When I started my first e-mail newsletter in 1994 I was tickled pink to get e-mails from subscribers all over the globe. To have a conversation with people on the other side of the world was truly amazing to me, and I still think this global reach is the most profound change the Internet has brought. Especially in international commerce. Through the Net, people from opposite ends of the globe can now transact business with the simple click of a mouse. And with trade lead bulletin boards, it's almost as easy to find customers across the world as it is to find them across the street in your hometown. There are hundreds of these bulletin boards on the Web, but here are four especially useful ones.

• FITA Buy/Sell Exchange at fita.worldbid.com. This is an international, business-to-business marketplace, powered by Worldbid.com, that provides qualified trade leads and catalog postings. When you register for paid membership you get access to a global network of affiliated sites that work together to enhance trade across borders, as well as national trade within borders.
• BuyUSA at www.fita.org/marketplace/buyusa.html. This site, created by the U.S. Commercial Service and IBM and co-branded and endorsed by FITA, links businesses in the U.S. with more than 20,000 qualified buyers and potential business partners around the world.
• FITA/ALIBABA Marketplace at fita.alibaba.com. The FITA/Alibaba Marketplace is a partnership btween FITA and Alibaba.com, the world's largest marketplace for global trade and the leading provider of online marketing services for importers and exporters.
• Global Technology Network (GTN) at www.usgtn.net, a program of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). GTN lists leads for opportunities in developing countries where USAID promotes economic opportunities through U.S. foreign aid programs.

For links to most of the trade lead Web sites on the Internet, go to FITA's Trading Hub at www.tradeleads.info.

Another area of life the Internet has revolutionized is consumer health information. When my Dad was diagnosed with cancer eight years ago I found a handful of forums on Compuserve where I could research his illness. Now, there are hundreds of places on the Web where you can go to research medical conditions. Here are two of the better ones.

• The Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia at www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html. Created by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, this site has more than 5,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, and injuries, along with drug information, links to medical dictionaries, online physician directories, and lots of other resources.
• MedTerms.com  at www.medterms.com/script/main/AlphaIdx.asp?p=A_DICT . Just type in a keyword at this site and you'll get tons of information about medical conditions, treatment, medications, plus doctors' answers to questions sent in by site visitors.