corporate concerns will use this information to devise annoying, yet relatively innocuous advertising campaigns, targeted towards specific groups or individuals. However, it is rather scary to contemplate how such an intimate knowledge of our personal preferences and private activities might eventually be used to brand each of us as members of a particular group.
Basically, cookies cannot harm your computer. The general controversy is not what cookies can do to your computer, but what information they can store, and what they can pass on to servers. There is currently a new proposal to limit the features of the cookie protocol, which would give people a greater control over what cookies they will accept and from where.
No files are destroyed or compromised by cookies, but if you are concerned about being identified or about having your web browsing traced through the use of a cookie, set your browser to not accept cookies or use one of the new cookie blocking packages. Note that blocking all cookies prevents some online services from working. Also, preventing your browser from accepting cookies does not make you an anonymous user; it just makes it more difficult to track your usage.
Preventing Cookies from being Placed On Your System
You can prevent any cookies from being sent to your system by using the browser options. In Internet Explorer 4.0, choose the View, Internet Options command, click the Advanced tab and click the Disable All Cookie Use option. In Netscape 4.0, choose the Edit, Options command, click on Advanced and click the Disable Cookies option. After that, no cookies will be stored on your system.
You will need to turn cookies back on if you want to use any online services that require them. You can also choose the option to prompt you before accepting a cookie, but at many sites you willo be continually closing the warning dialog box.
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In order for the My AOL page to remember your preferences it must place a "cookie," or piece of information on your computer so that it can recognize you each time you visit. If your browser is configured not to accept cookies, My AOL may not work.
To configure your AOL browser to accept cookies:
1. On the AOL Settings menu, click Preferences.
2. On the My AOL Preferences window, click Internet Properties (WWW).
3. On the Internet Options window, click the Security tab, then click Custom Level.
4. In the Settings list, scroll down until you see the word Cookies. Click the button next to the word Enable, then click OK. You may have to quit and restart your AOL software for these setting to go into effect.
Should you want even more information on Cookies, go to www.cookiecentral.com the source of this information.
One of the mysteries of life is how the
boy who wasn't good enough to marry
the daughter can be the father of
the smartest grandchild in the world.
OXYMORONS
| Genuine imitation |
Alone together |
| Found Missing |
Good grief |
| Small crowd |
Advanced BASIC |
| Passive aggression |
Pretty ugly |
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