JohnW-Mpls wrote:
> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
> them.
>
> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
> Firefox?
>
>

1. Get User Agent Switcher -
http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/

2. in about:config modify the preference

general.useragent.extra.seamonkey

by adding at the end the value of

"NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads

SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox

Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.


--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
I used to be schizophrenic, but we're all right now.

On 2008-05-31 17:33 CET,
Ed Mullen wrote:

> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>> them.
>>
>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>> Firefox?
>>
>>
>
> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>
> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>
> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>
> by adding at the end the value of
>
> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>
> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>
> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>
I'd recommend to NOT use "NOT Firefox" but rather the informative "a
Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling". This since the latter is more informative
about what SeaMonkey is and makes it more probable that, *if*, someone
with influence and/or ambitions sees it in their log file might be
willing to add SeaMonkey to their supported browsers - since it's so
easily done. (Even better would be to check against "Gecko/x.y.z", if
not feature sniffing).

What is "NOT Firefox"? Huh, how different to Firefox is that something
called SeaMonkey? No, we won't support it; don't have the time to
investigate how much work it would be to support that - what was the
name of it!? - browser. That could be anything, even a non-existing one
- right?

--
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; WinNT4.0; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071128
SeaMonkey/1.1.7 - Classic Theme - 266MHz Mobile Pentium II 288MB RAM

On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>> them.
>>
>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>> Firefox?
>>
>>
>
> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>
> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>
> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>
> by adding at the end the value of
>
> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>
> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>
> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>
>

Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as a
consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
(using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including the
"Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox 2.0.0.14
is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as SeaMonkey
1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or 2.0, the
correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance, you report a
bug.

Best regards,
Tony.
--
OLD WOMAN: King of the WHO?
ARTHUR: The Britons.
OLD WOMAN: Who are the Britons?
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" PYTHON (MONTY)
PICTURES LTD

Rolf wrote:
> On 2008-05-31 17:33 CET,
> Ed Mullen wrote:
>
>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>> them.
>>>
>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>> Firefox?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>
>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>
>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>
>> by adding at the end the value of
>>
>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>
>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>
>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>
> I'd recommend to NOT use "NOT Firefox" but rather the informative "a
> Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling". This since the latter is more informative
> about what SeaMonkey is and makes it more probable that, *if*, someone
> with influence and/or ambitions sees it in their log file might be
> willing to add SeaMonkey to their supported browsers - since it's so
> easily done.

Add whatever makes you feel good. The point is to inject /something/
into the UA to fool the fools who do browser sniffing into thinking that
you are using FF.

> (Even better would be to check against "Gecko/x.y.z", if
> not feature sniffing).

Even better would be for authors to write sites that do not need
browser-dependent hacks. Still, that isn't something a user can
control. A user can only fool the fools.
>
> What is "NOT Firefox"?

Well, if (and that is a huge leap) someone monitors site logs, it would
tell them a lot. It would tell them that informed users are able to use
their site and that their premises of browser detection are simply
wrong. And, of course, all of that depends on the hosting service
providing that level of detail in its logs.

> Huh, how different to Firefox is that something
> called SeaMonkey? No, we won't support it; don't have the time to
> investigate how much work it would be to support that - what was the
> name of it!? - browser. That could be anything, even a non-existing one
> - right?

Nice description of the laziness and ignorance of Web site
managers/designers. But, it mostly doesn't matter /how/ you trick the
site's browser sniffing, from a usability standpoint, only that you do
so successfully.

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who
drives a race car not called a racist?

Tony Mechelynck wrote:
> On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>> them.
>>>
>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>> Firefox?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>
>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>
>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>
>> by adding at the end the value of
>>
>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>
>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>
>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>
>>
>
> Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as a
> consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
> string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
> (using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
> starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
> general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including the
> "Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox 2.0.0.14
> is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as SeaMonkey
> 1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or 2.0, the
> correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance, you report a
> bug.

Nice. Good suggestion, Tony.

How about this:

Preference:

general.useragent.extra.idiots

String:

"Hey! Learn something before you write a Web site for Firefox that
excludes SeaMonkey, you dolts! This is ..."

Create that one and then do Help - About. ;-)

--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat?

On 01/06/08 22:35, Ed Mullen wrote:
> Tony Mechelynck wrote:
>> On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>>> Firefox?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>>
>>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>>
>>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>>
>>> by adding at the end the value of
>>>
>>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>>
>>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>>
>>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as
>> a consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
>> string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
>> (using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
>> starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
>> general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including
>> the "Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox
>> 2.0.0.14 is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as
>> SeaMonkey 1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or
>> 2.0, the correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance,
>> you report a bug.
>
> Nice. Good suggestion, Tony.
>
> How about this:
>
> Preference:
>
> general.useragent.extra.idiots
>
> String:
>
> "Hey! Learn something before you write a Web site for Firefox that
> excludes SeaMonkey, you dolts! This is ..."
>
> Create that one and then do Help - About. ;-)
>

Hmmm... It might make the string unexpectedly long, and still not allow
entry to sites which dumbly check Firefox version by extracting the
numbers found after "Firefox/". It's to fool these that I suggested
adding a string including "Firefox/2.0.0.14".

But you might want to add another string, let's say
general.useragent.extra.zzgecko with the value "- see
http://geckoisgecko.org".

Since the verious general.useragent.extra.* preferences are incorporated
into the useragent string in alphabetical order of the pref name,
firesomething will come before seamonkey and zzgecko will come after it.

Best regards,
Tony.
--
A neighbor came to Nasrudin, asking to borrow his donkey. "It is out
on loan," the teacher replied. At that moment, the donkey brayed
loudly inside the stable. "But I can hear it bray, over there." "Whom
do you believe," asked Nasrudin, "me or a donkey?"

On Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:52:48 +0200, Tony Mechelynck
wrote:

>On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>> Firefox?
>>>
>>>
>>
>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>
>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>
>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>
>> by adding at the end the value of
>>
>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>
>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>
>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>
>>
>
>Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as a
>consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
>string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
>(using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
>starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
>general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including the
>"Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox 2.0.0.14
>is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as SeaMonkey
>1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or 2.0, the
>correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance, you report a
>bug.
>
>Best regards,
>Tony.

Thanks for the help, guys. After trying a number of suggestions, I
finally got something that works.

1. I went to the site to get the "user-agent-switcher" with
SeaMonkey but it never responded to my request for a download.

2. In SM's about:config and the "general.useragent.extra.seamonkey"
entry - I edited the value a number of ways to "Seamonkey/1.1.9 NOT
Firefox" and then "Seamonkey/1.1.9 Firefox sibling", etc. None
worked.

3 Success came when in SM's about:config, I created (added) a new
string: "general.useragent.extra.firefx" with the value
"Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling".

My two test cases were getting to my account at www.comcast.net and
a special section deep inside my account at GoDaddy. Both had
demanded IE or Firefox.

So far, so good. I assume I will have to remember to do similar
editing for SeaMonkey 2 (after Firefox 3 comes out [later this
month?]). T'would be nice if SeaMonkey 2 had this built-in somehow.

--
JohnW-Mpls

Ed Mullen wrote:
> Tony Mechelynck wrote:
>> On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>>> Firefox?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>>
>>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>>
>>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>>
>>> by adding at the end the value of
>>>
>>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>>
>>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>>
>>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as
>> a consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
>> string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
>> (using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
>> starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
>> general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including
>> the "Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox
>> 2.0.0.14 is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as
>> SeaMonkey 1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or
>> 2.0, the correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance,
>> you report a bug.
>
> Nice. Good suggestion, Tony.
>
> How about this:
>
> Preference:
>
> general.useragent.extra.idiots
>
> String:
>
> "Hey! Learn something before you write a Web site for Firefox that
> excludes SeaMonkey, you dolts! This is ..."
>
> Create that one and then do Help - About. ;-)
>

Most of the web spotting software tends to truncate the agent string to
no more than a couple words. With few exceptions, there is no real
need for agent sniffing any more, you could probably start a campaign to
use pithy one word comments and explorer to make the point.

However, the type of sites that think they have to sniff browsers tend
to be run by the technically illiterate that wouldnt be paying attention
to browser ident in their stats anyway.

On or about 6/1/2008 4:35 PM, Ed Mullen typed the following:
> Tony Mechelynck wrote:
>> On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>>> them.
>>>>
>>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>>> Firefox?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>>
>>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>>
>>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>>
>>> by adding at the end the value of
>>>
>>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>>
>>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>>
>>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will as
>> a consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your useragent
>> string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you can create
>> (using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with a name
>> starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
>> general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including
>> the "Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox
>> 2.0.0.14 is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as
>> SeaMonkey 1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or
>> 2.0, the correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance,
>> you report a bug.
>
> Nice. Good suggestion, Tony.
>
> How about this:
>
> Preference:
>
> general.useragent.extra.idiots
>
> String:
>
> "Hey! Learn something before you write a Web site for Firefox that
> excludes SeaMonkey, you dolts! This is ..."
>
> Create that one and then do Help - About. ;-)
>

That's little long. How about survey to find one the majority like and
then use it. Then those that actually check who uses their sites would
at least see a consistent value and might actually change their way of
doing things.

I know I'm using NOT Firefox, but I would prefer one of the others.

--
Ed
All outgoing/incoming mail scanned by Avast AV program.

"When angry, count four; when very angry, swear." -Mark Twain (1835-1910)

On 01/06/08 23:49, JohnW-Mpls wrote:
[...]
> So far, so good. I assume I will have to remember to do similar
> editing for SeaMonkey 2 (after Firefox 3 comes out [later this
> month?]). T'would be nice if SeaMonkey 2 had this built-in somehow.
>

There's a bug report about that,
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=387416 , by SeaMonkey
project leader Robert Kaiser, and even a bounty for whoever would fix
it; but it doesn't seem to attract many takers.

Best regards,
Tony.
--
"Uncle Cosmo ... why do they call this a word processor?"

"It's simple, Skyler ... you've seen what food processors do to food,
right?"
-- MacNelley, "Shoe"

Lon Stowell wrote:
> Ed Mullen wrote:
>> Tony Mechelynck wrote:
>>> On 31/05/08 17:33, Ed Mullen wrote:
>>>> JohnW-Mpls wrote:
>>>>> I was surprised to run into a section at Go Daddy where they will
>>>>> accept only IE or Firefox. I will complain - I expect better of
>>>>> them.
>>>>>
>>>>> I've lost the link and instructions for spoofing my browser. In the
>>>>> meantime, how can I spoof my SeaMonkey so web sites think I am
>>>>> Firefox?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 1. Get User Agent Switcher -
>>>> http://chrispederick.com/work/user-agent-switcher/
>>>>
>>>> 2. in about:config modify the preference
>>>>
>>>> general.useragent.extra.seamonkey
>>>>
>>>> by adding at the end the value of
>>>>
>>>> "NOT Firefox" so that the entire string value reads
>>>>
>>>> SeaMonkey/1.1.9 NOT Firefox
>>>>
>>>> Option 2 is the preferred method so that SeaMonkey still shows up in
>>>> server logs and isn't incorrectly identified solely as FF.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> Rather than modifying general.useragent.extra.seamonkey, which will
>>> as a consequence "freeze" the current SeaMonkey version in your
>>> useragent string, and not show the new version when you upgrade, you
>>> can create (using Right-click -> New -> String) a new preference with
>>> a name starting with "general.useragent.extra." -- e.g.
>>> general.useragent.extra.firesomething -- and with a value including
>>> the "Firefox" name, such as "a Firefox/2.0.0.14 sibling," (Firefox
>>> 2.0.0.14 is the Firefox version based on the same Gecko backend as
>>> SeaMonkey 1.1.9). This way, after you upgrade to SeaMonkey 1.1.10 or
>>> 2.0, the correct SeaMonkey version will be shown when, for instance,
>>> you report a bug.
>>
>> Nice. Good suggestion, Tony.
>>
>> How about this:
>>
>> Preference:
>>
>> general.useragent.extra.idiots
>>
>> String:
>>
>> "Hey! Learn something before you write a Web site for Firefox that
>> excludes SeaMonkey, you dolts! This is ..."
>>
>> Create that one and then do Help - About. ;-)
>>
>
> Most of the web spotting software tends to truncate the agent string to
> no more than a couple words.

Really? Most sniffer scripts I've seen simply check for the existence
of a word: e.g. "Firefox." It doesn't matter where it shows up in the
UA string.


--
Ed Mullen
http://edmullen.net
A waist is a terrible thing to mind.

On 02/06/08 04:05, Ed Mullen wrote:
[...]
> Really? Most sniffer scripts I've seen simply check for the existence of
> a word: e.g. "Firefox." It doesn't matter where it shows up in the UA
> string.

Maybe they do, but they oughtn't to. The "proper" way to do it is to
check for the existence of whatever functions (or other objects) you
want to use, which aren't available on every browser.

Otherwise, problems are bound to happen: an IE user might spoof a
Firefox UA, or vice-versa, but that spoof isn't going to create
javascript objects which weren't available on their browser to begin with.


Best regards,
Tony.
--
ARTHUR: ... and I am your king ....
OLD WOMAN: Ooooh! I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an
autonomous collective ...
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail" PYTHON (MONTY)
PICTURES LTD

Tony Mechelynck wrote:
> On 02/06/08 04:05, Ed Mullen wrote:
> [...]
>> Really? Most sniffer scripts I've seen simply check for the existence of
>> a word: e.g. "Firefox." It doesn't matter where it shows up in the UA
>> string.
>
> Maybe they do, but they oughtn't to. The "proper" way to do it is to
> check for the existence of whatever functions (or other objects) you
> want to use, which aren't available on every browser.

The simple sniffer scripts that look for one or two words arent even
marginally suitable for checking agents or plugins. And rarely are the
web sites that use them...or think they need to use them. e.g.
comcast.net
>
> Otherwise, problems are bound to happen: an IE user might spoof a
> Firefox UA, or vice-versa, but that spoof isn't going to create
> javascript objects which weren't available on their browser to begin with.

It could be argued whether or not this is a bad thing.
If the site truly thinks you need IE, it might do something stupid if
you do have IE. Most of the ones that ask for IE work as well as I'd
care to risk with just agent switcher spoofing.