix it? I have been trying for over a week to use my facebook account unsuccessfully.

I use Firefox 3.0.5 on a MacBook although I have also tried on Safari 3.1.2.

Usually, I am able to sign in and arrive at the home page successfully. Then, when I try to go into any other page, the page won't load and I get a "failed to open page" error or "page load error - connection interrupted" or something of the sort.

Clicking on links in my email to posted pictures or messages also doesn't work and the page will not load. I have tried deleting all facebook cookies, all cookies, restarting Firefox, restarting the computer and nothing has worked.

My account is working fine on other computers, but since it doesn't happen with any other site, this must be an issue with Facebook AND my computer.

Also, my delicious account won't load either. I tired on Safari and the home page loaded but none of the other pages and I get "connection interrupted" as well.

When I try logging into flickr (through the Yahoo! sign in page, which is where flickr redirects you when you click to sign in) i get sent to a blank page: https://login.yahoo.com/config/login_verify2?

These sites work fine when I sign in through other computers and all other sites and the internet in general are working fine on my computer. I have also tried deleting cookies for these. For delicious it works and allows me to enter the home page, but then I still can't access any of the other pages.

Does anyone know what is going on and how I can fix it?

Thanks!

How to bypass my provider's annoying "site not found" screen?

monospace — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 11:09:02 -0800

How to bypass my provider's annoying "site not found" screen? I used to be able to just type in a domain name in the address bar, like "metafilter", hit return, and the browser would automatically load "metafilter.com". But lately, Optimum Online is interfering with that handy shortcut by displaying a search result screen (to show me ads, I'm sure) saying "the site cannot be found" and a screen full of search results, usually with metafilter.com listed right at the very top. How do they do this? More to the point, how do I get the old behavior back?

Safari never forgets!

TheyCallItPeace — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 05:31:44 -0800

When using Safari, since the weekend, I have noticed that whenever I do a Google search with the search field in the browser, it looks as if my girlfriend is still logged on on Google via my computer. I tried reseting the browser, restarting it, logging in to Google as myself and logging out, even clearing the cooking, cache and history manually, and still eventually it looks like she is still logged in. What gives? Has anyone seen similar behavior on Safari? This is 10.5.whatever (latest), with the latest Safari too. I don't notice any similar ptoblems with other sites.

How to manage whitelist of websites for a school lab?

those are my balloons — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:56:21 -0800

How can I remotely manage a whitelist of allowed websites for a computer lab of 20 iMacs? I run a lab of 20 iMacs used for teaching electronic music, etc. In the past I didn't mind if there was some extraneous web browsing going on but there is a lot of off-task activity now and I'd like to limit browsing to a whitelist of music-related sites that I will manage remotely using Apple Remote Desktop or something else.

The computers all have both Firefox and Safari installed, so whichever one provides the better solution will be the one that remains enabled. Other things to keep in mind...

We are running 10.5.5, and I am the only instructor who uses the lab, I have full access to all machines. I am comfortable editing config files and that sort of thing if necessary
Apple Remote Desktop is used for managing lots of other things in the lab already
the school district has a county-wide proxy that has to be used for any outgoing connections and blocks lots of stuff already...but not enough to keep the lab in use for its intended purpose only
I want to be able to update the whitelist on all machines simultaneously and keep them the same, as I find more sites that should be made available

I have a colleague who uses Parental Controls to manage the Safari allowed-sites list in his lab, but it doesn't seem to be possible to do this on all 20 of my machines at the same time...I want a solution that lets me manage the whitelist immediately and on all machines.

broken NPR player woes

roygbv — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 02:55:03 -0800

NPR's media player won't work on my Mac. Why? I'm running Safari Version 3.2.1 (5525.27.1), OS X 10.5.5, and using the very very latest version of Flash player (which I just uninstalled and reinstalled according to Adobe's very careful instructions). The NPR player continues to stall out - it will load, show my item in the 'playlist' section and hang like it is buffering forever. This occurs only on the NPR site. Anyone else get this, or have any idea why I am?

Net Nany for iPhone/iPod Touch?

Ike_Arumba — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:09:53 -0800

Is there a Net Nanny equivalent for the iPhone/iPod Touch? Tween boy is dying for iPod Touch... saving up for it in fact. Parents are concerned about unfettered internet access. Are there any adult content filtering options available?

Why can't I listen to conference calls on Yahoo Finance? (using Mac Safari/Firefox)

b_thinky — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 02:44:41 -0800

Why can't I listen to conference calls on Yahoo Finance? (using Mac Safari/Firefox) Here is a link of all the day's conference calls. When I click to listen to the audio, my browser goes to a new page and attempts to load the media. Media plays, but all I hear is some light static for a couple seconds, followed by a click - then it goes dead.

This happens in all the calls I try to listen to, whether using Safari or Firefox. Also I tried AOL finance and can't listen there either. I tried upgrading Windows Media player but still no luck. I cannot download the file - only streaming is available.

Can someone suggest a solution?

How can I get an email alert when a web page changes?

tamagosan — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:27:22 -0800

I need to automatically refresh a web page and be alerted via email (or run an applescript) when it changes. There are a few commercial apps that do this, but they're Windows based and I'm on a Mac. I'd also prefer something that's freeware. There's also a couple Firefox add-ons which will automatically check a page for changes, but none that I've found allow for an email alert (or to run an applescript).

how do I tell a browser in osx which plugin should handle a certain file type?

krautland — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:35:11 -0800

how do I tell a browser in osx which plugin should handle a certain file type? I installed the vlc plugin for osx to enable safari and firefox to handle vlc-streams.

vlc also tries to handle mp3 files opened in either browser.
I don't want it to do that. I prefer quicktime handling such files in-browser, which is exactly what used to happen. (the qt plugin can begin playing while still downloading, the vlc plugin says "no video" until the whole download is completed.)

how do I tell a browser in osx which plugin should handle a certain file type? is my only option to trash the vlc plugin completely?

I tried RCDefaultApp 2.0.1 but had no luck.

On an Urban Photo Safari in T.O.

nathaole — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:29:56 -0800

Aside from landmark buildings and tourist architecture, where can I take my out-of-town friend (an amateur photographer) to capture unique shots in Toronto this weekend? I haven't explored every nook and cranny of the city, but am looking for special places that would provide him with great souvenirs of his trip to Toronto. Examples of things similar to what I'm looking for might include the back alleys near Queen/Bathurst (amazing grafitti) and Kensington Market. Did the secret swing disappear long ago?

I'd like to avoid the CNE.

Thanks!

How can I lock iPhone orientation in Mobile Safari?

wmeredith — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:51:14 -0800

Is there a way to lock or hack an iPhone's orientation in mobile safari using CSS, HTML, Javascript or a combination there of? I am building a website for Mobile Safari users (iPhone, iPod Touch). I want to be able to "lock" the users orientation so that the website doesn't change to a horizontal display when they tilt the hardware. My Google-Fu has failed me, does anyone know how to do this?