As someone said (I'm paraphrasing) in another thread "Rules like this should not be broken, until you fully understand the consequences of doing so."
There are times when global variables are necessary, or at least very helpful (Working with system defined call-backs for example). On the other hand, they're also very dangerous for all of the reasons you've been told.
There are many aspects of programming that should probably be left to the experts. Sometimes you NEED a very sharp knife. But you don't get to use one until you're ready...
