When I try to view the forums on my computer I’m directed to CNN. Is anyone else experiencing this? I’m posting this from my iPhone.
I’m viewing from a PC and it seems to be working fine. Does it happen when you open a forum or a thread?
If I google straight dope and select the ‘forums’ options under the SD URL link it goes straight to CNN even though the URL address says SD.
If I go to SD.com I get the home page, clicking the forum link takes me back to CNN. I can access all sections of SD except forums. For example if I try to enter the forums from the home page by clicking threadspotting link I am redirected to CNN again. I have a Mac.
I’m using a Macintosh, Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6.4), and everything works fine for me.
OK it’s working again now. I thought there was going to be some kooky CNN take-over story here, ha ha. Oh well, that was a strange 3 hours. On the upside I am up on all the top CNN stories.
ETA: Interestingly as I post this the CNN logo is still in front of the SD URL.
Even more interesting, I tried to screen capture it but some reason my computer will not let me perform that function (command+shift+3 or 4). Weird!
Just so you don’t think I’m crazy, here’s a photo of my screen I took with my iPhone.
DNS error. I don’t really know the details of how this can happen but it happened to me the other day with a different pair of websites.
That little logo is the favicon. Sometimes, even though you are on the right site, your browser won’t update the favicon. It’s not something that is generally worrisome.
PlainJain,
It sounds like you may have some kind of malicious software fooling with your DNS cache, although one would think that it would send you someplace more malicious than CNN.
Was this happening with any other addresses or was it just SD sending you to CNN?
Just SD. I quit my browser and restarted. I also restarted my compter. From 6 to 9 I couldn’t access the forums from my computer at all. I know the favicon can get screwed up but even after I was able to get on the forums the browser header still read “redirected from CNN”. That’s what I was trying to screen capture. That’s gone away but the favicon remains. I still can’t perform screen captures, I can’t but wonder if it’s related.
Are you at work or at home?
It sounds like it might be a DNS/Hosts mixup. Is your hosts file specified? Are you running any Parenting Control software or firewalls?
Home. I’m not running any of the software or firewalls you mentioned.
Do you have any kind of anti-virus software? Can you run a scan with it?
She’s on a Mac (as she mentions having command keys). This makes an actual virus unlikely. And it sounds like your DNS cache has already been flushed, if you can get to the site again. Try either Command+Refresh, Control+Refresh, or Shift-Refresh to get rid of the CNN logo. (Or clear your cache.)
I’d guess that your DNS at your ISP got spoofed for a second. But still, check your connection options and make sure you are going to a good DNS server.
And, yes, Macs have a hosts file: it’s at /private/etc/hosts . It should only have lines that start with # and stuff about 127.0.0.1 or ::1. If you are unsure, post its contents here. (To edit it, you’ll have to open it as an administrator.)
I hope I’m being helpful and not going over your head. It’s harder to describe stuff on a system you don’t have and can’t go step by step on.
Ah, I didn’t catch the “command key” stuff. So it is less likely that she has a virus.
What’s strange is that it sounds like she could access www.straightdope.com but not boards.straightdope.com (which sent her to CNN instead). I realize that a subdomain can go to a different IP address, but currently straightdope.com, www.straightdope.com and boards.straightdope.com all go to the same IP, 209.104.5.198, so how could one get corrupted but not the other?
I suppose they could have separate A records even if they do point to the same place. So it’s possible that this was some kind of DNS corruption, maybe even the local cache.
PlainJain, had you been to cnn.com recently (other than the unintended redirects)?
No I have not been to CNN recently. In fact I can’t recall the last time I did (if ever). It’s true that I could access straightdope.com during that period but not forums.straightdope.com. I could view Weird Earls and past columns, for example, but not the forums. It wasn’t just a one time thing either. As I mentioned upthread, I deleted cookies, history, refreshed, anything I could think of but I still couldn’t access the forums.
Not being a tech person I’m struggling with the info that Big T provided. Maybe in the morning I can try again afresh. As an update I am now able to view the forums with no problem but the CNN favicon is still there. That doesn’t bother me that much but as a graphic artist I need my screen capture function back.
BTW, thank you to those who have attempted to help me with this issue.
If you’ve never even been to CNN then it doesn’t seem like it could be related to some accidental corruption on your local machine. BigT may be correct that there was some spoofing or corruption of some kind on whatever DNS you’re using (most likely your ISP’s default DNS).
But it still strikes me as strange. On the one hand it seems unlikely that someone would choose to spoof one subdomain to go to CNN, but on the other hand it seems unlikely that some kind of random corruption or bug just happened to send you to a high profile sight like CNN rather than some random blog or photo album or whatever. Maybe it was a spoof that sent everything to CNN but was very short-lived.
As far as what BigT told you (about DNS, the hosts file, etc.), that’s strictly related to the problem of being redirected to CNN and almost certainly has nothing to do with the loss of screen capture capability. So since the redirection problem seems to be gone you probably don’t need to concern yourself with the hosts file, etc. The favicon is related somehow to local caching and should clear itself up eventually.
The screen capture issue is likely unrelated and it’s occurrence simultaneously with the redirect problem is probably coincidental. Have you tried rebooting your Mac?
davidm,
I didn’t want to leave you hanging. I’m in the city away from my computer this weekend. I’ll update as soon as I return. Thanks again.
Here’s a suggestion for the screen capture issue. Google for some Mac forums and ask about it on those.