When the version number of a new software release is just 0.1 higher than the old one, I expect a ho-hum incremental update. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that avast! antivirus 4.8 Home Edition adds significant functionality: It now protects against spyware, rootkits, and other forms of nonvirus malicious software. Best of all, it's free for personal use.

Though there has been much debate about broadband penetration and Net neutrality in the United States, the country's network readiness is on the rise, according to a report from the World Economic Forum .

The U.S. jumped three spots to land at number four out of 127 countries. The top spots went to Denmark , Sweden , and Switzerland.

Researchers looked at whether individuals, businesses, and governments are leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve their global standing. They compiled an extensive networked readiness index that focused primarily on population, Internet users per 100 inhabitants, gross domestic product, and Internet bandwidth availability, but also took into account nearly 100 additional factors.

Among those extra fact

Editor's Note: Product not yet tested by editor. The following description is from the manufacturer.

Odds are a lot of folks will never see this column. If I decide to include it in an upcoming e-mail newsletter, spam catchers and personal filters will likely block it because of its title. Sheesh! I'm trying to make a point here, and technology, some with my own fingerprints on it, is sabotaging me.

PCMag.com sends out over a dozen different e-mail newsletters each week. Part of the process involves delivering test messages to ourselves to verify that the links are correct, all of the elements in the HTML version are in place, and so on.

Last week, I noticed that one of our e-mail tests ended up in my Outlook junk folder. I looked at the message and all seemed fine. I scratched my head, wondering what had gone wrong, and then I noticed the subject line, which was so