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What does .jpg?t= mean?

this webcam image has ?t=1512496926 append to it. What does it mean? Is it the time? Does it do anything at all?

enter image description here

Solution

  • Looks like it's a "cache buster". By appending the current time (or any changing value) to the URL, browsers always re-request the content from the server instead of relying on their local cache. Because the request has technically changed.

    The server-side code (if there even is any) can simply ignore this value. And it likely is doing so. The intent is simply to ensure that users always get the latest version of the information. For a webcam image like this one, it ensures that the users aren't seeing an old image.