As of January 1, 2008, loose lithium-ion laptop batteries are NOT allowed in checked baggage on any U.S. flights. This won't make you feel very safe: you can take these batteries in your carry-on, just not as checked luggage! FAA rules specify the battery terminals must be covered to prevent a short circuit and not in contact with coins, keys, or other metals. Other than that, have a nice flight!

Look at your laptop battery for an LI sticker. If your laptop is older, it might be a nickel metal hydrate battery, which is not known as a flight hazard. Spare lithium batteries may be packed in carry-on baggage and lithium batteries installed in a device may be packed in either checked or carry-on, as long as the battery is installed in the device.

Todd Stroger's idea is to add a monthly tax of $4.00 per phone, on every phone in your home or office. Follow this link to email Stroger and the Cook County commissioners. Also, call your Commissioner directly to protest the tax.

This terrific web browser, which most of my clients use, was created at the University of Illinois in 1994. It lived a happy life until Microsoft realized it needed a web browser to compete, and created Internet Explorer. IE quickly gained enormous market share because it was pre-loaded on all PC's - that's one way to steal a market. So Netscape held on, then was sold to AOL, which is now owned by Time-Warner, who has decided it will no longer develop Netscape or provide technical support.

Keep using Netscape, loyal Computer Clarity clients, but if you run into trouble with pages that don't load, or prefer to move on, consider another browser. Internet Explorer is the most frequently hacked browser, so I do not recommend it for secure browsing. While Firefox is next in popularity it does not have an email component. So, SeaMonkey, from the same company that makes Firefox has an exact Netscape look-alike. You can download SeaMonkey and have your email, address book, and bookmarks imported within minutes. It looks exactly like Netscape - proving they can't keep a good browser down.

http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

The 18th Century Parliamentary Papers, covering 1688 to 1834 has been launched at the University of Cambridge and thru Proquest.com which you can reach through your local library web site.

These papers offer a cross-searchable database of 19th and 20th century papers and scans of the original papers, illustrations, statistics and maps. Find out what your ancestors were up to, old chap.

Let's have a great 2008. Helen Gallagher Phone: 847-998-6240, www.cclarity.com

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And visit my blog at cclarity.blogspot.com for interesting updates during the month, including a daily software giveaway.