?? Newsdgroup Cookie Dropper ??

This applies to rec.aviation.piloting because this is where I seem to
be picking up a "cookie" from time to time. My, albeit limited, knowledge is
that cookies come from websites, not newsgroups.
I have a software package called SpyBot that seeks out adware, cookies,
spyware and that sort of stuff. I ran SpyBot a couple days ago and it picked
up a cookie from =Avenue A, Inc.= I dutifully commanded it to disappear,
then it occurred to me that I had not been on the internet to visit any
websites that morning. Now, yesterday, before I went on-ine, I ran SpyBot
and got a 'clean' report. Right after I skimmed through and read a few
posts, I went off-line and immediately ran SpyBot.
Well, up popped Avenue A, Inc., again. Same thing this morning, same
sequence, same cookie.
I has to be coming from here, since the other two newsgroups I subscribe
to were empty on both days and in both cases, I did not connect to any
website.
Has anybody else noticed this? Am I going bonkers?

Casey Wilson
Freelance Writer and Photographer