I love my Gmail.

No kidding, I'm a Gmail slappy. It's simple and it works. Its spam filters are 99.9% right in my experience, and with spam making up as much as 80 percent of all email, you know that's a time-saver right there. Plus, I can check my Gmail anywhere I have access to a web browser, even on my little not-quite-a-smartphone Samsung SCH-u740. I don't even have to pay for a data plan. I recommend Gmail to everybody. Or I have been until now.

Gmail has one nagging problem which is threatening to drive a wedge between us. While Gmail is supportive of me in so many ways, it's lacking in its support of HTML and CSS standards. Not just a little; I'm talking hardly any support at all. So I never get the full experience of the lovingly crafted HTML emails that other clever web designers have created for me, just Gmail's limited interpretation of their intended appearance.

You might say, isn't that a good thing? After all, email should be all monospaced, with no graphics. Everything would run a lot faster that way. And I'd agree with you, if this was still 1990.

The main issue here is compliance with web standards. As a web designer, I know the frustration of having to create multiple versions of pages for specific browsers, because each one handled the interpretation of HTML a bit differently. While the major browsers have come a long way towards standardization (and Microsoft's about face regarding Internet Explorer 8 last month was another big step in that direction), both desktop and web-based email clients support web standards anywhere from completely to not-very-much-at-all. And Gmail falls into that second category.

It's not like it can't be done. Yahoo! Mail supports HTML/CSS standards very well, as tested by the Email Standards Project. So does Mozilla's desktop email client, Thunderbird. So why not Gmail?

Google, it's time to show the love back to your Gmail fans. Consider the recommendations from the Email Standards Project, and make Gmail compliant with web standards. Your users - and thousands of web designers - will thank you for it.

Email Standards Project - Gmail Grimaces from Mathew Patterson on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Amy Stephen of OpenSourceCommunity.org for the info about the Email Standards Project.

Gmail, which has been praised by its users for the strength and accuracy of its anti-spam filtering, may be falling behind in the ongoing battle with clever and resourceful spammers, according to Stan Schroder of Mashable in a post written today. I've also noticed a few more spam messages in my Gmail inbox which, like Stan, surprised me since I'm so used to seeing no spam at all there.

I'm a huge fan of Gmail. Checking email in a web browser, also called webmail, has been around for years, but the interfaces used by many internet service providers (such as SquirrelMail) were clunky, especially compared to Outlook. When I saw Gmail, though, I was impressed. Google's interface design for its products tends to be simple, yet attractive and utilitarian. Forwarding my other email to Gmail allowed me to read everything in one place, anywhere there was an internet connection, even on my Mobile Web equipped Verizon cell phone.

But the best feature of Gmail was its heavy-duty, yet remarkably accurate, anti-spam filtering. Rarely did I see any spam in my inbox, and in the two years I've been using Gmail, I'd guess I've found less than two dozen real messages that were filtered into the spam folder. I'd been averaging about 150 spam messages a day until about a week ago, however, when that number jumped to nearly 300 per day. According to statistics from electronic communications security firm MessageLabs, about 50 percent of all email is spam on an average day, with the rate jumping to near 70 percent on weekends. UPDATE: MessageLabs site doesn't appear to be updating these statistics for casual visitors; various other estimates run from 71 percent (Symantec) to 95 percent (Barricuda Networks).

So I imagine the main reason for the additional spam in my Gmail inbox is simply an increase in the amount of spam across the internet lately, possibly due to the Valentine's Day Storm Worm blitz, and Gmail's filters are simply overwhelmed. It's possible that spammers have come up with new ways to circumvent the filters, though, which makes the "community clicks" method of reporting spam that appears in your Gmail inbox as important as ever.

There's a sucker born every minute, someone said almost 140 years ago (whether it was P.T. Barnum or his competitor David Hannum is apparently open to debate), and it's still true today. Don't be a sucker.

A recent survey of technology, telecommunications and media companies leaves the impression that many of those surveyed are underprepared for future security problems involving their company's IT assets. Deloitte & Touche, which conducted the survey of over 100 tech companies in late 2007, found that 46 percent of them had no formal company-wide information security strategy, and only seven percent believe they are prepared for future security threats.

Additionally, only five percent of those polled said they'd increased security spending by 15 percent or more in 2007. A majority of the companies spend just a tiny fraction - about three percent - of their overall IT budgets on security.

As more business and social interaction takes place online, the need for increased education and preparation for security breaches is essential. No system is foolproof, but having no system at all is a fool's game. The stakes are high, and the grand prize is your business - and your personal - data. At a minimum, all business and personal PCs connected to the Internet need to have:

• Updated and operating antivirus, antispyware and personal firewall software. Keep in mind that many new PCs have these types of software pre-installed, but often have a limited free subscription period of 90 days or less. After that time, the software generally will stop updating the virus and spyware definitions, leaving your PC vulnerable to newer attacks. Be sure to buy a regular subscription to the software, switch to a free alternative, or perhaps use free full-featured security software offered as part of your broadband provider's services (Comcast offers McAfee products at no cost, while AT&T has a Norton special offer available). Free alternatives used successfully by New Tech Heroes in the past include AVG from Grisoft and Avast! from Alwil.
• Updated and fully patched operating system. This means (unless you're a Mac or Un*x user) visiting Microsoft Update to make sure all current patches are installed. All high-priority updates should be installed at a minimum, with the optional patches run as appropriate. Then make sure Automatic Updates are turned on so you don't miss any critical patches. You can set it to update overnight or at a time when it doesn't interfere with your computer use. (On a Macintosh running OS X 10.3 or higher, click on the Apple menu and select "Software Update...".)
• Updated and fully patched applications, especially those that connect in any way to the Internet. The free Secunia PSI tool is very useful for identifying out-of-date applications and finding their needed patches.
• A human brain and some common sense. This is the most important part of the security puzzle! Avoid opening unexpected email from unknown senders, including all spam. If your email program is feeding you a lot of spam, consider switching to an online mail reader like Gmail or Yahoo! Mail and redirecting your current email address to them. We use Gmail exclusively at New Tech Heroes HQ and have found its spam filtering to be outstanding - we get over 200 spam messages a day and about one or two a week are misplaced into our Inbox. Don't respond to unsolicited web offers - if something seems to be good to be true, it probably is.

New Tech Heroes' $99.00 Complete PC Tune-Up checks for all of these security problems and more.