Folks, I made a thing – NYT Redirect nitinkhanna.com
@nitinkhanna I could get the Today's front page to work, but not the PDF. I received the message, "This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below."
@crossingthethreshold would you please send me the link you're redirected to? It should be - static01.nyt.com/images/20... - for today.
@crossingthethreshold and maybe a screenshot if you're up for it? The XML/document tree error looks very familiar to how some browsers deal with a bad RSS feed...
@nitinkhanna I tried this on Safari and Firefox. Same error - this is the link I used - static01.nyt.com/images/20... I'll look to send you a screenshot
@crossingthethreshold this is sooooo interesting! Can you do me a favor? On the Today's Paper page, I realize that they have the PDF linked at the bottom right under the section "TODAYS FRONT PAGES". If you click the image, it opens a modal that let's you "View PDF". Does clicking on that button also give you the same error page?
If so, and I see that you're located in Hawaii based on your m.b profile, then NYT is being a little racist to Hawaiians!
@crossingthethreshold reason I'm saying this is because even going to the almost top of the URL - static01.nyt.com/images/ - doesn't throw that error for me! Instead, I see an AWS S3 XML file with various static files listed there. So... NYT really doesn't want you (and people around you) seeing their content!
@nitinkhanna You are correct. I am located in Hawaii. And "no," clicking on the image (which actually isn't there, just showing up as a "?" within a square box with the Alt text in it), does not show the PDF, just the same as the screenshot.
@crossingthethreshold this is very, very disappointing. I'm going to write to NYT about this. Would you mind sharing which island you're on? Perhaps that has some bearing on their systems? It's ok if you don't. It's their responsibility to figure out the issue.
You're not on VPN, are you?
If you go to a site like www.iplocation.net does it show the correct location for you (based on your IP address) or does it show someplace else?
One other interesting facet here can be if your ISP is routing the traffic through some wonky networks that make your location not be in the US... :D
@crossingthethreshold certainly. I've written a detailed email. Let's hope they're able to address this discrepancy quickly.
@crossingthethreshold thanks for confirming. I didn't include this info in the email right now. Will do if they ask about specifics.
@crossingthethreshold Hey! So, NYT seem to think the problem is at your end. May I forward their email to you? If so, what's a good email?
In their words, "Unfortunately, it is the recipients domain that is blocking PDF view." This is followed by a series of generic solutions - disable adblockers and other scripts, restart the browser, clear cache, etc.
@nitinkhanna Thank you for the update. I’m not sure that I understand what they mean by my domain being the problem? I understand domain as being my website domain. Maybe that is just my lack of knowledge on the subject?
Anyway, I am happy to look at the email and see if I can sort out the problem at this end. Please use davidjohnson@duck.com