Waldron Digital's Tech Blog » Vendors

Bad Response from Server with YouTube Channels

Mike Waldron — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 23:51:06 +0000

After doing some Googling on this one, I tried all the proposed fixes: delete cookies, clear temp files/cache, etc… nothing helped in my client’s environment. After doing some testing I found that the new version of AVG Internet Security (version 11) causes YouTube channel videos to report “bad response from server” when clicking from channels. Once AVG was uninstalled, the channels work as intended with no errors. If you don’t use AVG, I’d suggest removing your anti-virus/Internet security to see if the problem still manifests itself. If not, you can start the troubleshooting process for your particular environment.

The fix (although not a great one) for AVG was to remove the LinkScanner components: AVG Search-Shield and Surf-Shield. Problem Solved!

Hope this helps someone out there banging their heads against the wall on this one!

GoDaddy Premium EV Certificate Hidden Web Beacon Link – FOUND!

Mike Waldron — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:45:39 +0000

I don’t know why GoDaddy doesn’t publicize it’s hidden web beacon, they talk about it in the help section but you won’t find it anywhere. I had to contact support twice to get the link below. The web beacon or site seal is required for the EV green bar to appear in Internet Explorer 7. The difference is the site seal is visible (and somewhat tacky IMHO) while the web beacon is NOT visible.

Here’s the link:

http://seal.godaddy.com/js/gdwebbeacon.js

or download it at my site here: GoDaddy Web Beacon

Usage is such:

NOTE: I’d recommend downloading the script and placing it local to your website to keep it segregated from GoDaddy’s website. So your link would look like:

While I was waiting for GoDaddy to respond, I figured out a hack to download the site seal and hide it… which I will share just for kicks:

Downsizing my Time Warner Bill

Mike Waldron — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:53:51 +0000

In my recent effort to reduce expenses at the Waldron compound, I took it upon myself to call Time Warner to see if it was worth downgrading my services. I was contemplating changing my Road Runner service from Standard to Basic (-$10) and removing a secondary cable box in my bedroom (-$10).

What I have with TW Cable:

Living Room HD DVR box
Bedroom HD Cable box
HBO, Cinemax and HD NET
Road Runner Standard

After talking to the customer service rep, he took about 5 minutes dissecting my bill to see if I could save money with my current subscriptions. Turns out he was able to bundle the services for a year with a savings of $25/month. On top of that they gave me a free HD DVR to replace my bedroom box. Not bad for a 20 minute phone call.

Moral of the story: Call Time Warner at least every 6-12 months to make sure you aren’t getting screwed.

UPDATE: 10/2010: I’ve moved to DISH network after TWC refused to cut our bills down. We actually have more stuff for less with DISH and are quite happy. Funny, because when I went to remove the TV services and give back the cable box in the local office, the nice lady discounted my cable-Internet at $30/yr for a year!