Cookies have, for some reason, gained a rather sinister image. But they really are simple and harmless. A cookie is just one or more pieces of information stored as text strings on your machine. A Web server sends you a cookie and the browser stores it. The browser then returns the cookie to the server the next time the page is referenced. When you order a book, you fill out a form with your name and address. Amazon assigns you an ID, stores your information with that ID in its database on the server, and sends the ID to your browser as a cookie. Your browser stores the ID on your hard disk. The next time you go to Amazon, the ID is sent back to the server. The server looks you up by your ID and customizes the Web page it sends back to you. Is there any more to cookies than that? No. They are simply text strings.
They are little text files -- you can open them up and see the strings that are being saved. Are cookies harmful? No. They are just short text strings, and they can often make browsing better by allowing a server to recall any customized information you have set. Are cookies common? Yes. There are over 500 separate cookies on my hard disk. Can cookies transmit computer viruses? No. They are just text strings. Can a company read my personal information from my hard disk with a cookie? No. Only the cookie that is sent in the first place is returned to the server. It is not modified or manipulated in any way. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer by websites you visit. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the site owners. The answer to this question depends on what the cookie is used for.
Some cookies are essential for websites to function properly, while others are used to track your browsing habits or serve you targeted ads. If you are not comfortable with a website tracking your behavior, you may want to disable cookies for that site. However, this may prevent the site from functioning properly. What is a cookie on internet? A cookie is a small piece of data that is stored on a user's computer. Cookies are used to remember information about a user's browsing session and to allow websites to keep track of a user's activities. What are cookies used for? Cookies are small files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are used to store information about your visit, such as your preferred language and other settings. Cookies can also be used to track your online activity, such as the websites you visit and the ads you click on. This information can be used to show you targeted ads. Is cookies in internet safe? It depends on various factors, including the specific cookie, the website it came from, and the user's security settings. In general, cookies are small pieces of data sent from a website to a user's computer, then stored on the user's hard drive. While cookies cannot damage a user's computer, they can potentially be used to track a user's online activity or to collect personal information. As such, users should exercise caution when accepting cookies from unknown or untrustworthy websites.
This document answers questions asked frequently by web authors. Web Design Group, and is posted regularly to the newsgroup comp.infosystems.www.authoring.html. Where is the latest version of this document? How can I contribute to this document? Can I email the author my questions? Where can I learn about the WWW? Where can I learn about HTML? Where can I learn about CSS? Where can I learn about SGML? Where can I learn about XML (XSL)? Where can I learn about XHTML? Where can I learn about SSI ("SHTML")? Where can I learn about CGI? Where can I learn about PHP? Where can I learn about JavaScript (LiveScript, JScript, ECMAScript, DOM)? What is everyone using to write HTML? How can I show HTML examples without them being interpreted as part of my document? How do I get special characters in my HTML? Should I put quotes around attribute values? How can I include comments in HTML?
How can I avoid using the whole URL? Should I end my URLs with a slash? How can I check for errors? What is a DOCTYPE? Which one do I use? Where can I put my newly created Web pages? How can I get my own domain name? How can I block my hosting service's advertisements? Where can I announce my site? Is there a way to get indexed better by the search engines? How do I prevent my site from being indexed by search engines? How do I redirect someone to another page? How do I password protect my web site? How do I stop my page from being cached? How can I disable the browser's right-click options? How can I protect my source, images, etc. from being copied? How do I hide my URL? How do I detect what browser is being used? How do I get my visitors' email addresses? Why is my custom 404 Not Found message not displayed?
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