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Question:
I have been having trouble bringing up the standard
Google
search screen for the past couple of weeks. There is no
search button. What can I do?
Answer:
There's nothing wrong with your computer.
Google
has been running an experiment for the last few weeks,
and you were one of many test subjects who weren't told
what was going on.
Google
says it frequently experiments with its home page. In
this case, some people who went to
Google
got a search page without the familiar buttons. You had
to run your cursor over the page to make the buttons
appear.
Google
couldn't be reached for comment, but on
Oct. 30
, the
Wall Street Journal
reported that
Google's
official response was, "This is just a test, and a
way for us to gauge whether our users will like an even
simpler search interface." (See tinyurl.com/yfrwegr.)
The
Christian Science Monitor reported there have been
several variations of the
Google
search page. There was a page that was blank except for
the search box; a page with "This space
intentionally left blank" where the search buttons
should have been; and one with the words "Press
enter to search." (For details, see tinyurl.com/y92h77p.)
———
Q: I
recently read an article that suggested disabling
third-party browser cookies to avoid being tracked
online. I have Internet Explorer 7, but I can't find an
option regarding third-party cookies. What should I do?
A:
Internet Explorer 7 can protect you from third-party
cookies, which are bits of code planted in your browser
that allow you to be tracked as you move from one
participating Web site to another. The point is to build
a profile of your shopping and interests, even though
the websites probably don't know your name. (First-party
cookies are better because they only identify you to one
website, typically for automatic log-in.)
In
Internet Explorer, delete the third-party cookies you
already have by going to the "Tools" heading
and selecting "Internet Options." Under the
"general" tab you'll see a heading called
"browsing history" where you can delete your
existing cookies (along with temporary files, saved
passwords, browsing history and information that fills
out Web forms for you.)
To limit
the number of third-party cookies you get, click the
"privacy" tab. There are six levels of
security you can choose with a sliding indictor; avoid
the "block all cookies" level because it will
stop first-party cookies, too. For details on the other
security levels, see tinyurl.com/cscfm9.
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