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Comments and Staying Logged In

By Jeralyn, Section Blog Related
Posted on Wed May 04, 2005 at 07:15:11 PM EST
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A few people have remarked that they have to re-log in every time. TalkLeft's webmaster Mike Ditto has provided this suggestion:

In the Firefox preferences under Privacy, make sure that it is set to accept cookies and to keep them until they expire. You can also add talkleft.com and typekey.com to the cookie exception list, setting them to "always allow".

The login cookie will still expire after 20 minutes of inactivity, that's just how Typekey works. But the username and password will always be put in automatically if you have Firefox set to remember passwords.

Other suggestions are welcome.

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    Comments and Staying Logged In | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:43 PM EST
    Therein lies the problem: I do not let Firefox, IE, etc, hold information after I close the browser because I don't want to notify ever site that I vist what sites I've visited previously -- I know, big surprise from someone who distrusts Corporate America the way that I do. At the rate we're going, the day will come when operators of websites will begin receiving numerous subpoenas from the government to obtain server traffic logs in order to match them with "seditious" and "heretical" "Un-American" commentary (not all of us are lawyers). Multiple servers, multiple time stamps, more data = triangulation of the user. GPRS, CDMA, GSM, and Wi-Fi users can be tracked via satellite. Microchips in license plates and in drivers licenses. Microchips in Credit/Debit Cards. GPS devices, Lo-Jack, and "On-Star" installed in your vehicle. Biometric Passports. Corporate ID Cards. Toll transponders on your windshield. ...and yes, dogs and cats sleeping with each other - mass hysteria. But how easy is it for the government (or Corporate America) to pinpoint your precise location in a given day? ::::voice echos::::Well you got nuttin to fear if ur not a crim'nal... I like the site, so I'll stick around, but, as I often say, "it's the principle of the thing, you know?"

    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:43 PM EST
    An anonymous commenter, trying to remain anonymous, just posted this:
    What has happened to TalkLeft? You used to allow wonderfully anonymous comments, without even requiring a silly made up email address. I am disheartened. And I wish you the best.
    Here's what happened. So yes, there are no more anonymous comments. But, it's not that big a deal. Your email address is never displayed, you are free to make up a user name and even to keep your email address secret from us. You just have to provide an e-mail address to typekey, but they promise not to share it. As does TalkLeft, if you allow us to see it.

    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:43 PM EST
    Here's a hack for Firefox or Mozilla that will get you around the 20-minute expiration quirk: install the "Add N Edit Cookies" extension, login to Typekey, then edit the expiration date on the cookie that the site sets to however far into the future you want. OK, I have too much time on my hands...

    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#4)
    by MikeDitto on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:46 PM EST
    Tampa Student: TalkLeft doesn't do anything server-side with cookies. It's all handled by your browser. JavaScript on the page causes your browser to set the cookie, and when you return, JavaScript on the page reads the content of the cookie to fill in the fields on the comment form. I think you're giving yourself a false sense of security at the cost of convenience. Cookies or no cookies, your web activities can still be tracked by IP address--your ISP knows what your IP address is, and every site you visit automatically logs the IP address. Even if you are using an internet presence where you don;t have to log on (such as at school), the network admins know your computer's globally-unique MAC address. The only way to remain completely anonymous on the Internet is to not use the Internet. Short of that, trusting to accept cookies from a site run by a nationally-recognized defense lawyer who values privacy as TalkLeft does is pretty safe. Take off the tin hat there good buddy, you're among friends! (ducking)

    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#5)
    by MikeDitto on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:46 PM EST
    By the way, the only cookies that your browser sends to a server in the HTTP headers are the cookies originally set by that server. And the only way they could get information about other cookies is if they knew the names of those cookies. Cookies are more dangerous to you if your computer were seized, because law enforcement would be able to look at a list of them. They are really of little consequence from the server end since they can track you with IP addresses much more reliably. By the way, Wi-Fi users can NOT be tracked by satellite. Wi-Fi has a range of 150 feet, and uses the same 2.4GHz band that cordless phones use. So unless the satellite is 150 feet away (in which case you had better duck, because it's on fire and hurtling straight at you at 17,000 miles an hour), it has no way of tracking you.

    Re: Comments and Staying Logged In (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:58:46 PM EST
    OK, the cookie hack I posted apparently doesn't work after all. There appears to be a hash that is time-verified by Typekey. Oh well.

    Comments and Staying Logged In | 6 comments (6 topical)