Surviving Job Loss - Tips For Succeeding Financially After A Lay-Off

Kelli Grant, Senior Consumer Reporter for SmartMoney.com, shares some tips on how to survive financially after you lose your job. If you've been laid off, the first thing you should do is negotiate a severance package with your employer. "The first offer is not necessarily the one you have to go with," says Grant...

How to Reduce Network Expenses

In the current economic slowdown, IT administrators are under constant pressure to build and maintain solid networks while every equipment purchase they make is scrutinized. Knowledge Center contributor Paul Hooper offers five ways that IT staffs can build automated, secure networks that are energy-efficient and cost-effective...

Russia, Germany to Float Mobile Power Stations by 2010

Two revolutionary mobile power stations, developed separately by companies in Russia and Germany, could soon be afloat. Russian investment management company United Industrial Corp. (Russian acronym OPK) said last week it is on track to launch the world’s first floating nuclear power station by 2010, while German power generation giant RWE could soon pilot a combined-cycle gas turbine “power barge,” deploying it at continental shores where electricity is most needed...

Flexible Screens Get Touchy-Feely

Researchers have developed the first computer display that is both flexible and touch sensitive. They say that the breakthrough could lead to more practical and easier-to-use portable devices. Over the past few years, there has been a drive to develop displays that more closely mimic the properties of paper...

'Frozen Smoke:' Ultimate Sponge For Cleaning Up Oil Spills

Scientists in Arizona and New Jersey are reporting that aerogels, a super-lightweight solid sometimes called “frozen smoke,” may serve as the ultimate sponge for capturing oil from wastewater and effectively soaking up environmental oil spills...

Microsoft Mapping Course to a Jetsons-Style Future

Meet Laura, the virtual personal assistant for those of us who cannot afford a human one. Built by researchers at Microsoft, Laura appears as a talking head on a screen. You can speak to her and ask her to handle basic tasks like booking appointments for meetings or scheduling a flight. More compelling, however, is Laura’s ability to make sophisticated decisions about the people in front of her, judging things like their attire, whether they seem impatient, their importance and their preferred times for appointments...