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Is it possible to make money by giving something away for free? John Powell, CEO of Alfresco Software, believes that the open source software market is worth $60 billion. The value doesn't accrue from the revenue that it generates. Rather, that value is rooted in the cost savings for his customers. Looked at from this angle, open source is the largest tech industry, Powell believes. That was the basis for a decision he made when Alfresco began developing an open source alternative for enterprise content management and other tasks.

In March of this year, Marathon Technologies announced everRun VM, a first-of-its kind, fault-tolerant, high availability software package for server virtualization. This product picks up where its first-generation kin -- everRun -- left off in providing companies the ability to prevent outages and data loss in Citrix XenServer virtual infrastructures. The chief architect of this new software strategy, CTO Jerry Melnick, saw a void in the marketplace left open by leading vendors in the server virtualization space.

At one point in the U.S.'s development, there were 1,400 or so railroads. Today, there are three major lines. Admittedly it is a leap -- but not a big one -- for Jeff Bates, cofounder of Slashdot, to apply that history to what is happening on the Internet today. "If the Internet has taught us anything in the last 10 years, it is that the timing of a particular market's development becomes even more compressed," he tells the E-Commerce Times. Bates is referring to the online ad networks and their accompanying strategies that are proliferating by the day.

E-books are still plugging along, not quite an afterthought in the publishing industry but not the hailed champion either. Like their newspaper cousins, book publishers are at a crossroads but completely stumped as to which way to turn, so they are largely sitting around just talking about it. At some level, they all know something digital this way comes and they are OK with that -- it's the silence of the cash registers they have a problem with. The book publishing market is undeniably flat at the moment with no relief in sight. Hence, the stumped silence.

Steve Sams, IBM vice president for site and facilities services worldwide, is waging a war against energy-hogging data centers worldwide. He will carry his assault to the Computer Measurement Group's international conference later this year. CMG is a not-for-profit, worldwide organization of IT professionals. Its members share information and practices focused on ensuring the efficiency and scalability of IT service delivery to the enterprise through measurement, quantitative analysis and forecasting.

Botnet operators intent on duping Internet users out of their savings have proved adept at social engineering, taking advantage of breaking news events and direct marketing -- as well as audio and video files and PDF attachments -- to lure people into downloading a variety of malware and visiting spoofed Web sites aimed at capturing personally identifiable information. The government's economic stimulus tax rebate program is giving them another excellent opportunity.

You might call Randal Vaughn the Botnet Slayer. After all, he spends much of his time researching the intricacies of cyber-crime carried out through malware marauders perpetrating their evil deeds with robotized computers around the globe. When Vaughn is not peering through sinuous Internet traffic reports looking for botnet trails, he is lecturing to his students at Baylor University, where he is a popular management information systems professor. Think of him as a sort of Indiana Jones of cyber-crime.

Loopt has taken mobile mapping to a new level. The startup's application not only allows users to see where their friends are on a map, but also lets them text each other within the app and share photos. Since Loopt's beginnings, the company has been proactive in setting high standards for user privacy. For instance, Loopt is a closed network and therefore only allows users to share their locations with specified friends. It also has reached out to multiple privacy groups for their guidance on navigating the privacy terrain.

The privacy requirements of Internet users can vary widely. Some divulge the most personal details of their lives on blogs and social networking sites; others want to remain as anonymous as possible. Users know they have control over what they push onto the Web -- but what about data that portals and other online giants retain on the back end? Online firms are piling up user data to get to know them better -- and serve ads based on keywords in searches and e-mails.

In terms of software, it's often difficult to find a lot of diversity in the workplace. Microsoft holds so much sway over the business world that a lot of new companies outfit themselves with Office simply because it's what everyone else uses. Intezyne, a biotech firm that started in 2004 and now counts 11 employees, has chosen a different route. After some bad experiences with PC hardware and software, it's put Macs into its offices and now uses the iWork software suite for jobs ranging from administrative tasks to investor presentations.