Tech: Whats a cookie

Subject: Whats a cookie
From: Marc
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 07:51 AM

I'm sorry , I'm kind of illiteret at this cyber stuff. But whats a cookie?

Thanx Marc

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 09:21 AM

Mark, I am no whiz at this either, but here is my understanding. When you contact a web site and register, the site sets a small program called a "cookie" (oh, I don't know why it is a cookie). The cookie enables the web site to "recognize" you whenever you log on.

I am a registered Mudcat user. When I log on, my Mudcat automatically appears in the From section of any posting I make. That is the work of the cookie. When I click on Personal Pages, my personal page comes up, because the Mudcat read my cookie.

Hope this helps you. Someone with more expertise maight be more precise. Sometimes it is better for a neophyte to explain to a neophyte because they have the same vocabulary.

Roger in Baltiomre

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 11:29 AM

Gee, I hope it recognizes that my cookie is a chocolate chip, with hazelnuts......

LTS

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Bill D
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 01:51 PM

from my security program, which blocks most cookies...

"Cookies are bits of information that web servers store on your computer for their later use. Web servers can use cookies to keep track of how many times you've visited and when, and what sort of information you've been surfing for on their site. They can even use cookies to pass that information on to other web servers, such as advertisement servers. On the positive side, cookies can be used to store your own web site configuration, to remember items placed in your "shopping cart" at an online shopping site, or to store account and password information for subscription sites. You may not want to block all cookies, which is why AtGuard lets you permit or block cookies on a per-site basis."

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Little dorritt
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 03:02 PM

its about 245 calories isn't it?

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: MMario
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 03:04 PM

unless it's not working, in which case it is a "broken token"

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 03:06 PM

G'day,
You can look inside the cookie very easily. Win 98 users can look in (typically) C:\Windows\Cookies. Then find a file with a name like your [e-mail][1].txt. You can then open it in Notepad. What you see then will leave you as puzzled as ever, but at least you'll have seen it.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Melbert
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 03:42 PM

What's a neophyte??? Is that someone who is alergic to cookies?

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: katlaughing
Date: 20 Jan 00 - 05:13 PM

LOL!

This site, Junkbusters, give a really easy to understand, thorough explanation on cookies,how they are used and what to do about them. well worth the read.

In Windows 95's Internet Explorer, all you have to do is got to View, Internet Options, Advanced, scan down to where it says Cookies and choose one of three options: always accept cookies; notify before accepting a cookie; never accept cookies. choose on, then Apply, and that should do it.

Also, in Windows 95, if you go to C:\Windows\Cookies, you will see all of the ones which have been applied. To remove them easily, you can go to Edit, Select All, then Delete OR, if you have things in there you don't want to delete, or that doesn't work for some reason, you can hold the shift key down, and drag them in blocks over the tops of other blocks and then Delete, which is a lot easier & faster than doing them one by one, esp. if you're like me & let them pile up!

Hope this is clearer than mud, but remember "Mud IS Thicker Than Water!"

katlaughing

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: Mark Roffe
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 12:49 AM

Another thing: a site you go to can scan ALL your cookies looking to see what sites interest you. You then can end up plugged into a different set of banners that more fit the profile of what you are apt to buy. And you might start received related unsolicited email that fits your market profile. If you have visited a lot of automotive sites, you might see banners about cars even when you're at a non-automotive site. Hey, this would explain why my boss gets lots of spam related to porn sites...

Subject: RE: Whats a cookie
From: MudGuard
Date: 21 Jan 00 - 03:19 AM

Roger in Baltimore, cookies are not programs, it is just text!

In Windows NT, Internet Explorer stores the cookies in: <YourWindowsNTDirectory>>\Profiles\<YourUsername>\Cookies as files with name of <YourUsername>@<TheSiteYouVisited>.txt
Sometimes there is a number in () or [] added before the .txt

Netscape puts all cookies in one file located at <YourProgamFolder>\Netscape\Users\default\cookies.txt
There is one line per cookie there.
Which means cookies are browser dependent. As I just tested with a different browser (Opera) I could not access my personal mudcat page without resetting my cookie!

MudGuard