When a browser (or any web client) requests content from a web server, it can tell the server what types of content type it can interpret (HTML, text, audio, etc.). The underlying HTTP protocol allows these to be specified via “header” settings—metadata that is sent before any actual content, describing characteristics about the content. The browser can send an “Accept” header—to describe what it accepts—and the server responds with a “Content-type” header. The Accept header can be quite elaborate, but what happens when what happens when these conflict? Read the rest of this entry »