{"id":13,"date":"2025-04-07T00:06:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T00:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.halltennis.com\/?p=13"},"modified":"2025-04-18T04:23:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T04:23:30","slug":"sure-this-is-old-hat-to-you-but-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.halltennis.com\/?p=13","title":{"rendered":"SURE, THIS IS OLD HAT TO YOU, BUT…but…."},"content":{"rendered":"

Begin forwarded message:<\/p>\n

From: <\/strong>Halltennis@aol.com<\/p>\n

Subject: SURE, THIS IS OLD HAT TO YOU, BUT…but….<\/strong><\/p>\n

Date: <\/strong>June 12, 1997 at 01:16:11 EDT<\/p>\n

To: <\/strong>skt@vista.com, mcquaide@vista.com, joe@joe10.com<\/p>\n

C is for Cookies by Kim Komando
\nImagine that whenever you go to the supermarket, a computer keeps track of
\neverything you do. It knows the aisles you pushed your cart through, the
\nitems you picked up and the items you returned to the shelf. You have no idea
\nthat this covert collection of data took place until you see the results
\nthenext time you visit this particular market.
\nInstead of finding organized aisles, there is only one aisle that
\ncontainsonly the items you want. The market claims they offer their
\nshopperstimesaving convenience while simultaneously, uses the information it
\ncollected about you to sell in-store advertising.
\nSounds a little Orwellian, doesn’t it? Welcome to the Internet where
\nhundreds of big-name Web sites collect user traffic and prefer ence data,
\noften unbeknownst to users who might disagree if they were aware of it.
\nDo any amount of surfing on the Internet and I bet there are cookie files
\non your PC’s hard disk. A cookie file saves information about you that allows
\na Web site to recognize you when you visit that site again. Let me explain.
\nSay you go to the Microsoft Network home page (or another site) that
\nallows you to personalize the site using your preferences, such as your
\nfavorite news categories. These preferences are stored in a cookie file
\nlocated on your PC. Next time you visit the site, the site secretly peeks in
\nthe cookie file on your hard drive to see who you are and then, customizes
\nthe site to match your preferences.
\nUse a subscription-based Internet site and your user ID and password are
\nprobably stored in a cookie file. This prevents you from having to type both
\nin every time you visit the site.
\nAt many sites, cookie files simply track user traffic and usage patterns.
\nWebTrends, for example, is one program that Web sites can use that saves
\nMcookie files on visitors’ hard drives to generate site statistics. By doing
\nsuch, a site knows where the user came from, what they looked at, how long
\nthey viewed a particular page, links clicked, and more. Web sites need
\nstatistics to sell advertising.
\nInnovative marketing firms have changed the face of cookies. Rather than
\nstoring site specific information in a cookie file, a unique number that
\nidentifies the user is saved instead. When a user visits a site that knows to
\nlook for this unique number, a profile of the user can be generated that is
\nbased on the browsing habits of the individual.
\nBecause the site needs to be aware of your unique number stored in the
\ncookie file, all your browsing cannot be tracked. But for those sites that do
\nknow, online advertising can be modified on the fly to show the user
\nadvertisements more geared to their interests. DoubleClick is one company
\nthat supposedly has 10 million user profiles based on this use of cookies.
\nCookies cannot divulge your e-mail address to a site, but they can contain
\nyour user ID and password to a site. Cookies will not scan your hard drive
\nand report results back to a site. However, computer hackers have broken
\nholes through the security of older Web browsing programs. If you are not
\nusing the current version of your Internet browsing program, you ought to.
\nDrop by the browser publisher’s home page for the latest release information.
\nWhile cookies offer convenience for users and research for Web sites, the
\nsurreptitious gathering of information irks privacy advocates and for good
\nreason. It is possible for a Web site to read your entire cookie file
\ncollection without your knowledge. Furthermore, users have to trust Web sites
\nthat collect personal and usage information will not exploit the database
\nthat can be easily generated. Unfortunately, there is no Internet central
\nauthority that controls the potential abuse of user information.
\nTo take a look at your cookies, Netscape stores cookie files in the
\ncookie.txt file located in the Netscape folder. Microsoft Internet Explorer
\nusers will find their cookies with the Windows folder, Cookies folder. You
\ncan open a cookie file using any text editor, although you probably won’t be
\nable to decipher the series of number and character codes.
\nIf the use of cookies concerns you, get proactive. First, set up your Web
\nbrowser to warn you before you accept any cookies. Microsoft Internet
\nExplorer 3.0 or higher users can activate cookie warning messages by
\nselecting Options and then Advanced from the menu. Netscape Navigator 3.0 or
\nhigher users can set up cookie alerts by selecting Options, Network
\nPreferences, and then the Protocol tab.
\nIt’s important to note that you can only set cookie warnings and not
\ntotally disable cookie files from landing on your PC. Activate the warnings
\nand guaranteed, you’ll quickly grow tired of clicking on the warning dialogue
\nbox time and time again.
\nIf you elect to not accept the cookie, you may not be able to use all the
\nfeatures of a Web site. And if you do accept cookies, you really don’t know
\nwhat’s going on. While disabling cookies prevents sites from sending you
\ncookies, it doesn’t prevent them from uploaded cookies from your PC.
\nAn alternative to warnings is to get Pretty Good Privacy’s ([415]
\n572-0430; http:\/\/www.pgp.com<\/a>) $19.95 PGPcookie.cutter, a browser plug-in that
\nlets a user decide which cookies he or she wishes to allow or block from
\nsites on the Web. The Windows NT version is available and the company’s
\nWebsite says the Windows 95 and Mac versions are forthcoming.
\nOr you can handle cookies like I do. I simply delete the Netscape cookie
\nfile or Internet Explorer cookie folder and start with a clean slate. The
\ndownside is that if you hit a site that calls for preferences or passwords,
\nyou will need to recreate them at the site.
\nDon’t worry about ruining your Internet software configuration when
\ndeleting the cookie files. You’ll get the cookie file or folder back again,
\nwithout any action on your side. The browser recreates it for you when you
\nvisit a site that sends cookies. By deleting the cookies on your PC, at the
\nvery least, a site won’t be able to get information without your knowledge.
\nCopyright 1997, The Komando Corporation. All rights reserved. Kim Komando is
\na TV host, syndicated talk radio host, Los Angeles Times syndicated
\ncolumnist, founder of the Komputer Klinic on America Online (keyword KOMANDO)
\nand the author of CyberBuck$ published by IDG Books. Visit Kim on the
\nInternet at http:\/\/www.komando.com<\/a><\/p>\n

L–h.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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