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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 26. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zero on March 14, 2005, at 21:48:55
Wondering why every few days, the main babble board shows all posts marked "New" - so I have to go through all posts to find out what's really new!
Anyone else have same problem? Why does this happen?
z.
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 14, 2005, at 22:10:08
In reply to All posts marked NEW every few days?, posted by zero on March 14, 2005, at 21:48:55
> Wondering why every few days, the main babble board shows all posts marked "New" - so I have to go through all posts to find out what's really new!
>
> Anyone else have same problem? Why does this happen?
> z.When you log out of this site, a cookie is stored on your computer with information about your visit. If you log back in, and there's no cookie available to verify your last visit, the new indicators are activated.
So, the question is, why is there no cookie? Do you clear your cookies? Is your virus checker/anti-spyware software set too aggressively (and killing the cookie)? Do you shut down your computer properly?
I hope my sleepy head didn't make a mess of the point I was trying to make.
Lar
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 1:13:16
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by Larry Hoover on March 14, 2005, at 22:10:08
Interesting.
I never clear my cookies.
My virus checker (McAfee) doesn't mess with cookies to my knowledge, and my adware/spyware programs (AdAware & Spybot) only run when I run them - they don't block anything.
I run AdAware & Spybot, manually, several times a week (this is only possibility I can think of).
I just ran both, after being on Babble several times tonight, and neither detected any "dataminer" cookies - so I don't think it's cookies (they would've found a Babble cookie, no?).
Might be though.
Thanks for trying to explain this phenomenon.
z.
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 1:18:38
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by Larry Hoover on March 14, 2005, at 22:10:08
Wow, something has changed.
Every post is new and stays new, regardless of whether I leave Babble and come back, or refresh the Babble page.
Using Firefox 1.0 (but have been for a couple of months).
I'm stumped.
z.
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 1:28:50
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by Larry Hoover on March 14, 2005, at 22:10:08
If I use IE6, all the "NEW" markers go away if I leave Babble and come back. Not so with Firefox. Bet it's either Firefox's cookie management, or possibly popup/image blocking software causing this strange behaviour.
z.
Posted by nikkit2 on March 15, 2005, at 7:00:04
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days?, posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 1:28:50
Its a firefox issue..
I use firefox for all websites other than PB these days.
For some reason it just doesn't deal very well with PB's cookie.. It, as a rule, doesn't update, and then sometimes it clears itself completely.
Very annoying as firefox is much better than IE.. but you can't remove IE from a machine (its an integral part of windows, so please don't even try!!), so use firefox for everything except PB like me!!
Nikki x
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 10:20:26
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by nikkit2 on March 15, 2005, at 7:00:04
This confirms my Firefox suspicions.
Last night I used the Google search of Babble-land for "cookies", and 1st hit ( http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/extras.pl ) , titled "Psycho-Babble Extras", shows info. about them. If you click a button on that page it will retrieve and show you all the Babble-related cookies on your machine. I have 'em (cookies think I'm Mozilla 1.1).
Funny, I've been using FF for almost 3 yrs. and never had this problem 'til last month or two.
It's a great browser - so intuitive vs. IE (but has minor problems w. some websites - usually when the website is not "standards compliant").Thanks.
z.
Posted by NikkiT2 on March 15, 2005, at 13:42:55
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » nikkit2, posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 10:20:26
We live in an IE world unfortunately!!
I used firefox years ago.. and have recently returned to it.. Am loving! Love the tabs so I don't end up with half a million windows open *l*
Hubby loves the tabs as he can refresh them all at the same time - equaling being able to attack 10 people at a time in an online game he plays!
Dr Bob - please make us Firefox compliant!!!
Nikki x
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 20:30:33
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by NikkiT2 on March 15, 2005, at 13:42:55
Some websites are not "standards compliant".
For example, a website will write code or use techniques that are specific to IE.
Guess I'll have to go back to IE for PB viewing.
Posted by Dr. Bob on March 15, 2005, at 22:27:03
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by NikkiT2 on March 15, 2005, at 13:42:55
> Dr Bob - please make us Firefox compliant!!!
I'd love to. But does it say anywhere what's, um, nonstandard about how it handles cookies?
Bob
Posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 23:01:27
In reply to Re: Firefox compliance, posted by Dr. Bob on March 15, 2005, at 22:27:03
Dr. Bob,
Great that you'd like to help on this!
I'm not that technical, but a couple of things that might help follow.
1.) This is where cookies are in Firefox 1.0.1 (current release)on a Windows XP system: C:\Documents and Settings\[account name]\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[random string].default\
2.) Here's the URL of a user oriented article on FF and how it handles cookies (my setting is "default", i.e. accept cookies):
http://texturizer.net/firefox/cookies.htmlI will try to look into this further and will post back.
z.
Posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 11:55:27
In reply to Re: Firefox compliance » Dr. Bob, posted by zero on March 15, 2005, at 23:01:27
Test #1
Posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 12:12:16
In reply to Test Post #1, posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 11:55:27
In Firefox 1.0.1, I went: 1.) Tools->Options->Privacy->Cookies->View Cookies ... and selectively deleted the 7 or 8 Dr. Bob/Psycho-Babble related cookies (easy to spot).
After doing this, I returned to PB where all "NEW" indicators were on (as they should be). Then I left PB, came back, and all "NEW" indicators were off (as should be). Then I posted a "test" to admin. board, left PB, came back, and only that "NEW" indicator was on (as should be). I "read" my test post, left PB, came back, and that "NEW" indicator was off (as should be).
This is all working correctly now.
Possibly, I had accumulated some old invalid PB cookies, or when FF imported all IE cookies (default on FF install), they were not correct for FF.
Not totally sure, but deleting all PB cookies seems to have corrected this problem.
We'll see.
z.
Posted by AuntieMel on March 16, 2005, at 12:41:23
In reply to Things look OK now w. FF+PB, posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 12:12:16
Posted by NikkiT2 on March 16, 2005, at 13:24:32
In reply to Test Post #1, posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 11:55:27
OK, me testing now too
Posted by NikkiT2 on March 16, 2005, at 13:25:34
In reply to Re: Test Post #1 » zero, posted by NikkiT2 on March 16, 2005, at 13:24:32
It seems that worked!!!!
zero, you are now my hero for the next 7 days *G*
Yay!
nikki xx
Posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 13:38:23
In reply to Re: did you eat the cookies, or toss them? (nm) » zero, posted by AuntieMel on March 16, 2005, at 12:41:23
Posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 13:40:09
In reply to By Jove.., posted by NikkiT2 on March 16, 2005, at 13:25:34
good deal !
that'll make me feel good for an hr. or so.
best.
z.
Posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 18:33:12
In reply to Re: did you eat the cookies, or toss them? (nm) » zero, posted by AuntieMel on March 16, 2005, at 12:41:23
Posted by Dr. Bob on March 17, 2005, at 1:17:43
In reply to Things look OK now w. FF+PB, posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 12:12:16
> This is all working correctly now.
Thanks for figuring that out! I've added it to the FAQ:
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faq.html#cleanup
Bob
Posted by AuntieMel on March 17, 2005, at 11:03:31
In reply to so funny i forgot to laugh - p. reubens (nm) » AuntieMel, posted by zero on March 16, 2005, at 18:33:12
Posted by zero on March 17, 2005, at 13:12:25
In reply to Re: so funny you had to repeat it? (nm) » zero, posted by AuntieMel on March 17, 2005, at 11:03:31
Posted by AuntieMel on March 17, 2005, at 14:21:31
In reply to actually i regret both (nm) » AuntieMel, posted by zero on March 17, 2005, at 13:12:25
Posted by ed_uk on March 17, 2005, at 16:09:15
In reply to Re: All posts marked NEW every few days? » zero, posted by Larry Hoover on March 14, 2005, at 22:10:08
Posted by Larry Hoover on March 17, 2005, at 17:58:57
In reply to Re: What's a cookie? (nm), posted by ed_uk on March 17, 2005, at 16:09:15
A mixture of butter, flour, sugar, and flavourings, heated in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes....
Oh, you don't mean that kind, do you?
A cookie is a small file written in a public part of your hard drive. It contains bits of information that identify you (that's how sites can automatically log you in, or identify you "Welcome, ed_uk!"). It could also contain information about what you do at a site (that's how Babble knows if you've seen a message before, or not). There are also some malicious or so-called "tracking cookies", that can make information about you available to people that you didn't authorize to have it.
Lord knows why they're called cookies.
If you're using Windoze, there's a whole folder of them in Documents and Settings/Username/Cookies
Lar
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