May 14th, first class postage will be 41 cents for the first ounce. Postcards will be 26 cents.

Oddly, the rate for 2 ounce mail goes down as they are reducing the rate for additional ounces of first-class mail from 24 cents to 17 cents.

How will they make money when they handle two ounces cheaper than one ounce? Two ounces now cost 63 cents, and after May 14th, it will be 58 cents.

Would you like to see the world from a different point of view? You can see a world map drawn on the basis of adult literacy, vehicle imports, or thousands of other categories at the link below.

Tip: (Click Open PDF to see color coded legend)

I know what you're thinking. Why does she always nag us about backups? When I inquire about people's backup systems, like a dentist asking if you floss every night, I can often see the guilt in people's eyes.

But, please, back up what's important to you. Don't be like this client who wrote me:

"Back-up? What's that? Can you see me laughing?"

Need another example? Business 2.0 is a glossy business & technology magazine owned by Time, Inc. They often run stories on best backup devices.

While putting together their June issue, the magazine’s editorial system crashed, wiping out all the work and the backup server failed to back up.

In the New York Times, Business 2.0 editor Josh Quittner is quoted as saying: "The night of the crash, our tech guy was here until 4 o’clock in the morning, but the patient died.” Until then, the magazine had never had to rely on its backup server, he said, so NO ONE HAD NOTICED that its programming was either obsolete or dysfunctional, or both.

The June issue will still be published. What saved the day? They had emailed all article content to their attorneys, and had the email attachments.

It's time we discussed the mini-phenom known as social bookmarking. We've previously mentioned social networking, using sites like FaceBook or MySpace to move beyond blogs and groups to pages where people can post their ego for others to see.

But social bookmarking is one of those tech tools that, for most of us, just creates more work to do the same thing we're already doing. Sites like Digg, Furl and Del.icio.us let you post your web bookmarks and favorites online, and organize them.

Well, let's stop right there - most of us don't do a very good job of organizing them anyway and that's not likely to improve. Yet, some people think it's cool because you can tag your bookmarks by keywords instead of remembering a site name. The social part comes in when you realize you can spend a day reading someone else's bookmarks, and even add comments to people's lists.

Lastly, the people spending time managing their bookmarks across the universe are also trying to get more hits for popular sites to increase ad revenue and move them up in search engines. So it seems like a waste of time AND a profit motive.

If you think otherwise, drop me a note.

By the way, that funny web address for Del.icio.us is just a clever way of someone taking a domain name that was unavailable - insert some periods, and buy a domain that ends in .us instead of .com. It's del.icio.us.

For a change of pace, here are five tech tips for your summer travel:

1. Know how to turn your wi-fi off so the signal is not constantly seeking a connection. Don't be the embarrassed person who rings the call button when the airline announcement says you have to disable wi-fi before using your laptop in-flight.

2. Don't pack your laptop deep away in your luggage, because you have to take it out at the security screening station. Keep it accessible so you don't slow down the line, and more importantly, put your laptop through the scanner last - after your luggage, shoes, Ziplock bag and urine specimen (just joking there). Why last? So you will be through the inspection and it's not sitting down at the far end of the scanner belt where people are gathered to re-dress.

3. Hotel wi-fi doesn't mean free. We usually have to pay or use a true public wi-fi hot spot. Even then, you may need to open your browser and consent to a usage policy before you can connect. You can also right-click on the wi-fi symbol on your computer and have it search for available connections.

4. Even on wi-fi connections, most allow you to receive email in your usual email program, such as Netscape, Outlook or SeaMonkey, but not send. Sending email requires the outgoing (SMTP) server to match your settings. Your settings are for your home connection, usually SBC or Comcast. So remember to use web mail or mail2web.com so you can read and reply in one step.

5. For added safety, bring a portable surge protector for plugging in at hotels. Avoid online transactions or logging in to investment and bank accounts when you are on public wi-fi. Turn off file and print sharing, to prevent access to your computer. Go to the Control Panel's Security Center applet, then select Windows Firewall. Go to the Exceptions tab and uncheck File and Print Sharing. Also, be sure to disable ad hoc connections (found under Advanced Settings) in the Windows Wireless Connection panel (or whichever Wi-Fi utility you use).

Oh, and remember to relax a while, away from the computer.

I'll be at Printer's Row Book Fair on Saturday, June 9 at the IWPA booth, selling "Computer Ease" and "The World Is a Kitchen." Stop by if you're at the festival.

Helen Gallagher Phone: 847-998-6240, www.cclarity.com

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