Things that could've been better expressed?
Thanks anyway Ridley for the explanation. Despite the tone of your post, I managed to gain the perception that there is no problem. The only thing I still don't know about is why on earth you feel the necessity for the PPRuNe server to give us an advertising cookie that is so cunningly disguised as a text file.
And while we're on the subject, maybe you can explain why my spam mail increases exponentially straight after a visit to PPRuNe? It will all happen again after this visit - wish I could be so sure of picking the Melbourne Cup winner!
I've been living with it since installing Ad-Aware, which I hadn't previously needed. The problem is, as I see it, that despite cleaning out the "text file" the spam still happens. Thus I am forced to conclude that the damage is already done by the time the "text file" is planted on my computer.
This seems to only have been happening since the major system upgrade and server change for PPRuNe. I live with it because of the value I derive from PPRuNe and the chance it gives me to answer the occasional Operational Standards question.
I get a somewhat faster linespeed here than Slash gets thru his satcomm but, the way the system works here, I get charged thru the nose for every minute I spend online. I already know that the phone line charges I pay are far higher than the similar system of timed local calls in the UK.
I do not object to ads, per se, and indeed I actually understand why PPRuNe has to have them. I've even found the occasional ad that is of some use to me, so they haven't been a total waste of download time. But when they take a long time to download - and I have to wait for that before any of the substance of the particular page appears - I get a bit crotchety. And this is all on top of a huge dose of paranoia that has been instilled in me over the years about computer security when connected to the internet.
Do you now see where I'm coming from? I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has such problems with unwanted intrusion into my computer - especially from a site that I enjoy and have, in the past, grown to trust.