Miller, Chris wrote:
>
> > Cookies are not a threat to your computer. Your privacy, maybe, in
> > that
> > they do leave a trail as to where you have been. On the other hand,
> > only the domain that SET the cookie can read them. All they do read
> > and
> > write to a file called "cookie.txt".
> >
> --------> Yeah, I deal with some of the feedback from our website on
> occasion and you'd be amazed at the level of paranoia out there among
> people who have little to no technical knowledge in this area yet will
> piously claim they always reject cookies because of privacy issues and
> the chance of hurting their system. Basically the way the web is
> wired,
> you're going to get cookies, so you might as well learn what they are.
> I
> send people to this site for some basics:
> http://www5.zdnet.com/yil/content/surfschool/lingo/lingo_c.html#cookie
> They also have other sections which cover a lot of basics, and it's
> pretty much right.
>
> And really, I can't blame people too much as the paranoia-inducing ads
> from anti-virus software companies just makes me want to scream
> sometimes - there's a local one for "Guard Dog" which is so full of
> inaccuracies and overstatements that you'd wonder why anyone hearing
> would even bother buying the software at all - better to stay off the
> internet entirely. It's also a bit of a personal hot button as we've
> recently gone to PC's here for everyone so I've been busy training
> people at the "this is a mouse" level and everytime they hear an ad
> like
> this or get a "good times" or "do not open any returned mail" type
> virus
> warning, I get to spend half a day explaining hoaxes and calming
> everyone down. Drives me nuts. Plus it cuts into my posting time...
>
> Cookies are fine. If it bugs you turn off the warning pop-up. They
> won't
> eat your hard drive. They won't read your mail. Sauron might, but they
> won't.
>
> Chris Miller
My head bean counter sends out about 3 a week with all sorts of "Don't
read e-mail" messages attached. The latest one is "Win a Holiday", but
instead of comming from IBM, as most of them claim, this one was "Just
announced yesterday" from Micosoft. I get so tired of these, given that
his department once called us saying "Our computers are not working".
Seems that some one had plug in a heater to the same electrical line as
powered all 6 of their computers, scanners, color laser printers and
other odds and ends. The heater kicked on, the breaker went to Mexico
on holiday and the computers stopped working. "Call Tech Support!!!".
--
Sillyness is the last refuse of the doomed. P. Opus
http://www.spellbooksoftware.com
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Received on Fri Mar 20 1998 - 16:49:19 UTC