Originally Web posted Saturday, 15 May 2004.
Content last modified Friday, 25 January 2008 .
External links last verified Saturday, 15 May 2004.

World O’ iCab

Why it is Important for iCab to Identify Itself as iCab Whenever Possible

Many decisions are made by those who maintain websites based upon statistics gathered by site visitors. One of the important statistics is how many of each web browser make and model are visiting the site (this should not matter, yet it does).

Some iCab users, tired of being blocked unnecessarily, merely set iCab to always identify itself as one of the Big Two (Old School, obsolete) browsers, Micro$oft Internet Explorer (MSIE) or Netscape Navigator or Communicator (NS). Site developers have no way of knowing which browser is actually being used. iCab’s intentional misidentification is necessary to work around the shoddy design of the bad sites out there to get them to work, yet self-defeating for other sites: it appears as though almost no one is using iCab! So the conclusion site designers (both good and clueless) draw is: we can safely ignore iCab, and it doesn’t matter if our site works with it!

It is therefore critical that as many iCab users as possible set their copies of iCab to correctly identify themselves as iCab, and use filters to modify the identity setting only when it is absolutely necessary (and then consider sending a paper letter to someone within the company who ranks above the web team in the power structure, letting the individual know of her/his site’s problems with iCab, and that iCab is popular even though it is not allowed to show up in the statistics).

Sonic Purity’s iCab Filters

Here is a collection of iCab filters that i have found useful, and may hopefully be of some use to you.

The Filters and What They (try to) Do

Alaska Air

Works around bad browser detection by:

• Identifying iCab as MSIE 5.5
• Allowing scripts to do everything except JavaConnect
• Enabling HTTP Referrer within the same domain
• Accepting all cookies, even if illegal/invalid or from other servers

Note: if one signs in as Guest instead of Registered User, it appears that iCab may identify itself correctly.

Asanté website

• HTTP Referrer Only within same domain
• Scripting On, Pop-ups OK

Bank of America

Same as for Alaska Air.

Note: As of this revision, the Bank of America site is still not fully functional. If you have found any ways around the site’s many problems while still using iCab, please let me know.

California Employment Development Department

• Scripting On

Conxion.com UBB Forums (used by Dantz and many others)

• Cookies active

Costco

• Scripting On

DealTime

• Allows images from foreign servers
• Scripting On

Digital River (does sales for lots of firms, including Bare Bones Software)

• Allow images from akamai.net
• Scripting On

DMS (Data Memory Systems)

• Scripting On
• Accept cookies (this may be optional)

eBay and Half.com filter

• Allows images from foreign servers
• Scripting On, identity: MS Internet Explorer 5.5
• Accept all cookies, even if illegal/invalid or from other servers

Home De(s)pot filter

Works around the horrors of this site by:

• Setting Scripting On, identity: Netscape 4.79
• Identifying iCab as Mozilla 4.76

Kagi Orders

• Saves cookies so that (hopefully) most user information (shipping/billing address) does not need retyping for each transaction

MacFixIt (Forums)

• HTTP Referrer in same domain MUST be on to post
• Accept and retain cookies, including from other servers
• Needs to be used with TechTracker filter

MacResQ

• HTTP Referrer in same domain
• Scripting On, can do anything
• Accept cookies from other servers

MapQuest filter

MapQuest has images on various servers, therefore:

• Allows images and frames from foreign servers

MegaMacs

• Set per instructions on their website; URL in the filter comments

PayPal filter

• Accept all cookies (unless illegal or from foreign servers)

PowerMax Computers

• Turns Off background image so that page content can be seen

schwab.com bogosity filter

Attempts to traverse this minefield of awful HTML by:

• Setting Scripting On, identity: Netscape 4.79, Allows restacking windows
• Enabling HTTP Referrer Only within same domain
• Identifying iCab as Mozilla 4.5 (compatible; iCab)
• Accepting cookies from foreign servers (yet still expire at end of session; this may need to be changed)
• All Compatibility checkboxes unchecked (misbehave like NS and IE)

Note: As of this revision, the secure portion of the Schwab site is still not fully functional. If you have found any ways around the site’s many problems while still using iCab, please let me know.

Small Dog

• Scripting On

TechTracker

• Scripting On
• Accept and retain cookies, including from other servers
• Designed to be used with MacFixIt (Forums) filter

Yahoo! Groups filter

• Allows images from foreign servers
• Accepts all cookies, even if illegal/invalid or from other servers

Download The Filters (Stuffit archive; approx. 16k; vers. 1.0)

The Sonically Pure Pages

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