Not Exactly Chocolate Chip
You've all heard about those cookies. They're intrusive and dangerous and sell your soul (if not your hard disk) to the devil. So much has been made of cookies' potential harm that their benefits have been mostly ignored. So what is this "cookie" and what should you do about it?

A cookie is nothing more than a text file on your computer. When you visit certain Web sites, those sites make a note of your visit and add that note to your cookie. By doing this, sites can customize the information you receive the next time you come back. Cookies allow you to fill up a shopping basket at an e-commerce site without buying anything. And the next time you come back, that site remembers what you have in your basket.

Certain sites, like The New York Times online, make you register to have access to their site. The good news: Once you're registered, you never have to sign in again from your computer. The cookie lets the Times know you're a registered user.

Cookies save you time. You don't have to enter the same information over and over again.

What sites have you been to that have remembered who you were? Click on the question mark to visit our Huh? message board.