When a neighbor recently installed an irritating security system that beeps loudly every time a car passes, I went in search of a decibel meter to see if my neighbor was violating any noise ordinances. Amazon had one for $89.99. Instead, I turned to my iPhone and found a perfectly serviceable decibel-meter app for 99…

Cloud computing is the new information technology buzzword. But while the term is new, the concept is old. Cloud computing simply allows companies to store data and run programs remotely. There is now a noisy push toward providing consumers with similar remote-server storage. Locally, Amazon.com offers its Amazon Cloud Player, which allows customers to upload…

Great execution makes strategy stand out. Everyone who has sat in a comfortable, Wi-Fi-enabled Starbucks sipping a consistently well-made cup of coffee can tell you about the third place. Business strategy success can be found all across the Puget Sound region. The failures are more nuanced. Such as the business that sets customer acquisition as…

If theres any positive aspect to a downturn, its this: It tends to expose and wash away the frauds, the poseurs, the incompetents, the reckless gamblers, the poorly capitalized, the perpetually optimistic, the managerially indifferent…. True, get a recession nasty enough and it will wipe out everything in its path, even those who had done…

When it comes to the raw R&D brainpower needed to create the innovations that will generate the products, companies, industries and jobs of tomorrow, the state of Washington does all right for itself. Maybe were not Boston or the Bay Area. But we have two major research universities, a host of other higher-ed institutions with…

In the past decade, as Ive watched my son Eric spend endless hours on computer games, Ive grown hostile toward this industry that has stolen so much of my sons precious time. And Ive wondered darkly how he and his generation will shape the world in the coming decades after having spent so much of…

Near the end of 2008, the commercial real estate world began falling apart. In the course of five months, an otherwise normal environment turned into a projected industrywide revenue decline of 30 percent to 60 percent for 2009. At 49, Im old enough to have lived through the savings and loan crisis and a few…

Before the recent unpleasantnessaka the recession of 2008green was writ large. Most companies were flaunting their green credentials, and it seemed as if every product out there was green. Eventually, people grew tired of green. Not because it wasnt a valuable attribute, but because it appeared to be a marketing ploy. In many cases, it…