So what’s the story on the Pentium III chip supposedly giving web sites its permanent “ID,” effectively giving businesses the ability to track your web movements and know without a doubt what computer you’re using? I don’t like it and won’t be buying any Pentium III computers, if this is true.
IIRC, with all the stink and bad publicity that this story caused, Intel set this option to be turned off. It can be activated at the user’s request.
Snark,
The privacy option can be enabled in the BIOS. I don’t know how much you know about computers, so I will be as simple as possible…sorry if I offend your intellegence if you know them, I don’t mean to.
Anyhow, you can disable the Pent III code in the BIOS of most machines. To do this (and no one should mess with their BIOS unless they are comfortable with computers) you enter the BIOS during the intial stages of boot up.
Usually, the BIOS setup feature can be entered either via the Delete key or the F1 key.
I do this as soon as I hear the first beep during startup. Normally, you will see “Press the DEL (F1) key to enter setup” at the bottom of the screen.
This is the guts of your system, it tells the operating system the major parts it needs to know to run correctly.
For you novice computer users out there, I highly recommend that you don’t mess with any of the settings in your BIOS, you can do major damage here. You can’t mess up much in Windows, but in the BIOS is nothing to mess with 
When a reporter asked Andy Grove about this issue, he said (basically) “you don’t have any privacy. Get over it.” What he meant was that all the hardware in your computer has these special serial numbers that can be broadcast. Intel got into trouble with privacy advocates because it advertised this common feature as a means of identifying computers over the web.
I could be wrong about the P III id no. being the same sort as the rest of your hardware in your computer, but Grove’s point remains: the chip id is only one way of many to do the same thing with your computer, and it’s already possible with current hardware.
Never attribute to an -ism anything more easily explained by common, human stupidity.
Techchick68, no, you didn’t offend me. I know very little about computer hardware. Thanks for the info.
Hansel, wow, if that’s true, I think I’ll drop out of internet existence in the near future! Either that, or severely restrict what web sites I visit. 
Ethernet adapters have a permanent address that is accesible when you connect to a network. It’s used at my school to dole out IP addresses when you connect.
Headless,
If one is connected to the right network, with a firewall, the only address the sites see is that of the router. Other than that, most people are safe.
Now, I have read an article, it was either at cnet.com or zdnet.com where home users with DSL can be submitted to privacy issues and potential hacks because the machine is connected 24/7.
Most home users using a dial up connection have little to fear. The only real time you end up giving out information is when you volunteer it at a web site or when you leave cookies in your browser…which BTW are mainly harmless in nature.
The best thing I have come up with to protect yourself is:
Never give out information to a website you are not familiar with.
Keep up with the latest updates to your browser (IE and Netscape are constantly updating their browsers)you need to keep updated on potential security risks that are found in these…it’s crucial.
If you are purchasing something over the net, always use a secure connection. This is where newer browsers come into play.
Never store your password(s)in your computer. You might as well email them out if you do come across a malicious website.
Never ever open an attached file from someone you don’t know, in fact don’t even read it, delete it immediately. Virus and trojan horse writers are becoming more and more intelligent.
I don’t own a virus program, which may be stupid, but for those that are not in tuned to viruses out there, you should definately have one. (I send out a virus update to 70 some people all the time and check 2-3 times a day for them so I don’t fear it)
And last but not least, be aware of the things you do on the net. I have found my last name via search engine where my postings in ZDNet are listed. So if you are very private as to what you say and do, don’t use your last name in postings.
I think it’s time for bed…night night