# Kindle Crush on Alec Baldwin



## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

I wanted to look something up on Wikipedia on my Kindle.  When I got to the Wikipedia front page, the search box already had text in it - "Alec Baldwin".  I asked my boyfriend whether he had looked the actor up, but he denied it.  Shrugging it off, I typed in my search query and hit the search icon.  The screen flashed, reloaded - back to the front page, with the search box once again filled with "Alec Baldwin".  I tried again, retyped my search, hit the button, same thing!

I can't get navigate away from the front page and the filled-in "Alec Baldwin" search query.  Isn't that the strangest error ever?  I even clicked to search for Alec Baldwin, but it didn't take me to his page, it just stayed on the front page and re-filled the search box with his name.

  Going to try a couple of things to fix it, but obviously it's not a big problem, just very strange!


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

That is very strange.  Keep us posted on how this works out.
deb


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

Did a restart, but Alec is still annexing the search box.  I'll leave Kindle Wikipedia alone for a while and see if it fixes itself.  Turned wireless off for now.  Can I get the prize for the weirdest Kindle glitch, please?


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## Magenta (Jun 6, 2009)

Did you clear the cache and history?  From within the browser press MENU and select SETTINGS.  You can clear everything from there.  Good luck.


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

I cleared my cache, cleared my history, cleared my cookies, turned wireless off, restarted the Kindle, turned wireless on, went to Wikipedia and Alec Baldwin is gone...only to be replaced with "the tiffany network".  Clicking on search still doesn't take me to The Tiffany Network page, but kicks me back to the home page, with that phrase already entered in the search box.  I have found a way to browse Wikipedia, though.  If I click on a link in the featured article, it takes me to the new page and from there I can search as usual.

Thanks for the advice, Magenta!  I hope the problem disappears as mysteriously as it arrived.  This only happened after my Kindle updated itself to 2.3.4.  Odd!


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Try typing it as a search from the home page of your Kindle.  If you push the 5-way to the right, you should see several search options, including wiki.  That's really funny behavior, though


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I don't think it's a problem with your Kindle, but some behavior designed into the Wikipedia site, something to do with the "Today's Featured Article" when you go to the main page. (I get the same thing on mine if I use the built-in bookmark.) If I get bored enough tonight, I might find out what HTTP User-Agent headers the Kindle sends, and see if I can emulate it from my PC browser (by changing its UA header).


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Yep, it seems that Wikipedia is looking for Kindles, and for whatever reason populating the search box with a periodically changing value.

Viewed with Firefox with its default user-agent string:










After manually overriding the user-agent string in Firefox (to *Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Linux 2.6.10) NetFront/3.3 Kindle/1.0 (screen 600x800)* if you're curious):


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

NogDog said:


> (I get the same thing on mine if I use the built-in bookmark.)


Thanks for the explanation, NogDog! Since I can't access websites other than Wikipedia, I always use the built-in bookmark. Yesterday was the first time I saw that behaviour, though. It's pointless, since I can't search for that phrase, nor can I search for a new phrase I type in, it just keeps reloading the home page with the random phrase filled in.

It used to work fine before.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Try going to http://mobile.wikipedia.org instead of the default http://en.m.wikipedia.org. It will give you a stripped down interface designed for mobile devices with the added benefit that it responds faster.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

PS: I posted a note on the Wikipedia technical discussion page to hopefully bring this to someone's attention, FWIW.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_%28technical%29#Strange_behavior_of_en.m.wikipedia.org_on_Amazon_Kindle


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

NogDog said:


> Try going to http://mobile.wikipedia.org instead of the default http://en.m.wikipedia.org.


No can do: "Due to local restrictions, web browsing is not available for all countries."

I get that message whenever I enter/click on anything except the bookmarked Wikipedia page.

Thanks very much for your help and adding a note to the discussion page, that's really going the extra mile


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## hsuthard (Jan 6, 2010)

That's pretty funny, I was sure there was a logical explanation for it, but I bet you were sure wondering there for a while! LOL I can bet I would have had some fun with that.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

FWIW, it's been entered into the Wikipedia bug database, so it appears likely to be a problem on their part and not on the Kindle's part. 

https://bugzilla.wikimedia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=22757


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## Prazzie (Oct 25, 2009)

Great, thanks for the update!

By the way, the Kindle Wikipedia search of the day is "mikhail gorbachev"   Yeah, it's pretty funny, but I'd like the functionality restored, because looking up stuff on Wikipedia during lectures is great.  If I were to do it on my phone, the lecturer would think I'm texting and probably throw a duster at me or something, but the Kindle is "that electronic dictionary thing".


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## suicidepact (May 17, 2009)

At least it's not not Stephen or Adam Baldwin, but still, odd behavior. It would be funny if it started cycling through characters, say "Jack Ryan" etc. Or if the box was topical and went with an Oscars theme and then had Steve Martin in the box. Then Jon Stewart, etc.


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