David Coursey

So why does my colleague John (never forget the middle initial “C”) Dvorak hate instant messaging and chat so much? After reading his recent column, I had to admit that he made some valid points. Online chat can soak up huge amounts of time and accomplish nothing or actually get you into trouble. No question […]

Social networks are a good thing. Everybody should have one–and everybody I know does, in some form or fashion. But whether you need an online social network and, particularly, whether you need one whose primary purpose is separating you from your money is another question entirely.I am talking about the LinkedIns, Friendsters, and Orkuts of […]

Think about the offshoring issue for too long, with too open a mind, and I promise youll go nuts. This in not a simple issue, no matter how much the bumper stickers, politicians and some corporate CEOs would like it to be. The nationalistic American viewpoint seems to be that anything—NAFTA, guest worker visas, offshoring—that […]

What happens when an IT department discovers its users have built their work lives around unapproved applications? Worse, what happens when these same users want not just IT approval but applications development help? This is the sort of intraoffice blasphemy that used to result in … well, as Monty Python says, “No one expects the […]