Nerd Culture Blog: Gaming, Sci-Fi & Internet Lore

Name	Category	Origin	Purpose	Storage Duration
act	Required	.facebook.com	Used to distinguish between two Facebook sessions for the same user, created at different times.	Session
c_user	Required	.facebook.com	The Facebook user ID of the currently logged-in user.	90 days
fblo_	Required	nerdspot.events	Used to log in users via Facebook.	6 months
fbm_	Required	nerdspot.events	Used to log in users via Facebook.	3 months
user-is-logged-in	Required	nerdspot.events	Saves that the user is/was logged in.	31536000 seconds
LF9x	Required	nerdspot.events	Unique ID that identifies the user's session.	14000 seconds
datr	Marketing	.facebook.com	Used to identify the web browser used to connect to Facebook regardless of the user logged in.	2 years
_fbp	Marketing	.facebook.com	Used by Facebook to display a range of advertising products, such as real-time bids from third party advertisers.	3 months
fr	Marketing	.facebook.com	Used to show and measure ads and improve the relevance of ads (including measurement of conversions). Determines the relevance of ads based on site behavior and/or current search queries.	3 months
sb	Marketing	.facebook.com	Used to show and measure ads and improve the relevance of ads (including measurement of conversions). Determines the relevance of ads based on site behavior and/or current search queries.	2 years
spin	Marketing	.facebook.com	Set by Facebook at login - exact usage unknown.	25 hours
	Marketing	nerdspot.events	Used to collect consent for tracking the user ID in Matomo. No cookie is set.
	Marketing	nerdspot.events	Used to collect consent for tracking the user email in Matomo. No cookie is set.
wd	Statistics	.facebook.com	This cookie stores the dimensions of the browser window and is used by Facebook to optimize the display of the page.	7 days
_GRECAPTCHA	Statistics	https://www.google.com	Cookie set by Google reCAPTCHA to protect the site from spam by bots.	180 days
mtm_consent	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to remember that consent was given by the user.	Unlimited
_pk_cvar.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to temporarily store data for the visit.	30 minutes
_pk_hsr.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to temporarily store data for the visit.	30 minutes
_pk_id.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to store details about the user (e.g. a unique visitor ID)	13 months
matomo_ignore	Statistics	stats.pcsg-server.de	Flags the user as ignored from tracking.	Unlimited
_pk_ref.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to store the attribution information (e.g. the referrer initially used to visit the website).	6 months
_pk_ses.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to temporarily store data for the visit.	30 minutes
MATOMO_SESSID	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Created when opt-out feature is used. Helps prevent CSRF security issues.	Temporary
_pk_testcookie.*	Statistics	nerdspot.events	Used to check whether the visitor’s browser supports cookies.	1 second
xs	Preferences	.facebook.com	This cookie contains several pieces of information about the user’s session.	3 months

Pixel art of hands repairing a handmade monster puppet in a retro bedroom with a glowing CRT, sketchbook and warm lamp.

Guillermo del Toro at 62: Finding a Person in the Monster

10/9/26

A monster’s shape catches our attention; its choices can change our judgement. Three films reveal how del Toro makes unfamiliar beings emotionally legible.

Pixel art of a retro bedroom with a sleeping ginger cat, VHS tapes and a CRT showing a fictional female spaceship engineer with a flashlight.

Sigourney Weaver at 77: Ripley’s Quiet Kind of Courage

10/8/26

Ripley earns our trust before she fights. On Sigourney Weaver’s 77th birthday, a closer look at the decisions that make an action heroine believable.

Pixel art of a sleepy teenager sitting on the edge of a bed in a retro bedroom, with an analog alarm clock in the foreground and blue dawn light at the window.

Morning Grouch Day 2026: The Brain’s Slow Start

10/7/26

An alarm can end your sleep without ending the struggle to get going. Three different questions help explain what a difficult morning actually means.

Pixel art of a top hat, teacups, an open book and a pocket watch at six o’clock in a cozy retro bedroom with a glowing CRT.

Mad Hatter Day 2026: A Price Tag and a Broken Tea-Time

10/6/26

A Victorian price becomes a modern calendar date. The Hatter’s endless tea party reveals an even stranger problem: everyone keeps moving, but nothing gets resolved.

Pixel art of a boy lying on a bedroom carpet with a joystick, watching a spooky mansion with three figures on a CRT screen.

Maniac Mansion at 39: The Puzzle Starts with Your Team

10/5/26

The mansion stays in place, but your team changes how you read it. Revisit the character choice that made this 1987 adventure more than a sequence of locked doors.

Pixel art of a girl tuning a shortwave radio on a bed beside a silver Sputnik model in a cozy retro bedroom.

Sputnik at 69: The Signal That Became a Navigation Idea

10/4/26

Sputnik’s radio signal did more than announce a satellite. Its changing frequency opened a route from tracking an object in space to finding a position on Earth.

Pixel art of five glowing glass gas tubes on a wooden shelf in a retro bedroom, beside a CRT, a brass balance and a prism.

William Ramsay at 174: The Mystery Hidden in Air

10/2/26

A tiny density mismatch revealed an overlooked family of elements. On Ramsay’s birthday, trace the path from ordinary air to neon’s red-orange light.

Pixel art of a boy and a girl sitting at a computer and browsing the web in a 1990s bedroom, with cyan globes on CRT screens.

W3C at 32: One Web, Many Screens

10/1/26

A web page can change its shape without losing its meaning. The W3C’s anniversary is a chance to discover the shared rules behind that everyday freedom.

Pixel art of a boy kneeling beside a Geiger counter in a retro bedroom, with a detector illustration on a CRT.

Hans Geiger at 144: The Meaning Behind the Click

9/30/26

A familiar crackle turns invisible interactions into something we can hear. The clever part is understanding what each click preserves—and what it leaves behind.

Welcome to the rabbit hole.