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

A cinematic pixel-art machine combines tuning forks, brass horns, strings and percussion around a glowing cyan sound wave

Strange Music Day 2026: Listen Beyond the Familiar

8/24/26

Strange Music Day invites us to stretch our ears—but even its origin year refuses to stay in tune. Discover what is documented and why unfamiliar music often needs a second listen.

Weighted web links radiate from a luminous PageRank core in a dark cinematic pixel-art network

Sergey Brin at 53: How PageRank Mapped Web Trust

8/21/26

PageRank did more than count links. On Sergey Brin’s 53rd birthday, discover how a research prototype turned the web’s relationships into a ranking signal.

Anonymous television writer drafts glowing space routes and an original spacecraft in detailed dark pixel art

Gene Roddenberry at 105: The Blueprint Behind Star Trek

8/19/26

Gene Roddenberry did more than imagine a starship. On his 105th birthday, discover the repeatable story system that made Star Trek’s future endure.

Anonymous lone figure stands before an open circular bunker door and a cyan-lit ruined wasteland in detailed pixel art

Fallout 3: Why the Escape from Vault 101 Still Works

8/17/26

Fallout 3 turns its tutorial into a home, then destroys its routine. See how the escape from Vault 101 teaches freedom before the open world even begins.

Isometric pixel-art test course with failed prototypes and one machine following a glowing cyan route

Failures Day 2026: How Nerds Learn from Mistakes

8/15/26

Failures do not teach by themselves. Discover how debugging, safety reporting and blameless postmortems turn mistakes into useful evidence.

Cinematic pixel-art homage to Alfred Hitchcock observing a shadowy film set with a clockwork device beneath a table

Alfred Hitchcock at 127: How the Suspense Machine Works

8/13/26

Hitchcock did more than hide danger in the dark. He turned information, looking, sound and space into a precise machine that makes audiences participate in suspense.

Pixel-art physicist studying overlapping cyan and magenta cat states in a dark 1930s laboratory

Erwin Schrödinger at 139: The Equation That Outlived the Cat

8/12/26

The cat made Erwin Schrödinger a pop-culture icon. His real revolution was an equation that turned the strange quantum world into something physicists could calculate.

Pixel-art portrait of Steve Wozniak beside an early personal computer

Steve Wozniak at 76: The Engineer Who Made Computers Personal

8/11/26

On Steve Wozniak’s 76th birthday, discover how elegant engineering turned a hobbyist board into a computer people could truly make their own.

Pixel-art illustration for “Spider-Man’s first appearance”

Spider-Man’s First Appearance: The Date Even Marvel Can’t Agree On

8/10/26

Spider-Man debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 in August 1962—but Marvel’s own pages disagree on the exact day. Here’s why the 11-page origin still works.

Welcome to the rabbit hole.