* LATEST SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY COLUMN:

E-mail options

“Wherever you go, there's your e-mail,” was the Buckaroo Bonzai-inspired signature file used by Mike Azzara, editor of Unix Today, when he hired me for my first regular network column back in 1989. I quickly learned all editors have, um, interesting traits.

At the time, e-mail meant MCI Mail or pine or elm on Unix systems. E-mail wasn't everywhere then, but it is now. E-mail service providers are doing a good job keeping up with our e-mail addiction and supporting new interfaces and end devices, like smart phones. So I thought it would be interesting to talk to the CEO of a company hosting over 3 million e-mail accounts and handling over 4.5 billion messages per month.

To read Gaskin's column in its entirety, please click here.

* LATEST SMB NEWS NOTES:

Google phone news
Be part of our poll and discuss your Android vote.

Grading Vista
It's a strange month when ComputerWorld lavishes a fair amount of praise on Apple's new operating system while stating Microsoft Vista's report card says "not meeting expectations," yet that's what's happening. Is it our fault for expecting too much, or are vendors not delivering enough anymore?

Credit Card Crackdown
If you take credit cards in your business, even a handful a year, the Payment Card Industry (PCI) became your business partner with their new regulations. Worse, states are starting to make new laws guaranteed to hammer small businesses as an example to look like they're doing something, rather than really addressing the credit card data loss problem.

Burning Office 2007 ... Questions
If you're considering paying the bucks for Office 2007, read this Top 10 article before you make the plunge. And put more in the budget if you want at least half of the features Microsoft advertises.

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James Gaskin writes books (16 so far), articles and jokes about technology and real life from his home office in the Dallas area.