Posted by Racer on October 7, 1999, at 6:16:39
In reply to Re: Cookies are..., posted by Dr. Bob on October 6, 1999, at 23:59:34
> > The other reason some sites use them is so that you go to one site, order a bottle of shampoo, and then go to another site and look at a dress. Now, since both sites set cookies, you go to site number three and up pops a cute little coffee table screaming, "Hey, with that nice, shiny hair and that new dress, wouldn't I look great in your living room?"
>
> My understanding is that with any recent browser, sites can only access their own cookies. So the furniture site wouldn't know about your shampoo or your dress. And only this site could tell you had been here.
>
> BobMany of the sites that bombard one with cookies are commercial sites which include advertisements. Those ads often have several cookies, which can be accessed by any other site carrying those ads. Also, a lot of sites are now collectively feeding us cookies. Gee, what an idea...
Anyway, what I said still stands from my point of view: some cookies have useful functions, like flagging new messages, keeping track of personal preferences (like indexing by date or name, don't show pictures of cows, show a green background, show horse related subjects first, etc), or streamlining a login system. What irks me is that a lot of sites leave one no option regarding cookies. The site relies on cookies to do work which could be done better from the viewers' standpoint by thinking a little more and using a nice script or app. It's a case of asking the customer to work harder than the programmer in effect.
Besides, for all those folks who log on at work from a company that disables cookies, that means that they have no access to many sites. For example, one of my favorite stores, Nordstrom, has a site that requires many cookies in order to access anything at all within the site. What if I wanted to check the bridal registry online and order a gift for my cousin, but had to do it from work? Answer: I'd have to take a day off work to go into the store, since I wouldn't be able to order online without that damn cookie...
Anyway, Dr Bob being honorable, the cookies here are safe. Low fat, but delicious. Mmm mmm mmm, good cookies!
poster:Racer
thread:11754
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12714.html