Problems?

TIME IS NOW: Local Time. Internet services provided for free by Alachua County FreeNet. Mobile Scanner and RADAR-Detector Laws		Problems Loading My Front Page EXTREMELY recently, since the insertion of a couple of new browser versions onto the web (specifically, Opera 5.12 and Internet Explorer 6.0), I have been receiving complaints about users not being able to load my subpages -- with my "Referrer Checker" script balking at them, refusing them access. Some problems I've not been able to figure out. MOST are due to user error, though. Let's deal with that, first... The Most Common Possible Causes It's INDEX.HTML - and NOT scanner5.html, or radar4.html. Users looking for scanner laws sometimes think that my "Scanner Laws" subpage (scanner5.html) is my "main page." Users looking for radar-detector laws sometimes think that my "RADAR-Detector Laws" subpage (radar4.html) is my "main page." Users should be pointing to "http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/scanlaws/index.html", and nothing else. Navigation is then possible from either the sidebar nav buttons, or from the "INDEX" at the bottom of the page. IMPORTANT! In some browsers, something weird happens if your first attempt to get here was by attempting to access one of the lower restricted web pages, FIRST. If that's the case, you might have a problem accessing that particular page from now on -- until you empty your browser's cache and then reload again. BUT USE THE SIDEBAR NAV BUTTONS TO NAVIGATE AROUND HERE! You're running some form of AD-BLOCKER SOFTWARE. I'm not so sure that these things have the "intelligence" to realize the actual difference between a real "ad" and an animated gif. Sometimes they don't quite know how to handle my "Top Sites" banner, for example, or the text scroller that I use at the top of my page to get out late-breaking news and announcements, or the few animations that I have on the page. Turn it off while here, and things should work fine. Except for that little "banner" that asks people to vote for my site (grin), you will not find any ads at my site, or be hit with any "cookies." I hate that stuff just as much as you, and I will NOT allow my users to be spammed by ad spaces. In fact, that's why I added the "break-out-of-frames" script. Some sites try to hold my site hostage in a sub-frame so that they can continue to spam you with ads in a top or bottom or side frame. I hate that more than I hate cockroaches! My Front Page Makes Use of JavaScripts The scripts used at my page are "borrowed" from some JavaScript sites which offer free scripts for download. I'm not JavaScript-knowledgeable, myself. Therefore, I'm not able to look at the scripts to determine if the problem is with the scripts themselves, or with the new browser versions. Since the scripts have been in use with no problem for quite some time, and the problems only started popping up when the new browser versions were introduced, it's logical to assume that it has more to do with changes in the browsers than with anything in the scripts. However, I'm well aware of the fact that programmers are constantly changing programming languages, updating them and "fixing" them; so a script version which worked yesterday may very well not be working by tomorrow. That could well be a possibility involved, here. Perhaps a new JS standard came out since I installed these scripts - one which is now no longer supported in the newer browser versions. Opera has been the worst problem. Seems everyone who is using Opera and who accesses my site has a problem, defacto. Opera apparently does NOT like working with scripts, period. I've tried e-mailing the Opera people but they never respond. Internet Explorer 6.0 is the newest addition to the "I can't work with the scripts" problem. I have no idea what the problem is. Seems any security level higher than "lowest" brings up the problem. If you're good with JavaScript, and don't mind having a look at the scripts on my main page (source viewing is possible), please do and let me know what you find out. I'd like to fix these things if the problem is on my end. On the other hand, if the problem is with the browsers, then I'd still like to know so that I can alert the browser makers to it. My main page uses the following scripts: Document Referrer script - If you came from Speedtrap.com, you get thrown to an intercepting "rants" page. If you come from Traffic-Courts.com ... same thing. This is to make sure that people understand completely that Speedtrap and Traffic-Courts did NOT do the work, here, and so that they understand that I am NOT affiliated with them in any way, whatsoever. The links to me from those two sites kinda leads people to the idea that those sites did the work here, and that I am, by defacto thinking, somehow affiliated with them. I get a lot of "thank you, Speedtrap" fan mail as a result, and it makes me angry. I WISH people would learn how to make a proper, less misleading link. Referrer Checker script - (Only used on my subpages, and not the main front page.) Checks the user's last-visited site to make sure that it is definitely "http://www.afn.org/~afn09444/index.html". If not, then it tells the user that he or she needs to first visit THAT page before they will be allowed to view any of my subpages. Keeps other web authors from pointing straight to my subpages, and users thus getting confused over which site/author actually did the work, here. I take pride in the fact that I did all this work. I hate it when other people get credit for it because someone didn't pay proper attention. USA TODAY already wrote an article giving SPEEDTRAP credit for the work that I did, here. Break-out-of-frames script - This is my "anti-Google, anti-hostage-holding" script. Keeps other sites from holding my site "hostage" within their frames, breaking them out of the frames-hold. This keeps other sites from being able to force ads at the top of my site without MY permission - OR your's. I designed this site to be for free. I did NOT design this site to help other people make a profit. And I HATE it when other people try to make money off of my work - no matter HOW they try to do it. This work is copyrighted. If you try to "paint" an ad across the top, then you owe me a portion. That's how I see it. I guarantee you, though, that they won't be willing to share. Those people have no right to do that without the permission of the other site's web author. Calendar script - Puts a "verbose" date stamp in the upper left corner of the right-side text area frame. Cursor hover color script - Forces my link colors to red and gives them an underline. Button Rollover script - Simply rolls the button images over to a "flat-depressed" image when the mouse points over them. If you want to know where each of the scripts came from, that information is available on my Kudos and Acknowledgements page. One possibility that comes to my mind is that maybe there are some shared variables among them that are conflicting. I'd appreciate any help JS programmers could offer up, here. Thanks. Some Oddball User Input Some users have advised me that by allowing cookies, suddenly they would be allowed access. I have no idea why this would work, since no cookies important enough to disallow access are asked for at my site that I am aware. Some IE6 users have advised me that by setting Internet Security levels to "Lowest," that they would suddenly be granted access. I have no idea why this would affect anything.
Mobile Scanner & RADAR-Detector Laws In The U.S. c/o Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH Gainesville, Alachua Co., Fla. E-mail: skywarn@fireline.org Page Created: May 06, 2002. Last updated: May 06, 2002. Copyright © 1995-2002 by Todd L. Sherman. All Rights Reserved.