Whether they help you save time, save money, or avoid frustration, these tools and services rate my highest recommendation for just plain making life easier, faster and cheaper.

1. Short Keys - Available free at www.shortkeys.com/lite.htm, Short Keys allows you to create shortcut keys to cut down on repetitive typing tasks. I absolutely love this program because of amount of time it saves me every single day.

2. Good Keywords - Available free at www.goodkeywords.com, Good Keywords enables you to condense hours of keyword research into a few seconds. Find out top keywords your target audience searches for so you can put your advertising dollars in right spot to catch biggest fish.

3. Mail Washer - Available free at www.mailwasher.net, this program enables you to spot and delete spam and viruses before downloading them to your computer. With so much spam clogging my email in-box, I couldn't survive any more without this program!

4. ClickBank - If you sell a downloadable product such as an ebook, report, or software, you can't beat clickbank for processing credit card payments. Not only do they take payments and send you a check twice a month, they also plug your product into an existing network of thousands of affiliates who can sell it for you.

Spyware is Watching You

By Stephen Bucaro

Advertising is getting far too intrusive and invasive. Advertisers that are weak in ethics, and strong in grabbing for money, don't see a problem with installing spy programs on your computer without your knowledge.

In Internet Explorer's "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options...". On "Security tab" click on "Custom level..." button. If you don't have "Disable" or "Prompt" radio button set next to "Download ActiveX controls", I can almost guarantee that someone has installed a spy program on your computer and is monitoring your web browsing activities.

Your Web surfing is being tracked and data is being sold to third parties. These thieves make big money selling your profile to companies who then target you for advertising. Popup advertisements appear even when you visit web sites that don't use popup windows.

The Lavasoft company keeps a reference database of all spy programs and provides a free Windows program that scans your hard drive and registry for spy programs. Their Ad-aware program lets you remove spy programs from your computer.