The sad thing about Unix is that no matter how many times you hit yourself over the head with it, you never quite manage to lose conciousness."
If you've ever stumbled over cryptic browser messages such as 400: Bad request or 404: Not found you may appreciate some of the hostility that is directed towards Unix, the operating system upon which most of the World Wide Web was built. Unix is so opaque it makes DOS seem warm and cuddly.
Mostly, this lack of user friendliness doesn't matter as it remains hidden from the average Internet user. But if you come face to face with any of those not-so-rare Internet error messages which somehow make you feel as if you're to blame, you're going to need some Unix-to-human translation to understand what's gone wrong. So, here it is...
400: Bad request
The address you typed is somehow incorrect. The URL may not exist or you may not have authority to access the document on the server.
How to handle it: Check that you typed the URL correctly. Remember that Internet addresses are case sensitive, so www.pagopago.com/Holidays is not the same as www.pagopago.com/holidays (although sometimes sites will redirect requests for one URL which uses mixed case to another URL which has only lowercase). If you're not used to typing URLs, it's very easy to leave out the correct punctuation or to substitute a slosh (\) for a slash (/). Computers are very finicky about this stuff.
If you're trying an address you found elsewhere – perhaps in a magazine or on a Web site – it's possible the original author got it wrong. You might want to check the capitalisation or try just the first part of the address. For instance, if you can't get to www.pagopago.com/Holidays, try www.pagopago.com by itself, and then see if you can manually navigate to the Holidays page.
401: Unauthorised
You're treading on restricted ground. The page you've tried to access is only available to people authorised by the host or those with the correct password. Sites can also restrict access to those people who are connecting from a particular domain: for instance, you might only be able to access a site if you connect via a .edu or .gov domain or via a particular country domain.
How to handle it: If you know you should have access to the site, check the spelling of your password, including the case. If you still have no success, contact the site administrator to see whether there's a problem with your logon ID or password.
403: Forbidden
This is very like 401. The page you're trying to view is password protected or restricted in some other way.
How to handle it: If you have the password for the site, check the spelling. If you still can't get in, you may need to e-mail the site's Webmaster.
404: Not found
The particular page you're looking for can't be found on the server. It may be that the page no longer exists (remember, the Web is a very volatile place and no page lives forever) or that it's been moved to another location or renamed.
How to handle it: Once again, check the spelling of the URL. You can also try going up one or more levels and seeing if you can locate the page that way. For instance, if you're looking for www.microsoft.com/ie/IE40/security.asp and can't seem to find it, try www.microsoft.com/ie/IE40 and, if that doesn't help, try www.microsoft.com/ie and finally www.microsoft.com. Once you manage to load a page, you can then try navigating your way to the page or using the site's search facility, if it has one, to locate the page you want.
If you've ever stumbled over cryptic browser messages such as 400: Bad request or 404: Not found you may appreciate some of the hostility that is directed towards Unix, the operating system upon which most of the World Wide Web was built. Unix is so opaque it makes DOS seem warm and cuddly.
Mostly, this lack of user friendliness doesn't matter as it remains hidden from the average Internet user. But if you come face to face with any of those not-so-rare Internet error messages which somehow make you feel as if you're to blame, you're going to need some Unix-to-human translation to understand what's gone wrong. So, here it is...
400: Bad request
The address you typed is somehow incorrect. The URL may not exist or you may not have authority to access the document on the server.
How to handle it: Check that you typed the URL correctly. Remember that Internet addresses are case sensitive, so www.pagopago.com/Holidays is not the same as www.pagopago.com/holidays (although sometimes sites will redirect requests for one URL which uses mixed case to another URL which has only lowercase). If you're not used to typing URLs, it's very easy to leave out the correct punctuation or to substitute a slosh (\) for a slash (/). Computers are very finicky about this stuff.
If you're trying an address you found elsewhere – perhaps in a magazine or on a Web site – it's possible the original author got it wrong. You might want to check the capitalisation or try just the first part of the address. For instance, if you can't get to www.pagopago.com/Holidays, try www.pagopago.com by itself, and then see if you can manually navigate to the Holidays page.
401: Unauthorised
You're treading on restricted ground. The page you've tried to access is only available to people authorised by the host or those with the correct password. Sites can also restrict access to those people who are connecting from a particular domain: for instance, you might only be able to access a site if you connect via a .edu or .gov domain or via a particular country domain.
How to handle it: If you know you should have access to the site, check the spelling of your password, including the case. If you still have no success, contact the site administrator to see whether there's a problem with your logon ID or password.
403: Forbidden
This is very like 401. The page you're trying to view is password protected or restricted in some other way.
How to handle it: If you have the password for the site, check the spelling. If you still can't get in, you may need to e-mail the site's Webmaster.
404: Not found
The particular page you're looking for can't be found on the server. It may be that the page no longer exists (remember, the Web is a very volatile place and no page lives forever) or that it's been moved to another location or renamed.
How to handle it: Once again, check the spelling of the URL. You can also try going up one or more levels and seeing if you can locate the page that way. For instance, if you're looking for www.microsoft.com/ie/IE40/security.asp and can't seem to find it, try www.microsoft.com/ie/IE40 and, if that doesn't help, try www.microsoft.com/ie and finally www.microsoft.com. Once you manage to load a page, you can then try navigating your way to the page or using the site's search facility, if it has one, to locate the page you want.
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