Message from Sky & Telescope....

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...

Aren't you familiar with the dreaded cookie monster?

Of course. That had escaped me :-).

Seriously, though, if I go somewhere like "Amazon" I _want_ it to know who I
am and what sort of things I've bought in the past so that it can recommend
to me things which might reasonably be expected to interest me. Where's the
harm in that?

Regards,

Chris

Chris Marriott wrote:

"Greg Crinklaw" wrote in message
...

Aren't you familiar with the dreaded cookie monster?


Of course. That had escaped me :-).

Seriously, though, if I go somewhere like "Amazon" I _want_ it to know who I
am and what sort of things I've bought in the past so that it can recommend
to me things which might reasonably be expected to interest me. Where's the
harm in that?

There isn't any. I suppose there is the *potential* of harm in terms of
invasion of privacy either by governments or private parties if this
sort of thing were taken too far. But the solution to that problem is
to be politically vigilant so it can't happen.

Unfortunately there are a lot of paranoid people out there who don't
understand how cookies work (I recall reading alarmist articles about
them in local computer magazines over a decade ago). If people don't
understand what the limitations of cookies are it is easy for them to be
misled by the paranoid among us. If you stop and think about it every
age has it's demons. The only thing new about this is the specific
technology that's being demonized. As always, knowledge is the only
solution.

Clear skies,
Greg

Richard wrote in message . ..

Your Web browser appears to be set to block cookies.
SkyandTelescope.com requires a cookie file, ...[snip]

Haven't we been through all this before?

Long, long ago--2.5 years, specifically--when S&T instituted this
policy, it was hashed to death on SAA, and some of us (myself
included) brought the matter directly to S&T. After considering the
objections, S&T chose to stay with this policy. Likewise, we each
made our personal decisions whether or not to visit the new and
"improved" SkyandTelescope.com.

This is all ancient history.

Haven't you got something more recent or more constructive to bitch
about? Or are you just going through a slow period, like Shawn
sometimes does?
________________________

Incidentally, my experience is that writing S&T about a problem gets
better results than grousing about it to SAAers who aren't on S&T's
editorial staff. This, in fact, is in good agreement with Dr.
Feinberg's predictions (Spectrum, June '02). S&T staffers have been
seen here--but i don't see gzseronik around much, Tony is unlikely to
read any thread with your name on it, and i wouldn't presume Alan to
be spying for his wife's employer.

You will recall that you got a polite request to change your browser
settings. Had no one complained *directly* to S&T, you may very well
instead have been greeted with a curt, ugly, stock-issue error
message. Granted, all of S&T's decisions may not be to your liking,
but they do listen to their customers.

(Beware that another one of Dr. Feinberg's predictions is that a
*rude* e-mail will quickly find itself on the wrong side of the event
horizon.)


Happy trolling. Clear skies!

--
------------------- Richard Callwood III --------------------
~ U.S. Virgin Islands ~ USDA zone 11 ~ 18.3N, 64.9W ~
~ eastern Massachusetts ~ USDA zone 6 (1992-95) ~
--------------- http://cac.uvi.edu/staff/rc3/ ---------------

Richard wrote in message . ..

But, to see new telescope models come out, with ads like car ads would
be a riot.



TeleVue Nagler Zoom...zoom zoom zoom!!

~~~/\~~~
Shark

Used car salesman turned used telescope salesman ...

" And this model is the 2002 Babylon 8 with a F8 mirror and has only
been used on weekends on a corner of Rosamond in the High Desert"

Or ...

And this is the collectors special, a TASCO with .095 EP's and totaly
useless tripod, but it looks great standing in the Den pointed at the floor.



--


"And for the second time in four million years, the monolith awoke."
Arthur C.Clarke 2062dyssey three

SIAR
www.starlords.org
Telescope Buyers FAQ
http://home.inreach.com/starlord
Bishop's Car Fund
http://www.bishopcarfund.netfirms.com/

"greedyshark" wrote in message
om...
Richard wrote in message
. ..

But, to see new telescope models come out, with ads like car ads would
be a riot.



TeleVue Nagler Zoom...zoom zoom zoom!!

~~~/\~~~
Shark


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.742 / Virus Database: 495 - Release Date: 8/19/04

(greedyshark) wrote in message . com...
Richard wrote in message . ..

But, to see new telescope models come out, with ads like car ads would
be a riot.



TeleVue Nagler Zoom...zoom zoom zoom!!

~~~/\~~~
Shark

Did you see that car insurance commercial during the Olympics where
the weight lifter put a 500 lb. barbell over his head, then dropped it
onto the floor where it crashed through to the parking garage below,
crushing the car?

Picture an astronomer doing that with a Terminagler.

Richard wrote:
On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 10:22:39 -0600, Greg Crinklaw



Depends on what you fear. You know that Tom Cruise movie set in the
future where he predicts crime? There's a scene in it where he walks
by a billboard that flashes advertising geared directly to him.
This is already happening with pop-ups, courtesy of cookies and the
companies who sell the info gleaned from them.
I had actually upped security to cut down on pop-ups, but the Sky
and Tel thing wasn't anticipated.
-Rich

One word:
Mozilla.

;-)
Uncle Bob


__________________________________________________ _____________________________
Posted Via Uncensored-News.Com - Accounts Starting At $6.95 - http://www.uncensored-news.com
The Worlds Uncensored News Source

On 30 Aug 2004 10:28:32 -0700, (Cousin Ricky)
wrote:

Richard wrote in message . ..

Your Web browser appears to be set to block cookies.
SkyandTelescope.com requires a cookie file, ...[snip]

Haven't we been through all this before?

Long, long ago--2.5 years, specifically--when S&T instituted this
policy, it was hashed to death on SAA, and some of us (myself
included) brought the matter directly to S&T. After considering the
objections, S&T chose to stay with this policy. Likewise, we each
made our personal decisions whether or not to visit the new and
"improved" SkyandTelescope.com.

This is all ancient history.

Haven't you got something more recent or more constructive to bitch
about? Or are you just going through a slow period, like Shawn
sometimes does?
________________________

Incidentally, my experience is that writing S&T about a problem gets
better results than grousing about it to SAAers who aren't on S&T's
editorial staff. This, in fact, is in good agreement with Dr.
Feinberg's predictions (Spectrum, June '02). S&T staffers have been
seen here--but i don't see gzseronik around much, Tony is unlikely to
read any thread with your name on it, and i wouldn't presume Alan to
be spying for his wife's employer.

You will recall that you got a polite request to change your browser
settings. Had no one complained *directly* to S&T, you may very well
instead have been greeted with a curt, ugly, stock-issue error
message. Granted, all of S&T's decisions may not be to your liking,
but they do listen to their customers.

(Beware that another one of Dr. Feinberg's predictions is that a
*rude* e-mail will quickly find itself on the wrong side of the event
horizon.)


Happy trolling. Clear skies!

In a sense, it was unintentional trolling. I just posted it
because I'd never seen this before when accessing their
site and the usual crowd "ran" with it.
-Rich

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 11:52:10 -0700, "starlord"
wrote:

Used car salesman turned used telescope salesman ...

" And this model is the 2002 Babylon 8 with a F8 mirror and has only
been used on weekends on a corner of Rosamond in the High Desert"

Or ...

And this is the collectors special, a TASCO with .095 EP's and totaly
useless tripod, but it looks great standing in the Den pointed at the floor.

That's probably how they sell Bausch & Lomb Harbourmasters today.

"Rod Mollise" wrote in message
...
snip
Skycharts.com is an
excellent one


Might have been good in the past, I just went there and it is now one of
those advertising sites. I guess the owner didn't pay the fees this year for
the URL rights.

George

Clear skies and good health