Spotlight Features

Welcome to the new frontier of Web 2.0. Imagine sitting in your living room and pulling up a favorite TV show to watch online. Easily distracted -- who isn't these days -- you simultaneously begin a chat with dear friends you've never met in person who live across the country. One tells you about a ...

Right now, music fans around the world can choose from some 10,000 Internet radio stations, each one streaming a unique mix of music. Some of those stations are operated by industry titans; others are the Internet arms of traditional terrestrial radio; and many more are tiny operations feeding their...

In an attempt to get a hands-on read of the efficiency and credibility of comparison search engines, I embarked on a buying experiment for an HP Media Vault mv2020 server -- specifically a Windows-based PC tower with two 500 GB Internal Drives, three USB ports for expansion, room for an additional 3...

Before YouTube and MySpace, the Web 2.0 was neither as widely used, nor as widely known. At that time, companies that needed online collaboration and file sharing were its main users. That all ended when YouTube and MySpace became so popular. Both sites have created a "gathering place" for younger p...

The wheels are in motion to create an economy free of paper money and coins. The first steps of that quiet revolution have long been in place for years and touch tens of millions of consumers every day. This includes consumers rolling through tollbooths without stopping, their in-car transponders be...

We all negotiate one thing or another almost on a daily basis. When you negotiate, you are trying to achieve a goal through discussion and compromise. Typically, both elements have to be present in order to arrive at a successful outcome. Therefore, you must be able to communicate and be willing to...

The Association for Retail Technology Standards got busy early this year. The technology standards division of the National Retail Federation, ARTS began in 2007 with the introduction of several e-commerce data and content management standards. Among those standards, ARTS -- in partnership with the...

If you're buying anything online anytime soon, you better charge it. MasterCard, Visa, American Express -- take your pick -- but don't hit the virtual checkout lane without your bank-protected plastic in hand. "Use a credit card for maximum protection against money theft online," attorney Mari Frank...

The definitions or descriptions of newly minted terms and acronyms have been flying around this past year. To add to this, I'll contribute another one: Rich Enterprise Application or REA. To be clear from the start, REA is an evolution of Rich Internet Applications or RIA, and not an entirely new ca...

Approximately 10 million Americans fall victim to identity theft each year, a statistic that is expected to increase despite the diligent efforts of government and institutions to turn the tide. Leading IT security providers are arguably in the best position to understand the nature and scale of the...

Traditionally, preparation for board meetings has involved an enormous amount of time, expense, and stress. There are always last-minute items that have to be incorporated into the board book -- that heavy package that goes to board members and their support staff before a meeting. A great deal of e...

Unfortunately, it is now easier and cheaper than ever for those bent on illicit gain to use the Internet to obtain the private, personal information necessary to impersonate you online -- the first step for cybercriminals to gain access to your financial information. "Online identity theft is going ...

There's no doubt that online banking is widely popular in this country -- just ask the millions of customers who've signed on for the convenience it provides. As fraudsters create new scams to bilk financial services customers or to simply hijack their accounts, however, banking customer trust is on...

"It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." The oft-cited quotation from Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" seems apt when talking about the opportunity presented by digital communications and computing. It has also ushered in a new breed of cybercriminal who tries hard to use your personal...

We've all heard of YouTube and MySpace, but there's a new and exciting social networking site: itLinkz.com. What makes this site unique is that it will contain hundreds of sites that target specific market segments. The sites will allow you to choose and participate in a unique, virtual community. W...