What is the Macintosh HD/private/ folder?

Hi all, lots of strange stings are happening on my Mac lately, but this may not be related.
However this folder:
I have never seen before. Can anyone elaborate on what it is, and if it's nothing to worry about - or is

There are a number of important folders used by the system that are normally hidden, and the /private folder is one of them. In your case, that folder has now become visible. This does not in itself affect its function.
There are two ways that a normally-hidden item can become visible-
1) A global change in Finder's behavior ("show all files"), such that all hidden items are now visible.
2) A specific change only to the item in question, such that it it loses its "hidden" flag and is now visible even when Finder is behaving normally.
Your screenshot of the top level of Macintosh HD shows a "normal-appearing" /private folder, and doesn't show a number of other essential items that are always there but normally hidden. I therefore think in this case we are dealing with the second issue above. This "sometimes happens" for unclear reasons.
By example, one of my own bootable disks normally looks like this in Finder's list view:
One can make all hidden items visible to Finder , as per the first case above, by using a Terminal command or by using a 3rd-party utility program. If I do this, I see:
There are many previously hidden items now visible, and they all have a dim, ghosted look, including /private.
If I reverse that global change in Finder, and instead remove the specific "hidden" flag only on the /private folder as per the second case, I instead see this:
Of the normally invisible items, only the /private folder is now visible, and it is not "ghosted" - it appears normal, as did yours. So your situation evidently corresponds to this second case, where the Finder is functioning normally but the /private folder has lost its hidden flag. As mentioned, the reason is usually unclear.
You should be able to restore the invisibility of the /private folder with this Terminal command:
sudo chflags hidden /private
However as long as you remember not to go poking around inside the /private folder, it's also OK just to leave it alone.

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1. What's the difference between private mode in Safari which i have to turn on every time again when opening safari.
It's a two click activity which i would love to be able to set in the preference as default. It's tyering when have to do it everyday a few times. (Yes, i'm one of many who have the "i like safari but since the update crash everyday a few times" syndrome...
Yes, i have updated my system.
Yes, i have repared disk permissions with disk utility.
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2. and the "tell websites not to track me" under Safari - Preference - Privacy.

That box should prevent websites using trackers to log your movements on the Web to benefit advertisers. I have no idea if it does.
Safari can keep your browsing history private. When you turn on private browsing, Safari doesn’t remember the pages you visit, your search history, or your AutoFill information, so your partner cannot see where you have been, but you must also remember to also turn off acceptance of cookies.
In all other respects Private Browsing is not as private as you might think:
http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/how-to-make-safaris-private-browsing-fea ture-actually-private/
http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=9054
and then Apple's own advice from here: http://www.apple.com/pro/tips/privacy_safari.html
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which is itself incomplete, the relevant part being 'If you want to delete only certain ones.
To that end it is useful to have Safari Cookies installed, which is the only cookie manager available for Safari:
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From this website:
http://machacks.tv/2009/01/27/flushapp-flash-cookie-removal-tool-for-os-x/
For those who do not know about Flash cookies, more properly referred to as Local Shared Objects (LSO), they operate in a similar way to regular browser cookies but are stored outside the purview of your browser, meaning you cannot delete them from within your browser, whether Safari, Firefox, Opera or any other. Typically they are issued from sites or 3rd party sites that contain Adobe Flash content. Since virtually all internet advertising is delivered in Flash, Google/Doudleclick and all other internet advertising companies are sure to be tracking your browsing behavior with Flash cookies. These companies can see you traverse the Internet as you come upon the plethora of sites that contain their embedded advertising. Check out the Wikipedia entry here.
In Mac OS X they are stored in the following location:
/User’s Home Folder/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/#SharedObjects
The settings for the Flash cookies are stored in:
/User’s Home Folder/Library/Preferences/Macromedia/Flash Player/macromedia.com/support/flashplayer/sys
In OS X Local Shared Objects, or Flash Cookies, are appended with a .sol suffix. Flush deletes all the Flash cookies (.sol) and their settings.
Flush can be downloaded from that page.
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http://www.sweetpproductions.com/safaricookies/index.htm
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This article covers the issue in more depth:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/you-deleted-your-cookies-think-again/
Flash cookies are also known as 'Zombie Cookies' and are used by a number of firms, including Hulu, MTV, and Myspace. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the internet security firm Sophos, told BBC News that the source of the trouble was Adobe Flash itself, which he called "one of the weirdest programs on the planet".
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"I think it's much more likely that the vast majority of users are simply oblivious to the bizarre way in which Adobe allows them to configure the software."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10787882
And a more recent article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/21/technology/21cookie.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=flash&s t=cse
[b]Tracker cookies and the invisible web:[/b]
– tags, web bugs, pixels and beacons that are included on web pages in order to get an idea of your online behavior.
Ghostery tracks the trackers and gives you a roll-call of the ad networks, behavioral data providers, web publishers, and other companies interested in your activity.
http://www.ghostery.com/about
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How to define the size of private folder in Easy DMS?

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Hi,
This can be done in SAP Customization / SPRO
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What is the Macintosh HD/private/ folder?

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