(FORTUNE Small Business) – Who has time to read? It's hard to keep up, especially when you're also trying to run a business. That's where this column comes in. In each issue of FSB, I'll serve as your reading scout, scouring the leading publications and Websites for the most provocative and useful articles about one of the most important issues for any entrepreneur today: where the rubber of technology meets the hard road of business. Let's get started.

Red Herring's businesslike approach to technology is rooted in its origins as a guide for Silicon Valley's Internet investors. In "Top Ten Trends for 2001" (Dec. 4 issue), the magazine focuses on some of the promising technologies that investors are starting to throw money at. (You can't be twice shy once you're used to 50% returns.) Topping the list is distributed computing, which is basically Napster for grownups. In classical computing, big servers feed data to smaller desktops. Distributed computing imagines a world of cyber equals: servers, desktops, laptops, and handhelds united in a vast democratic universe, sharing data, applications, mail, and processing power in a seamless web. Why is this hot? Well, techies get bored and like to rearrange the cyberfurniture every couple of years. Remember client-server? Or the network computer? Now it's distributed computing. Other Red Herring obsessions for 2001: intellectual property (more Napster-inspired handwringing), encryption, and wireless technology. (What? Not again!) For the entire list, go to www.redherring.com/mag/issue 86.

If you prefer to stay grounded in tangibles, like hardware and software, MacWorld and PC Magazine deliver the goods. If you're an Apple devotee, you'll find MacWorld's January 2001 issue indispensable, because of its valuable tips for unraveling some of the mysteries of the excellent Microsoft Office 2001--including Entourage, the new Mac-only personal information manager. There's also a thorough run-through of image-editing tips using Adobe's Photoshop 6.0. Dial macworld .zdnet.com/2001/01 for a tutorial. Product king PC Magazine once thudded mightily on your doorstep; although much thinner, it still carries valuable information if you're in the market for new products. In the Jan. 2 issue, "The Best of 2001" names the gadgets and products deemed tops by "Mag's" tech-obsessed editors. Among the winners: HP's Vectra line of PCs, Canon's PowerShot S100 digital camera, the wireless Palm VIIx, Epson's Stylus Color 980 printer, and Creative's Nomad Jukebox, a portable MP3 player. I'll add my vote for the Nomad, which is about the size of a portable CD player but holds around 100 hours of music, which lets me store all my favorite CDs (www.pcmag.com).

New Economy bible Business 2.0 had one of the best reads this past month, a confessional on the spectacular fall of Priceline.com spinout WebHouse Club written by its former president, Steve Mott (Dec. 26 issue). With candor uncommon in the dot-com world, Mott admits a string of major errors in running the "name your own price" for gas and groceries venture. Expensive mass mailings and TV ads failed to get customers to the Website. The site itself was too complicated, losing repeat customers. He didn't question the technology early enough--building the site on Windows NT was a mistake, as it couldn't handle the 5,000 orders an hour that WebHouse generated. The site lasted less than a year and was burning through a stunning $1 million a day. Check out www.business2.com/content/magazine/issues for the whole sordid tale of woe.