Articles by Pam Baker

What's the use of having access to a World Wide Web if you're only going to shop three or four mainstream retailers anyway? To spice up this year's load under the tree and avoid the ho-hum doldrums, here are some hot new Web site choices to find the perfect gift for even the zaniest character on your gift list:...

Considering putting an e-mail disclaimer at the end of the e-mail that says, in effect, "Hey, don't read this!" is every bit as effective as a park flasher telling you not to look -- how much protection does that overly verbose threat actually carry? "The e-mail disclaimer is more of a back-up plan for that OMG moment when you send an e-mail to the...

Microsoft has the best products money can buy -- at least, that's what they would have you believe However, remove money from the equation so MS buyers can't brag on the size of investment, and OpenOffice fans can't gloat about a freebie, who would win in an OpenOffice vs MS Office 2007 face-off?...

With all the games people play with Internet company names, it's quite possible that someday no one will be able to spell anything correctly ever again Perhaps it's already happening. Ever wonder how many times gross misspellings like "Del.icio.us" or "Flickr" show up on eighth-grade spelling tests? Besides wreaking havoc on this country's educatio...

In the ultimate game of bait-and-switch, several Web sites try to pass off a bot as a bod. That is to say that Live Chat is offered to users, but there's no flesh-and-blood person on the line, there's only a chat bot making a robotic guess at what the user might want to know. Few are fooled by the switcheroo, but nonetheless, could the tactic be working?...

Cruising the Web on a smartphone is about like cruising for a date on a tricycle -- the basic concept is there, but the delivery is laughable. If you are using an iPhone, then it's more like cruising in a Volkswagen Beetle -- better, but still short of the Lamborghini speeds we're used to on the open cyber-highway Considering everyone -- from carri...

Pimply faced pranksters and lone profiteers who poison computer systems have been replaced by organized criminals of a different breed "These guys are professional organizations. They are fully funded and they're writing specifically for profit," David Frazer, director of technology services at F-Secure, told TechNewsWorld. "Notoriety virus writers...

E-commerce is an important sales channel to businesses of all sizes, but when it's a company's sole meal ticket, the stakes are even higher. Threats to Internet profits often lay hidden and customers rarely stop to point them out "An increase in help-desk call volume is usually the first indicator of trouble in the Web infrastructure," Hon Wong, CE...

The Internet is the greatest educational tool since the advent of books, but it is also a sinister playground for prowling predators searching for young prey It is particularly unnerving to think that these predators can enter a living room undeterred by locks or alarms, and unseen by parents or the family dog....

Automatic audio ads that co-opt the user's speakers to automatically play sounds and music are often intrusive and annoying and can even disrupt the workplace. The oft-cursed technique begs the question of whether advertisers can actually sell goods to a startled audience left leaping from their chairs and desperately seeking the mute button "Autom...

In the not-so-distant future, the mundane will become borderline miraculous. The home washing machine will order its own repairs and the sprinkler system will call you on your cell phone to say the lawn service has broken one of its water spouts and it is now wasting water The car will tell you to pull over -- its left rear tire is low on air -- an...

The publishing industry is struggling to cash in on eBooks; so far the digital literary attempt has been fragmented and slow, both in terms of adoption and in getting the material to the reader. However, that may change soon, given new initiatives announced in the last few days ranging from the arrival of new industry standards to a new reader with some cool effects...

Mega e-tailers have harnessed the Internet with such finesse that their Web sites seem to run on magic. However, the trade is a tricky business, and the options are few "It's the transactional piece that's the roadblock," Gartner Research Vice President Gene Alvarez told the E-Commerce Times....

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 3.5-inch internal drive, built-in Gigabit Ethernet and a dual processor configuration...

Retail's enthusiasm for e-commerce started as a tentative courtship, but has blossomed into a love affair, with businesses large and small embracing the Internet as a prime source of sales revenue. Everybody, it seems, is entering the queue, hoping to attract a growing mob of cybershoppers "Every e-tailer wants to be online one, page one of any sea...

Online shopping has hit the US$211 billion mark, according to Forrester Research. It is no wonder, then, that a plethora of shopping comparison sites have sprung up, all purporting to help people find their way to -- and through -- the hundred of thousands of Web-based stores Many of these comparison sites appear to be linked to particular sellers,...

In the not-so-distant future, the mundane will become borderline miraculous. The home washing machine will order its own repairs and the sprinkler system will call you on your cell phone to say the lawn service has broken one of its water spouts and it is now wasting water The car will tell you to pull over -- its left rear tire is low on air -- an...

The digital lifestyle has taken root in U.S. living rooms, primarily with the TV set and the home PC -- and, like the couch potato, it's beginning to spread From set-top boxes and time/place shifters such as TiVo and Slingbox to iPod's home stereo and TV component, the shift seems to be centered on fun and games....