Spotlight Features

There are plenty of figures to show the efficiencies and cost savings that cloud computing can deliver, but here's one you're unlikely to hear during a sales pitch: The benefits of cloud computing are not linear with a project's progress. That means if you only complete about 80 percent of the proje...

Merrill Lynch once forecast that the cloud computing market would reach an eye-popping $160 billion by 2011, a prediction that mostly drew skepticism. While sizing up the expectations for a nascent tech market is equal parts art and science, there are growing indications that $160 billion may indeed...

Cloud computing may still be in its infancy, but Google, Amazon and IBM -- as well as other large vendors -- have rolled out cloud services at almost breathtaking speed. Indeed, it might appear these tier one vendors already have the multibillion dollar industry sewn up. That is not true, of course....

Warren Royal sells bobblehead dolls over the Internet. It's a specific product that demands a specific address for Internet shoppers. So, when Royal decided to get into the burgeoning bobblehead business, he decided the best way to break through the clutter of online bobblehead buyers and sellers wo...

If history were a reliable guide, a job hunter would stay as far away from the telecom field as possible. Ten years ago, telecoms could not hire enough people to keep up with the demand. The industry was investing millions, if not billions, in telephony and Internet infrastructure. Then the dot-com ...

High-tech job seekers should take heart. Despite the daily onslaught of grim economic news, the need for skilled information technology staff remains stable, according to the Robert Half Technology IT Hiring Index and Skills Report, released earlier this month. Twelve percent of chief information of...

Lorrie Thomas does not "sell, share or whore out" the personal information of any visitor who comes to her Lorrie Thomas Web Marketing site -- and she backs up this no-share promise in her privacy statement. Indeed, the entire document is a straightforward description of what the company will and wi...

That the term "carbon offset provider" has become part of the business lexicon may be an indicator that companies are finally getting serious about neutralizing their impact on the environment. Consumers are finding that the Internet can be a valuable resource in their own smaller-scale efforts to f...

The virtual world of the Internet has become a hotbed of activity designed to ease the real-world pollution problem. The Chicago Climate Exchange, or CCX, is a regulated exchange whose members are committed to cutting their emissions. It is the only cap-and-trade system in North America for six gree...

Google: The name conjures up images of a brilliant company, one able to anticipate customer desires and consistently deliver leading-edge technology more effectively than competitors. Having captured and kept a commanding lead in desktop search, Google has now set its sights on cell phones and mobil...

Even sophisticated ad buyers can make mistakes: ignoring target demographics' tastes and sensibilities; using archaic assumptions when measuring the success of an online campaign; and failing to plan for follow-up activities such as fulfillment. Those are fairly basic errors. There are also some sub...

Until recently, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act -- covering a myriad of activities related to hacking and intellectual property theft -- was just one of many questionable federal laws on the books. Then came the case of Lori Drew. Drew was widely vilified for provoking a young girl into committing ...

How did Seattle become the home for technology companies that want to help you buy or sell ... a home? Sure, it's where Microsoft and Amazon are based, and it's a well-educated, tech-savvy community, and the University of Washington churns out more than its share of software engineers. But why real ...

With the U.S. in the throes of what could be the worst recession in decades, consumers have made dramatic cutbacks in discretionary spending. That includes donations to charitable causes and nonprofit organizations, many of which supply critical aid to vulnerable populations both in the U.S. and abr...

A few weeks ago, Johnson & Johnson presented the blogosphere with an ad for its brand name pain reliever Motrin that was aimed at mothers who were experiencing back pain from carrying their babies around in slings. The backlash was swift. The ad struck many viewers as having a tone that mocked, ...