Chinese hackers made the headlines in May when Washington confessed that Chinese army officers are behind cyber-attacks to collect U.S. intellectual property and military strategies.  It is unclear if the army hackers are on a commercial mission, doing espionage, or perhaps both. In April, Spanish police charged a man with a massive distributed denial of [...]

In their panic to author health care legislation, Congress left cost containment on the cloakroom floor.  If the actual premiums, provider payments, related federal and state spending and subsidies had been calmly publicized before voting in 2010, prudent legislators would have tabled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care bill (ACA). As we approach 2014, few [...]

To understand Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), a reporter enrolled in 11 free online courses and tracked his experiences.  He completed 2 courses and dropped 9 after realizing that although the lectures could be scheduled at his convenience, the courses took a lot of time away from his day job, and some required substantial preparation.  [...]

Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.5% in the first quarter of 2013, slower than expected.  Some expect GDP growth will drop to 1.5% by year end.  At the end of the first quarter, 11.7 million workers were unemployed and another 7.6 million were working part time because that’s all they could find.  For [...]

The idea of getting all of your television content on your digital devices grows stronger every day. The latest startup to bring those dreams into reality is Aereo, a new service that allows you to get live television broadcast directly to your computer, mobile device, or Apple TV or Roku device. The concept isn’t dissimilar [...]

The few robocalls I get on my cellphone are fast-talker recordings on a political issue. I often retort even though they are not listening.  I don’t get any public service warnings telling me of looming tornados, school snow days or Amber Alerts.  I don’t get sales calls from companies I have no affiliation with. Somehow [...]

Consumers have been cutting back on gasoline use.  Many conserve because it is the right thing to do.  More of us agree with that sentiment but have no real economic alternative to gasoline or diesel for the family’s transportation.  Electric car and hybrid capital costs remain much higher than conventional car prices and many gas-fueled [...]

Transport Secretary Ray LaHood has created a national crisis from the need to save $200 million.  President Obama and Rahm Emanuel must be smiling broadly.  In February 2013, LaHood promised there was no way around scaling back air traffic control staff if sequesters were enacted.  Last week he affirmed that “We cannot avoid furloughs.”  They’ve [...]

Just 28% of Americans hold a favorable view of the federal government.  Favor in the federal government has sunk to a low water mark since its high of 81% in 2001.  It’s not about government per se, since both state and local government enjoy much higher favorability from both parties.  When President Obama arrived in [...]

About 3.5 million American “boomers” reach age 65 each year and they retire a few years before or after that age.    Most start making changes in their lifestyle when their children leave.   After exhaling and congratulating themselves that they “made it”, they start adjusting to the next phase of life. They will sharpen their plans [...]