Digital Lifescapes

"Big Blue" may also earn the nickname "Big Linux Supporter" as IBM continues to embrace open-source efforts to hike its market share and challenge competitors, including Microsoft." The company "plans to announce today that it will contribute some of its speech-recognition software to two open-source software groups," the New York Times reported.

Collaborative technologies such as Web conferencing and online workspaces promise to improve productivity�if you can get people to use them. Better get ready, since VoIP may lead to convergence of these technologies sooner rather than later.