In this context, it's not a baked dough biscuit. More's the pity. An internet cookie is actually a very simple piece of data that a web site can send to your web browser, which may then store it on your system. Cookies cannot contain virus or program code and, despite some internet rumours to the contrary, have never posed any kind of threat to either your computer system or your personal privacy. You can, if you so desire, ask your web browser to notify you when you receive a cookie from a web site, giving you the chance to decide whether or not to accept it. Here is how to set your cookie preferences:

Netscape Navigator 3
In the Options menu, select Network Preferences. In Network Preferences, click on the Protocols tab and there you may choose to be warned before accepting cookies.

Netscape Navigator 4 or later
In the Edit menu, select Preferences. In the Preferences dialog box, in the left side menu, click on 'Advanced' and four options concerning cookies will appear on the lower right. Choose Help for further details.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4
In the view menu, select Options. Click on the Advanced tab and scroll down to a yellow triangle icon with an exclamation point labelled 'Cookies' where you have three options. Choose the most appropriate setting, then click on 'OK'.

Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 and later
Microsoft Internet Explorer allows you to set options for each of four security zones: Internet, Local Intranet, Trusted Sites and Untrusted Sites. For each of these zones you can choose whether to accept, reject, or be prompted for all persistent cookies, and all session cookies. To get to the option screen, choose Internet Options from the Tools menu, then select the Security tab. For each of the zones, choose "Custom Level", and scroll down in the options screen to "Cookies", where you may alter your browser's cookie acceptance settings.

All other browsers
You should contact the manufacturer or author of your browser software for further information about accepting or rejecting cookies.