You’re probably reading that headline and thinking, “forgetting the last ten years, are we?” Indeed, the first decade of the 21st century was quite an amazing one for the digital community, with new and exciting technologies springing up seemingly almost constantly and with web becoming even more ubiquitous than it had been in the 90’s. But that was only the beginning.

Imagine if, knowing now what we do about the last 30 years, someone told you the 70’s were the true decade of the computer. Sure, computing took a massive leap forward in those days, but it was amateur hour compared to what was to come.

Instead of the traditional generation gap, we are seeing the beginning of a brain gap that separates digital natives, born into 24/7 technology, and the older generation, their parents, who came to digital technology as adults.

The Internet is not simply changing the way people live but altering the way minds work. Small calls it an "evolutionary change" that will position the technologically fluent at the top of a new social order.

Developed in conjunction with Sapient, Samsung's uVending touch-screen technology brings a whole new level of consumer interaction to automatic vending. The technology uses animation and an interactive menu on its 46-inch display to advertise the product choices within the machine and guide users to make their selection.

Demonstrated as part of a multimedia vending machine for Coca-Cola, the technology is also equipped with Wifi for automatic refill ordering and content updates, along with motion sensors and a built-in camera to document attempts at vandalism, according to PSFK. The new machines will appear soon in the US in the Simon mall chain, with a UK debut planned for sometime in 2010, PSFK reported. A short video demonstrates the technology at work.

Computer spying and theft of personal information have risen notably in the past year, costing tens of millions of dollars and threatening U.S. security, the FBI's cyber division head said on Wednesday.

Many adults put their personal information at risk when they engage in everyday activities, including applying for a loan, requesting information about a product, donating to a political campaign, and even getting married and having a baby, according to ProQuo.

Companies trade and build databases full of personal information, which they then use to market to consumers, says Steve Gal, chief executive of the company. Consumers shouldn’t refrain from those activities (obviously in the case of marriage and children), but rather take extra steps to protect their information, Gal says.

Some of you out there can pat yourselves on the back. You’ve been shouting for years on websites, message boards, and blogs that the music industry would one day bow to technology.

That day has most certainly arrived.

Major entertainment companies are using "digital rights management," or DRM (aka content or copy protection), to lock up your digital media. These DRM technologies do nothing to stop copyright pirates, but instead end up interfering with fans’ lawful use of music, movies, and other copyrighted works.

DRM can prevent you from making back ups of your DVDs and music downloaded from online stores, recording your favorite TV programs, using the portable media player of your choice, remixing clips of movies into your own home movies, and much more.

What is the business systems approach?

A business is more than finance. Performance measures need to be aligned with the organization’s strategy. The business systems approach considers business as a system of interrelated factors of strategy, owners, investors, management, workers, finance, processes, products, suppliers, customers, and competitors.

The Internet is a large common space, accessible to everyone around the world. As in any public space, you should take appropriate precautions to protect yourself against fraudulent people and processes. This information will help keep you safe.

Supply chain management (SCM) is the combination of art and science that goes into improving the way your company finds the raw components it needs to make a product or service and deliver it to customers. The following are five basic components of SCM.