cookies

[pilvikki]

why does every blasted site need t declare their using cookies? we already KNOW they do! "click here to continue". nope, i shall not. and usually there's no problem...

[yogi]

A lot of different things are done with cookies, and some sites will fail if you don't allow them. It's amazing to see thousands of them stored on your computer after only a few days of browsing the Internet. People argue that they are intrusive and waste a lot of memory. I suppose a case can be made for both claims. However, a lot of things happen behind the scenes that customize the web site to your needs. Cookies play a big part in that. I clean them out entirely a few times a month as part of my regular maintenance. But, for the most part they are harmless.

Most browsers can be set to delete all the information (such as cookies) collected during your surfing when you close out the browser. This will keep the overall cookie count down, but it also erases things like your log in credentials for this web site. So, if you don't mind the minor inconvenience posed by cleaning your cookies automatically, it's worth setting your browser to do so. Also, if you hate Microsoft, like the rest of us, erasing all that good information each time you shut down the browser cuts down on the telemetry to the mother ship.

[pilvikki]

i use vivaldi so i just bring up the housekeeping page and kill the history and select my favourite cookies, lol! it's just gotten nuts with the cookies and 'sign up to receive...' - often from a page i've not even been able to look at because the stupid pop up blocked it!

[yogi]

I'm using a browser called WaterFox. It's a knock off of Firefox without all the overhead. Like Mozilla's Firefox, Waterfox has what they call a reader view. This is just the content of the page displayed in large clear type sans anything that is not text in the article. I'm guessing other browsers have a similar feature, perhaps even Vivaldi. Those overlay ads and auto start sound clips get to be very annoying after a while, which is when the reader view really shines brightly. My browser still collects cookies but I don't care because I rise above them when I need to do so. I use the ever popular CCleaner clean up application every once in a while to get rid of the trash left behind by visited web sites. The only reason I do that is because I don't want my browser to automatically clean itself up each time I use it and thus force me to log into everywhere each new session I start.

[pilvikki]

hm... i used to use ccleaner... wonder why i stopped...?

waterfox sounds interesting. i'll take a peak.

[yogi]

Waterfox looks a lot like Firefox. But under the surface it operates quite a bit differently. It's more secure in some respects and is faster and more efficient as well. However, the latest incarnation of Firefox purportedly has improved greatly over it's former iterations. I may check it out some day to see if it really has improved.

The reader view in Waterfox is not a new thing. I've used in in Opera and in Maxthon. Others may have it too. It's better than ad blocking because it's a lot cleaner looking and eliminates everything, not just certain advertising. However, as I said above, the reader view is only cosmetic. It doesn't stop them cookies from being deposited.

[Kellemora]

Cookies is a BROAD TERM that covers numerous types of Cookies.
I block most Cookies, especially Tracking Cookies, but keep those that hold Log-In info, or site adjustment info.
It's easier to block all cookies and then allow only those used to hold log-in data.
Then if need be, allow a cookie required for some feature of the website.