I have watched the latest developments in on-line advertising with some concern. The chief culprit, in my view, is the Flash movie. It is technically very clever and some of the things that creative people can do on this tiny pallet are breathtaking, they really should qualify for some sort of award at the Oscars.

And therein lies the problem. When you visit a web site it is because you are in search of something, a piece of information, some news, whatever. It is not likely to be because you want to watch the adverts on it. However good they are, however clever or entertaining, they are still a distraction from the real purpose of your visit. The same applies to television. Advertisers don't seem to have got the message, ironically enough since messages are what they seek to communicate: the viewing public hate adverts. We want to watch our favourite programmes and so advertising breaks are an annoyance and a distraction, even though we all know that the very entertainment we enjoy is "ad-supported". So why am I concerned?

This story will probably hit the papers any day now. An unspecified and dangerous loophole has been announced that will allow fraudsters to direct you to their own fake web sites even though you are using a genuine web address. In simple terms, it's as if they have found a way to get the directory enquiries operator to give you a fake telephone number. Everyone trusts the directory enquiries operator, so it's a serious breach in security.

How many passwords can you remember? It seems we need more and more of them every day, and memorising a pin number for your one and only cash card now seems a lifetime away. Frankly I struggle to remember a myriad different phone numbers, pin numbers, logins and passwords. And passwords are a particular problem because we are rightly told we must have a different one for every login, and that they need to be longer and more complex than before. That's because hackers have access to more powerful computers and password-cracking programs than before. Security is a real challenge for anyone who spends a significant part of their life online.

The are two factors that can conspire to frustrate an email marketer's efforts. One is the ease with which people can subscribe to an email newsletter, the other is the ease with which they can set their spam filter to block them.

There is an argument that says you should make it as easy as possible for people to sign-up: just collect their email addresses and do not trouble them for anything further. That could be a missed opportunity, but it could also create a problem later if they sign-up on a whim having seen something that was only of interest at that moment in time. I know, I do that all the time.

You can easily create channels or topics so subscribers can choose which of your messages they wish to read. If you do that and stick to them in future mailings - and there are systems that will help you - you will keep their interest. If you don't, you risk losing their interest over time until you send something you really want them to read only by then they are already filtering you out.

My argument, therefore, is that you should make it as easy as possible to unsubscribe: it is counter-productive not to do so. If you don't offer an obvious and easy way out, human nature means they will take the next easiest method which is to block all your messages using a spam filter.

You may find this hard to believe, but Sesame Street has been going for nearly forty years now. Even harder to believe is that I am a big fan! Back in my days in the RAF, when I was stationed in Germany, we were all so hungry for any kind of television in English that Sesamstraße was a cult favourite with all the lads because a lot of it was still in English. Cookie Monster, Bert and Ernie, and Big Bird were familiar to us all. So here I am again, all these years later, studying Sesame Street. Today's programme is brought to you by "web site", and the number "fourteen million". That's how many dollars they spent over a two year period to build their all-new web site. It promises to be a site/sight to see and the sneak preview is an object lesson for any company planning a new web site, even if the budget is slightly less.

The Home Page of Sesame's new web site

They're hardly out of the tech headlines these days - Amazon - and they're back in them again with their latest offering, called "Amazon Video on Demand." I have to admit I like the name, I'm a big fan of stating the obvious and it's a much better name than calling their new service "Wendy," or some meaningless made-up piece of with-it jargon. It's actually a clever service, too, they've given it plenty of features and done everything they can to make it idiot-simple to use. It's possibly even easier than going to YouTube to find something to watch. So why do I think they're pushing their luck? Why do I think they could fall flat on their faces with this?

There's a sort of morbid fascination about watching a successful business get it wrong, as eBay are doing now. I've been an eBay watcher from the start, I've even written a book about it, but for the last couple of years it has been apparent that they've lost their way and their latest deal may finish them off. And what's really bizarre is this is all happening just as the economic downturn would have, should have, driven more business their way as millions of hard-pressed households turn to this on-line car boot sale to make ends meet. How is this happening?

I bought twenty copies of this book when it was published in 1997, and gave them all to friends. Silly, really, I don't have a copy left to re-read which I would like to do now that I have been inspired by the piece below. As the blurb says:

The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer

"The fast-paced story of the geniuses who built the machines that blazed the trail for the Information Age. The Supermen offers the first up-close profile of Seymour Cray, the brilliant and reputedly eccentric designer of the world's fastest computers. Capturing the seat-of-the-pants spirit of the early computing age, Charles Murray focuses on the inspiring success of Cray and a small group of maverick engineers who beat out goliath IBM to become the runaway industry leaders. Chronicling each major breakthrough, Murray takes us behind the scenes to witness late-night brainstorming sessions and miraculous eleventh-hour fixes. Drawing from rare in-depth interviews with Seymour Cray, Murray gives us an unparalleled portrait of the man and his methods."

I have also organised a selection of recommended reading on business, computing and on-line topics you might find useful:

Click here for some more Recommended Reading

Many of my former colleagues at Cray should be very proud of their achievements when they read about the latest and greatest supercomputer announced by IBM. Without their efforts in working out precisely how thousands of processors could be made to work as if they were one, we would still be struggling to get computer power much above where it was two decades ago when single-processors dominated. It's much like bureaucracy on a huge scale. Putting two bureaucrats together doesn't double the amount of work that gets done, and adding a thousand more doesn't increase it a thousand fold either.

Lead engineer Don Grice of IBM inspects Roadrunner. Copyright IBM

"The most important ways in which I think the Internet will affect the big issue is that it will make it more difficult for government to collect taxes." Milton Friedman

Oh, how little did he know. There is no force known to man that can stop a greedy government. The State Government of New York is that greedy government right now. Online retailers across America are struggling to come to terms with a new New York State law that requires them to register and collect taxes on sales into the State if they have affiliates there. Affiliates in this instance are sites that have links to retailers such as Amazon that earn them a small commission on any sales they generate. Lots of places carry these small ads, you see them everywhere even on the most prestigious sites. But if that affiliate happens to be based in New York, this new law kicks in and affects the retailer, whether they themselves are New York-based or not.

For some months now I've been watching PC prices falling to amazingly low levels, but a laptop for under £100, is it possible? Elonex, a long-established and reliable supplier, have brought out the "One" with a big push under the banner, "A laptop for every child." ASUS have also brought out a very basic laptop, the "Eee PC", retailing at £199.99, truly amazing prices in my view, even with the VAT on top. But what do you get for your money? I thought I would have a look at some entry-level laptops and compare the market.

When you're sending out a mailshot to possibly millions of customers, it is so important to get it right when you give them a hot link to click on. Dell have just sent one out and I clicked on the "more details" link they provided and got a "page not found" error. That's really not the sort of mistake you can recover from, you can't correct the email and send it out again, you've blown it. Never mind that it doesn't look very good or that customers realise you're not perfect, the ones who find this out are the ones you most wanted to impress - you actually succeeded in getting them to click on your link to find out more. Here are seven ways you can avoid making the same mistake.

Next time you check your email and wade through the spam, pause, smile, and think of Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines, it'll gladden your heart. They have just been fined a world-record $234 million by a court in Los Angeles for sending 730,000 messages to MySpace users.

Back in the Seventies, Monty Python lampooned the Special Branch in a well-know sketch in which Inspector Harry "Snapper" Organs announces that he keeps track of the whereabouts of notorious criminal "Spiny Norman" by reading the colour supplements (in the Sunday newspapers). That is the inevitable image conjured up in my mind by a tiny item of news buried away in today's Daily Telegraph. Investigators are using Facebook to track the whereabouts of suspected war criminals in Darfur after they had been indicted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Leaving aside the comic overtones of the leader of the Janjaweed having Facebook Friends, and his profile featuring "Which Dictator are You?" along with all his favourite songs, holiday photos, humorous videos posted to his wall, etc., there is a serious side. That is, how much can anybody find out about you? The answer should worry you and explains why investigators are looking on Facebook in the first place.

Email has revolutionised communications in speed and utility, but we haven't yet come to terms with the speed with which we can fall into the many pitfalls. We seem to be a society that skim-reads everything, that wants news delivered in sound-bites, and that has developed a short attention span. So, if you're still reading this, please let me explain the consequences so far as email is concerned. Skim-reading an email can mean that you completely miss the point, or that you perhaps take offence where none was intended. Replying in haste will mean you have not given enough thought to your reply or not expressed yourself carefully enough or clearly enough. Combine the two, skim-reading with hasty replies, and you have the potential to end a fruitful business relationship, or even your employment.

Viral marketing is the old-fashioned "word of mouth" concept, wired-up and electrified for the Internet Age. Compare a Mexican Wave with the old game of Chinese Whispers and you'll see the difference. It's not a message being passed down the line one person at a time, it's a tidal wave that spreads and rushes across a crowd. Think of all those emails you see from friends and colleagues passing around the latest joke or outrageous video. Have you ever forwarded one? They spread like a virus, and when they are deliberately created to promote a product, that's when they become viral marketing. How can you do that for your business?

There's an interesting dispute going on in America right now over "who owns the news". The governing bodies for Major League Baseball and the National Football League, among others, have drawn up new rules for sports coverage which the traditional news media are up in arms about. It's a heady mix over the use of audio and video clips on newspaper web sites, and access for bloggers.

We all tend to use words and phrases we are familiar with, it makes communication so much easier and in a technical context, it makes it more reliable too. Instead of talking round a subject in vague terms and perhaps misunderstanding, it helps to use some jargon you both understand. I try very hard to avoid jargon outside of the technical setting, but it is sometimes hard to remember what terms normal people know! Sometimes it is impossible not to use the very word that has a precise meaning, so to help you I have compiled a short dictionary of some of the more common terms you might come across.

Advertising spending on-line is growing at a frightening rate in the UK, being forecast to grow by 30.8% to £3.4 billion this year. That compares with television advertising which will grow by just 1% to around £3.56 billion by the end of 2008. It is almost certain to exceed television spending by the end of 2009, according to Group M, a media buying and planning group who are well qualified to know these things. It's a prospect that fills me with dread, quite frankly.

A new approach to standard email phishing scams has been reported targeting senior executives in California, coining a new term in the process - whaling. Whaling, then, is for phishing scams that target big fish. This particular email appears to come from a court in California and includes the target's name, company, and phone number to give it an air of authenticity. There are some useful lessons we can all pick up from this.

Internet retail spending is predicted to grow by 32%, according to Verdict Research Consulting, compared with off-line spending growth of just 1.2% over the coming year. Why should that affect your business if you are not in retailing? Quite simply because more people are spending more time and money on-line.

The IBM strike of September 2007 was historic because it didn't really happen. That is to say it actually took place in virtual-reality. Real-life IBM workers in Italy were engaged in protracted negotiations that had hit an impasse, so they called for a mass picket at IBM's virtual-world campus in Second Life. An estimated 1,500 avatars from around the world assembled there for 12 hours of peaceful picketing; non-existent people picketing the non-existent premises of a non-existent business in a non-existent world. How very 21st century.

Striking avatars gather at IBM's facility in Second Life

A question I am often asked is, "How much content should I put on my site?" The answer is surprisingly easy, "How much have you got?" A lot of people confuse the issue of organising information with quantity of information. They want the site to look clean and simple, of course, and think perhaps the adage "less is more" might apply here, hence the question.

For an object lesson in how to exploit the Internet to maximum effect, you can't do better than this small hotel on the island of Corfu. On the face of it, it has every obstacle to overcome. It is only a two star hotel, it has no restaurant, no swimming pool, no car parking, it is in a small town twenty minutes to the south of Corfu town itself, it is on the "wrong" side of the island so far as the beaches are concerned, while the bigger hotels on Corfu are slashing their rates and sucking all the business away from the smaller hotels.

It's really helpful that a row has broken out between the BBC and Internet Service Providers over the new iPlayer service which lets people download and watch television programmes on their PCs. The network is already under severe strain due to the growing popularity of video-sharing sites such as YouTube and this brings the problem into sharp focus. While the BBC isn't causing that problem, they are exacerbating an already difficult situation.