Slashdot Mirror
Marketers Back "Cookies Are Good For You" Campaign
Makarand writes "The increasing numbers of computer users
who regularly delete cookies downloaded by
their browsers is
worrying online marketers and Web
site publishers who feel that the changing
consumer attitude towards cookies is harming
cookie usefulness and unfairly lumping them
with spyware and viruses. This industry group
wants to persuade companies making antispyware programs
to spare legitimate cookies while sweeping hard drives clean
of unnecessary or harmful files.
Some marketers think that providing consumers more information about cookies and how they're used
might change their attitudes towards cookies.
Others are already busy experimenting with newer approaches to serve up targeted ads even if a user has deleted his cookies."
It's a "workaround" for screwing up people that actually bother to delete cookies.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
The Permit Cookies extension sounds like what you need. It lets you allow a site's cookies via a hotkey (ALT + C by default). The version from Firefox's Extension site seems to require an older Firefox. Clicking through to the author's homepage gets you to a version that works in Firefox 1.0.4.
What a nifty trick.
n /flashplayer/help/settings_manager02.html
Looks as if flash gives each site a very small amount of local storage.
The article says it can be disabled, but doesn't link to any information.
A quick trip over to macromedia shows the web access controls... which is handy for setting global restrictions. Not really sure where my flash panel would be other then when the module is loaded, but here is a link to a web based method of setting those restrictions.
http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/e
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours." -- Yogi Berra
I've found this configuration to be optimal for me:
1. Always keep "ask before setting cookies" checked.
2. When you go to a site you know would like to save relevant info on you (login status, online cart...), just check "allow sites to set cookies". Now you get to answer "yes" to its cookies or "no" if ad server cookies are sneaked in while you have this enabled.
3. Afterwards, and in all other cases, keep "allow sites to set cookies" unchecked.
You'll now never have sites annoyingly popup the "XYZ wish to set a cookie" dialog, and the only time you have to at all care for them is when you for the first time visit a site with cookies you want it to set. All other times, nothing will be set for stuff you don't want (disallow cookies in Firefox will still allow cookies you have formerly accepted) and nothing will be popped up about cookies.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Nah, it's a Flash function (Local Shared Objects) that behaves like cookies and can replace them. Lucky us, Firefox already has an extension to delete these suckers
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler