Have you noticed that more sites are asking you to "accept all", "necessary only", ... They tell you what they are used for and provide options.
THAT'S the nice way to do it. So people have the option.

I'd be real careful of where you read stuff, someone might think they're even storing your blood type.........

My statements are based on the fact that I'm a programmer.

BUT, that doesn't stop some places from doing what they want with the data. Only morals and integrity do that.

In general (for all): Cookies aren't programs, they don't "watch" what you are browsing, other than what you do at THEIR website.
They store things like last page visited, maybe how long, some save key information so you don't have to go through hoops the next time you log in.
Cookies are DATA only, saved by the site you're visiting. They don't watch what you do elsewhere on the web.

Now it's possible for another site to see the cookie data IF that site was given permission and the cookie names by the original site that saved the data.

The third party gallery program I use stores a couple of cookies. "I" don't use them, the gallery program does. I have no idea what is in them.
Not all cookies are "bad".
Sites use them mostly for metrics, and "improving" the user experience.-> "The last time you were here you looked at ...". Also, it's less disk space used for them if they store it on your computer.

Remember the recent LATAM (a Chilean Airline) flight to New Zealand that suddenly plunged a few thousand feet, injuring 50 passengers who were slammed into the ceiling? The mass media breathlessly rushed to report that once again a Boeing plane had a “technical issue.” It was news mainly because it was built by Boeing and was a problem with a different Boeing plane than the 737Max.

But now the truth is coming out. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the so called “technical issue” had nothing to do with the plane design or the manufacturer. It was caused when a flight attendant (who was serving meals in the cockpit) accidentally pressed the switch that caused the pilot’s seat to move in its track, thereby pressing the pilot forward onto the control yoke and causing the plane to dive.

Wonder how quickly the media will retract their rush to judgment?

I've been using the paid CCleaner for a few years, but lately have started to question how good it really is. For instance, in older versions when I ran the "clean" option, I would be notified that it had found maybe a hundred or so "trackers". Lately, it tells me that it found five or six thousand! So, this number would be based on whatever use my PC gets in one day, since I always run the cleaner and shut down at the end of the day.

Also, the latest version always tells me that it has found several programs that need to be updated. However, when I okay this action, a progress bar pops up, but never seems to make any progress. Last night, this part of the utility ran for more than fifteen minutes and updated nothing.

I'm not going to renew my subscription when it comes due next month. Subscription fatigue played into this decision.

Norton does the same, $ to get the driver(s) updated. The only driver updates I've done in years have been ones from the manufacturer's notice.
Never had a problem only doing those.

I delete all cookies from site "visits" that I normally don't go to a lot. I keep cookies for regularly visited sites (same reason). Firefox is nice, it lists all sites that stored cookies by date last used. VERY easy to select which ones to delete. Most "one time site visits" I will open in a private window in Firefox, no cookies are stored.

I hate these utilities that say I have 12,000 malware files on my computer and then say they can delete them - if I start paying every year.

I recently got a notice from CCleaner saying I had a dozen outdated drivers. When I clicked on Update, it asked for money. There are free driver updaters available, but I prefer to wait for the software company itself to let me know that there are updates available. I got a notice from Apple today, and from Epson yesterday.

Another thing - I avoid deleting cookies - sign-in data - as part of a clean-up routine because signing back into sites can be a nuisance.

I watched an interesting YouTube video about printer maintenance last night. Although I had to run the cleaning cycle three or four times yesterday, it's not a good thing to do. Epson even says that it can damage the printer. If you have to run it several times, wait a while and do regular printing in between the cleanings.

This YouTube woman has never done a head cleaning procedure because, for one thing, it wastes a lot of ink. Instead, if one color is causing trouble, she does what she calls a Purge. Using Word, she makes a rectangle on a clear page and fills it with the offending color. She'll print that until the printer prints that color flawlessly. Besides not wasting all the other ink colors, it uses less ink overall, but it still flushes the print head.

In my case, after a paper jam, no ink appeared when I printed. I'd like to know how a paper jam could cause blockage. Following online directions, I did put the printer on its side to check something else. Maybe that caused the problem, but the YouTube guy doing that demo didn't mention head clogging.

Another disadvantage of too many head cleanings is that Maintenance Tank filling up. Looking online, I can buy a generic Maintenance Tank, but Epson doesn't seem to have one. I'd rather buy from Epson. They have the T04D100, but not the T04D1.

https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3cd05f168dae64b7&sxsrf=ACQVn0-Yz8IACTMxo0txd271Uy5_ppny1A:1710420574312&q=epson+t04d1+maintenance+box&nirf=epson+t04d100+maintenance+box&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiOgf6V5fOEAxUEPkQIHS_SAIYQ8BYoAXoECA8QAw&biw=1872&bih=932&dpr=1

I get into my car, hit the Start button, and drive away. Why can computers and printers work as reliably? They're indoors, they don't move around much, there are almost no moving parts, and they've been around for decades. Let me give you an example.

I have two short videos that play on VLC and I wanted to combine them. Simple, right? No. Following three sets of online directions, I was able to get only part of the way. The online directions didn't exactly follow what I had on my screen, and the results I got at different steps were slightly different from online. After wasting time with that, I gave up.

Today, I opened PowerDirector, and I duce a video.

I found a recent installation file for PD on my computer and installed it. Then it wanted the 26-letter Key. I entered it. "Invalid Key" How could it be invalid?

I went to my Dell and started PowerDirector, but it would not accept the file I had saved from the evaluation program. It was a different file system. I had to go through the lengthy process of copying the long video and music from one machine to an SSD and then onto the other machine. I think that should be finished now, so I'll go in and see what new problems await me.

By this point, I'm sure it will be too late for me to go to the senior meeting, so I'll take a nap instead.