I just noticed today that my Forum page is suddenly displaying a Google cursor in my browser tab, even though the website isn't connected to Google in any way. Any idea what might be going on, or it my computer been on for too long and my local browser's memory is getting corrupted?
It doesn't seem to be affecting any of my other SOL pages.
Just double-checked. When I call up the Forum from the main webpage, the browser icon displays the correct SOL icon, but when I click on the Author Hangout Forum, it suddenly shifts to the Google image.
I then checked the more secure (tracking-free) storiesonline.net page, and it doesn't do the same thing, so I'm guessing it's a tracking feature with Google tracking turned on exclusively for the Author's Hangout page.
Curious.
Went thru all forum pages and clicked on random topics, not seeing anything but SOL logos.
Must be your system.
Running Win 10 with Edge.
Neither Lazeez nor I could find anything which might be causing it. I've got a package of security extensions for Safari, but that wouldn't explain why only one page is affected. It must be some sort of glitch, and should probably go away the next time I restart my system. But as long as nothing is broken, I'm not worried.
Are you using Chrome by any chance?
Nope. And only non-obtrusive extensions (one security and one multimedia player), though I've got a lot more on FireFox for Mac.
I have seen this sort of thing before, some browser tabs labelled with the wrong site's favicon, under M$win and Firefox - IIRC, just a browser restart fixed it.
On your Mac, try clearing the files in the following folder:
~/Library/Safari/Favicon Cache/
(use Go/Go to Folder or use the terminal)
That will reset all favicons. I suspect the cache is corrupted.
That will reset all favicons. I suspect the cache is corrupted.
That's likely, as I keep multiple dozens of tabs open in several windows and typically run my system for weeks at a time (until the system starts getting twitchy.
After having issues with Adobe apps screwing up my system, I started going for the maximum memory possible, which allows me to cast caution to the wind. My desktop currently has 64gb of memory (Intel based, obviously).
Update: Since first posting this, I've been through a couple of computer restarts, yet the single-page icon still remains the same, it's consisted, however I call it up. But ... I just gave up and ONLY use the newer storiesonline.net SOL webpage addresses now, rather than chasing computer demons through hell and back.
P.S. I did reset my Mac's Favicon Cache, but since I changed my SOL webpage source, I'm destined to never know whether it worked or not. ;)
P.S. I did reset my Mac's Favicon Cache, but since I changed my SOL webpage source, I'm destined to never know whether it worked or not. ;)
Given the new URL worked, I suspect the cache clearing would have worked. :-)
Given the new URL worked, I suspect the cache clearing would have worked. :-)
Nope. I doubled back and tried it. The cache clearing didn't do a thing. Again, I have no idea what's happening, as it only affects the one webpage, but it's not triggered by the usual system bugaboos. However, after clearing the cache, now ALL of my usual SOL pages are getting a grayed out "S" icon, I guess for "SOL, rather than redownloading the information from the site.
Hopefully it'll start redownloading the various site icons, but right now, I have a tab bar filled with various gray letters, which makes finding any particularly site annoyingly difficult.
Nope. Things just keep getting worse. Before, after clearing my cache, I no longer had any website icons over my browser tabs, but after upgrading to the newest 'Security" upgrade, I no longer have any website icons at all. All I have are a row of white or black (depending on the time of day) blank icons, which makes finding any website an exercise if utter futility.
I don't know whether it was caused by the latest Mac upgrade or what, but I just restored everything the way it was. I'm guessing I'll have to restart the browser as I'm not yet seeing any changes yet. The instructions I was given was to delete everything in the Favicon Cache directory, which I had qualms about, but I did it anyway. So, here's hoping I won't have to do a complete system restore, whiping my entire system.
This may not help at all, but I installed my own searx search engine and only hit google when I feel I can't avoid it.
This may not help at all, but I installed my own searx search engine and only hit google when I feel I can't avoid it.
This is unrelated to which browser logo appears over the pages, but while I prefer the non-tracking browsers (as I hate getting travel offers when I'm researching story sites), Google provides much more accurate search results than any other search tool, especially when researching existing books, individuals or searing for more exoteric information.
Google provides much more accurate search results than any other search tool,
That is not true. Google is very good in presenting results in your search bubble. Unbiased results come from most of the anonymous browsers because they usually use multiple engines (google,bing, etc) to get non-bubble results. Personally I find that DuckDuckGo gives me much better results than Google ever did.
Personally I find that DuckDuckGo gives me much better results than Google ever did.
For the kinds of research I do, DuckDuckGo presents a quarter of what Google does, and those are only of limited use (inexact matches).
Apple's Safari is supposedly untraceable, so I'll have to see whether that's true or not, but as far as I can tell, markets haven't inundated me with ads based on my online searches for a long, long time. Now, it's just for generic crap, so it's just as useless, but at least there's no evidence of anyone selling date based on my web activity.
For the kinds of research I do, DuckDuckGo presents a quarter of what Google does, and those are only of limited use (inexact matches).
Then you should look for a specialized search engine. Most people don't know this, but there are hundreds of specialized search engines for specific fields of research. You might need a generic search engine to find them though :D
Apple's Safari is supposedly untraceable,
Sadly, no. See, for example:
https://fingerprintjs.com/blog/external-protocol-flooding/
I've verified this on my Mac in Safari, Firefox, and Chrome. The same fingerprint is generated in each browser.
Startpage.com, based in Europe, puts everything through a vpn and keeps track of no place that you go. It's almost, but not quite, as thorough as Google in getting results, but it doesn't have the bias/commercial focus Google does, nor does it store information about your searches. Google buries websites that don't make money for Google. I use startpage for almost everything, resorting to Google only when I can't find something any other way. When I do, I make sure it's something about me that I don't care whether Google knows or not.
