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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!

Please help me with my powerbook keyboard conundrum. Are you geniuser?

citybuddha — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 04:44:15 -0800

Please help me with my powerbook keyboard conundrum. Are you geniuser? Since March my powerbook g4 keyboard has been acting wonky.
In march some of the keys on the right end of the keyboard would'nt work.
The p, return, 0, \, and couple other over there as well. I had it replaced under applecare in late March. Come September the same issue is happening again so I had it replaced. My applecare has expired so I needed to pay out of pocket. The day I picked it up the same thing is happening. According to the genius the problem was the keyboard. I don't think so anymore.
It seems to work occasionally. eare are a few things I must do to get it to work properly.
I must zap the pram once. After that the keyboard works fine until the computer goes to sleep. After that the problem reappears so I must zap again.
I tried a simple restart three times but that did not solve the issue,I need to zap the pram.
Just a note here, in March, when the problem began, there were a couple more keys that did not work. Those keys were also on the same side of the keyboard.
Also my lower ram slot is not working.
I await your brains

I can has muzik rekomendashunz?

LSK — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:51:16 -0800

Three somewhat specific music recommendation requests. 1. A song like Devo's Happy Guy.

Explanation: This song should've been awesome. It has an amazing pre-chorus and chorus, but it feels as though it were rushed out of the studio. I like the feel, emotionally, of the pre-chorus ("But time keeps on ticking away...") and the chorus. I suppose I'm looking for the song it should've been.

2. A song like Architecture in Helsinki's Same Old Innocence

Explanation: This song sounds like there are lots of songs like it, but I can't find any. I like how the beginning-of-verse lyrics are placed over different backings each time (I don't know how to explain that better...)

3. A song like LCD Soundsystem's All My Friends

Explanation: There's something magical about this song; how it begins innocently and grows sprawling by the climax, in a way that you suddenly realize that the song you're listening to five minutes in is even more powerful than the beginning.

That is all.

Have I offended Google?

gergtreble — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:13:51 -0800

Where has my Google Apps IMAP gone? Ive been using Google apps for your domain email over IMAP for a few months now. I use Thunderbird as my mail client. I just tried to send an email and I got a pop up saying:

"IMAP is not avaqilable for your account (Failure)"

So I logged into the web version and went to see if the setting had been accdentaly switched off. Imagine my surprise to see that the setting is just not there any more! I still have the option to get my mail over POP but where there used to be an option to get my mail by IMAP there is nothing!

Do google hate me? Why have they taken away my IMAP?

CRASH couse in .NET, C++ basics

lattiboy — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:35:35 -0800

I need a crash course that would help me understand (not a technical, but a "familiar" or "conversational" understanding) the framework and constraints of C++ and/or .NET. I know this is a very difficult/impossible task, but I'm in a bind. Okay, so I have an interview for a position tomorrow that encompasses all of of my customer service/management skills, but is much more involved with the programming department (I currently manage a small tech support department). This job isn't really technical at its core, but I would be working daily with programmers.

I was told in my phone interview that I didn't need to have any technical, code-level programming skills, but I would need to know the basic framework of a "modern Microsoft product" (I'm guessing C++ or possibly .NET). This is a horribly murky question and I do apologize, but this is honestly the only place in the world where I know I can get a coherent and helpful answer.

PS The salary involved would put me in a whole different economic strata, so any help is REALLY appreciated.

How can I use the Internet to promote an interactive film and arts site?

Elle Vator — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 09:15:54 -0800

There are a lot of buzzwords being bandied about regarding the 'viral' 'grassroots' ways that 'Internet 2.0' can be used to 'create a groundswell' through 'guerilla marketing'. What? What do these buzzwords actually mean? After getting vague advice like 'use MySpace' by people with marketing degrees who don't use the internet to market anything, I am interested in cutting through the crap by hearing from real people with actual experience in these matters. How can the Internet be used to promote a site with interactive stuff, games and short film... and little-to-no budget for marketing?

Kindly answer my question about the word "kindly"

Saucy Intruder — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 11:13:03 -0800

Do you use "please" or "kindly" to soften a formal imperative? And if you say "kindly," why?

Getting a lease with an unpleasant background

cmonkey — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 13:42:16 -0800

MetaFilter landlords: Please help me aquire a lease... Three friends of mine & I are looking for a new place to live. They all have low paying jobs, but great credit. I have a high paying job, but atrocious credit and no recent rental history (I've lived in houses for the last 5 years without being on a lease). My friends keep getting rejected because they're poor, so I need to apply with them. A few questions to those of you who rent property out:

1) Is there anything that I can do to convince a landlord that, regardless of my poor credit and missing rental history, I am actually a good tenant with a stable job who has never once paid rent late or destroyed a house? Any bribes that would work?
2) What services do you use for background checks? I'm curious what's in mine.
3) If a place says "no application fees" does that mean that they don't do background checks?

(This is a followup to this question, thanks for your help!)