The tech world is buzzing these days with rumors about Apple’s “iPad” and supposed upcoming release of Michael Arrington’s CrunchPad . These both sound pretty cool but I’m not really that interested in them as I just don’t find them to be must-have products. In contrast, Microsoft’s new tablet-like device known as Courier appears to be innovative, practical, and has the potential to become a huge success for multiple reasons. It’s What The Kindle Should Be The most appealing aspect of Courier is its design.

table.dptable { width:100%; border:0; } tr.dphead { background-color:#0066CC; color:#FFFFFF; font-weight:bold; } tr.dphead td a { color:#FFFFFF; } tr.dprow { background-color:#FFFFFF; } tr.dprowalt { background-color:#CCCCCC; } #dpcols-contact { text-align:center; } #intro { } The Swop is a platform that makes it possible for startups to collaborate among themselves and form lasting bonds. That is, through the site entrepreneurs can post any need they have while offering services at the same time.

Windows Azure, Azure Data Services, SQL Azure Database and related cloud computing topics now appear in this weekly series. • Update 9/30/2009: Wordpress on Windows Azure , porting NopCommerce to Windows Azure and SQL Azure , Kaiser Permanente’s long road to and good user satisfaction with PHR , what steps to take following a data breach , IBM’s self-service approach to the cloud , and much more.