For years I used PCs without antivirus software installed. I was smart enough to spot dangerous attachment, right? Unfortunately, flaws in internet Explorer, Outlook, Java, and other technologies that dovetail with your e-mail program mean that a properly crafted e-mail message could install and execute a virus on your PC without much action on your part-all you’d have to do is read the message.

A virus (a malicious program file you download to your PC), worm (a program that sneaks onto your PC without a file download), or Trojan horse (a malicious program that piggybacks onto or masquerades as a legitimate program) can enter your PC in several different ways, but e-mail is the most common means of infection. You can pay dearly for a subscription to commercial antivirus programs. I have used used two freebies-Grisoft’s AVG Free Edition, and Alwil’s Avast 4 Home edition-for several years, with great results. The programs are unobtrusive, and they automatically receive frequent virus-database updates. Both also received a thumbs-up from antivirus testing outfits ICSA Labs and Virus Bulletin.

Less than one year old pod casting- a method of distributing audio shows in much the same way sites send RSS feeds around the Internet- seems poised to go mainstream. Once the exclusive province of talkative technologists, do-it-yourself musicians, and obsessed hobbyists, this broadcasting platform has been embraced lately by some mainstream media.

National Public Radio, the British Broadcasting Corporation, and commercial stations such as Seattle’s KOMO radio and TV operations make portions of their programming available via pod cast.

A Pod cast is a Weblog that delivers sound files instead of text directly to your computer. You subscribe to pod casts by using a free audio-friendly RSS Aggregator application such as Doppler, IPodder, or Nimiq. Just as with RSS feeds for blogs, any pod cast subscriptions you create will be updated automatically with the most recent pod cast. Many of the aggregators will automatically put the pod cast on your IPod, as well, but you can also listen on your PC or manually put them on another portable audio player.

No matter how many media giants take up pod casting though, it will likely remain a good for nearly anyone with a microphone, a PC, and some opinions. Tim Bourquin beams Endurance Radio. Com. A pod cast on extreme sports, to an audience of 150 dedicated athletes. “Programming like mine simply doesn’t work on traditional radio. He says.