Best of ECT News

Being on the Internet is like living in a village: Everyone knows who you are and all the details of your private life -- except that on the Internet, it's not just people you may have known all your life who know a lot about you; it's complete and utter strangers. It's not just that those strangers...

You might say that supply chain management has entered the philosophical realm. SCM investment has flatlined to a large extent, and the market's focus has changed as supply chain headaches become more complex and cut a broader swath. Although there is no one compelling trend in the SCM space, the in...

It's no secret: We just don't watch TV commercials like we used to. We change channels, or, if we're watching a DVR-recorded show, we skip over them entirely. Like everything else, commercials are migrating online. This brave new world of online commercials sometimes resembles the old TV model, b...

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed technology that could help fight blindness. It's aimed at the millions of people impacted by two of the major causes of blindness: age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. The MIT project is one of several that use a physical ...

Making sure that every customer gets the personal touch may be fairly easy for the owner of a neighborhood bakery, but in a mass market of millions, making each customer feel like an individual is a formidable challenge. In the information age, tools like customer relationship management software ma...

There's a rumor that honor exists among thieves, but outside of Robin Hood, no one considers them a bunch of do-gooders. Yet there may be a bright side to their shadowy work, at least in terms of enterprise software. Why has Microsoft, a company known to be almost brutal in its license-protection pr...

Gamers are often devided into two categories: those who play on consoles and those who play on PCs. A console gamer will drop few hundred dollars for Sony's PS3, Microsoft's Xbox 360, or Nintendo's Wii, but a PC gamer who wants to purchase a desktop or laptop optimized for gaming could pay thousand...

Small businesses frequently rely on a haphazard assortment of tools to manage their CRM processes, such as email, contact managers and spreadsheets. However, such methods are usually not sustainable or scalable. "Their customer data ends up fragmented across 10 different applications and physical lo...

Lacing a shoestring budget with enough green to get your startup up and running takes some finagling. Still, it can be done. If you can't find investor backing right now, then turn to alternative funding routes. You may want to start with your own hidden assets to find the cash you need. One example...

In wanting to give peace a chance, the Dalai Lama and John Lennon don't have much company; fighting and causing trouble seem to be the preference of most of the world. The conflicts in the Middle East and Afghanistan, to name the most prominent, are taking their toll on human life and limb. However,...