Cell Phones

Calling All Unused Cell Phones: It’s Time To Recycle
Does your company have a collection of old cellular phone piling up in a storeroom or maybe lying around in individual desk drawers? Throwing out old cell phones is harmful to the environment. But now, companies can clean out that wireless trash while benefiting their community as well as the planet.

ReCellular Inc., a partner of the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, is the largest recycler and reseller of used wireless phones. The organization collects phones through their Donate a Phone program. Companies donate their old and unused phones and accessories and in return receive a check to donate to a non-profit organization of their choosing. Donate a Phone accepts any hand-carried (not vehicle installed) cellular phone, battery and charger. New models can yield $10 per phone, while older models typically earn between $1 and $3 dollars for the charity.

Ready To Go Gmail?
Not all small businesses have a domain-name e-mail service for their company. Instead, they rely on Microsoft’s Hotmail, or other e-mail services such as AOL or Yahoo! to deliver and receive electronic messages. But later this year, companies may have one more option — Google’s Gmail.

Google has created controversy lately during their test run of the new e-mail service. Gmail offers users one gigabyte of storage space free — that’s 500 times more space than Hotmail. The catch? The large amount of space will be paid for by advertising derived from keywords in the messages themselves. The text ads then appear alongside the message, similar to ads on the Google Web page. This feature has created an uproar regarding privacy concerns.

While e-mail message scanning is not new, Gmail would be the first service linked to commercial products — something business owners may want to think about before they sign up. Do they want a message to their client to appear along with an advertisement for mops and brooms, or worse, a competitor?

Another feature not receiving press, however, is the ability to search stored messages — a useful tool considering the number of messages user can store over the months and years.

Tech Compliance

President Bush is asking Congress to keep broadband Internet service permanently tax-free. Bush identifies the need for broadband for entrepreneurs and those looking to become one. He aims to have broadband accessible and affordable for all by 2007.


Utah Gov. Olene S. Walker has signed the nation’s first anti-spyware law prohibiting computer software that is installed without the user’s consent. California, Iowa and Virginia are considering legislation against spyware as well.

Spyware is software that appears on a computer unannounced, typically when the user signs up for free service or information from Web sites. The software can produce distracting pop-up ads, record Internet use and can force PCs to become sluggish.


In March, Microsoft Corp., AOL, Yahoo! Inc. and Earthlink filed the first lawsuits under the CAN-SPAM Act. Can Spam allows e-mail service providers to sue for $25 to $100 for each piece of spam. The act went into effect Jan 1.