Also, I've met a number of men who have really good hearts but just don't understand how something that they perceive as so simple or harmless could cause such discomfort. Lots of times they really want to do the right thing, but are at a loss for how.

There are number of great resources that can help you understand this issue from a woman's perspective. Here's a mini-list of ideas to get you started.

• Read Miss Manners. She's a great source for anyone trying to learn how to be unerringly polite in a world where it feels like the rules keep changing.

• Learn about what constitutes sexual harassment and hostile work environments. This is such a highly-charged issue that learning about this topic is essential in the modern business world.

• Get Ms. Magazine and read the "No Comment" section. It's a real eye-opener.

• Employ focus groups that include technical, professional women. In fact, just talk to professional women and listen.

• Find alternatives to exploiting women's bodies in your marketing. Most of the time this advertising technique assumes that the buyer is a man, which in itself is insulting. Women's economic strength and influence is growing. It's not wise to alienate us.

One thing I noticed about the Brave Palm catalog is that the prices all seem to be undiscounted list prices. Now, we know that there are a variety of ways to attract buyers. If you don't want to use discounted prices as your appeal, there are other ways to attract a customer base that don't involve appealing to the baser instincts (Okay. I know that was a horrible pun but I couldn't resist). For example, you could have 24 hour service, longer warranties, a much wider selection, highly-trained technical answer people or any number of attractions that don't objectify women.

In conclusion
There are two audiences I'm writing to here. First, of course, is our considerable audience of readers. To this group, I'd like to encourage discussion on the PowerBoards for anyone who is interested in offering more suggestions or engaging in constructive discussion about this matter.

The second audience are the producers of the Brave Palm catalog. To these few people I'd like to say we wish you the best of luck in future publications, and that we'd really like to see a strong, viable comprehensive catalog for PalmPilot users that makes us all feel even more wonderful about our favorite connected organizer.

Finally, I'd like to say that I did get something cool out of the Brave Palm catalog. The ConceptKitchen Fingertip Stylus featured on page 31 was so intriguing I had to have it reviewed right away! Look for "Stylin' with the right stylus" by Claire Pieterek, elsewhere in this issue.

Denise Amrich is VP Publications at Component Enterprises. She's launched several publications with Ziff-Davis and the Cobb Group.