3 Wishes for Answers to 3 Questions

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   KnowledgeAnywhereposted 13 years ago

   While browsing the internet and writing it occurs to me that certain things I cant seem to not think about.  I am not worried but I wish I knew the answer to these three questions.
   
   Can someone please explain the anatomy of cookies thoroughly?  Are cookies dangerous and do they / can they act as spyware reporting back to the website that made them?   
   
   What is the max number of unpublished hubs I can have?
   
   How do you hyperlink different phrases to go to different parts of the same page?
   
   Thanks in advance for any information.

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   1. 69

      simeonvisserposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      1. A cookie contains information that the website wants to store with regard to you. It's stored on your computer so that the information is available to the website next time you visit. It's not dangerous but they can be used to track what you're doing. You can think of them as little text files with information. There's a lot more information about cookies on the internet though - have a look if you're worried.
      
      2. There is no limit that I am aware of. Having many unpublished hubs may affect your personal author score but I don't know if that is the case and to what extend.
      
      3. You can link using #. A link that contains a # links to a particular part of a webpage. It's a bit technical but that can only be done when that particular spot on the webpage allows you to link to it. Here's an example of such a link: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/62497#post1379112 I don't think it's possible to do it for parts of a hub but I could be mistaken.

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   2. 91

      Rochelle Frankposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I thought you were kidding at first, because the only cookies I could think of that have "anatomy" were gingerbread men.

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2. 74

   SteveoMcposted 13 years ago

   Cookies in and of themselves are conveniences and generally do not present a risk.   Use your browser to clear all your cookies from time to time.  This will cause some inconveniences such as stored passwords, site preferences, etc.  I clear my cookies all the time, because I do not want them, but I recommend keeping cookies for my elderly relatives because they use the same webpages generally and putting in user names and passwords for them is very difficult each time.  I prefer to enter them all each time, because I want to make sure that I know them all.
   
   As far as I can tell, there is no max on the unpublished hubs, as a matter of fact, some of the hub contests recommend writing many hubs for release during the hub topic month.   The most recent is on Personal Finance.
   
   You cannot link to other parts of the same page, links are to URL's.   However, there is a clever way to make a Table of Contents and it is clearly laid out in a hub by Darkside:  http://hubpages.com/hub/tableofcontents  This method works to jump down the page.  Personally, I don't take the time to do this, but you might find it interesting enough to use it.

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   1. 69

      simeonvisserposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      That's not true and the hub you're pointing to describes that it can be done. Any link is a URL but there's no requirement that the URL must differ from the current URL. By using # you can link to an other part of the same page. In HTML these are called named anchors.

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      1. 74

         SteveoMcposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You are correct, in reviewing what I said, I meant to say something completely different.   Fortunately, the hub I pointed to does explain it elegantly.  It takes an "edit" to accomplish the task.
         
         It is a little technical as you pointed out.  But Darkside has made it possible to understand without knowing html, which as you might have guessed, I know very little. 
         
         Thank you for correctly pointing out my error.

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         1. 69

            simeonvisserposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            No worries, it can be confusing when web terminology includes a link, URL and URI that all sound the same but they are not.

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3. 92

   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   Actually, there are two kinds of cookies and it can be useful to understand the differences.
   
   Let's say you visit WaltsWorldOfStuff. That site may create a cookie that has information about your visit. It's likely you want that cookie because it is helpful to you.
   
   However, there are also Google Ads on that site and those ads can create a different kind of cookie - a third party cookie. When you leave WaltsWorldOfStuff and go to SamsWorldofWonder and then to BillsWonderfulWorld and finally end up at WillysReallyWonderfulStuff, if all of thoe sites run Google ads, Google could know where you have been and what pages you looked at.   WillysReallyWonderfulStuf has no idea that you went to all those other places, but Google could.
   
   They are not dangerous, but they are why an ad for ski vacations shows up on the muffin site if you have previously visited a few travel sites.
   
   You can specifically disable these third party tracking cookies in most browsers.  Here's what that looks like in Chrome on my Mac:
   
   
   
   See the "Block all third party cookies without exception" ? That's the kind that Google and other advertisers might use.

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4. 60

   KnowledgeAnywhereposted 13 years ago

   Thanks for taking the time to help Pcunix, Simeonvisser, and SteveoMac.
   
   
   
   Ok from all your explanations of the cookie is that it is fine to have cookies.  The only thought I had about those cookies was "oh no someone can make something that can take all my information and report it to the original website."  But you all state that it is fine because the original website that the cookie was made on does not obtain passwords and usernames from other websites you visit.  Correct me if I am wrong.

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   1. 92

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You are correct. Cookies can only be read by the cookies creator. That's the specific website or the specific advertiser in the case of third party cookies.

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5. 57

   blogdigzposted 13 years ago

   Great information here, thanks everyone. It's nice to learn something new!

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6. 61

   Green Lotusposted 13 years ago

   I used to delete cookies regularly, but it became a real chore and not really worth the effort. My privacy wasn't really compromised, I was just paranoid. Also, I was cutting off the tasty cookies that made entering forms so much easier. (I do a lot of that!)  When I start getting overwhelmed with spam ads I'll worry about cookies, until then, let em ride.

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