Web cookies (also called HTTP cookies, browser cookies, or simply cookies) are small pieces of data that websites store on your device (computer, phone, etc.) through your web browser. They are used to remember information about you and your interactions with the site.
Purpose of Cookies:
Session Management:
Keeping you logged in
Remembering items in a shopping cart
Saving language or theme preferences
Personalization:
Tailoring content or ads based on your previous activity
Tracking & Analytics:
Monitoring browsing behavior for analytics or marketing purposes
Types of Cookies:
Session Cookies:
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Used for things like keeping you logged in during a single session
Persistent Cookies:
Stored on your device until they expire or are manually deleted
Used for remembering login credentials, settings, etc.
First-Party Cookies:
Set by the website you're visiting directly
Third-Party Cookies:
Set by other domains (usually advertisers) embedded in the website
Commonly used for tracking across multiple sites
Authentication cookies are a special type of web cookie used to identify and verify a user after they log in to a website or web application.
What They Do:
Once you log in to a site, the server creates an authentication cookie and sends it to your browser. This cookie:
Proves to the website that you're logged in
Prevents you from having to log in again on every page you visit
Can persist across sessions if you select "Remember me"
What's Inside an Authentication Cookie?
Typically, it contains:
A unique session ID (not your actual password)
Optional metadata (e.g., expiration time, security flags)
Analytics cookies are cookies used to collect data about how visitors interact with a website. Their primary purpose is to help website owners understand and improve user experience by analyzing things like:
How users navigate the site
Which pages are most/least visited
How long users stay on each page
What device, browser, or location the user is from
What They Track:
Some examples of data analytics cookies may collect:
Page views and time spent on pages
Click paths (how users move from page to page)
Bounce rate (users who leave without interacting)
User demographics (location, language, device)
Referring websites (how users arrived at the site)
Here’s how you can disable cookies in common browsers:
1. Google Chrome
Open Chrome and click the three vertical dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data.
Choose your preferred option:
Block all cookies (not recommended, can break most websites).
Block third-party cookies (can block ads and tracking cookies).
2. Mozilla Firefox
Open Firefox and click the three horizontal lines in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy & Security.
Under the Enhanced Tracking Protection section, choose Strict to block most cookies or Custom to manually choose which cookies to block.
3. Safari
Open Safari and click Safari in the top-left corner of the screen.
Go to Preferences > Privacy.
Check Block all cookies to stop all cookies, or select options to block third-party cookies.
4. Microsoft Edge
Open Edge and click the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner.
Go to Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies and site permissions.
Select your cookie settings from there, including blocking all cookies or blocking third-party cookies.
5. On Mobile (iOS/Android)
For Safari on iOS: Go to Settings > Safari > Privacy & Security > Block All Cookies.
For Chrome on Android: Open the app, tap the three dots, go to Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies.
Be Aware:
Disabling cookies can make your online experience more difficult. Some websites may not load properly, or you may be logged out frequently. Also, certain features may not work as expected.
Another “First” for CIPWG! On October 7, 2020, the tenth biennial symposium of the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group (CIPWG) was held totally online. Three hundred eighty-six people registered and viewed the talks as a webcast. There were 12 categories of continuing education credits available. Forty-three participants obtained DEEP pesticide recertification credits and 109 people obtained credits from the other 11 organizations. Some attendees received credit for more than one category; thus in total, credit was given in 163 instances.
Despite the lack of in-person opportunities for networking, the general agreement was that the symposium was a good event. (Nonetheless, we look forward to returning to our regular in-person symposium format in 2022 when we also hope to incorporate some of the recording technology from 2020.)
Information from the Symposium Being Made Available to the General Public
To the left you will find buttons for 2020 Symposium materials now being made available to the general public (Handouts and the Symposium Booklet). The Symposium Booklet includes abstracts of the presentations and short biographies and contact information from the speakers.
For Registered Attendees Only
If you registered (prior to registration closing at midnight on October 6), you may use the information you were sent via email to link back to the webcast site. There, you can enter your personal password you were given and view whichever session you would like to see again. (Finally, attendees don’t have to clone themselves to see all the concurrent Breakout Sessions! )
The website link and a personal registration ID was emailed to each registrant. It came from Total Webcasting [info@totalwebcasting.com] usually between Oct. 1 and Oct. 5. The subject header was (confusingly!) CIPWG Symposium Registration Confirmation. The CIPWG Symposium registration was handled through the University of Connecticut; and registered attendees who have lost their personal ID may follow up with conferences@uconn.edu.