One of the first things a layperson notices about the IT (case in point) world is the profusion of acronyms, HTML, PHP, ADSL, ISP etc.

The ISP, or Internet Service Provider is the acronym we’re going to focus on today. In a minute we'll look at the complex formula that children who may not know their 3 times tables can do before you can say Myspace, the "how to work out the best ISP" formula: X gig times Y months times z contract times free modem for P dollars =

Right now we’re looking at ISP's in the sense of having an ISP captive email address such as: billgates @ bigpond.com for you Telstra fiends or melindagates @ optus.net for the rest of you. The bold bit is the captor – you, the holder of the email address are the captive.

Lets say you’re a Telstra kid, you've got your contract, you've got your email, you've got your business cards, you've got your website (if you’re smart enough to have talked to us) and then you meet family with a kid and have the conversation: X gig times Y months times z contract times free modem =

Hallelujah, you've been vouchsafed the ISP from heaven, from the god of Internet Providers, from South Australia... the only glitch is a) you're signed up with Telstra and b) you're signed up with Telstra.

No question you need X gig download for Y months at P dollars a quarter, but your business card, your contacts, your whole damn communications system is built around your Bigpond email address.

You're are an email captive. Break free.

For the sake of the newly discovered sublime ISP you'll move on from Telstra, but changing the whole stationary thing is a pain in the Pentium. For those of you who are forward thinking and know you may (over your long and getting longer working life ) want to try a whole swag of ISP's (and also can't stand, let alone afford, dealing with printing firms)  there's an answer – make your email address independent of your ISP.

Such as billgates @ fnq.net.au. FNQ, for those of you not geographically inclined stands for Far North Queensland and fnq.net is a Far North Queensland email service for those among you who need a breather from the harsh confines of giving free advertising to blue chip companies every time you send an email, as well, obviously as gaining your e- liberty.

Also fnq mail is pro, it’s cheap, you can change ISP providers like you change you knickers and keep the one, the sole, the solitary, eternal and unchanging email address.

Check it out at www.FNQ.net.au