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Most retailers experience a downturn in a weak economy. As consumers rein in spending, a downturn is usually not distributed equally among all retailers. The extent of the downturn depends on a number of factors, including geographic location of stores, product categories being sold and specific market segments.

Enterprises invest a sizable portion of their IT budgets in ensuring that sensitive data remains secure and inaccessible to individuals in the outside world. However, a tool that most enterprise employees use daily -- e-mail -- can easily become a leak in company's defensive dam. Businesses can lose vital information through inappropriate employee e-mail activity and inadequate prevention measures.

The competitive environment that characterizes today's broadband and value-added services landscape benefits the growth of many digital lifestyle products and services. Consumers are also primary beneficiaries of increased competition among carriers. When multiple service providers are directly competing in an area, the results tend to be 1) lower prices; 2) additional value-added offerings, and 3) improved customer support.

How closely will competitors follow in this latest digital home pursuit?

All the major studios are on board. Is Apple's iTunes store in trouble?

Redesigning your online store is certainly about aesethetics, but it's equally important to make site optimization part of the process. CoffeeCakes.com increased traffic and revenues in just a few weeks with an SEO design refresh — and you can too.

You can't say you were not warned or that you had no idea of what was happening. The socialization of CRM took a big step forward on Monday when Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff told the keynote audience at Dreamforce 2008 in San Francisco that his company has developed technology that will integrate Facebook and Salesforce.com.

A former IBM executive is going against the company's wishes and joining Apple. Mark Papermaster, previously vice president of IBM's blade server unit, will become head of the iPod and iPhone development team, Apple has confirmed. IBM has already filed a lawsuit to try to stop his hire.

The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a controversial proposal to open up vacant "white spaces" spectrum for unlicensed use for broadband internet. The vote is the culmination of an idea that was first proposed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin more than four years ago.

Search engine powerhouses Google and Yahoo have offered to significantly scale back the depth of their proposed online ad-sharing deal in an attempt to gain the approval of the U.S. Department of Justice. The proposed deal, first announced last June, would allow Yahoo to display ads from Google and then take a portion of the revenue.