Tech Talk

The Price is Right

Columnist: Michael E. Duffy
Dec, 2008 Issue

 As 2008 draws to a close and the uncertainty of 2009’s economic landscape becomes a reality, Michael Duffy reveals the Internet’s most convenient, effective and (best of all) free services to help ease the burden.

Read more

The Very High Cost of Medical Care

Columnist: Michael E. Duffy
Nov, 2008 Issue

In the world of medicine, there are two trains headed toward each other with increasing speed. The first is the growing number of treatments available to prolong life. The second is the growing cost associated with such treatments. At the collision point, we face a difficult question: How much is another day with Grandma worth? Of course, the answer can change dramatically when you are Grandma (or Grandpa).

Read more

Return of the Browser Wars

Columnist: Michael E. Duffy
Special Wine Issue, Oct, 2008

Up until August, you had a choice of three or four Web browsers: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 3, Safari 3.1 from Apple, and Opera 9.5. Broad-based usage statistics show that about 70 percent of the market belongs to the two most recent versions of Internet Explorer, and 20 percent uses some version of Firefox. Safari weighs in at about 5 percent and Opera gets a measly 1 percent. The remainder belongs to oddball browsers you’ve likely never heard of.

Read more

How IT People Think

Columnist: Michael E. Duffy
Oct, 2008 Issue

I recently received an email from one of this column’s readers, who wanted to better understand how information technology (IT) people think (as a basis for improving her sales and marketing approach to IT management). As I was writing my reply, it occurred to me that, since most of my readers probably aren’t IT people, it might make a useful column.

Read more