Official "Science News" Thread - Page 83

kladner · 2013-05-31, 03:21

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...nlwYWdl;_ylv=3

You Californicators undoubtedly know of banana slugs. These appear to be even more startling, as well as huge. I saw a banana slug on my last trip to the Golden State. At first, I thought it was some kind of plastic litter.

EDIT: SHEEIT! These Yahoo stories sure have some huge links!

ewmayer · 2013-05-31, 03:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by kladner

You Californicators undoubtedly know of banana slugs. These appear to be even more startling, as well as huge. I saw a banana slug on my last trip to the Golden State. At first, I thought it was some kind of plastic litter.

They undoubtedly had some nice things to say about you, too. :)

Quote:

EDIT: SHEEIT! These Yahoo stories sure have some huge links!

A whopping 420 extra chars following the URL ... Looks like your link above appended your entire life history, encoded, Kieran.

[You know you can chop the fat and just give us the non-spammified URL ending with ...html, right?]

only_human · 2013-05-31, 03:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by kladner

EDIT: SHEEIT! These Yahoo stories sure have some huge links!

Often the first obvious URL in a provided link is enough. In this case: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...140528983.html

ewmayer · 2013-05-31, 03:39

Ross and I posted the "simplified URL" at the same time, but I think my title-prettified version looks nicer. :)

kladner · 2013-05-31, 04:55

Thanks to all. I had not realized the nature of all that crap.

EDIT: (after looking at the link more closely) Many thanks for the enlightenment! I won't let stuff like that get by again.

only_human · 2013-05-31, 05:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by kladner

Thanks to all. I had not realized the nature of all that crap.

EDIT: (after looking at the link more closely) Many thanks for the enlightenment! I won't let stuff like that get by again.

It's like having a piece of toilet paper stuck on your shoe because it drags along things you might not want. Here is a casual BASE64 decode of that junk. I am not doing it right because I have never looked into this stuff:

Quote:

codect.cmitArticle Most Popularpkg0400ce36-a7f0-38d8-94a0-7f894f480275pos1secMediaBListMixedMostPopularCATempver0e90e012-c96d-11e2-afff-3f4a93735812pousi38intluslangen-uspstaidd315fcf8-6c4d-3111-884d-cb9aab720064pstcathealthptstorypage

kladner · 2013-05-31, 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by only_human

It's like having a piece of toilet paper stuck on your shoe because it drags along things you might not want. Here is a casual BASE64 decode of that junk. I am not doing it right because I have never looked into this stuff:

Point taken, and again, Thanks! Considering the number of anti-crap things I run*, I should have been aware before this.

* Firefox plugins: No Script, Ad Block Plus, Ghostery
General security software: Norton Internet Security, Malwarebytes Antimalware Pro, Windows Defender
And intermittent runs of Spybot S&D, miscellaneous rootkit detectors, Norton Bootable Recovery, and others*

ewmayer · 2013-05-31, 18:56

I am no expert in this area, but I suspect these "enhanced links" are ways of getting most or all the functionality of cookies, but in a way that circumvents browser no-cookie settings by the user. Ross, thoughts?

cheesehead · 2013-05-31, 21:20

The long tail gives Yahoo! (in this case) information about the path you took to get to the article (and who-knows-what-else). Probably a mutual information-sharing agreement between Yahoo! and the site you came from (which may be a Yahoo! subsidiary anyway).

I'll have to browse the Firefox extensions again to see whether there's one that can prune that stuff.

only_human · 2013-05-31, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewmayer

I am no expert in this area, but I suspect these "enhanced links" are ways of getting most or all the functionality of cookies, but in a way that circumvents browser no-cookie settings by the user. Ross, thoughts?

Sounds right (not particular versed on this myself). I often notice browser and crude localization (country/language) information appended.
edit: I paused a moment to wonder why they would put browser information in it, but think that they may be passing it along to code that does not have access, or cannot rely, on the browser provided information. That would be the same with cookies too, so that supports your supposition about ensuring equivalent functionality to what may have been user disabled.

rogue · 2013-05-31, 22:25

New forensic technique for estimating time of death by checking internal clock of the human brain

Cells as living calculators

3D Print Your Own Invisibility Cloak at Home

Is It Possible To Think Without Language?

Cold fusion reactor independently verified, has 10,000 times the energy density of gas

Making quantum encryption practical

2013-05-31, 03:21	#903
kladner "Kieren" Jul 2011 In My Own Galaxy! 27AE₁₆ Posts	Giant Hot Pink Slugs on Australian mountain http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow...nlwYWdl;_ylv=3 You Californicators undoubtedly know of banana slugs. These appear to be even more startling, as well as huge. I saw a banana slug on my last trip to the Golden State. At first, I thought it was some kind of plastic litter. EDIT: SHEEIT! These Yahoo stories sure have some huge links! Last fiddled with by kladner on 2013-05-31 at 03:24

2013-05-31, 04:55	#907
kladner "Kieren" Jul 2011 In My Own Galaxy! 27AE₁₆ Posts	Thanks to all. I had not realized the nature of all that crap. EDIT: (after looking at the link more closely) Many thanks for the enlightenment! I won't let stuff like that get by again. Last fiddled with by kladner on 2013-05-31 at 04:59

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Official "Faits erronés dans de belles-lettres" thread	ewmayer	Lounge	39	2015-05-19 01:08
Official "all-Greek-to-me Fiction Literature and Cinema" Thread	ewmayer	Science & Technology	41	2014-04-16 11:54
Official "Lasciate ogne speranza" whinge-thread	cheesehead	Soap Box	56	2013-06-29 01:42
Official "Ernst is a deceiving bully and George is a meanie" thread	cheesehead	Soap Box	61	2013-06-11 04:30
Official "String copy Statement Considered Harmful" thread	Dubslow	Programming	19	2012-05-31 17:49

2013-05-31, 03:39	#906
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 11647₁₀ Posts	Ross and I posted the "simplified URL" at the same time, but I think my title-prettified version looks nicer. :)

2013-05-31, 18:56	#910
ewmayer ∂²ω=0 Sep 2002 República de California 2D7F₁₆ Posts	I am no expert in this area, but I suspect these "enhanced links" are ways of getting most or all the functionality of cookies, but in a way that circumvents browser no-cookie settings by the user. Ross, thoughts?

2013-05-31, 21:20	#911
cheesehead "Richard B. Woods" Aug 2002 Wisconsin USA 2²·3·641 Posts	The long tail gives Yahoo! (in this case) information about the path you took to get to the article (and who-knows-what-else). Probably a mutual information-sharing agreement between Yahoo! and the site you came from (which may be a Yahoo! subsidiary anyway). I'll have to browse the Firefox extensions again to see whether there's one that can prune that stuff.

2013-05-31, 22:25	#913
rogue "Mark" Apr 2003 Between here and the 2²×7×227 Posts	New forensic technique for estimating time of death by checking internal clock of the human brain Cells as living calculators 3D Print Your Own Invisibility Cloak at Home Is It Possible To Think Without Language? Cold fusion reactor independently verified, has 10,000 times the energy density of gas Making quantum encryption practical