Could you not instead use php to detect the broswer, then simply not load the shoutbox in the send_column function?

This is how I originally thought it could be done. Like:

PHP Code
// $shout_friendly_brwsr is false if browser is IE, otherwise true, then...

if ($v == "shoutbox" && $shout_friendly_brwsr) {
  $this->shoutbox_loaded = 1;
}

But I'm concerned, and wasn't previously aware, of the same problem with Firefox.

Has there been any official word on this problem? Could there be a particular apache or mysql setting that contributes or alleviates the problem?