gee, Clinton...I bait 'em & you scare 'em off...*wry grin*...and there IS a tech thread (in the FAQ I guess...it pops up in the regular list now & then)...but I'd like to see more folks get interested.

as to firewalls...you 'can' set your browser to accept, reject or "ask" about cookies...a good firewall can be set to know what cookies you'll accept and keep you from having to click 'no' buttons or change settings....and best of all, it can stop or curtail (depending on brand & settings) those damn pop-up ads that grab the corner of your screen and won't close!......AtGuard will block either ALL Javascript or only pop-up windows...or nothing...your choice. It will also block selected email from many sites.

so....if you feel safe without one...fine....I have a mostly cement & brick house, but I also have smoke alarms....And 'mostly' I don't have people messing with my doors when I'm gone, but I lock 'em anyway....I do hate extra precautions, as I grew up NOT having to lock doors, but the extra precautions take very little time & effort once they are set up, and NONE of those viruses last few months got me, and I see 'almost' no pop-up ads....

and until recently, no one had PLASTIC knives confisticated at airports.