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:
Temporary; deleted when you close your browser
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.
Dan Pejril has over 20 years of digital animation design & production experience working on a wide range of projects, from medical animation and product pre-visualization to television and home video entertainment.
Dan is currently an Assistant Professor in-Residence in Digital Media and Design at the University of Connecticut. Focusing his teaching and research in 3D animation, Dan has collaborated with many areas of the university including: the UConn Health Center, Department of Natural Resources & the Environment, Department of Molecular & Cell Biology and Greenhouse Studios. His expertise has helped to fund various grant-funded research projects and visualize data through 3D animation and virtual reality. He was the recipient of the “New Scholar Award” for the School of Fine Arts in 2015.
Dan worked as a Lead Animator at XVIVO Scientific Animation where he developed high-end medical animations for clients including Grey Healthcare Group, Ogilvy Healthworld Medical Education, National Institute of Health, Medtronic, Ajinomoto, KCI and others. As a result, his work earned the “Award of Excellence” for Instructional Animation from the Association of Medical Illustrators. His additional work portfolio includes: character animation, Art Directing teams of animators and effects artists on entertainment projects for Dick Clark Entertainment, BBDO/Mountain Dew, Sony Music Entertainment, NBC Christmas Special, and Lego Systems. Dan’s animated short films have been shown and won awards at several national film festivals.
Recent Research Achievements:
Greenhouse Studios – Charles V Coronation Project – This research project with Greenhouse Studios, examines the 1530 coronation mass of Charles V, through artistic recreations of the music and performance in contexts of the past—through advanced visualization techniques.
A Catalog of Cell Types in the Early Organogenesis Embryo – A Single Cell Lineage Map, Phase 1 – Research for the Mouse Embryo Atlas Project with Craig Nelson (Department of Molecular & Cell Biology) for a grant proposal. The research involves converting and reinterpreting visualization data from scanned organic data to map the cell lineage of a developing mouse embryo from 1 cell to 100,000 cells.
Areas of Focus
Science & Visualizations
Character Animation
Short film production
Education
MFA, Imaging Arts and Sciences: Computer Animation, Rochester Institute of Technology
BA, Bachelor of Business Administration, Hofstra University