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Q & A (continued)
How do cookies work? Using a cookie service, the
site you're visiting sends little data files to your
browser (most of the main browsers, such as
Internet Explorer and Navigator, support cookies).
The cookie file, which is stored on your hard
drive, can contain information about what you've
bought, how many times you've visited the site, the
time of day you visited, your email address or user
ID, your address, and your credit card number.
The next time you visit the site, your browser
sends the cookie along, telling the site that you've
been there before and letting it know what you've
bought. That way, the beneficent people who own
the site can target their marketing toward you,
offering you more blue shirts.
Is it bad that sites, such as Gap's online store,
know that you wear large blue shirts, and that
they'll let you know these shirts are on sale? No,
provided the company you're doing business with
can be trusted to keep your information safe and
confidential, it's likely no harm will be done. One
Vendor quoted, "Everyone thinks cookies are bad
unless they're made by Pillsbury." Cookies
themselves are not bad from a security standpoint;
they're only bad if they store sensitive information
without informing the end user."
He has a point. As long as I give my permission
for a company to collect the information I'm
volunteering, and as long as it keeps my
information confidential, I shouldn't have a
problem. However, contradictions abound on the
Internet. Sure, we all want the convenience of
online shopping, but cookies give us the creeps.
A look Back at last Month
The meeting was well attended with many familiar,
and several new faces present. Our president,
Dennis Doyle and vice president, Bob Hedrick
brought in their systems in order that we could
hook up to the Internet. Dennis had also put
together a handout of Internet definitions for the
members present. It is an excellent compilation of
most of the terms you are likely to run across
when using your browser or the jargon you will
encounter on The 'Net. Dennis had even taken the
trouble of making a complete printout of the entire
WPCUG Internet site so that all those present
would be able to see the site even if they don't
have Internet service.
We then got some hands-on experience on The
Internet and took a more in-depth look at our club
site. We also visited other sites, including some of
the club links. Later we did a demo of the
currently featured Internet Site Of The Month
which is PageWorks Homeland. This site is a
favourite because of their wonderful graphics
animation. They have an excellent tutorial on
creating your own animations for your homepage.
They also have midi music for background and
many excellent links to other sites. We also
answered questions from the users present as to
how to save picture files to disk etc.
Please feel free to contact us as to what you would
like to see at future meetings, and also send us
your favourite links and they will be posted on our
links page so that others can also enjoy them. See
you at the meeting.
Bob Pajot (Web Page Editor)
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What do you think of having "The TXT" on-line? E-mail Bob Pajot ---> rdpajot@netcore.ca