The world is divided into two camps: people who spend money carefully and those who spread it about without a second thought. At the extreme ends of the spectrum are tightwads who measure out their dental floss into three-inch lengths, and spendthrifts who end their days hundreds of dollars poorer without actually knowing what they've got in return.

I'm at the end that measures floss. I'm not that extreme, of course, but if I'm going to spend 30 bucks on a technology tool, it had better save me 30 bucks worth of aggravation, preferably every day. And that's exactly what the items I'm reviewing this month do. Each of these items cost me $30 or less, and each of them either gets daily use or gives me peace of mind on a daily basis.

F-Prot Antivirus

When most people think of antivirus software, the name Frisk does not spring to mind. You think of big-name antivirus packages--which I used faithfully until I started working with some seriously underpowered PCs a few years ago. Norton and McAfee demanded too many resources of these decrepit computers, and charged too much in licensing to the 30 PCs I was using. At that point, a reader introduced me to Frisk Software's F-Prot, and I haven't looked back. At $29 a year for unlimited virus signature updates (with deep site license discounts, especially for schools and nonprofits), it's kept my systems safe since 2000, when I downloaded it and bought a license two days later. The one gripe I ha...

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