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Internet Taxes

Last month we reported that the House approved a 5-year extension of the Internet tax moratorium. But, that's only half the government. The Senate, hit with extensive lobbying, is at odds with the House. Best guess is that there is insufficient time this legislative session for the two halves to hammer out a compromise, thus leaving in effect the current moratorium on new Internet taxes, set to expire next year. The latest hot- button "tax Internet sales" issue? Education. 45 states impose a sales tax, and more than 30% of that revenue supports education programs, such as public schools.

A recent Neilsen/NetRatings survey revealed that almost half of the United States of America (49%) is now on-line. That's about 135 million people. So, if you've noticed a trend toward slower websites, that's one reason (the main reason, of course, is heavy reliance on slow-loading graphics, ad banners, and other fancy stuff). Also revealing is that 23% surf late at night.

for your e-mail, check their office website frequently (www.officeupdate.microsoft.com). Patches and fixes to help thwart viruses such as the recent lovenote are being posted for downloading. It's worth noting that there (so far) has been nothing inherently defective with Outlook--it's just that there are so many programming hooks into the program that can be exploited for evil (and good) purposes. So, to combat the Evil, some Good has been removed. Pity.

Here's yet another alternative--CallWave. Its free Internet Answering Machine (IAM) enables users (with sound card and speakers) to hear who's calling while on-line at the same time. You'll need to have a feature called "Call Forward On Busy" on your phone line (contact your local phone company for availability and costs) and to install software on your computer. Check out CallWave's offering at www.callwave.com. If you decide to give it a try, let us know how it works for you.