There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but with the Internet there are at least a couple of no-cost business practices.
One of the newest trends is free connection to the Net. The folks behind this service can be found at www.netzero.com. They say you no longer have to pay for an ISP.
But, while the price tag is nice, there is a catch: You will have to endure an ad on your screen all the time.
Another free service solves a problem for those of you tired of having a desk cluttered with faxed pages. Go to www.efax.com and get faxes delivered to you via e-mail instead. You call the company and it will give you a phone number, which you can use as your fax number.
When someone sends a fax to your number, it will be converted into an e-mail and sent to your computer. There are a couple of minor glitches with this service, however. The number you get is not a local number, so those sending you faxes might have to pay a long distance charge.
The other minor drawback? Your price is seeing an advertisement that appears before you read your fax. Again, no matter what they say, nothing is really free.
