Google is doing great. It's one of the biggest success stories of recent years. But can it withstand a strategic assault from Microsoft? It's vulnerability lies in the ease with which e-business customers can switch suppliers. Welcome to Technology Review

Here's another reminder that those e-mails you send need to be written as though they are in the public domain - because they may be! Globetechnology: E-mail used as weapon in court case

Concern about privacy, security and identity theft are all intermingled and continue to be serious in the minds of many. Computerworld has published a list of top five privacy concerns for 2005, based on a survey by the Ponemon Institute. Phishing and identity theft still rank high on the list. Top 5 privacy issues for 2005 - Computerworld

Ever think about including a list of passwords in your will? With the increase in digital assets and financial records being kept on computers, it is becoming more and more a necessity. CNN.com - Digital inheritance raises legal�questions - Dec 24, 2004

The Oracle takeover of Peoplesoft will leave two major players in the huge enterprise Business Systems market. It will also mean that many Peoplesoft people will be heading out the door. The Peoplesoft CEO has lready announced his departure. The next big question is what will happen to the Peoplesoft brand? Welcome to Technology Review

AOL has reported a big drop in SPAM, which they attribute to their spam blocking technology. This is encouraging. Dare we hope that the spam war is winnable? InformationWeek > > AOL Reports Big Drop In Spam > December 27, 2004

Google is king of the search engines these days. But can this last? Will Yahoo or even Microsoft be able to do an end run? While this question is being asked, IBM has entered the ring with a surprising and innovative idea - discovery searching, which employs semantic methods to search out the underlying meaning in stored text. The New York Times > Business > Your Money > Techno Files: At I.B.M., That Google Thing Is So Yesterday

Fitting a website into a corporate retailing strategy has been one of the core issues since e-business began. Does the website add a new sales channel or does it complement existing ones. Does it cannibalize existing business? REI, a retailer, has specifically launched a strategy to have its website act to bolster its in-store sales. How REI Scaled E-Commerce Mountain - Channel Integration - REI uses Web to drive in-store sales; website can complement retail strategy - CIO Magazine May 15,2004

Google is always doing something interesting. This time, they are making available millions of books on the net. That is, copying them in. Legally, of course! VOANews.com - IN THE NEWS - Google to Put Millions of Books on the Internet

AOL is moving away from its traditional method of providing software that needs to be installed by users, and developing its own web browser. The new browser will be based on Internet Explorer as a core, but they are planning to improve on it with added functionality.Technology Review: AOL's Crumbling Walls

Probably the most striking case of a big company re-inventing itself is found in the current changes going on in IBM. There are persistent reports that they have decided to sell their PC manufacturing business and are moving more into internet services, thus re-affirming the view of many that the internet is where computing is going. E-Commerce News: Business : IBM Lands Voice, Data Deal Worth Nearly $1 Billion

Academics are excited about the advent of a new search engine for scholarly papers and materials. It's Google Scholar, and will be a big help in doing serious research. Electronic databases have been used for years, but this is the first really good web-based service and is likely to become very widely used. Google Scholar

A new study by the London School of Economics is reported on here, which says that technology is being used to monitor people closely in the workplace. Shades of 1984, 21st century style! Study: Managers misuse tech to control workers - Computerworld

Here's a good special on digital convergence - what it means and what's happening.BW Online | June 21, 2004 | Big Bang!

There have been instances of cell phones blowing up. This article has some interesting tips for preventing this from happening to you. Globetechnology

Google, by offering new services that produce less dependence on the desktop computer and offering search facilities that are open to a variety of devices, may challenge the dominance of Microsoft, perhaps even rendering Windows obsolete. Microsoft is even starting to scramble. InformationWeek > Software Titans > How Google Threatens Microsoft > November 22, 2004

Many parts of the world do not have the (wired) infrastructure to support modern technology. However, in the long run this may be to their advantage. They may be able to leapfrog the wired infrastructure by going wireless, thereby avoiding all that unsightly clutter. CNN.com - Reaching the far reaches of the world -- without wires - Oct 27, 2004

Microsoft is moving into the TV industry? Interesting! The New York Times > Technology > SBC in Deal With Microsoft to Provide TV on High-Speed Lines

E-business in action: This New York Times article describes how Wal-Mart uses its database containing terabytes of transaction data to stay one step ahead of the competition. The New York Times > Business > Your Money > What Wal-Mart Knows About Customers' Habits

Identity theft continues to be a growing problem and will take a considrable investment of time and money to curtail. InformationWeek > Identity Theft > I.D. Under Lock And Key > November 15, 2004