There has been much discussion and concern about cookies on the list
lately and in keeping with the team spirit, I would like to contribute
what I have read about these little critters.

It is true that there are sites that will push them on you not once but
several times for various reasons. They seem to be encoded to "make your
internet experience a better one." Microsoft will not let you get
information from them unless your browser accepts them. Then there are
times that you use Netscape and they will tell you that they can't read
the information..... Family feud.

What to do? I have set both IE50 and Netscape to accept cookies only if
they are sent back to the originator and to notify me when this happens.
Redundant? Possibly. With the wealth of information out there and the
frequent visits I make to certain sites, it's all right for them to
place cookies on my drive to make it easier for me to get back and for
them to remind me where I left off. For the rest, if I feel there is a
possibility for extraction of information without my knowledge or a
suspicious site, I either don't accept the cookie or I leave.

I have found the following information to be helpful. I will start with
Microsoft.

At this site  http://search.microsoft.com/us/default you can do a search
for "Cookies" (and accept one to begin with) where you will find five
pages and fifty articles discussing the issue.

At Windows Magazine, Karen Kenworthy who is the "Power User" program
writer has a download that will open these cookies so you can see the
exact information a site has put on or in your drive. That address is,
http://www.winmag.com/karen for the main page. Scroll down to "Recent
Updates" and download the "Cookie Viewer".

There are other places to obtain information but for the sake of space,
this is a good place to start.

If anyone would like to know more about the other sites I have, you may
contact me off list and I will share with you the information I found.

I hope this information will help those who question the intent of the
"Cookie" information. It is only the tip of the iceberg and I'm sure
that more will be revealed especially in light of the PIII Serial Number
incident which is another concern to some.

Sincerely,

Frank Suszka
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