Those rotten cookies.
Well actually I've probably got you here under false pretences - cookies aren't really rotten, they've just had a lot of bad press. For example, here are a few popular misconceptions about cookies -
Cookies can mess up your computer. Cookies don't contain any executable code, so the only way they can mess up your computer is if you never delete them and you get so many that they clog up the system.
Another problem can occur when a new program tries to read an old cookie and crashes, I've had this happen a few time on Ebay sites for example.
I got a virus through a cookie. Cookies are simple text files, so this is not possible.
Cookies spy on you. This one is a bit more complicated as the purpose of cookies is to store information, and third party sites can collect this information in a database.
However cookies can't get information that isn't already available to the web server, so you don't really protect anything by disabling them.
A cookie got my email address. Cookies can't get email addresses on their own. A java[script] routine may be able to read your email address and save it in a cookie.
You should keep your anti-virus software and vulnerability fixes up to date to guard against this.
So what are they, and why should I leave them alone.
Cookies are simple text strings (you can look at them with wordpad), that contain an identifier, an expiry date, some bits of information and a few atribute codes (who can look at them, and things like that). Temporary cookies go when you close the browser,
and persistent cookies stay until they expire or you delete them. If you delete a persistent cookie while the browser is open, it rewrites it when it closes. They are used to store information to make it easier for you to log onto to frequently visited sites by storing preferences. Shopping carts use them to save information about items you are purchasing.
Advertising companies like doubleclick use them to save browsing details to provide targetted advertising, and if you want to supress the gathering of this information, they provide dummy cookies for you. There is also another use of cookies that is directly applicable to adult sites.
This is the storing of affiliate codes. Before I discuss this, I'll show you an example of a call that does not rely on cookies (warning - if you have java enabled you will get two exit popups when you close the link window, I've left these in to illustrate how the code can be passed through calls without using cookies).
This is the call http://www.wivesinpantyhose.com/main.htm?id=RevShare3166. As you probably guessed 3166 is my code, and the odd payment that comes from this goes towards paying for the upkeep of this site.
You probably want to know why I've included this link here. Well, apart from the hope of earning a couple of dollars from it, it illustrates the fact that web sites need money to survive. Not just to pay the storage and bandwidth costs, but to buy coffee for the guy that has to maintain it.
If you block cookies you can stop the recording of these affiliate codes for older less sophisticated sites, and thus deprive the referer of any income. Because of this, some gallery sites test to see if you have disabled cookies, and pass you straight on to another site if you have.
They have to pay the costs of storage and distribution of the pictures in their galleries, and are reluctant to do this if there is not prospect of earning any income.
I hope that this page has helped you understand cookies, and that you look on them as potential friends rather than enemies. For information on protecting yourself from viruses, please visit my anti-virus site by clicking
here.
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