Are those .... those fake nipples from Sex in the city?

It's a gaming thing :P  Sex in any city is always fun, even at Stanford.

the internet is a system of computers large and small that can communicate through phone, cable, fiber and microwave transmission lines.

the point of the communicating is to exchange files: one computer requests a file from a second computer, and the second computer sends the file to the first.

a common transaction is when you click on a link in a web page to view a new page. this sends a request for the linked page file to some other computer, which sends the page back to your browser.

as it does this, the second computer makes a record of your request for the file: the date, time, your address on the network, your computer type, your browser type, in some cases even your monitor size or your name (from your system files).

unfortunately, the requested web page usually contains many additional file requests that you don't explicitly approve: for example, the little buttons at the top of the ter pages, and the ter banner ads, pop into view one by one because each is a separate file, so each is requested by your browser and each is logged by the computer where the files are stored.

in this thread, the problem is that the included image file (picture url) makes the request for a copy of the file on a stanford computer, even though your request to view the message goes to the ter computers. so your request is logged in both places.

in europe and in some applications in the usa, web businesses track users by including tiny image files (too small to see) in a web page. these files (and your user info) are still logged at the web tracking computers each time a user views the web page being tracked.