aloha, george!

in order to re-enable cookies, use the ALT plus T key-combo to open 
MSIE's "Tools" menu, then type an o, as in "oscar", to open the Internet 
Options property sheet.  use the CONTROL plus TAB command to switch from 
the "General" properties to the property-sheet entitled "Privacy".  if you 
want to reset IE so that it is a blank slate as far as cookie handling is 
concerned, you can either use the TAB key to move to the "Default" button, 
or use the Default button's accelerator key, D (type ALT plus D to activate 
the Default button) -- this will wipe your cookie jar clean, AND reset IE 
to accept ALL cookies.  (if you really want to ensure that your cookie jar 
is empty, you can use the "Delete cookies" button on the first property 
sheet in "Internet Options" (the one entitled, "General") -- this button 
has an accelerator key associated with it, i as in indigo)

in this age of pernicious data mining, spyware and other third party 
threats, i would strongly advise that if you do wipe your cookie jar clean, 
that, after resetting cookie handling to its default settings (which is 
pretty much accept all cookies) that, when you are returned to 
the "Privacy" property sheet you activate the "Advanced" button (it's 
accelerator key is v as in victor) and:

a) check the "Override automatic cookie handling"

b) make sure that the "Always allow session cookies" checkbox is also 
checked (it's accelerator is w as in window), before leaving the "Advanced" 
property sheet.  this will allow you to carry your logged-in identification 
with you as you peruse a site, such as a web mail interface, a commercial 
site, or even when you read the newspaper online.

c) i would strongly suggest that you select the "Prompt" radio box for 
both "First Party Cookies" and "Third Party Cookies" - this will allow you 
to decide on a case-by-case basis, which cookies you want to permit a site 
to place on your computer, thereby ensuring that you are only accepting 
those cookies you need to accept in order to use a site, but that you are 
not inadvertantly transmitting your browsing habits, favorite sites, etc. 
to third parties -- remember that if you do set either or both type of 
cookie collecting to "Prompt", you will initially be swamped with cookie 
requests at most commercial sites (and, increasingly, at private ones, as 
well, whose owners are attempting to prove to their advertisers that their 
adverts are being seen by visitors, in the most benign scenario); to make 
acceptance of a cookie permenant, when you are prompted 
whether or not you want to accept a cookie and you make a decision whether 
or not to accept that cookie, that you also check the checkbox that applies 
your decision to all cookies from the requesting domain, so that you won't 
have to accept or reject cookies at sites you visit often.  i highly 
recommend such a subjective and selective approach to handling cookies -- 
otherwise, you will never know what cookies have been placed on your hard 
drive without my composing another long, involved emessage explaining how 
to manage cookies in IE.  if, when prompted to accept or reject a cookie, 
you are not sure whether it is germane or necessary for use of the site you 
are attempting to access, use the prompt's "More Info" button (the hotkey 
is ALT plus M) to find out the origin of the cookie, to ensure that it is a 
first party cookie, and to ascertain the lifespan of the cookie.

as for managing cookies or adding or deleting a domain from your accept or 
reject list, you can do this via the "Privacy" property sheet via "Internet 
Tools", by selecting the "Sites" button (whose accelerator key is s, as in 
sam) - this will open a dialog that allows you to manually set policies for 
specific sites using the site's URL: if you know what site or sites you 
want to allow or block, the first form field on this property sheet 
is "Address of Web Site", which allows you to type in the URL of a site, 
such as www.nytimes.com and then choose to either "Block" cookie requests 
from this site (the accelerator key for the Block button is b as in boy) or 
to "Allow" cookies from the designated site (the accelerator for Allow is a 
as in apple).  there is also a "list view" of the sites currently being 
managed by IE on this property sheet - you can jump to the list of sites 
being managed by using the ALT plus S keystroke, which will place you in 
the list view of managed sites, then use the up and down arrows to browse 
the list of managed sites, which also tells you MSIE's setting for the 
listed site (such as, "Always Allow", "Always Block", etc.).  note that 
when a site is highlighted, you can then change its setting or remove it 
from the list, using the buttons associated with the list view.

i hope that this answered your question,
gregory.
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