I'm getting a little blue box with a question mark OVER TOP of the smaller images on most of the avian photos. Just upgraded to Lion yesterday, Safari 5.1, MacBook Pro. Anyone else getting this? Any ideas on how to fix? Thanks! Sharon
Posted by Richard Ditch on July 22, 2011 at 12:06 PM
Same thing if you visit an NPN gallery on an iPhone. My guess is that it is because the small image is layered: the annoying "security feature" used at NPN is to place a transparent gif over the actual image (which is the background of a table). I'll further guess that those images that don't show the blue question mark are not hosted on NPN but are linked from another host.
Edit:
Have you tried using Firefox, or is the problem only with Safari? I don't get the issue with Safari 5.0.5 or any prior version, but Software Update wants to install 5.0.6 at the moment and I don't think I'll do that until we understand more about this problem.
I don't use firefox; just safari. It doesn't happen on Jim Nall's Skimmer image, but the question mark is on the image just before and just after Jim's. I don't know how to tell where the photo is hosted.
The larger images are not a problem.
I might also add...I can still see the images...just a little annoying with the little question mark in the middle.
I did try Safari, Preferences, Appearance, and when I uncheck the box that says to show image when page loads...the images with question marks are then ok, BUT I can't see any of the others!!
Posted by Ramamohan Pai on July 22, 2011 at 12:44 PM
I upgraded to Lion and use Google Chrome most often. I don't see that blue box with the question mark but I do see it only for NPN when I use Safari on my iPhone.
Sharon, what you are describing is a failure by Safari to deal with layered transparent GIFs on photos posted at NPN. There is no layered GIF is you link to a photo stored elsewhere instead of uploading the photo to NPN. As Richard says, it's been a problem with Safai on the iPhone all along. I urge you to report the problem to Jim and to Apple, but I suspect Jim E. issuing a Flash call to generate the GIF. Apple famously doesn't allow Flash on iPhones, and may have brought its distaste to the Mac.
1. The large image hosted at NPN does not have transparent gif over the actual jpeg
2. Jim Nall's skimmer is not hosted on the NPN server but on his own web site: http://www.kentuckybirdphotos.com/npn/Skimmer%20IMG_4111.jpg
3. The pigeon image following Jim's skimmer is hosted at NPN and has the transparent gif on top
Safari treats the jpeg image hosted at NPN as part of the background; the transparent gif is interpreted as the image. When you uncheck the box "display images when the page opens" you are blocking the gif from loading so there is no blue question mark on top of it. You are also blocking image hosted at other sites (like Jim's skimmer) from loading.
Apple obviously interprets the html standards differently than Google and Firefox so you could try convincing Apple to change their implementation. I doubt you will get any satisfaction that way.
You could use Firefox to visit NPN.
You could petition Jim to get rid of the gif overlay "security" feature. I suspect that the Safari update for those of us still on Leopard will introduce this problem and Jim will hear from more of his members on Macs.
As Jim DeWitt says this could definitely be a Flash problem.
I don't see an option to toggle Flash on/off in Safari 5.0.5, but it might be controlled on thee Security panel with the "enable Plug-ins" selection. Se what your preference is set to.
Just for the heck of it I just downloaded the pigeon image from the LARGER version...NO PROBLEM! Seems silly to be protecting the small version and not the larger one with a layered gif. (NOT that I'm wanting a little question mark box on my larger versions!)
Thanks for your help Richard, Jim, and Ram....let me know if you come up with a solution!
From a friend who does a lot of Mac support at a major university:
"When they installed Lion, FLASH got un-installed. They need to re-install it."
Yes, the large image is completely unprotected from easy downloading. The gif overlay on the small images prohibits casual downloads but does not protect the image from theft - it just takes another step or two (which I won't explain) to access it.
I am looking at NPN from my Macbook Pro using Safari now. I see no such question mark like the one I see when I use the iPhone. May be Lion did not knock off Flash from my Laptop.
I am more comfortable using a Mouse instead of the track pad and as of now the only bug that I encountered was that Lion changed scrolling direction. I changed it back, so no issue.
http://www.ipadforums.net/ipad-help/19498-question-mark-icon-images.html This was the only thing on the web that came close to what I'm seeing. Not much help!
I've just installed Safari 5.0.6 on my Mac running Leopard and it performs like all previous versions - no issue with the blue question mark, so at least this isn't some nefarious change.
Posted by Angela McCain on July 22, 2011 at 11:30 PM
Be really careful. When Snow Leopard came along, I was locked out of much of my software for several weeks-and a couple for 3 months until Nikon, Photoshop etc became compatible. A ? mark was the least of my worries. I had just started in photography a couple of months before and it was really frustrating. I'm not upgrading to Lion until I know that everything will run.
Normally I would have waited. :) Since I just switched everything over to Mac in June...I was entitled to the Lion upgrade as part of my purchase, but it needed to be done before Aug ?., and I had the day off and it was 103 here, so I figured I'd just go ahead and get it done...after all Mac is soooo much better! Oh well, everything else is working just fine as far as I know and the little icon is more of an annoyance than a problem....
Maybe it will take care of itself in the next 3 months! Thanks again everyone! And for the record...I STILL am happy I make the switch!
Discussion
16 repliesEdit:
Have you tried using Firefox, or is the problem only with Safari? I don't get the issue with Safari 5.0.5 or any prior version, but Software Update wants to install 5.0.6 at the moment and I don't think I'll do that until we understand more about this problem.
I might also add...I can still see the images...just a little annoying with the little question mark in the middle.
I did try Safari, Preferences, Appearance, and when I uncheck the box that says to show image when page loads...the images with question marks are then ok, BUT I can't see any of the others!!
2. Jim Nall's skimmer is not hosted on the NPN server but on his own web site: http://www.kentuckybirdphotos.com/npn/Skimmer%20IMG_4111.jpg
3. The pigeon image following Jim's skimmer is hosted at NPN and has the transparent gif on top
Safari treats the jpeg image hosted at NPN as part of the background; the transparent gif is interpreted as the image. When you uncheck the box "display images when the page opens" you are blocking the gif from loading so there is no blue question mark on top of it. You are also blocking image hosted at other sites (like Jim's skimmer) from loading.
Apple obviously interprets the html standards differently than Google and Firefox so you could try convincing Apple to change their implementation. I doubt you will get any satisfaction that way.
You could use Firefox to visit NPN.
You could petition Jim to get rid of the gif overlay "security" feature. I suspect that the Safari update for those of us still on Leopard will introduce this problem and Jim will hear from more of his members on Macs.
I don't see an option to toggle Flash on/off in Safari 5.0.5, but it might be controlled on thee Security panel with the "enable Plug-ins" selection. Se what your preference is set to.
Thanks for your help Richard, Jim, and Ram....let me know if you come up with a solution!
"When they installed Lion, FLASH got un-installed. They need to re-install it."
Yes, the large image is completely unprotected from easy downloading. The gif overlay on the small images prohibits casual downloads but does not protect the image from theft - it just takes another step or two (which I won't explain) to access it.
I am more comfortable using a Mouse instead of the track pad and as of now the only bug that I encountered was that Lion changed scrolling direction. I changed it back, so no issue.
Maybe it will take care of itself in the next 3 months! Thanks again everyone! And for the record...I STILL am happy I make the switch!