Odd Safari observation...

webmonkey · 08-25-2003, 12:52 PM

I'm currently exploring the Unix side of OS X through the terminal, and have recently been experimenting with the "netstat" command.

I have discovered that whenever Safari is running (even without any windows being open) there is an established connection via port 50690 to an address called "ads.web.aol.com.http".

Even more spookily, when I type http://ads.web.aol.com into my browser... well I'll let you see for yourself...

Is this odd, or is it just me? Have AOL commissioned an open port to feed a future ad campaign to Safari users, or am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist? I'd be interested in your thoughts...

Perplexed,

WebMonkey

yellow · 08-25-2003, 01:48 PM

What you're seeing is typically found using AIM clients. The AIM client has adds at the top and it periodically goes out and requests a new add from the address http://ads.web.aol.com/. Why you would see this with Safari, I don't know. Do you have some sort of AIM agent plug-in for Safari or did you forget that AIM was running in the background?

Mikey-San · 08-25-2003, 01:51 PM

[thermodynamics:~] mikey% grep "ads.web.aol.com" /etc/hosts
0.0.0.0 ads.web.aol.com

;-)

webmonkey · 08-25-2003, 02:04 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by yellow What you're seeing is typically found using AIM clients. The AIM client has adds at the top and it periodically goes out and requests a new add from the address http://ads.web.aol.com/.

Oh I see.. thanx for the explanation.

Quote:


	Do you have some sort of AIM agent plug-in for Safari or did you forget that AIM was running in the background?

Neither of those, I'm afraid - I'm not using IM software at the moment, and don't use IM plugins, let alone AOL ones... how odd.

Quote:


	Originally posted by Mikey-San [thermodynamics:~] mikey% grep "ads.web.aol.com" /etc/hosts 0.0.0.0 ads.web.aol.com

Lost me there, I'm afraid Mikey-San...

Just done a "man grep".

Nope - still don't get it...

yellow · 08-25-2003, 02:04 PM

ah.. interesting idea. Wonder if that could be done with Eudora's ad-driven version.

yellow · 08-25-2003, 02:07 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by webmonkey Lost me there, I'm afraid Mikey-San... Just done a "man grep". Nope - still don't get it...

What he has done is made an entry in his /etc/hosts file that points that name address at the IP 0.0.0.0, or no address. So whenever anything tries to go to, ads.web.aol.com, they automatically attempt to go to 0.0.0.0 instead and never bother with the real thing. At least, I think that's what he meant.

webmonkey · 08-25-2003, 02:14 PM

hmmm....

That would be pretty neat. Doesn't work for me, though:

grep "ads.web.aol.com" /etc/hosts 0.0.0.0 ads.web.aol.com
grep: 0.0.0.0: No such file or directory
grep: ads.web.aol.com: No such file or directory

yellow · 08-25-2003, 02:17 PM

You have to edit your /etc/hosts and add that as an entry. Grep just helps you match patterns that you're looking for.

Code:

grep fsck /etc/rc.boot

webmonkey · 08-25-2003, 02:27 PM

I see now - thanks for your patience...

Mikey-San · 08-25-2003, 02:40 PM

Hosts info:

www.mikey-san.net/hosts.html

webmonkey · 08-25-2003, 02:45 PM

Thanks for that - very handy indeed! That should help out with some annoying "popunders" that have been troubling me recently...

Mikey-San · 08-25-2003, 07:20 PM

Safari and Camino/Mozilla block pop-ups as well as pop-unders. /etc/hosts won't stop that, since it just alters domain name resolution, and those pop-ups/unders are done with client-side JavaScript embedded into the HTML you've already loaded when viewing a page.

What site is giving you these lil' bastards?

webmonkey · 08-26-2003, 03:42 AM

It seems to be mostly hotmail.com... I'm stamping out the use of msn related services, so it's not the end of the world, just rather puzzling...

Mikey-San · 08-26-2003, 07:36 AM

Hmm . . . Assuming you're not using IE, are you sure you have pop-up blocking turned on? I've used Hotmail on Macs with Safari and Moz/Camino, and I've never seen a pop-up.

Check your browser prefs and see what's up. If you're using IE, I strongly recommend checking out Safari (if on 10.2) or Camino (10.1 or 10.2). Faster, better UIs, and can block pop-ups.

webmonkey · 08-27-2003, 04:53 AM

Thanks Mikey-San - the problem was that I had two versions of Safari installed, only one of which had blocking enabled. When I clicked links in Mail it fired up the blocking disabled version; hence, pop-ups galore!

Not checked out Camino, but am a big fan of Safari. Just wish that the Java support was a little hotter. Not complaining about the CSS-P rendering, though; truly beautiful...

trevbuck · 08-27-2003, 07:01 AM

I realise this is off the subject , but .....

email from my father inlaw:
"Hey dude... there's something weird with this mac. It can't clear caches for either IE or safari.
The p/c picks up my FTP uploads almost straight away, but this one goes onto some round the world cache hopping and no matter what i do, it comes up with old pages..."

this is to do with his web site that he uploads.

can anyone help us , I'm afraid I'm out of my depth!!!

Trevor Buckenara
Perth Australia

yellow · 08-27-2003, 07:21 AM

Trevbuck, you should probably start a new thread on this problem, if you haven't already.

08-25-2003, 12:52 PM	#1
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	Odd Safari observation... I'm currently exploring the Unix side of OS X through the terminal, and have recently been experimenting with the "netstat" command. I have discovered that whenever Safari is running (even without any windows being open) there is an established connection via port 50690 to an address called "ads.web.aol.com.http". Even more spookily, when I type http://ads.web.aol.com into my browser... well I'll let you see for yourself... Is this odd, or is it just me? Have AOL commissioned an open port to feed a future ad campaign to Safari users, or am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist? I'd be interested in your thoughts... Perplexed, WebMonkey __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-25-2003, 02:14 PM	#7
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	hmmm.... That would be pretty neat. Doesn't work for me, though: grep "ads.web.aol.com" /etc/hosts 0.0.0.0 ads.web.aol.com grep: 0.0.0.0: No such file or directory grep: ads.web.aol.com: No such file or directory __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-25-2003, 02:17 PM	#8
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	You have to edit your /etc/hosts and add that as an entry. Grep just helps you match patterns that you're looking for. Code: grep fsck /etc/rc.boot

08-25-2003, 02:27 PM	#9
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	I see now - thanks for your patience... __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-25-2003, 02:45 PM	#11
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	smart Thanks for that - very handy indeed! That should help out with some annoying "popunders" that have been troubling me recently... __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-25-2003, 01:48 PM	#2
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	What you're seeing is typically found using AIM clients. The AIM client has adds at the top and it periodically goes out and requests a new add from the address http://ads.web.aol.com/. Why you would see this with Safari, I don't know. Do you have some sort of AIM agent plug-in for Safari or did you forget that AIM was running in the background?

08-25-2003, 01:51 PM	#3
Mikey-San Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,541	[thermodynamics:~] mikey% grep "ads.web.aol.com" /etc/hosts 0.0.0.0 ads.web.aol.com ;-)

08-25-2003, 02:04 PM	#5
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	ah.. interesting idea. Wonder if that could be done with Eudora's ad-driven version.

08-25-2003, 02:40 PM	#10
Mikey-San Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,541	Hosts info: www.mikey-san.net/hosts.html

08-25-2003, 07:20 PM	#12
Mikey-San Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,541	Safari and Camino/Mozilla block pop-ups as well as pop-unders. /etc/hosts won't stop that, since it just alters domain name resolution, and those pop-ups/unders are done with client-side JavaScript embedded into the HTML you've already loaded when viewing a page. What site is giving you these lil' bastards?

08-26-2003, 03:42 AM	#13
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	It seems to be mostly hotmail.com... I'm stamping out the use of msn related services, so it's not the end of the world, just rather puzzling... __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-26-2003, 07:36 AM	#14
Mikey-San Hall of Famer Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 3,541	Hmm . . . Assuming you're not using IE, are you sure you have pop-up blocking turned on? I've used Hotmail on Macs with Safari and Moz/Camino, and I've never seen a pop-up. Check your browser prefs and see what's up. If you're using IE, I strongly recommend checking out Safari (if on 10.2) or Camino (10.1 or 10.2). Faster, better UIs, and can block pop-ups.

08-27-2003, 04:53 AM	#15
webmonkey Triple-A Player Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: UK Posts: 72	Thanks Mikey-San - the problem was that I had two versions of Safari installed, only one of which had blocking enabled. When I clicked links in Mail it fired up the blocking disabled version; hence, pop-ups galore! Not checked out Camino, but am a big fan of Safari. Just wish that the Java support was a little hotter. Not complaining about the CSS-P rendering, though; truly beautiful... __________________ recursive adj see 'recursive'

08-27-2003, 07:01 AM	#16
trevbuck Prospect Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Golden Bay WA Posts: 8	another weird safari & IE problem I realise this is off the subject , but ..... email from my father inlaw: "Hey dude... there's something weird with this mac. It can't clear caches for either IE or safari. The p/c picks up my FTP uploads almost straight away, but this one goes onto some round the world cache hopping and no matter what i do, it comes up with old pages..." this is to do with his web site that he uploads. can anyone help us , I'm afraid I'm out of my depth!!! Trevor Buckenara Perth Australia

08-27-2003, 07:21 AM	#17
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	Trevbuck, you should probably start a new thread on this problem, if you haven't already.