April 04, 2011
 Editor:
Dave Uphoff
You probably noticed the message at the top of the homepage for MinonkTalk which alerts you to a possible message from your browser asking if you want to allow this web site to get information about your physical location. A new routine has been installed in this web site that attempts to attach GPS coordinates to your location. To allow this, you must click the Share button at the upper right of your browser. If you use Internet Explorer 8 or earlier you will not get this message as these early browsers are not programmed for this new routine. Therefore, if you are using an earlier version of Internet Explorer, I recommend that you download the latest version of Internet Explorer, which is version 9. Better yet, I suggest that you download the latest version of Mozilla's browser Firefox. Firefox is a much more stable than Internet Explorer and has tighter security. Whichever you choose to do, upgrading to the latest browser will enable this web site to determine the location of its viewers. By knowing the physical location of MinonkTalk viewers, a profile of who is accessing this web site, from what location, and how many viewers from each location can be determined.
This information is important to me as I look at ways to improve this web site. But it also can be interesting to our viewers because with this information a viewer map can be displayed each day showing where MinonkTalk is being viewed from in any part of the country. In addition, the number of viewers at each location can be displayed. For an example of what this viewer map would look like, click here.
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No personal information is accessed from this new routine which is seamless to our viewers. All it will access is the GPS coordinates of the viewer's location and the city. This information will be stored for displaying the viewer map discussed above. You may notice that when the MinonkTalk web site is first displayed, it will redisplay itself a second time. This is normal and is the result of this routine. After a few weeks this routine will be disabled as enough information will hopefully be collected to come up with an adequate viewer location database. By downloading the latest browser, you will not only be helping to enhance this web site, you will also have the latest browser features. To download the latest version of Internet Explorer, click here. To download the latest version of Firefox, click here. Remember when you run the new version of your browser, you will get the message asking for permission to share your location information with this web site.
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