I have written for a number of IDG-based print and Web publications, including Computerworld, Infoworld, PC World, Network World and ITWorld.
Network World articles
I have written for Network World for many years. One of my older but still favorite articles is this one from 2001 where I examined the networking infrastructure of Disney’s theme parks. The most recent reviews:
- UTM appliances (forthcoming)
- Two factor authentication services (forthcoming)
- Social Media Engagement tools (March 2013)
- Eight different single sign-on products (December 2012)
- Eight different Web-based conferencing services (October 2012)
- Of Checkpoint’s latest R80 Firewall version (May 2011)
- A comparison of VM protection products (March 2011)
ITWorld articles and blog entries
Here are links to my feature stories:
- Quirky tech conferences worth attending (5/3/13)
- LinkedIn makeover for software developers (4/17/13)
- Try out your Hadoop app on the world’s largest cluster (4/11/13)
- 12 LinkedIn profile mistakes to avoid (4/3/13)
- How to choose a social media monitoring tool (4/1/13)
- How smart crowds are solving big data problems (3/23/13)
- eSignature review (8/13/12)
- Tame users’ gadgets with mobile device managers (7/23/12)
- NoSQL: Breaking free of structured data (6/9/11)
- Make open source mapping work for you (5/3/11)
- Amazon Cloud Drive vs. Google Docs vs Microsoft Skydrive (4/1/11)
- 12 Questions to ask your cloud computing provider (3/25/11)
- Accept mobile credit card payments anywhere with your iPhone (3/21/11)
- TechSoup case study (2/7/11)
- Behind the scenes at the Cowboys stadium before Super Bowl XLV (2/1/11)
- Various cloud computing tips (1/5/11)
- How to prevent data from leaving your network (8/30/10)
- How to run IE v6 on Windows 7 (8/27/10)
- How to safely travel without your laptop (8/18/10)
- Desktop virtualization first steps (8/3/10)
- XP to Windows 7 migration: 6 tools to help you make the move (6/21/10)
- New Windows Server 2008 versions (4/11/10)
- Four ways enterprise software is becoming social (3/30/10)
- Simple online database sharing (3/21/10)
- How to buy a web application firewall (3/1/10)
- A guide to Amazon Web Services for corporate IT managers (2/16/10)
- Understanding the economics of thin clients (12/21/09)
- VDI Strategies to get started (12/17/09)
- Effortless Email Encryption (12/1/09)
- Windows 7 Networking Changes (11/30/09)
During 2009, I wrote the blog “Tech That Matters” for ITworld with frequent posts of interesting technology and tactics for IT managers.
PC World Net Work Columns
During 2009, I wrote for PC World including a series of blogs and columns under the title of “Net Work” covering practical tips for SMB networking and communications solutions. Here are the links:
- Endpoint security choices (6/29/09)
- How To Choose the Right Network Printer (6/6/09)
- Is it time to switch to an all-wireless network? (5/27/09)
- Making international cell calls (5/22/09)
- Better ways to share documents (5/13/09)
- Do you really need a file server? (5/8/09)
- Keep up with the news with personalized Web portals (4/29/09)
- How to use Internet faxing (4/22/09)
- How to do email lists right (part 2, 4/14/09)
- Choosing the right email list services (4/10/09)
- Picking the right cell data provider (4/1/09)
- How to protect your network with OpenDNS (3/26/09)
- Using online backup service providers (3/19/09)
- Protect your data with whole disk encryption products (3/18/09)
- Recover your laptop from theft, electronically (3/17/09)
PC World feature articles
- Master of your own Internet domain (9/4/09)
- Sharing spreadsheets the Web way (5/18/09)
- Setting schedules and meetings electronically (5/21/09)
- Seven lessons that SMBs can learn from big IT (10/13/08)
Computerworld
I first started writing for Computerworld print back in the mid-1990s. Here are links to the various pieces that have run over the years.
- Cloudshare.com review (4/13/11)
- My favorite iPhone apps (4/1/11)
- Six annoying router problems and recommendations (6/17/10)
- Top iPhone Apps for IT professionals (11/12/09)
- Three social networking multiple posting services (7/20/09)
- Three email encryption applications (6/2/09)
- Your boss is spying on you now (7/23/07)
- Aventail Connect Mobile secures smart phones (7/2/07)
- Welcome to the world’s largest computing grid (Teragrid, 6/26/07)
- Data center moving day (REJIS, 6/19/07)
- How to prepare your business network for VOIP (5/30/07)
- Safend endpoint security (5/23/07)
- Review of Linksys low-end IP PBX (5/11/07)
- Enterprise IM strategies (3/21/07)
- On the go gadgets (12/18/06), a review of the TomTom GO 510 portable in-car GPS for the annual gift guide
- Why Bluetooth in the enterprise is still a pain (11/8/06 online and an op/ed in the 12/4 print edition)
- Six steps to a wireless site survey(10/31/06)
- Broadband wireless data on the go(9/22/06)
- Comparison of TrustELI and Sofaware DSL modem/router/gateway products (9/6/06)
- Ten ways to secure your SOHO network (9/5/06)
- How to setup WPA2 on your network (8/25/06)
- How to build your own corporate IM system (7/27/06)
- AIM Pro — Still in the amateur leagues (7/27/06)
- DNS for people: eTelemetry’s Locate (7/11/06)
- How to be a better blogger — and still keep your day job (5/29/06)
- Older articles (sadly, these links are all dead)
- Executive technology: Smart Pagers (8/17/98)
Infoworld
I started writing for them back in the middle 1990s, and ended up with what turned out to be one of my longest stints as a bylined columnist for any single publication. (Note: the link to the portal on my site above has more broken than working links, but it is an interesting historical document.)
I was first hired as a columnist by Stewart Alsop and Bob Metcalfe in 1993. We called my column “The Network Curmudgeon” and I had a lot to say about the various networking products back in the day. Then the column morphed into was probably one of my most fun gigs for any magazine. Called “On Site”, I would travel to different cities and test a new product on site with the cooperation of the IT shop and the vendor who’s product we were trying to install. If reality TV was around back then, I could have had my own series, maybe. More than 150 people contributed to this effort alone over the years that I wrote these series, and thanks to the editing talents of Rachel Parker the columns were a great chronicle of how hard it (still) is to get new products installed, even when you have the vendor’s developers and other resources at your beck and call.
I also helped get their initial Web site started, so it is nice to see my work back there. Here are hopefully working links to my current stories:
- Making sense of Microsoft’s Azure (10/6/08)
- The three business tech risks you don’t know about (9/16/08)
