facts and fantasies

We've used cookies a lot in the making of this site, and so it seemed like a good idea to tell you why and how we're using them, so you don't feel like we're doing things behind your back.

Cookies are text files which remain on your hard drive and are here to make life easier for you. With them, your browser can remember things between visits to a site. For example, your browser can use one to detect when you were last here and to present you with a special update of what's new on the site since your last visit.

They're also very handy for small JavaScript applications like the advent calendars - every time you open a window, a cookie is set which tells your browser to open that window again when you go back to the advent calendar. The argument engine also sets cookies, this time so that it can remember what topic you wanted to argue about, among other things.

Above all, remember, the information in the cookie remains on your hard drive and is not used to strip out your email magically and then to send it to Freeman's and every other catalogue manufacturer. But just in case you are allergic to them, we have created a small window featuring the cookie logo above which appears whenever you are entering a cookie-rich zone.