Popups, Cookies, Spam and more…

Posted By: Doug Simpson NTC/DirAux West

Date: 1/14/2004 07:49

The National Testing Center/ DirAux West continues to problems with members who are not receiving their grading emails for exams. This posting is a request that CS & IS officers help in getting the below information to members: Popups, Cookies, Spam and more…

It sounds like breakfast or lunch food and goodies that we like to munch on. Well in this case it’s not; it’s the base of some problems that you may run into on the Internet.

Spam - With the upsurge of junk email on the Internet, many of us have taken to using what is called a Spam Filter for our email. AOL and OTHERS have one built-in and with their latest iteration of their email software, it is turned on by default to block email from everyone except those that you add to a list of those that you want to accept email from. What sort of problem would this cause? If you sign up to take an exam or are taking an open book exam on the National eTesting website, you’d never get the email that the website sends to you confirming your request, or for open book exams your grade. If your email bounces back, we assume the request is fraudulent and never enter you into the system. The same goes for proctors signing up, the only way we can verify that you sign up and not someone else using your name if by sending you an email.

If you are using a filter, make sure that you add the following eTesting email domains @cgwebs.net, @dirauxwest.org , @dirauxannex.org and @cgaux.info to your white list to insure that our email passes through. And to further that point, if you purchase goods on-line from web stores, add them as well as they will be sending you a receipt and such.

Cookies - Yes, cookies are a part of web browsing and many web sites reply on cookies being enabled. Again the National eTesting site uses cookies to keep your session open when you log in with your logon and password. If you have cookies disabled in your browser, you will not have access; the system will respond as though you used an incorrect password and not let you in. Cookies are not dangerous; they are simple small text files that make using interactive websites a pleasurable experience. You can learn more about cookies at this web page http://cgaux7.org/cookies.asp.

Popups - Oh how annoying the popup ads can get on some of the websites we visit. I’ve seen endless streams of popups that are just so hard to close as every time you close one, another pops up. But again, the National Auxiliary eTesting website uses popups, not for ads, but for presenting the content in a usable format in order to make your exams an experience of ease and friendliness. If you have a popup stopper installed or one is a normal part of your browser, you MUST disable it while visiting the eTesting website.

More - How old is your web browser? The National Auxiliary eTesting website utilizes the latest state of art tools to give you a secure website that can be interactive and provide you with a place to take our exams. You need to insure that you have the latest browser technology installed on your computer to take advantage of this facility. If you have a browser that is several years old, it may be time to update it. Microsoft Internet Explorer is FREE so there is no reason to not keep up to date with the latest technology.