Hi!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UUID

Thank you for the information. I did do a search, and that link came
up. I wasn't sure if it was relevant to what I was looking for. At a
second glance, it does seem to be.

It would use your PC's serial number, and maybe its ethernet
MAC address etc to come up with "some number".
Original "intent" was to make your pc/visit to a website
'special' so when you returned /transmitted data to any
other computer, it 'guaranteed' security and make things
easier by already knowing everything about you.

It sounds a lot like the Pentium III on-CPU serial number. (I well
remember the controversy over that.)

Great on paper, but who wants the world to know that.

So true, especially with all the "interesting" ways to try and keep
track of users visiting web sites, clicking on ads, etc.

William