Enquiring mind(s) want(s) to know...

[pieces o nine]

Dear Keepers of the Sekrit IT Sekrits:

So I was typing up this question last night when the Monastery abruptly went under-cover-AWOL. Let's see if I make more progress this time, as I hope that wasn't the Great Whatever hinting that my question is silly...

How does the Monastery (or any other site) 'know' which threads are new to me each time I log on?  Moreover, the Monastery even 'knows' which post within a thread I read last! This is incredible, or worrisome, perhaps depending upon one's level of paranoia.

I am curious how this process works and am willing to exchange sekrit knowledge in my own arcane fields of Pleasing Color Theory, or Why Some Type Faces Are Legible at Any Size, or What Is Up with the Mona Lisa's Eyebrows, that sort of thing...

Signed,
Anxiously awaiting a "Show unread posts since last visit" update in the Ocean o'Sand

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Some information is saved in the database, and some other locally in your computer likely in a cookie. I don't know the exact details on the innards of SMF, but it isn't too difficult to save every time your user looks a thread and mark it as read and possibly the date, which is more for your benefit than any one else, and cannot be easily seen to anybody else.

Nothing to worry for now dear sibling, I doubt anyone will get in trouble for reading this or that thread. If we get in trouble it would be for being in the monastery in the first place...

[Griffin NoName]

Zono has explained well but here's my tuppenceworth. The Monastery database makes a record when you click to read a post. So it knows next time you come back. The world does not know. Only the Monastery. Only Monastery admins can look at such detail, and we don't bother, as it is of no interest! (sorry if that disappoints you) (I assume I can speak for the other admins  ). Of course a hacker could theoretically find out............. but this is so remotely absurd except in cases of extreme paranoia. Who would be interested enough in any Toadfish and our ramblings? (If people were, we'd have a lot more members ).

[pieces o nine]

Thanks for the replies, sibs.

The bit about paranoia was intended to be humorous -- I'm not worried about anyone tracking me (they would have to have a dull life to do this, and alas, it would remain so). I was just curious how it worked because going directly to new posts within a thread seemed neat.

Please *do* keep me in mind if you're ever losing sleep over the Mona Lisa's eyebrows.   

[Sibling DavidH]

So there aren't really any little gnomes at the Monastery who write it all down on a huge parchment scroll with quill pens?  Ooh, I'm so disappointed.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Gnome slavery is outdated and frowned upon, be mindful that enforcement is provided by goblins and fines must be paid in gold.

[pieces o nine]

Which raises a question: are the squidlings being properly remunerated?

[Aggie]

As far as they're concerned, they own the place. We're apparently working for them.

[Bluenose]

As far as they're concerned, they own the place. We're apparently working for them.

Oh!  That's a relief!  I thought they were hanging around waiting for me to trip over my robe so they could eat me...

[Swatopluk]

This thread seems to be as good as any other to ask this question:

Where does Mozilla Firefox store the cookies under Windows Vista?

I cannot find a cookie folder as under ME or XP.
When I send my laptop in for repair, it is highly probable that they will reset the software to the original state. That means I will have to reinstall Mozilla (I already saved the bookmarks). Although I know about the evil of cookies, a number of them also store the access data to their respective sites. I know it is a real pain in the arse to get through all the confirmation hoops (again) at several sites I regularly use. So, I would prefer to save at least some of the cookies to avoid that.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

This thread seems to be as good as any other to ask this question:

Where does Mozilla Firefox store the cookies under Windows Vista?

I cannot find a cookie folder as under ME or XP.
When I send my laptop in for repair, it is highly probable that they will reset the software to the original state. That means I will have to reinstall Mozilla (I already saved the bookmarks). Although I know about the evil of cookies, a number of them also store the access data to their respective sites. I know it is a real pain in the arse to get through all the confirmation hoops (again) at several sites I regularly use. So, I would prefer to save at least some of the cookies to avoid that.

If you have not changed any of the default settings, it ought to be:  (note:  you need to have checked SHOW HIDDEN under TOOLS-->FOLDER OPTIONS---VIEW (in Windows Explorer)

C:\Users\the log-in-name-you-use¹\AppData\Local\Mozilla\Firefox\Profile\xxx²\Cache\<cache-files-here>

¹ this will normally be your name, but could be 'Administrator' or 'Valued Customer' or 'UserName' or some other nonsensical value, if your system was pre-setup when you bought it.   To be sure?  Click START then go to LOG OFF or SWITCH USERS, or go to Control Panel, then USERS to see a list of users.  You want the default login name.

² 'xxx' will actually be a string of nonsense letters and numbers, usually 12 character/numbers with a <dot> and 3 more random character/numbers.

If you wish to save everything?  Copy the entire folder 'XXX' somewhere safe, including all sub-folders to some other disk drive or a FLASH drive.  Then when you get it back, go looking for the new nonsensical named folder under PROFILES and copy everything UNDER the old nonsense-name on top of the contents of the NEW nonsense-name-- this should restore all your stuff, including extensions, cookies, memorized passwords & log-ins.

Firefox really is not all that secure, if you have access to the physical computer's drive... 

[Swatopluk]

Thank, I'll look for that. I guessed it might be hidden but I think I have not yet followed the path you gave to find out.

I don't save passwords. This site here is, I think, the almost the  only one where I use permanent log-in.

[Swatopluk]

Actually the XXX is loidjt20.default and contains almost 1GB. In the cache folder below there is a huge number of folders and subfolders coded in hexadecimal (single character 1 to F on the upper folders and 2 characters 1 to F on the subfolders).
The folders were indeed hidden.

[Griffin NoName]

I used to be able to find cookies really easily pre IE9/Vista. Now I can't. I don't call that progress.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

Actually the XXX is loidjt20.default and contains almost 1GB. In the cache folder below there is a huge number of folders and subfolders coded in hexadecimal (single character 1 to F on the upper folders and 2 characters 1 to F on the subfolders).
The folders were indeed hidden.

That's it-- that's your cache, including the cookies, as far as I know.   I've used this save and recovery to restore/move FF from one OS re-install to the next, quite successfully in the past.

I used to be able to find cookies really easily pre IE9/Vista. Now I can't. I don't call that progress.

It's a conspiracy:  they really don't want you to know....



In truth, I suspect that they hide it to avoid Aunt Jane or Uncle Fester from messing with it...