I'm a big fan of netbooks -- the compact, lightweight, inexpensive laptops pioneered by Asus with its Eee PC line. Small, rugged, and yet full-featured enough for Web browsing and other light computing tasks, my Eee PC 901 has become a treasured companion for business travel. But the cost of newer netbook models has crept up, and many vendors are now offering standard-sized notebooks at rock-bottom prices, making the value of netbooks less clear.

That's why I was excited to hear the rumors that Apple may be readying a low-cost netbook of its own, to debut in 2009. While other vendors scramble to keep up with the Joneses, Apple is well-known for creating innovative products that shake up staid categories. The prospect of an inexpensive mobile computer that melds the netbook form factor with technologies and concepts from the iPhone is intriguing. Could it really happen?

Never Say Never Again prepared me for the flashy future of biometric computer access; why remember a login and password when you can identify yourself with a wink of an eye? We're not there yet, so you likely already use strong passwords. But don't ignore the first half of gaining entry--the login.

Thieves need the login and password to access your accounts, so make the login difficult to guess, too. Avoid a simple, name-based method; add extra numbers, letters, or an ID that's entirely different. Ideally, use unique logins (and passwords) for each service to isolate any exposure, should someone breach an account. (At the very least, keep unique logins and passwords for your most sensitive accounts, such as online banking.) While you may have to tell a customer service representative your login on occasion, don't share the information without need. And never give anyone a password.

After paying $15 for the privilege of checking a suitcase, I boarded a flight to a family gathering. But my vacation didn’t start until I "de-planed;" I finished some work in the air to email after landing. The only problem was that that my family's xenophobic ISP blocks access to other mail servers, so I couldn't send from my regular email address. Wherever your regular outgoing mail server gets blocked, here's how to send from a different server but make it look like it's coming from your regular myname@mydomain account.

In Outlook, choose Tools, Account Settings. Double-click your email account. Change only the Outgoing mail server (SMTP) to what your temporary Internet connection uses. If the mail server allows anyone to send from within the network, you're finished. Click Test Account Settings to see if Outlook can send mail.

You'd have your head in the sand (not the clouds) to miss the trend of work tools moving online. From VPN connections to send remote email to complete online applications, you’ll spend less time in the same old Office apps than ever. (Even those applications are going online.) This transition brings a few challenges and twists to the way you work. Here are a few simple tips to keep online apps running smoothly.

Work offline. Yeah, maybe I cheated, but this is the most important one. If your VPN connection or spreadsheet website go down, you'll likely lose your work. Instead, compose email and documents in any old text editor, then copy and paste to the online service.

It's on the list of things you should always do: be courteous to delivery people, wash your hands, and keep track of login passwords. And even I have broken the rule. Just a few days ago, I tried to log into a seldom-used Vista installation, only to have forgotten my password. Since I don't use that PC often, I wasn't concerned about losing applications and data. But after spending ten minutes guessing various combinations, I gave up and reinstalled, costing another hour. Here's how to take better care of these keys, especially if you have a many logins.

For simple duplication, you could record each login and password, then store that document in a safe or somewhere only you have access. An off-side duplicate, such as a bank deposit box can be an aditional backup. Encrypted password-storage applications, such as SplashID and eWallet work even better, because even if someone else gets access to your password file, they won't have a way to unlock it.

Instead of just relying on email and voice calls, put another option in your communication arsenal: text messages. These quick notes are pushed straight to a mobile phone, making them instantaneous; you don't have to rely on your recipient to check an email account. Texts, A.K.A. SMS (Short Message Service) can quickly alert employees and friends with updated meeting details, contact information, or other information that would require transcription. And with Outlook, you can even send them to multiple recipients. Here's how.

You'll first have to configure Outlook for SMS. Choose Tools, Account Settings. Click the E-mail tab, and pick New. Click Other, and choose Outlook Mobile Service (Text Messaging). Click Next.

Wireless routers usually work well with their default settings, but you can tune them for even better performance. Here are a few quick changes that can easily boost your results.

Think pictures and custom fonts make your email look better? Think again. Email wants to be plain for several reasons. Text-only email lets the recipient display it clearly, especially on alternate platforms: Mac OS X, Linux, and mobile devices. And plain messages are less of a privacy and security threat; the recipient--and their spam filter--will be more likely to approve. Here's how to set Outlook to send only plain-text email and not download HTML graphics on incoming messages.

Choose Tools, Options, and pick Mail Format. Use the pop-up menu to pick Plain Text as the default. Click Apply, and close the window. In Tools, Trust Center , click Automatic Download. Verify that the first option is checked to prevent HTML picture downloads in email. These images are often used by spammers to see if they've hit a valid address; they can verify by seeing if you download the image. I also like to turn off automatic downloads even from approved people in the second and third checklist; I don't need commercial websites validating my address either.

I'm no Don Laprie to suggest using a client mailing list to send occasional updates. When you have a new announcement, everything is already in place. If you have client-management database software, it likely already serves this function. If not, these are a few ways to send an email blast. Just remember that spam is as much about context as about multiple recipients; send email announcements sparingly.

If you're the only person sending to an email list, you can manage the process on your PC. In Outlook, choose File, New, Distribution List. Click Select Member to choose from your existing address book, or pick Add New to enter new contacts. Add the people needed. Type in a name, and click Save & Close. When sending a new message, click To, select the list, and add it to the mail. Triple-check all of the details before shipping it out.

Many times, I've sent emails to old company contacts and gotten no reply, only to eventually learn they no longer work there. Don’t waste your clients' time waiting to hear back; set mail forwarding rules on your server so that a current employee else gets the message and can reply.

The process differs depending on your mail host, but most small businesses will have access to an online control panel. Log in there, and open the mail forwarding section. Choose the option to add a forwarding rule, and enter the old worker's address. Enter the destination address for you or a current employee. Save the results.

When employees are working on your office computers, you expect them to work, right? If you have an IT staff or on-call consultant you might already have ways to prevent employees from drifting into the tempting time sinks of instant messaging, network gaming, video services, and more. But you can set up a range of blockades on your own, without having to hire anyone. I'll explain the simplest method first, port blocking.

Your PC segments its networking traffic across thousands of virtual ports, sort of like strands of thread in the same rope. AOL Instant Messenger keeps things tidy by communicating on one port, web traffic goes through another, and FTP downloads get their own path. Nearly every service gets routed to a distinct port; visit Wikipedia for a growing list of them all.

The paper-free office is starting to sound like a World of Tomorrow future that never quite arrived. (Read: Where’s my jetpack?) I already have ways to destroy my digital data, especially when getting rid of an old PC or hard drive, but a shredder is a must to obliterate printed data. That sounds simple enough, but these tips can help you pick a model for a home or a small business.

I initially bought a $50, consumer-grade shredder, the Techko SH4105PF. The box said it eats up CDs, credit cards, and cross-cuts five pages at a time--what’s not to like? The shredder lived up to those claims, but I didn’t realize the limits of five sheets until I tried to mulch through some old records. I wasted lots of time, slowly feeding in small groups of pages together--time I could have spent working or relaxing. The small basket size also led to constant emptying, and the motor regularly jammed with heavy use.

I've never lost a smartphone, but I've felt dumb after temporarily misplacing a device. I don't care about the cost of replacing a BlackBerry or iPhone; the lost data is its value. It takes a special thief or opportunist to cash in on your cached data, but why take the chance? Lock down your smartphone with a password.

On an iPhone, go to Settings, General, Passcode Lock. Enter a four-digit number. Avoid reusing addresses, phone numbers, or other public info. Tap Require Passcode to set how often you'll be prompted to enter a code after your most recent unlock. I set mine for Immediately to ask every time I activate the phone. Turn Erase Data on if you want the phone to clear its memory after 10 incorrect password attempts. Finally, back in the General Settings, verify that Auto-Lock is on so the phone will go to sleep when idle and ask for the password when revived.