Evan Schuman

Like a Java version of the sword of Damocles, the threat of a Web tax has loomed over e-Commerce players since the Web was formed a little more than a decade ago. But fitting for an October deadline, this sword is more of the tissue-paper and cardboard type, one that looks scary only from a […]

On Wednesday, bar code pioneer and scanner manufacturer Intermec Technologies Corp. plans to unveil a new generation of bar code readers that rely on pure silicon to read bar codes, rather than mechanical means. Intermec predicts its readers will be 80 percent more accurate with the new approach to scanning. Traditional bar code readers use […]

One key part of a CIOs job is to protect company information. That forces a healthy amount of paranoia, as the exec must anticipate the unlikely and envision the impossible. Maybe we should call CIOs Chief Imagination Officers? Perhaps a Stephen King-like imagination. Just like in a classic horror story, the biggest threats to many […]

In what might signal the closing chapter in the CardSystem credit-card security breach saga, CyberSource Friday announced its intent to acquire all of CardSystems assets for an undisclosed amount. In May, CardSystems Inc. reported its role in the nations largest known data security breach, when it revealed that someone had broken into its systems and […]

The managers at one of the nations fastest-growing ice cream chains pride themselves on customers who know exactly what they want sweet-wise when given the tools to make it. The 1,200-store chain opened its first franchise store 10 years ago and has been gaining momentum ever since. It plans to open 400 stores this year […]

The software industry has for years had a proud tradition of announcing product long before an actual product existed—vaporware, in other words: software specs and capabilities that didnt really exist but might exist in the future. There were many thought-leaders in vaporware production, but Microsoft was always my favorite. When it announced nothing, it was […]

A U.S. Court of Appeals panel this week issued a ruling in a long-running patent infringement lawsuit that threatened retailers using bar-code readers. The panel affirmed a lower court ruling that the patent infringement case should not go forward. The case involves several bar-code system manufacturers—including Symbol Technologies, Accu-Sort Systems, Intermec Technologies, Metrologic Instruments, PSC, […]

The most altruistic gift is an anonymous contribution, in which a giver wants to help but does not want to benefit from the donation. Sometimes, though, anonymity is not possible, and thats where things can get dicey. Last week, for example, a Fort Lauderdale authentication firm announced that it was offering its service free to […]

When Emcor Group CIO Joe Puglisi recently decided to upgrade his companys version of Lotus Notes, he quietly “pre-deployed” it with a cross-section of his companys business managers. He plans, he said, on using the favorable comments from that group to act as a sort of viral marketing to make the upgrade come as more […]

When credit card processing firm CardSystems announced Thursday that an independent auditor had declared its systems sound, one CardSystems executive said he now wants Visa and American Express to take it back. CardSystems Inc. was at the center of the nations largest known data security breach back in May, when it reported that someone had […]