A cookie is a small file a website asks your browser to keep. Some are needed for a site to function at all; the rest are optional, and on this site the optional ones stay switched off until you turn them on. This policy lists every one that can be set here.
Change your choices right now
You do not need to finish reading this page to act on it. Open and change whatever you like — the same control is at the bottom of every page. Changes take effect immediately.
Strictly necessary — always on
These make the site work and remember your own preferences. They are not used for advertising, are not shared with anyone, and cannot be switched off, because switching them off would mean forgetting that you asked to switch them off.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| tm_consent_v1 | This site | Stores which cookie categories you allowed, and when | Until cleared |
| tm_theme | This site | Remembers whether you chose day or dusk colours | Until cleared |
Both are stored in your browser's own local storage rather than sent to a server with each request. Clearing your browsing data removes them, and the consent banner will ask again.
Analytics — off unless you allow it
Used to count how many people read which article. The reporting is aggregate: I can see that a page was read four thousand times, not who read it. IP addresses are truncated before storage.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| _ga | Google Analytics | Distinguishes one browser from another so repeat visits are not counted twice | Up to 2 years |
| _ga_<ID> | Google Analytics | Maintains session state for the specific property | Up to 2 years |
| _gid | Google Analytics | Distinguishes browsers over a short window | 24 hours |
Advertising — off unless you allow it
Used by Google to measure whether an advertisement brought you here and to limit how often you see the same one. If this category is denied, the Google Consent Mode signals ad_storage, ad_user_data and ad_personalization remain set to "denied" and no advertising tag is loaded.
| Name | Set by | Purpose | Lifetime |
|---|---|---|---|
| _gcl_au | Conversion measurement — attributing a visit to an advertisement | About 90 days | |
| IDE | Google (doubleclick.net) | Ad measurement and frequency capping | Up to 13 months |
| test_cookie | Google (doubleclick.net) | Checks whether the browser accepts cookies at all | 15 minutes |
| NID / other Google cookies | Set by Google when its advertising services are loaded, per Google's own policies | Varies |
Exact names and lifetimes for third-party cookies are set by Google and can change without notice to me. Google publishes its own current list of cookie types used for advertising and measurement, and Google's privacy policy governs what it does with that data.
What this site does not use
- No social media tracking pixels, share widgets or embedded feeds.
- No advertising networks other than Google.
- No cross-site fingerprinting, device graphs, or attempts to identify you without cookies.
- No comment system, no account, no newsletter, and therefore no cookies belonging to any of them.
Controlling cookies in your browser
Independently of this site's own control, every major browser lets you block or delete cookies, usually under Settings › Privacy. Blocking all cookies will break parts of many websites; blocking third-party cookies specifically will stop most advertising and analytics cookies across the web, including here. Browsers that send a Global Privacy Control signal are treated by this site as an opt-out of sharing for advertising, automatically.
Worth knowing: refusing everything optional costs you nothing here. No article is gated, no feature is degraded, and there is no nag screen after the first one. The banner exists because the law requires a choice, not because the choice is meant to go one way.
Related: the privacy policy sets out the legal basis for this processing and your rights. Last reviewed August 25, 2026.