h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm a member of freeserve and whenever I log onto here it gives me someones elses freeserve email address and it takes ages of reloading until it comes up correctly.(not just the one persons address either)

Same here. Freeserve forces users to access the web via a proxy. You can't simply remove the proxy details from your browser
settings, because they forcibly proxy web servers by actually 'hijacking' all port 80 connections.

The end result is that it's randomly greeting people with the wrong address. In some places this may cause security "issues"
depending on how rigorously the cookies are checked. I don't think the wrong cookies are being sent, simply that
Freeserve is going, "oh yeah... www.h2g2.com... i have that cached" and spits back the last one -- whomever it was prepared for.
Which may mean some links (eg the "my home" button) are "broken" too, depending on how it's implemented.

So, my email address -- and other peoples' -- is being spat out at random strangers. No thanks. :P

... is there any way to format postings and articles "properly"? eg with bold and italics and
links and so forth? I'm sure there must be, but it's not as simple as it seems. (or should be.)

please please can't there just be a log on bit as I have to now get to my user page by using the registration email.

hint... bookmark the URL from the registration mail, slap it on your toolbar. presto, instant link to h2g2 with the correct doohickies set up. more or less. i have it labelled, "recookiefy".

you can call it something sensible instead, though.

Well, as a sort of webauthor myself, just to note: As I remember there is a way to prevent the proxy to cache your page, by puting a tag with information about expireing. So you can say that page expires immediately, so proxy will get the document every time from the server itself. This of course kills the part of idea of proxy. But if you have bandwidth to spare (which no one has) at H2G2 you can give it a try...

Another idea might be to create another web server at some other port (like 81 or something), since some proxies tend to be rather stupid, letting trough traffic on ports they aren't specified to cache...

Zvonimir
Zagreb, Croatia

When you find out. Can you tell me too?

damm I thought lying cookies was some exotic snack. Not to say the truth telling cookies are the norm, but rather talking cookies certainly sound like something I would like to try. I hope an altered sense of conciousness is also needed to enjoy these treats. Please reply with a recipe if one does exist.

Stand aside please, as the official Cookie Taster appointed by Fenchurch M. Mercury the Virtual Mayor of London I see it as my duty to test these cookies first! Otherwise I shall have to refer you to GargleBlaster the Minister of Offence!

ReapeR

After 28 weeks aren't you worried the cookies might be a tad stale

;^)#

No, I'm immortal, and I just cant stand to see cookies go to waste!

Aaah, that'd explain why you're so busy catching them as they drop out the bottom of your rib cage

;^)#

Yeah, it can keep me occupied for hours