DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Testing. 1, 2, 3... => Topic started by: Josette on July 14, 2003, 04:34:34 AM

Title: Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Josette on July 14, 2003, 04:34:34 AM
A little while ago a pop-up asked me if I'd accept a cookie from a site - tvlinksonline.com (or something like that).  A few days ago Criseyde posted some links to TV search sites and I checked out a couple, so I'm guessing that was one.  But, while browsing here, now, I can't imagine why that site would want to set a cookie.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 14, 2003, 04:54:09 AM
But, while browsing here, now, I can't imagine why that site would want to set a cookie.

Well, it wouldn't have had anything to do with the forum. The only info the forum's cookie contains is encrypted copies of your username and password and whether or not you want to be automatically logged in.

I have no way of knowing what sort of info the cookie you're referring to might contain, but was the forum the first site you visited today after you opened your browser? If so, perhaps the other cookie was set to automatically bring up that pop-up window after a certain amount of time had passed between the time it was first downloaded to you cookies directory on your hard drive and you opened your browser.

The problem with a lot of cookies is that most if not all the info that's encoded into them is encrypted. Even if you open them, you can't tell what they're set to do. That's one reason why it's always a good idea to periodically go through your cookies and delete anything that's been stored from any sites that you don't trust. Actually, not just from Web sites you might have visited because cookies can also be downloaded if your e-mail program displays/accepts HTML - just opening the e-mail can set a cookie.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Josette on July 14, 2003, 08:29:27 AM
Well, other than the home page that comes up when I open IE (and I may have come here before it fully loaded - I think it's a Gateway site), this was the only thing I did in IE.  IF I went to the other site, it would have been a few days ago.  I know some sites have ads or other things that try to put cookies on, but I was amazed to see this other one pop up here.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Josette on July 14, 2003, 08:37:50 AM
It happened again shortly after I posted the previous response.  Again it was tvlinksonline.com and this time it happened while I was looking at "Maggie Collins, as seen by Grandma Moses."  I have no idea what I was reading the first time - I'm wondering if the particular thread had some connection with it.

This time I told it to block all cookies from that site, so I assume I won't get it again to find out.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: MsCriseyde on July 14, 2003, 01:04:14 PM
A little while ago a pop-up asked me if I'd accept a cookie from a site - tvlinksonline.com (or something like that).  A few days ago Criseyde posted some links to TV search sites and I checked out a couple, so I'm guessing that was one.

It wasn't. Never heard of it before.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Josette on July 15, 2003, 03:54:50 AM
A little while ago a pop-up asked me if I'd accept a cookie from a site - tvlinksonline.com (or something like that).  A few days ago Criseyde posted some links to TV search sites and I checked out a couple, so I'm guessing that was one.

It wasn't. Never heard of it before.

How funny!  I knew I had checked out a couple.  One, epquides, was one I had used in the past, but it had apparently disappeared, so when that was one you mentioned, I know I tried it.  I think I tried something else, too, and that name sounds so much like that sort of thing.  I still don't see where a cookie from another site would come from, anyway, but if it's not even something I went to, it's stranger still.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 15, 2003, 04:23:27 AM
I still don't see where a cookie from another site would come from, anyway, but if it's not even something I went to, it's stranger still.

It has to have come from a site you've visited, an e-mail you've opened, or something you've downloaded.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: VictoriaWintersRox on July 15, 2003, 04:45:23 AM
tvlinksonline.com is the site of a message board for a site called Sitcoms Online. I post there regularly. Anyway, recently the administrator cut off hot linking because many people were using pictures stored at the site on other websites. I've noted that a few other people on here also post on that site. Anyways, this is just an idea - could it be possible that if someone used a picture from TVLinksOnline.com as their avatar on this board, could it possibly cause the cookie message to come up? I went to the "Grandma Moses" thread and at least one avatar didn't show up, which would mean the site turned off/never had hot linking and could possibly be a picture from TVLinksOnline. *shrug* Or maybe I'm just pulling it's just a coincidence.

Sean
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on July 15, 2003, 04:57:48 AM
could it be possible that if someone used a picture from TVLinksOnline.com as their avatar on this board, could it possibly cause the cookie message to come up? I went to the "Grandma Moses" thread and at least one avatar didn't show up, which would mean the site turned off/never had hot linking and could possibly be a picture from TVLinksOnline.

A site could cause an image with, say, the message "You're seeing this image instead of the image you were linking to at www.whateversite.com because we have disabled remote linking," to appear on this forum in place of a person's avatar image. That's pretty much standard practice with sites that disable remote linking to their images. But cookies can't be downloaded simply from visiting a site (like this forum) where someone might be linking to an image from another site.
Title: Re:Cookies from other sites here?
Post by: Josette on July 16, 2003, 08:07:35 AM
It's clearly not important - but it's really puzzling me at this point.  Once at the TV search sites, I did check out a couple of shows, but I don't think I looked up any sitcoms.