Memorandum
To:Jürgen Heise
From:Greg McChesney, Ashley Morris
Date: February 27, 2006
Subject: In Class Exercise on Objectivity and Definitions
This memo will address the definition of a cookie. The memo is in response to a query by the TTU Help Desk for a proper definition of a “cookie”. Various definitions are analyzed below. The document concludes with the definition we recommend the help desk utilizes.
Microsoft’s Definition of a cookie
Microsoft states that a cookie is “A very small text file placed on your hard drive by a Web Page server. It is essentially your identification card, and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses. It is uniquely yours and can only be read by the server that gave it to you”.
A)Microsoft used partitioning when they were creating their definition of a cookie. The site provides a separate section for the description, purpose, and benefits.
B)Microsoft was able to make their definition of a cookie persuasive by relating it to the user and describing how cookies make their web browsing experience easier.
C)Microsoft’s motives for writing the definition appear in their section titled “How a Cookie Helps Microsoft” which describes how they use their cookies to track users.
D)Online at Microsft.com
Whatis.com’s Definition of a cookie
Whatis.com describes a cookie as information that a web site puts on your hard disk so that it can remember something about you at a later time. (More technically, it is information for future use that is stored by the server on the client side of a client/server communication.) Typically, a cookie records your preferences when using a particular site.
A)An example is used in this extended definition to clarify the term.
B)Giving examples in the definition help the audience understand the term and clarify any uncertainties that the definition did not answer.
C)The author used simple language to write the definition for cookie so that the audience could understand the simple version of cookie. The motivations behind the author’s definition seem to make the definition as simple and basic as possible.
D)Available online at Whatis.
Wisconsin Dental Association (WDA) Definition of a cookie
The dental association has the following definition under their glossary section of their website “A unique string of letters and numbers that the web server stores in a file on your hard drive. This method is used by web designers to track visitors to a website so the visitors do not have to enter the same information every time they go to a new page or revisit a site.”
A)The WDA uses examples to help the reader understand what a cookie is. The site describes how web designers can use cookies to remember a person visiting their site.
B)The WDA made their definition persuasive by writing it simplistically. They made the definition easy to understand and comprehend, allowing computer illiterate people to understand the reason for allowing cookies.
C)There motive for writing the definition was because their site uses cookies to track unique users to the site. Their site also uses cookies to keep track of when the user is logged into their “Find a Dentist” database.
D)Online at WDA
NetDictionary’s Definition of a cookie
NetDictionary states that cookies are, “Small files that are downloaded to your computer when you browse certain web pages. Cookies hold information that can be retrieved by other web pages on the site. Some cookies are programmed with an expiration date so that they are automatically deleted after a period of time.”
A)The technique that the author uses to describe a cookie includes partitioning so that the reader can understand it more easily.
B)Partitioning the definition of a cookie makes it easier for the reader because it breaks the definition into parts. This in turn can simplify the definition for an audience that does not know a lot of information about the Internet and computers.
C)The author’s motivation behind this extended definition is to make the definition simple but also provide the necessary information for an accurate explanation of a cookie.
D)Available online at NetDictionary.
ElectronicPrivacyInformationCenter (EPIC) Definition of a cookie
The Electronic Privacy Information Centers definition of a cookie is “To put it more plainly, a cookie is a mechanism that allows a web site to record your comings and goings, usually without your knowledge or consent”.
A) EPIC uses principle of operation to describe a cookie. They say that it “allows a web site to
record your coming and goings”, they don’t go in to specifics on how it works but do offer a definition above it that describes the technical details of a cookie.
B) EPIC’s definition is persuasive because of the term “without your knowledge or consent”. This term attracts makes the reader wonder if they are receiving cookies from sites they did not know about.
C) The motive for writing this definition is to allow people know learn about various ways to protect their privacy. If people are not educated on what a cookie is they will not know which ones to block and which ones to accept.
D) Online at EPIC
Dictionary.com’s Definition of a cookie
Dictionary describes a cookie as, “A collection of information, usually including a username and the current date and time, stored on the local computer of a person using the World Wide Web, used chiefly by websites to identify users who have previously registered or visited the site.
A)The author uses principle of operation to help provide the extended version of a cookie.
B)The principle of operation helps describe the process of a cookie so that the audience can tell what a cookie does inside the computer.
C)The author’s motivation emerges from this definition by using easy, well-known words to describe a more difficult term. The author wants the audience to understand the definition without creating confusion.
D)Available online at Dictionary.
Our Recommendation
We recommend the Wisconsin Dental Associations definition be used by the help desk. We choose this definition because it is the simplest and describes a cookie very well. The definition is also objective unlike the EPIC or Microsoft versions.
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