On Jul 30, 10:25am, Richard Hobson wrote:

Subject: Re: Cookie Requests

I suppose one can always delete the cookies file on a regular basis. It certainly doesn't seem to perform any "useful" function as far as the user is concerned. (Or do I get Club points? :-)

Cookies can provide a valuable service to both "user" and "provider," and should not be seen as completely evil and restraining one's freedom. We are using cookies here at Tripos for our Sybyl/Unity beta program, and I think the user will see a definite benefit. In our case, we are using the cookie file to record user name, email address, and phone number, AFTER the user has entered it once in the registration form. The cookie allows us to not have to prompt the user EVERY time they link up to the beta information site -- we get the info from the cookie file. If you do delete or edit the cookie file, then the user must again enter all of the information we require to provide them with beta assistance. Are we asking for private information in the registration? No. All of our user sites are (of course) already known to us, since they have licensed our software. The individuals are all persons who have agreed to work with us, where we receive the benefit of more field testing, and they receive the benefit of early access to a needed software product (plus get direct communication with programmers at Tripos). I can't see how anyone would seriously consider this use of "cookies" to be an invasion of privacy. All of the registrants have willingly volunteered to participate, and we are providing a mechanism that says "Hi, welcome back, no need to enter all that registration info again!" Here is what the cookie file looks like: .tripos.com TRUE / FALSE 849315600 sybun_tester Paul Web er .tripos.com TRUE / FALSE 849315600 sybun_tester_email weber@tripos.com .tripos.com TRUE / FALSE 849315600 sybun_tester_phone 6471099 .tripos.com TRUE / FALSE 849315600 sybun_tester_company_nam e tripos Certainly doesn't seem all that menacing now, does it? Cheers, Paul -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul L. Weber, Ph. D. Vice President, Product Development Phone: 314 647 1099 Tripos, Inc. Fax: 314 647 9241 1699 S. Hanley Rd St. Louis MO 63144 USA Email: weber@tripos.com --------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- chemweb: A list for Chemical Applications of the Internet. Archived as: http://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/hypermail/chemweb/ To unsubscribe, send to listserver@ic.ac.uk the following message; unsubscribe chemweb List coordinator, Henry Rzepa (rzepa@ic.ac.uk)