Thunderbird Update Out Now (2.0.0.4)

The latest update for Thunderbird 2 (Mozilla's email program - a great companion to Firefox) is out now. If you get the message asking to update it, definitely let it update itself.

Included in this update are some security fixes as well as a number of bug fixes.

One notable bug fix: If you had filters to tag mail that comes in, in Thunderbird 2 you had to run the filters manually after downloading the mail. This is fixed so the tags apply automatically when the mail comes in (so it works normally/properly now).

If you are still using Thunderbird 1.5, update now. Thunderbird 2 works better.

If are using Outlook, and you are only using the email and email address portion of Outlook, switch to Thunderbird for a better email experience.

Free Zone Alarm Firewall for Vista

Zone Labs will be releasing a new version of its free firewall very soon. This new edition will also work with Windows Vista.
If you want a copy of it now, download from here, or here.

Rising Canadian Dollar Good for Computer Prices in Canada

The media reports, like this one in the Star, are misleading when it comes to consumer prices related to the Canadian dollar. Most of our electronic and computer products come from the US or from Asia. So, our rising dollar makes the end consumer price gradually lower.

I continually track prices on computers and components for my business, and I've noticed some drastic drops in prices in the past few months that are not related to the general trends in the industry, but to the rising value of the Canadian dollar.

So, if you are in the market for new computer or electronic hardware, our rising dollar is good news.