By Michael Myser

Popular Science: Fully Loaded

2011-06-24T14:39:00.003-04:00

A pack that gives your back a break; a lightweight bag that holds more heat; and a bug lamp that doesn't buzz...

ESPN RISE: Cover Story

2010-12-03T10:04:00.002-05:00

Hallie Kuhlman sprinting, training her way into Kansas record books
Wallace County (Sharon Springs, Kan.) junior uses innovative training to get unique results

Gelf Magazine: A Good Run Spoiled

2009-03-02T13:31:00.001-05:00

A Long Island writer takes a trip to the bottom of the world. To run a marathon.

Marathons are everywhere. And hundreds of thousands of marathoners each year travel to run their 26.2 miles. Completing a marathon far from home has become a common journey. But it's one that few decide to finish on the world's most isolated continent.

Writer John Hanc (rhymes with Lance), however, decided his 50th birthday in 2005 would be an appropriate occasion to run and write about this "last marathon," the Antarctica Marathon. His story, told in The Coolest Race on Earth: Mud, Madmen, Glaciers, and Grannies at the Antarctica Marathon, is part travelogue, part runner's diary, and part history lesson in one package.

BNET: What Now for MBAs?

2009-02-10T22:27:00.001-05:00

In the wake of the economic crisis, applications to business schools are on the rise, as college grads and business professionals seek shelter from an ugly job market. Some are re-tooling for the rebound; others are plotting alternative career tracks, now that Wall Street — which typically absorbs 30 percent of new MBAs — has retrenched, and as top companies in almost every industry are slashing headcount and budgets.

Where, then, are the best opportunities for aspiring business leaders? BNET talked to b-school professors, recruiters, and companies and identified four career tracks where demand for management talent is likely to remain strong through the recession and beyond.

BNET: The Social Entrepreneur MBA

2009-02-09T12:18:00.001-05:00

Long before the economy tanked, MBAs were in hot pursuit of alternative career tracks — instead of running investment firms, many have aspired to invest themselves in business with a social cause — from nonprofit organizations to overseas startups in developing countries. Top-tier schools like Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and Yale’s School of Management responded by creating programs to prepare so-called "social entrepreneurs.”

BNET: The Energy MBA

2009-02-09T12:17:00.001-05:00

The recession hasn’t yet slowed demand for management talent in the energy sector — though the opportunities aren’t all coming from traditional oil and gas. As the industry confronts potentially transformative changes in everything from government policies and economic models, to the very sources the country will tap for energy, MBAs are leaning into careers in alternative energy and clean technology. “Energy used to be hidden in the ‘other’ category of job placement,” says Mark Friedfeld, a career advisor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Now the energy industry takes up its own slice of the overall placement pie — more than 5 percent. “We haven’t seen the erosion [in jobs] that we’ve seen in other sectors — it’s a solid area.”

BNET: The Finance MBA

2009-02-09T12:15:00.000-05:00

For years, finance — and more specifically, investment banking — has been the single most popular career track for MBAs. In fact, top schools like University of Pennsylvania and New York University typically send at least 45 percent of graduates to financial services and investment banking firms each year, with Wall Street absorbing the vast majority of those MBAs. That was then. This year, the sector is wheezing from the collapse of at least five major financial institutions and the loss of more than 200,000 jobs — 60,000 in New York alone.

BNET: The Healthcare MBA

2009-02-09T12:11:00.000-05:00

The healthcare track for MBAs has never been a hot one — until now. Believe it or not, healthcare companies can’t find enough MBAs to fill open positions in this $2.26 trillion industry, says Marjorie Baldwin, head of Arizona State University’s School of Health Management and Policy. Hospital administration and healthcare practice management may still lack the glamour of top consulting gigs, but the opportunities now go beyond just hospitals — B-school grads can find roles in everything from biomedical startups and e-health ventures to consulting and pharmaceutical R&D.

Business 2.0: A Microsoft Legend's Next Great Adventure

2007-09-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

This fall the business world will see the first tentative release of a product that Charles Simonyi has been working on, in one form or another, for most of his professional life. No, it's not word-processing software, which the Hungarian immigrant developed at Xerox PARC and then took to Microsoft in 1981, and which helped build him a fortune estimated at $1 billion. It's more audacious than that.

Gelf Magazine: SI's Provence Bureau Chief

2007-09-15T10:16:00.000-04:00

Sports Illustrated writer S.L. Price spent a year in France covering non-US sports for America's biggest sports magazine. He came out of it with an unexpected, unconventional memoir.

Gelf Magazine Podcast: The Hack and the Flack

2007-09-15T10:12:00.000-04:00

Gelf Magazine is pleased to present our newest venture into the multimedia world: The Hack and The Flack. Journalist Michael Myser—the hack—and PR guru Merrill Freund—the flack—break down the news of the week. From their different perspectives, Michael and Merrill discuss sports, tech, and media—much like Gelf.

Listen to the Hack and the Flack here.

Wired Magazine: Need Some Cash? Sue Google!

2007-08-21T16:03:00.000-04:00

To the victor belong the spoils — and the lawsuits. With its $150 billion market cap, Google has become a prime target of the litigious, and we're not just talking about Viacom's billion-dollar YouTube assault. Claiming everything from patent, trademark, and copyright infringement to fraud, dozens of companies have decided that the time is right to cash in by hitting Google with a barrage of lawsuits. Do any have a case? You be the judge.

Business 2.0: Bosses Get a Helping Hand

2007-07-01T12:58:00.000-04:00

Let's be honest: Most performance reviews are a joke. Too often goals are ignored, hard work is overlooked, and in the end it's the kiss-ups who get promoted. A recent survey conducted by Salary.com is telling: Only 39 percent of employees think the process actually improves the way the job gets done.

But what if bosses could instantly monitor worker performance -- objectively, through a well-tested online scorecard -- and see which employees' efforts really help the company?

Gelf Magazine: 'A Poor Team With a Truly Brilliant Visionary'

2007-06-26T16:58:00.000-04:00

Author John Heidenry on how Branch Rickey turned his cast of exploited, colorful ballplayers into a juggernaut.

Wired News: Patent Holder Sues Verizon, Claims to Own Location-Based Search

2007-06-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

An entrepreneur believes he's struck gold with the rights to a 1999 patent for location-based search that he says is being infringed upon by some of the internet's biggest players.

Business 2.0: Re-engineering the Engineer

2007-06-01T17:02:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, a five-year-old educational experiment that's turning the business of training engineers upside down.

Business 2.0: Peer-to-Peer Music Goes Legit

2007-04-09T15:39:00.000-04:00

The next user to download a song from a peer-to-peer file-sharing service like LimeWire could be in for a surprise. Not a recording industry lawsuit, but a pop-up asking him to look at an ad--either text or video--in return for a free and legal copy of the music.

Business 2.0: When Brainstorming Goes Bad

2007-03-01T13:45:00.000-05:00

The mere mention of brainstorming elicits a lot of eye rolling in most offices. But here's a little secret: Much of what's called brainstorming isn't brainstorming at all. "Nowadays, brainstorming could mean a discussion, a debate, or a wild idea," says Scott Isaksen, founder of the Creative Problem Solving Group in Buffalo, N.Y. "It's an abused, misused term."

Business 2.0: What's Next - A Buddy List That's Always Talking

2007-03-01T12:01:00.000-05:00

It's too early to tell which brand of user-generated content will be the Web 2.0 phenomenon of 2007, but placing an early bet on Twitter might be a good move. The free service, which combines the instant voyeurism of personal blogs with the brevity of text messages, appears to be catching fire, doubling its user base every month. It had 10,000 users by December and expects to hit 100,000 by April. Users post pithy updates on their lives (in no more than 160 characters) via the website, their IM clients, or their mobile devices. These posts can be sent just to their circle of friends or, if the user allows it, they can be added to Twitter's public time line. (A free desktop widget called Twidget also features the updates.)

Creator Jack Dorsey says the brevity of the posts is Twitter's greatest asset. "I feel a richer sense of connection with my friends when I can just peek into their lives," Dorsey says. "'I had two eggs and toast for breakfast' is enough of a glimpse." Dorsey and a fellow software engineer created Twitter in just two weeks last March. The service launched under the wing of parent company Obvious.com, the new venture of Blogger co-founder Evan Williams, who sold his blogging service to Google in 2003. Obvious.com builds quick and lightweight consumer-focused Web applications, throwing them out to the public and seeing which ones stick. "It's hard to explain why a product or application breaks out," Williams says. "But it doesn't take a lot of investment to know if you have something." If successful enough, he says, a product like Twitter can be spun off as its own company.

Not that Twitter is shy about monetizing its success. It's selling not only Web ads but also commercial accounts so corporate users can join in the conversation. Research firm eMarketer estimates that companies will spend upwards of $2 billion advertising on social networks alone by 2010. And Twitter's mobile component is appealing to phone companies, says Mark Donovan, a senior analyst for mobile research firm M: Metrics. The service is "a natural extension of what a phone does best," he says.

With nearly 75 million Americans now sending messages each month, texting has become an $11 billion market and it's growing fast. Gartner analysts expect 5 percent of all text messages sent, or $50 million worth of them, to ultimately relate to social networks like Twitter. Better watch Dorsey's pithy life updates very closely.

Gelf Magazine: Boxing's Forgotten Champ

2007-02-02T09:21:00.000-05:00

Writer Jack Cavanaugh talks about Gene Tunney, history's 'brainiest' heavyweight champion and twice a victor over Jack Dempsey.

Business 2.0: Go Green. Get Rich.

2007-01-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

Problem #5: Dirty Water

WaterHealth's UV Treatment Plants deliver drinkable water to thousands who don't have it.

Wired News: What's Trendy in American Design

2006-12-08T08:29:00.000-05:00

Tiny toy monsters, robot dogs and lobsters, military avatars and The Incredibles all make an appearance at Design Life Now: National Design Triennial 2006.

Startup: RedRoller

2006-12-01T18:05:00.000-05:00

The Idea: The Travelocity of shipping

Tech entrepreneur William Van Wyck has hit on one of those why-didn't-anybody-think-of-this-before ideas: a one-stop shipping site.

Business 2.0: Inside the $37 Billion Prison Economy

2006-12-01T11:10:00.000-05:00

Brian Prins is an affable salesman who touts the benefits of his prepaid collect-calling service in a distinct Long Island accent. He's also an ex-con who served five years in a Pennsylvania state prison for aggravated assault and possession of stolen car parts, so when he explains that he's simply helping families stay in touch, stay together, and stay out of debt, you might want to listen.

Business 2.0: Broadband on a Budget

2006-11-01T12:24:00.000-05:00

Doug Frazier is one of Urban Communications Transport's most dedicated customer service reps. When he's not fielding phone calls, you might find him installing DSL service in South Bronx apartment buildings. Frazier also happens to be Urban's co-founder, and he's on a mission to bring affordable Internet access to one of New York City's most impoverished areas.

Popular Science: Can You Guide Me Now?

2006-10-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

DID YOU KNOW you’re carrying a GPS device in your pocket? Cellphones have, since 2005, had legally mandated GPS chips in them so that 911 calls could be traced. Now carriers are finally letting you in on the tracking action, packing in more powerful receivers and enhancing them with triangulation from cell towers to do what a stand-alone GPS unit does: tell you where you are, guide you somewhere else, and locate a burger along the way.

I tested three of the newest mobile navigators, hitting the highways through the New Jersey ‘burbs and strolling Manhattan on foot. Each had periodic connection problems—GPS, cellular or both—and made minor routing mistakes, and I missed the occasional turn. But they all handled Jersey’s tricky traffic circles better than most drivers do. Just be sure to buy a dash mount: navigating from your lap isn’t so easy, or safe.

Business 2.0: The Sleep Economy

2006-09-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

Tucked in an alley off Manhattan's financial district is a darkened storefront dotted with eight futuristic-looking white pods. Reclining in the capsules are two Wall Streeters who've ducked in for a quick $14 noontime snooze at MetroNaps. The startup operates two New York locations and an outpost in Vancouver, British Columbia, and is expanding to Australia and the United Kingdom. It also leases sleep pods to companies offering nap rooms as the latest fringe benefit in a 24/7 world.

Some call it the sleep economy - a burgeoning $20 billion business of aromatherapy pillows, high-tech beds, face masks, biorhythmic alarm clocks, and, yes, naps. The market is growing because, frankly, we're exhausted and sleeping less each year.

Gelf Magazine: A Day in Czech Wine Country

2006-09-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

A personal tour guide, cowboys, wine tastings where wines can't be bought—and an escape from the tourist crush.
--
"Heeeeey!" Josef's call echoes through the empty Penzion San Marco at 9 a.m., into our room and deep into my brain. It hurts. Our wine tasting last night in Mutěnice, a tiny village in the south of the Czech Republic, got out of hand, as our host broke out nearly a dozen bottles of local reds and whites, topping the night off with vodka.

Business 2.0: The Wal-Mart of Used Cars

2006-08-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

Unlikely big-box chain CarMax has transformed the world of auto retailing.
By Michael Myser

A small team of Circuit City execs met in 1991 to formulate a plan for a top-secret new business, code-named Project X. For nearly a year, the group worked clandestinely, finally pitching a proposal for a revolutionary new big-box retail chain with the potential to earn tens of billions of dollars in annual sales.

The industry to be tapped? Used cars.

Popular Science: The Littlest PCs

2006-07-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

Not quite a laptop, not quite a smartphone, it’s the future of mobile computing.

Meet the ultra-mobile PC, a.k.a. UMPC: a seven-inch screen, Windows XP Tablet PC operating system, plus Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, all in a book-size package that weighs less than two pounds. It’s the vision of the Origami Project team at Microsoft, which recently unveiled design concepts and software for the devices. All Origami-certified UMPCs will feature the Touch Pack, a finger-friendly add-on to Windows XP with shortcut keys, large program icons and a split on-screen keyboard for rapid typing with your thumbs.

Is this Microsoft’s answer to the iPod—a juiced-up, highly capable media player? Unlikely. Analysts say the company is just testing the waters for consumer interest in the small (though not quite pocketable) devices. Want to be an early adopter?

Samsung Q1
The Q1 is the first Origami UMPC to reach the U.S. Taking full advantage of the notion of roving entertainment, it features an instant-on media player that runs independent of the OS, to save power and boot faster.

Size: 8.9 x 5.5 x 1 in.
Weight: 1.7 lbs.
System Specs: Intel Celeron M 1.2GHz processor, 40 or 60GB hard drive display: 7-in. touchscreen
Available: Now: $1,100; samsung.com

Asus R2H
Asus will closely follow Samsung with some upgrades, including a fingerprint reader and built-in GPS. Along with a‑slightly higher price tag, the R2H has a 1.3-megapixel user-facing webcam for video conferencing.

Size: 9.5 x 5.3 x 0.9 in.
Weight: 2.2 lbs.
System Specs: Intel Celeron M 900MHz processor, hard-drive size TBA display: 7-in. touchscreen
Available: Summer: $1,300; usa.asus.com

Business 2.0: Marketing Made Easy

2006-06-01T15:28:00.000-04:00

Eight to one. That was the abysmal ratio of customer complaints to kudos at Staples stores in 2001. The company's slogan - "Yeah, we've got that" - had become laughable. Customers griped that items were often out of stock and said the sales staff was unhelpful to boot.

Popular Science: In 2021 You'll Enjoy Total Recall

2006-05-18T10:48:00.000-04:00

Humans naturally have the power to remember almost two bits of information per second, or a few hundred megabytes over a lifetime. Compared with a DVD movie, which holds up to 17 gigabytes, that’s nothing. Worse, you might easily recall the 40-year-old dialogue from Hogan’s Heroes yet forget your mom’s birthday. Or memorize reams of sports stats while spacing out on work you completed just last week.

Popular Science: Web Calling Cuts the Cord

2006-05-18T09:49:00.000-04:00

Cheap—even free—wireless VoIP, without a computer
And now you can almost forget your cellphone provider too—with this new Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gear, you can make calls using Skype (or Vonage, another VoIP provider) from just about anywhere. No computer or dorky headset required.

Wired: Look! Up in the Sky!

2006-03-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

Move over, Pink Floyd: There's a new laser light show to space out to. Celestial Mechanics illuminates the human-made objects that hurtle overhead each day.

Business 2.0: Heeding the Call

2006-03-01T12:25:00.000-05:00

Google and Yahoo take in billions of dollars annually in pay-per-click advertising, but they've also been leaving billions on the table. After all, many local businesses--lawyers, plumbers, and the like--prefer the phone for generating sales.

Business 2.0: The Malaria Fighter

2006-01-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Scientist Stephen Hoffman may be close to neutralizing one of history's most implacable killers--and forging a new entrepreneurial model for attacking global diseases.
January/February 2006

Business 2.0: Meet and Eat

2006-01-14T14:27:00.000-05:00

Spiro Baltas took stock of the restaurant scene and found something missing: a place to get slow-braised ribs with high-speed wireless. So in July 2004 he launched Starwich, a restaurant chain designed for businesspeople, with conference tables, free Wi-Fi, copy machines, and duck confit sandwiches with garlic-pommery mustard dressing. A veteran of Sbarro Pizza and Tavern on the Green, Baltas crafted a menu befitting an upscale lunch joint but kept the price of most items below $13. With four New York locations, Baltas plans to open two in Boston and four more in Manhattan before franchising his "fast casual" concept. Paul Barron, publisher of Fast Casual magazine, says revenues for the category should hit $70 billion in 2006.

Wired: TV's New Calling (Test)

2005-12-31T13:58:00.000-05:00

A big-screen television is eye-popping but hardly portable. With more high-speed cellular networks available, service providers are streaming shows for TV addicts on the go. It's enough to get even the most slothful couch potato out of the house.

Here's a review of mobile television options.

Popular Science: Now, Soon, Later

2005-12-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

TV on Your Cellphone
Speedier networks will soon stream TV-quality video to your cell. Here's how you'll view it:

Popular Science: Fully-Loaded Big Screen TVs

2005-11-15T08:26:00.000-05:00

First there were big screens. Then big flat screens. Now there are big flat screens packed with tricks, like the ability to record TV or access your home network. It’s all part of the push to minimize the number of decor-busting black boxes while maximizing entertainment choices—movies, slideshows, your music collection. Here are five reasons to chuck your TV in favor of a multitalented model.

Business 2.0: The Startup Factory

2005-08-01T12:26:00.000-04:00

How a little-known Israeli telecom became the world's most successful incubator.

Twenty years ago Yehuda and Zohar Zisapel ran a tiny startup in Tel Aviv, selling modems. Today they still run the same company, Rad Data Communications, but modems have for years taken a backseat to Rad's longest-running hit product -- new companies. To date, the Zisapel brothers have spun off 23 telecom-related startups. Seven were sold for a total of more than $1 billion. Another six went public on Nasdaq. All are based inside Rad's 1.5 million-square-foot campus, brimming with more than 2,500 employees. Thus, Rad isn't your average holding company or incubator; it's a family of companies that play off one another's strengths. Here's how Rad has succeeded where other startup factories have fallen short.

Build the Team First and the Product Next
"We identify a niche, develop a business plan, hire a CEO, and have them start R&D," Yehuda says. "There's no predetermined product." Take Radvision, a $64 million seller of VOIP gear. In 1992, Yehuda assigned a video expert on his staff, Eli Doron, to identify holes in the nascent videoconferencing market. Within a year Doron had a plan for a video-over-IP product. Outside investors chipped in $8 million, and Radvision hit the market in 1993. The company, which later moved into voice products, now has 380 employees.

Launch Symbiotic Brands
Unlike U.S. incubator Idealab's far-flung creations, Rad companies all operate within the telecom universe. Their products monitor communications hardware, analyze voice and data networks, and perform a rash of other functions. "The Zisapels invest only in businesses they know and can contribute to," says Ami Talmor, a Gartner analyst based in Tel Aviv. That's a big advantage for their startups, which gain access to all of Rad's customers. When Radvision launched, customers "didn't understand what they were buying," Doron says. "But because it was Rad, they bought it, and we started to show revenue."

Keep the Parent Private
By maintaining control of the umbrella company, the Zisapels retain a flexibility that public companies can't match. They invest in or bail on projects when they see fit, and focus on the performance of each firm without worrying about the overall portfolio. Plus, Talmor says, "it's easier to take a startup to IPO than to spin off a division of a big company." And if a startup fails? Rad has shuttered just three in its two decades, but when it happens, Yehuda says, it's quick and painless: "We make sure that one going down doesn't drag down another."

Popular Science: The Future is Calling

2005-06-22T15:05:00.000-04:00

A lot of people wonder what the cellphone of tomorrow will look like. We decided to design it.

We all expect the cellphone to get smaller while packing in an ever broadening array of functions. The real question is what it’ll look like—inside and outóin several years. To find the answer, we investigated dozens of on-the-brink technologies, picking the brains of cellphone product engineers, industry analysts and lab researchers.

Popular Science: Lords of the Rings

2005-06-22T15:01:00.000-04:00

Over the years, your key chain has become a custodial clump of assorted accessories and unidentified house, locker and car keys. Time to free up some ringside real estate and make room for the latest key-chain gadgets. Careful, though—losing your keys has never been quite so expensive.

Wired: The World of Terror

2005-06-01T09:35:00.000-04:00

Terrorist attacks plague the Middle East and South Asia. But did you know how dangerous South America is?

ESPN the Magazine: Big Air

2005-05-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

Quick: name the top 10 things the world needs. We’d bet “extreme pogo stick” doesn’t make your list. But Andy Macdonald thinks it should. The skateboard legend, who loves big air in any form, has teamed with SBI Enterprises to create the Flybar 1200, a pogo stick for adults. Mac wrecked the prototype in just 10 jumps, but today’s version withstands all manner of abuse. Equipped with BMX-type handlebars and foot pads, the Flybar employs elastomeric springs (think giant rubber bands) to create nearly 1,200 pounds of thrust, launching most riders five feet off the ground. Macdonald and pals regularly clear seven feet. “Any trick you can do on a bike—bar spins, Saran Wraps, peg rides—you can do on the Flybar,” Mac says. He’s even pulled off a back flip, although you definitely shouldn’t try that one at home. The Flybar’s price tag: $299. Lobotomy not included. -Michael Myser

Business 2.0: How MMetrics Is Making Mobile Content Count

2005-05-01T13:38:00.000-04:00

By Michael Myser, May 2005 Issue

Quick: Who plays games on their cell phones more often, men or women? Answer: Around 33 percent of both genders play at least once a month. If you got it wrong, don't worry; no one in the mobile industry knew either.

That is, until MMetrics came along. The Seattle startup aims to do for mobile content what Nielsen Media Research did for television. Using a combination of 12,000 monthly online interviews and monitoring software that users opt to have installed on their phones, MMetrics will give content providers, wireless carriers, and advertisers reams of data about consumers of mobile media, a market expected to top $1 billion by year's end. "This depth of data doesn't exist anywhere else," says customer Les Schmidt, senior VP for operations at Macromedia's mobile business. MMetrics was founded in June 2004 by current CEO Will Hodgman, formerly of Nielsen/NetRatings, and Seamus McAteer, a veteran mobile analyst who was frustrated by the lack of raw data. The 20-person startup could face stiff competition if Nielsen moves ahead with plans to form its own mobile division. But MMetrics has lined up five customers and expects to secure 15 more soon, a head start that could work to its advantage. After all, there's safety in numbers.

Wired News: Baseball Hunts for Right Stuff

2005-03-29T11:29:00.000-05:00

It doesn't take grand jury testimony or congressional hearings about steroids to know Major League baseball players always search for an edge, legal or otherwise. While ballplayers hone their skills at spring training this month, equipment manufacturers will put years of time and effort into their own research and development to keep pace with player demands and give them every advantage on the field.

Business 2.0: Invasion of the Corporate Spyware

2005-03-01T13:29:00.000-05:00

By Michael Myser, March 2005 Issue

If spam was the corporate horror flick of 2004, then spyware is 2005's sequel -- infiltrating computers, deluging them with viruses, and tracking behavior. Though the software has plagued home PCs for nearly five years, it's now so complex that even IT departments can't combat it. That's a major problem, because not only does spyware slow down corporate networks, but it can also gather sensitive company information -- anything from user logins to customer data. "Spyware is a very ugly issue for companies," says Rich Mogull, a research director at Gartner. "It's high on their lists of problems."

The number of spyware programs grew 25 percent in 2004 and is on track to surpass that this year, says Eric Howes, a spyware researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Even worse, spyware makers are getting sneakier, constantly modifying existing programs to avoid detection.

But what's bad for most businesses will be great for spyware fighters. According to IDC, the market for products that combat spyware will swell to $106 million this year, up from a meager $12 million in 2003. Meanwhile, a crop of upstarts are vying to dominate the space. Boulder, Colo., startup Webroot Software just secured $108 million in venture funding, and it faces heady competition from Sunbelt Software of Clearwater, Fla., and Sweden's Lavasoft, whose offerings scan corporate networks and purge spyware remotely. Hardware is another approach: Silicon Valley's Blue Coat uses appliances that catch spyware at the Web gateway. Computer Associates (CA) and Microsoft (MSFT) are also getting into the game, with acquisitions of PestPatrol and Giant Company Software. Soon, antivirus veterans McAfee and Symantec will likely snatch up some anti-spyware vendors too. As for who will come out on top, that will have to wait until the box-office numbers roll in.

Sync: Is It Worth It?

2005-02-01T15:01:00.000-05:00

Sony's $3,700 HDR-FX1 HandyCam films home movies in high def. So what? Five avid fans explain why they forfeited what amounts to a three-year supply of beer to own it.

Wired News: Gambling Sites Hedging Bets

2005-01-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

As Super Bowl weekend approaches, Mickey Richardson, general manager of BetCRIS, an online gambling site based in Costa Rica, readies himself for the action. But there's also a cloud hanging over his, and other gambling sites' profitable Feb. 6 weekend.

Wired News: Open Source for the Slopes

2004-12-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

When U.S. Ski Team member Kevin Bramble approaches the starting gate of the downhill course Friday at the Hartford Ski Spectacular in frigid Breckenridge, Colorado, his equipment is likely to be the furthest thing from his mind.

Wired News: Expo Tries to Whet Geek Appetites

2004-10-15T11:32:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- DigitalLife 2004, which runs all weekend at the Jacob K. Javits Center, aims to get the latest technology in the hands of the consumer. Jim Hasl, executive producer and creator of the show, envisioned an event to take the geek out of technology, making it accessible to the masses.

Wired News: U.S. Open Puts Serve in Server

2004-09-10T11:34:00.000-04:00

NEW YORK -- Winding your way beneath the stands of Louis Armstrong Stadium at the U.S. Tennis Association's National Tennis Center, you'll eventually come to a fluorescent-lit room dubbed "mission control" by IBM staff. Inside the sparsely decorated and, thankfully, air-conditioned room sits a bank of more than 35 IBM ThinkPads, flat-screen TVs, Blade servers and a dozen technicians.

Wired News: Fantasy Football Made Easy

2004-09-06T11:36:00.000-04:00

If you'll be whiling away work hours on fantasy football this fall, you have a difficult pre-season decision to make: choosing which site will host your team.

Wired News: Homeland Security 101

2004-08-18T11:37:00.000-04:00

The tedious task of signing up for classes could become more exciting for students as they return to college campuses this month to find a growing number of homeland security and terrorism course offerings.

Wired News: 9/11 Report Iffy on Tech

2004-07-31T11:38:00.000-04:00

For most of the 9/11 Commission's sobering final report, technology takes a back seat to tales of agency and structural shortcomings. But mixed sparsely into the 567-page report are various calls for technology improvements.

Business 2.0: Dugout Wisdom for Corporate Managers

2004-07-01T13:31:00.000-04:00

By Michael Myser, July 2004 Issue

Baseball is, in many ways, management theory in action. Winning teams know how to manage operations, people, and change -- areas that are vital to the success of any organization. Jeff Angus, a baseball reporter-turned-management consultant, puts that observation to work as author of Management by Baseball (cmdr-scott.blogspot.com), a weblog that cleverly translates the ups and downs of major-league teams into case studies. With some of the sport's most vexing questions in mind, Business 2.0 asked Angus to play ball.

After winning their division last year, the San Francisco Giants got off to a rocky start. Why?
About 25 percent of the Giants' on-field value has been tied up in the gargantuan talent of Barry Bonds. But now that Bonds is merely super-excellent, and often injured, they're having a heck of a time. It's not impossible to win when you put most of your value in one guy, but it often leads to weakness. In the corporate world, if you have one great organizational strength, your competitors will line up to undermine that strength. Companies that do a range of things well have an easier time of it. Cisco has been a persistently good company because it's tried to innovate in every possible way. It invests in trying to be great at everything.

Are the Chicago Cubs cursed?
We've all worked in an office where complaining is the primary way people communicate. It doesn't necessarily reflect how good or bad an organization is, or how well or poorly a company is doing. Yet when complaining becomes habitual, you lose faith in the possibility of success. The Cubs are a perfect example of that. In the playoffs last year, there was that incident where a fan grabbed the ball as Moises Alou was trying to make a catch in the stands. That's what fans do: When there's a fly ball, you go after it. But Alou threw a hissy fit. I'd argue that if he'd instead shrugged it off, the Cubs would've had a better chance of winning that game. Faith doesn't guarantee success, but a lack of faith can cause you to fail.

What do you make of the relationship between Yankees manager Joe Torre and team owner George Steinbrenner?
Steinbrenner takes joy in harming other people. Torre is a perfect match for him because his ego doesn't get tied up in battles with Steinbrenner. Torre says, "That's just George being George." Steinbrenner's attitude makes for an extremely toxic environment, but Torre makes it possible for his players to ignore the bloodletting and focus on success.

Business 2.0: Giving College Kids a Smoother Move

2004-06-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

How AllDorm CEO Ryan Garman turned a difficult interstate trip into a thriving e-commerce company .
By Michael Myser, June 2004 Issue

Moving into the dorm on the first day of college is a notoriously trying affair. To furnish their new digs on student budgets, freshmen either brave the lines at the local Target (TGT) or haul their must-haves from home.

Ryan Garman chose the latter when he enrolled at California's Santa Clara University in 1998. At home in Las Vegas, he packed up a U-Haul trailer -- maximum speed 55 mph -- and embarked on a painful 13-hour drive with his mom. Upon his bleary-eyed arrival, he checked into a hotel, only to stand in line at 5 a.m. the next day with 2,400 other students. Surveying the circus around him, he had an epiphany: Someone needed to come up with a better way to move into a dorm room. A year and a half later, he approached his three closest friends with an idea for a new business. "When you're in college, you have time to do things well," Garman says. "You can study, you can party, or you can start a company. We chose to start a company."

That company's story reads a bit like a dotcom tale of yore. AllDorm is an online retailer catering to a small niche. It was founded by four college sophomores in a dorm room. Its Silicon Valley offices are decorated with dartboards and mini basketball hoops. But by starting small, holding down costs, and meeting a specific need, AllDorm has thrived, with revenue leaping 500 percent to an estimated $25 million last year. And there's plenty of room for growth: According to research firm Harris Interactive, college students in the United States spend about $210 billion a year. "There are two ways to be successful in e-commerce," says Jim Crawford, vice president at analyst firm Retail Forward. "Operate on a large scale, or find an audience that isn't served by brick-and-mortar stores."

Option two is the thinking behind AllDorm.com, which went live in July 2000. To avoid frantic first-day shopping sprees or hellish moves, incoming freshmen can order gear in advance and have it delivered to their dorms right before they move in. AllDorm offers more than 6,000 items, including beanbag chairs, mini fridges, and shower kits with sandals for trips to the communal bathroom. The company also knows which requisite items are hard to find -- like high-quality extra-long bedsheets -- and carries plenty of them.

Despite the wide selection, AllDorm stays lean by stocking no inventory. Instead, it maintains links to its suppliers via proprietary e-commerce software; the suppliers then ship products directly to students. AllDorm works with universities to determine delivery dates, because shipments will be returned if they arrive too early. To prevent returns of the voluntary kind, the founders -- now at the ripe old age of 24 -- keep tabs on dorm dwellers by hiring interns from their alma mater and letting them test new items. This strategy keeps costs down and provides constant feedback from the target market. One thing Garman knows for sure: Freshmen nationwide are saying good riddance to U-Haul.

Wired News: Giants Take Lead in Technology

2004-04-28T11:39:00.000-04:00

Barry Bonds may get all the attention, but since their move to a stadium in downtown San Francisco in 2000, the San Francisco Giants have been near the top of Major League Baseball both on and off the field. In this Wired News interview, Giants' Chief Information Officer Bill Schlough talked about this latest project, how technology can augment the fan experience and his visions of a biometric future.

Wired News: Lots of Money Hooked on Brackets

2004-04-02T11:43:00.000-05:00

If the traffic figures from Yahoo Sports, ESPN.com and CBS SportsLine.com are any indication, Americans are hooked on online NCAA basketball tournament bracket contests.

Invasion of the Corporate Spyware

2004-03-01T13:26:00.000-05:00

If spam was the corporate horror flick of 2004, then spyware is 2005's sequel -- infiltrating computers, deluging them with viruses, and tracking behavior. Though the software has plagued home PCs for nearly five years, it's now so complex that even IT departments can't combat it. That's a major problem, because not only does spyware slow down corporate networks, but it can also gather sensitive company information -- anything from user logins to customer data. "Spyware is a very ugly issue for companies," says Rich Mogull, a research director at Gartner. "It's high on their lists of problems."

The number of spyware programs grew 25 percent in 2004 and is on track to surpass that this year, says Eric Howes, a spyware researcher at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Even worse, spyware makers are getting sneakier, constantly modifying existing programs to avoid detection.

But what's bad for most businesses will be great for spyware fighters. According to IDC, the market for products that combat spyware will swell to $106 million this year, up from a meager $12 million in 2003. Meanwhile, a crop of upstarts are vying to dominate the space. Boulder, Colo., startup Webroot Software just secured $108 million in venture funding, and it faces heady competition from Sunbelt Software of Clearwater, Fla., and Sweden's Lavasoft, whose offerings scan corporate networks and purge spyware remotely. Hardware is another approach: Silicon Valley's Blue Coat uses appliances that catch spyware at the Web gateway. Computer Associates (CA) and Microsoft (MSFT) are also getting into the game, with acquisitions of PestPatrol and Giant Company Software. Soon, antivirus veterans McAfee and Symantec will likely snatch up some anti-spyware vendors too. As for who will come out on top, that will have to wait until the box-office numbers roll in.

Wired: Super Hoe!

2004-03-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

Farmhands can be gadget geeks, too. Just look at this tractor. From its GPS-guided autopilot to its onboard field computer, Case IH's STX Steiger - made in Fargo, North Dakota - is wired to the roof. Sure, this baby makes industrial ag operations more efficient and productive. It also makes farming cool.

Wired: Digisette Dual Sports MP3 Player and Heart Rate Monitor

2004-02-10T15:12:00.000-05:00

[RETAIL: $290]
Digisette redefines "niche market" with its MP3/heart rate monitor, but for active types who want to mix MP3s with EKGs, this audiocassette-sized gizmo is ideal.

Wired: Reviews

2004-02-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

Robot Stories
Director Greg Pak takes a trip to the future to get us back in touch with our emotions.

I Want My LCD

2004-01-30T11:44:00.000-05:00

As Super Bowl Sunday approaches, serious choices must be made: New England Patriots or Carolina Panthers; guacamole or salsa; tastes great or less filling. If you're in the market for a large, flat-panel television, you'll soon have another decision to make: LCD or plasma.

Wired: Don't Call It Darpa

2004-01-01T13:23:00.000-05:00

The Department of Homeland Security's Advanced Research Projects Agency -Hsarpa - has a name that sounds familiar to tech aficionados.

Wired: EluminX Illuminated Keyboard

2003-12-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

I wasn't capturing the right mood during my late-night Internet sessions. So I turned the fluorescents down low and let Auravision's EluminX glow.

Wired: Wired Tools 2K3

2003-12-01T13:25:00.000-05:00

Tech gear is fun again - whether you're into 3-D computer screens, smartphones, theater-quality home audio, or DNA kits for kids. Our crack squad of geeks has rounded up 77 innovative playthings that'll keep you entertained till next holiday season.

Wired: Reviews

2003-12-01T13:24:00.000-05:00

Bond Girls Are Forever: The Women of James Bond
Step aside, Q, Bond babes stimulate the inner adolescent in a way that gadgets never could.

Wired: Canon 8 x 25 Image Stabilizer Binoculars

2003-10-14T15:16:00.000-04:00

For me, October means playoff baseball. But it's tough to see a Pedro Martinez curveball from the cheap seats at the Oakland Coliseum.

Wired News: Think Tank Taps Defense Dollars

2003-06-17T11:47:00.000-04:00

A 12-member think tank within Sandia National Laboratories hopes to become the star technology-solution center for the government's security concerns.