
Clear cookies/reset browser doesn't delete your Flash cookies - wayne
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/adobes-flash-and-apples-safari-fail-a-privacy-test/
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seiji
There's also javascript persistent storage that doesn't count as cookies.

Paul from Meebo gave a great presentation on all the sneaky persistence
options a few months ago: <http://www.slideshare.net/idontsmoke/client-side-
storage>

Interesting takeaway: more visitors have some form of persistent storage than
have cookies enabled.

~~~
wayne
Wow, that's a great summarization of all the persistence technologies
available.

I found the stats at the end to be deceptive though. You'd have to code
support for 3 different native client storage APIs in JavaScript + use Flash
in order to cover enough users to rival cookies. It's no wonder most web devs
just use cookies.

~~~
teej
The end result isn't an alternative with a 1% gain over cookies. The end
result is a system that writes & reads to all possible data stores available
simultaneously. The gain from that is a site where an "always logged in" can
be potentially much, much longer.

There are still a large number of people who have terrible problems managing
web site logins. Reducing the barriers to using your site for returning
visitors is definitely a goal with a lot of value and clear ROI.

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cgranade
To my mind, this isn't a problem with just the browsers, but with Flash as
well. An in-browser cookie flush shouldn't screw with plugins unless they
specifically request it. Thus, I think that there really should be an API for
that kind of thing.

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iofthestorm
That's pretty interesting, I didn't even know about Flash cookies. Feels kind
of weird to learn about technology first hand from the NYT, but pretty cool
nonetheless.

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timf
One heavy handed way around stuff like this is to use a VM (with shared
storage to your laptop) for browsing and rolling back at the start of a
session. Something polished and stable like VMware on Linux has never been
overly annoying for me.

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davi
I didn't know about this either.

Here's a way to manage plugin settings on Mac:

[http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplay...](http://www.macromedia.com/support/documentation/en/flashplayer/help/settings_manager07.html)

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ralph
Firefox 3 also doesn't clear what zoom setting you like for each site on Tools
-> Clear Private Data. <https://bugs.launchpad.net/firefox/+bug/288236>

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arthurk
I still remember when there wasn't a restriction on the size of flash cookies
and you could put in as many MB as you wanted.

