Be careful of the new, very cheap broadband plans that are being offered by Telstra and other providers.

They have very low amounts of data transfer included (around 200 megabytes per month). With the enticing combination of high speed and constant availability you’ll certainly download a LOT more data than you used to on your dialup connection. In fact, it’s easy to use up your monthly allowance in a day!

When you exceed this limit, your “cheap” broadband plan gets VERY expensive VERY quickly. An extra 1000 megabytes of data will cost you around $150.

Don’t get me wrong - I believe that Broadband is a great thing to have, and we couldn’t operate without it. If you are using your dialup connection 4 or 5 times a day, it’s a no brainer to use it in preference to dial up.

We stongly recommend going for one of the higher limit plans that give you a much larger data transfer limits - we suuggest at least 3 gigabytes a month if your family members are going to use it as well!

I’ve made several attempts to use electronic organisers and diaries them over the past 10 years - and they’ve had major shortcomings so I’ve always gone back to the good old paper diary.

However, I recently bought a Palm tungsten “E”. And THIS is the one I’ve been waiting for. It’s fast, easy to use, and is not loaded down with cameras and other gimmicks.

It truly frees me from the office, and I can operate effectively from anywhere that has mobile phone coverage.

Data entry is no problem - you can get a cordless keyboard, which has the same size and feel as a portable computer.

There are also various keyboard enhancements available. With VitalyStamp www.vitaly.com data entry speeds of 50 wpm are common, with recent contest entrants achieving over 80 wpm.

Other things it does:
- receive and send email (with Infrared connection to a GPRS equipped mobile phone)
- browse websites
- create read and edit Word, excel, and powerpoint files
- Read PDF files
- listen to MP3 files(SD card needed)
- use as a remote control for TV’s, videos, etc.
- heaps more.

The screen resolution is EXCELLENT - about the bestm I have seen on a PDA.
My only gripe is the fairly short operational time before a recharge is needed. (from 2-10 hours of actual use, depending on what you’re doing) However, an external battery pack will solve this problem.

So - if you’ve tried a PDA before and were disappointed, try something like this.

I still use a paper diary - to record events as they happen. but for planning ahead, phone numbers, to do lists, etc - It’s all on the palm. And everything is backed up to SDRam card daily)

If you’d like more info about how we use this PDA, please let me know by making a comment (below)

After a quiet couple of weeks, we are now experiencing a very high level of harmful email activity again.

It appears that the authors of the MyDoom, Netsky, and Beagle/Bagle are slugging it out to see who can produce the biggest, baddest worm on the internet.

Five new variants of thse worms were found this morning in the space of 3 hours.

As this battle of the worm writing mongrels continues, please keep in mind that it is not always possible to keep completely up to date with the virus signature definitions on our systems. You need to be vigilant, and have your own up to date virus checker on your computer.
Have a look at www.webangel.com.au/info/antivirus.htm for information on what we use, and for links to some exellent free anti virus programs.

And REMEMBER: NEVER open an email attachment that you have not arranged to receive - even if it is from your Mum!