I'd like to begin today by thanking everyone for the tremendous response to the new TFP Tech Talk page on Facebook and my associated account on Twitter. So far, all comments have been positive, aside from a few complaints of subjects I have yet to cover and similar issues. Rest assured, I do plan to get to all subjects of interest to you over time.

For those who haven't yet visited the page, you can find it at www.facebook.com/tfpdonniejenkins. You can access this page anytime without being a member of Facebook, although only members can subscribe and post comments. I update it daily with links and stories of interest for you.

One pleasant surprise I've had is that I seem to pick up Twitter followers at an average of three or more a day as a result of automatically sharing posts there that I place on the TFP Tech Talk page. This is an indicator of how useful it can be to connect two services such as these.

* The Blackberry Storm 2 multimedia phone from Research In Motion or RIM is due to be released soon. You may recall that the original model failed to ignite an iPhone rebellion and disappointed many people in various ways. Early reviews are positive, although most agree the iPhone has nothing to worry about in the near future.

Blackberry is a major player in mobile phone technology, especially in business, and any gains they make will be a great plus as they compete in the multimedia phone market. They should be taken seriously as they excel at serving the business market.

* Google Wave continues to generate interest and controversy. You'll recall that Wave is Google's attempt at a next-generation tool to combine e-mail, instant messaging, various collaboration tasks and other offerings. One Zdnet reviewer recently compared it to Microsoft Bob, a long-gone attempt to simplify computer interfaces. Bob did not fare well, and the reviewer likewise wonders if Wave is overhyped and overestimated in its usefulness and in how it will be accepted. Those who like Wave say it's the best new idea in years. We'll see.

* I've expressed here many times my doubts about the wisdom of depending entirely upon so-called cloud computing solutions. Cloud computing refers to storing data or accessing programs strictly online, generally speaking. While I feel very positive about using these services in connection with local backups and similar solutions, I've always thought that it's a mistake to depend entirely on anything that is beyond your immediate control when there is an alternative.

* This is not an I-Told-You-So, but it does bear witness to my point. Last week the Microsoft owned and ironically named Danger service in charge of backing up T-Mobile customers' data for their Sidekick devices had a disastrous crash. At first it appeared that all data including backups had been lost, and the picture looked grim. It now appears that some users will be able to restore some of their data, if not all. It remains to be seen how many users will survive this crash, but in any case it does reinforce my belief: Have a backup for your backup for your backup, etc. Too much is not enough when it comes to your important data.

One final note on security today, one not often foremost on our minds. Most of us use various passwords to access different sites. In fact I use at least a dozen and have long kept them recorded in a document in case I need them. There are many programs and services that offer to simplify this task, and sooner or later I have no doubt I'll use some sort of local solution. But you can bet I'll always have all my passwords and other data safe and sound in that document, and that it will be backed up regularly in several places.