Sometimes software firewalls are a little bit too helpful, you ask me.
I’d noticed odd things happening. On one computer, clicking Contacts in Google Gmail would produce nothing. On my other computer, the click worked fine and the Contacts list popped up. The same thing sometimes happened on other websites too. There was no pattern that I could discern. And no error message.
I discovered I couldn’t post a message online to Radio Userland (this software this blog runs on) using that same computer, but could with the other computer. The error message was “No referrer.” Finally, an error message however cryptic it might be! An email to Radio support solved the problem. Norton Security Firewall had turned off the referrer info, a “feature” many firewalls have.
From Radio Userland, here’s how to fix such errors if you have Zone Alarm Pro and Opera. For those with Norton Security, they point you to a Symantec help page.
The fix for Norton Security is deeply convoluted instructions and only works one site at a time. Anyone know how to default Norton to referrer on, like the other firewalls? If not, maybe it’s time to switch firewalls.